The Vengeance of Mothers Read online

  Jim Fergus is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in numerous national magazines and newspapers. He is the author of several fiction and nonfiction books. His novel One Thousand White Women won the Reading the West Book Award and has sold more than a million copies both in the U.S. and France. Jim divides his time between southern Arizona, northern Colorado, and France. Visit www.jimfergus.com, or sign up for email updates here.

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Epigraphs

  From the final entry to The Journals of May Dodd

  From the Codicil to The Journals of May Dodd

  Prologue

  Ledger Book I: In the Camp of Crazy Horse

  Ledger Book II: Captured

  Ledger Book III: The Long Road Home

  Ledger Book IV: Red Painted Woman

  Ledger Book V: The Graveyard

  Ledger Book VI: Adapt or Perish

  Ledger Book VII: The Strong-heart Women’s Warrior Society

  Ledger Book VIII: Dancing Under the Moon

  Ledger Book IX: Under the Buffalo Robes

  Ledger Book X: Of Love and War

  Ledger Book XI: The Battle of the Rosebud/Where the Girl Saved Her Brother

  Ledger Book XII: Hell

  Ledger Book XIII: The Return of Martha

  Ledger Book XIII: (continued by Lady Ann Hall)

  Also by Jim Fergus

  About the Author

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  THE VENGEANCE OF MOTHERS. Copyright © 2017 by Jim Fergus. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.stmartins.com

  Cover images: woman © Collaboration JS / Arcangel; field © Joanne Vincent / Shutterstock.com; tepees © bepsy / Shutterstock.com

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

  Names: Fergus, Jim, author.

  Title: The vengeance of mothers / Jim Fergus.

  Description: First edition.|New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2017.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017017724|ISBN 9781250093424 (hardcover)|ISBN 9781250170330 (international, sold outside the U.S., subject to rights availability)|ISBN 9781250093448 (ebook)

  Subjects: LCSH: Women, White—Fiction. | Cheyenne Indians—Fiction. | Indians of North America—West (U.S.)—Government relations—Fiction. | Whites—West (U.S.)—Relations with Indians—Fiction. | Interracial marriage—West (U.S.)—Fiction. | Retribution—Fiction. | GSAFD: Western stories. | Diary fiction.

  Classification: LCC PS3556.E66 V46 2017 | DDC 813/.54—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017017724

  eISBN 9781250093448

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  First Edition: September 2017