Book Excerpt – Third Book in The Seasons Mystery Series

Over the next few months I’m going to occasionally share an excerpt from the third book in the Seasons Mystery Series, Desperate Season. I’ve been trying to get this book completed for a few years now, but life and other books interfered. Other than having to clean up the rough parts of the last two chapters, the book is finished. Now all I have to do is find a publisher. I’m hoping the one that published the first two will consider this one.

Obviously, this isn’t the cover that will be on the book. I just thought a visual would help set the scene. I’m a writer, not a graphic artist, so this is rudimentary at best. 

Chapter One – Sunday March 4, 2018

Felicity wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, then picked up her soccer ball. It wasn’t so hot this early on a Sunday morning in March, but the workout brought out the heat in her body. She’d run laps then practiced dribbling with her friend Maria for almost an hour. Now Maria was dashing off the field and called out, “See you tomorrow?”

“After school. I’ll be here. I want more practice before the tournament.”

“Me, too.” Maria waved and hopped on her bike to ride home.

The two girls were the stars of their club soccer team, and they were proud of it. But not too proud. Felicity’s mother told her what The Church had to say about pride, so she tried to contain her thrill over what she could do with her powerful legs on the soccer field. Today she’d managed to get past Maria eight times out of ten, and Maria played the best defense on the team.

Felicity checked her watch. Almost eight. She’d better hurry if she was going to make it home in time to clean up for 10 o’clock Mass. She trotted over to the picnic bench where she’d left her backpack. At home earlier, she’d dumped her school books so there would be room for her soccer ball and a bottle of water. As far as she was concerned, those were more important than math or social studies. She had dreams. Big dreams of being a soccer star. She’d watched the Olympics when the American team had won gold, and that is what she wanted to do. Play for the United States and win. After that, maybe she’d become a coach. Help some other young girl find a dream that was worth hours of sweat and a multitude of sore muscles.

Hoisting her backpack, she hurried to where she’d locked her bike. A cool breeze blew across her face; it dried the beads of sweat and actually made her shiver. She didn’t like being in the little park alone. She wished Maria would have stayed so they could have shoved off together. Sometimes an older boy would hassle them, wanting them to buy some dope. “It’s cheap,” he’d say. “Just two bucks. And you can share.”

She often saw him giving stuff to other kids who were there practicing soccer or to play on the swings and slides. They were little kids, even younger than she was, and some of them would take the little plastic bags of white powder. Felicity couldn’t deny that sometimes she was tempted to join in whatever fun they were having after sniffing the drug. She could go along to get along. But then she thought of her Olympic dream. No way would she achieve that if she did drugs.

The park was starting to fill up with other kids, and she knew she’d better hurry if she wanted to get out of there before the boy showed up.

After putting on her helmet, Felicity quickly unlocked her bike, pocketed the lock, and swung her leg across the seat. She hoped her parents wouldn’t be angry if she was late. Especially her father. He got angry so quickly of late. She did not know what worried him, but something had changed him from the teddy-bear of a father he used to be to a mean old black bear that growled a lot.

Just as she brought the pedals around to shove off, Felicity heard a whisper of a sound behind her. Before she could turn to check it out, she heard a loud click.

Then, nothing.

I hope you enjoy the excerpt. Please let me know what you think in a comment. Hope your week starts off on a good note. Be safe. Be happy.