The Black Cane

By Eileen Harris

Dowager Diaries: Book 1

Mystery, 355 pages

Cover art by Richard Stroud

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The decision to help one small boy turns eight elderly women's lives upside-down.  Danger becomes a way of life.  If the women are going to save the boy and stay alive, they are going to have to use skills that have been dormant way too long.

Excerpt:

She'd walked almost to the end of the alley and could see that it dead-ended not far ahead before she heard the sound again. So she hadn't been mistaken. Peering behind dumpsters and walking carefully between splotches of gore she didn't want to identify, she made a beeline for the last dumpster. The sound had to be coming from there. Walking to the side of the dumpster and peering around to the back, it took her a moment to make out the small human form mixed in with the trash. Amelia was unable to tell if the figure was male or female, but she was certain it was a child. Holding out her hand, she said. “Come out here and let me take a look at you. Are you hurt or just scared?”

What emerged from the trash was a filthy boy about ten years old. He said, “I hope you have a plan for getting us out of here or else we're both dead.”

She was impressed by the lack of fear in the child's voice. It had been a long time since a youngster had treated her as a peer, and she was fascinated. She looked around for some viable means of escape, both to prove her worth to the small critic and because the noises she was hearing back at the entrance to the alley were alarming her. There were three or four delivery doors along the alley. Reading the names printed on the doors, she discovered that the closest one read Clothes Closet Basics. This was a name she recognized. She had purchased many items from them, and they knew her well. Taking the boy's hand and saying only, “Come,” she hurried to the door and turned the knob. It was locked, but as she stood trying to think what to do next, an employee she knew came barreling through the door with a huge stack of boxes for the dumpster. The collision knocked the girl on her rump and sent the boxes flying in all directions. Amelia only avoided falling with the help of her cane.

During this confusion, two men were working their way down the alley checking each dumpster. Amelia snatched up the boy, stuffed him in one of the boxes, and covered him with brown paper scraps from another box. She whispered, “Whatever happens, keep your mouth shut, and no snuffling.”

Amelia finally remembered that the employee's name was Melissa. By then she had dug herself out from under the boxes and dragged herself to her feet. She was so self-absorbed that she hadn't even noticed the boy. She said, “Mrs. Armstrong! What in the world are you doing back here?”

Amelia said, “It's a long story, but I seemed to have gotten turned around somehow. When I saw your sign on the door, I was so relieved that I tried to come in. I'm so sorry about the collision! Are you all right?”

Antique Legacy

By Eileen Harris
Mystery, 254 pages
Cover art by: Richard Stroud
Blurb:
While the almost castle crumbles around them, Alicia desperately searches for the answers she wants and needs. Every creepy room demands a thorough search. Someone is trying to kill her, and she doesn't even know why, let alone, who. Each room she searches is a challenge and each is either fascinating or horrifying. The huge cat now follows her everywhere, even into closed rooms. If she can discover his secret before one of the murder attempts succeeds, maybe she can find the answers she needs.
Excerpt:
There was also a fourth floor. The stairs to this area were wooden like the ones to the third floor, but in much worse shape. We made our way carefully to the floor above. This level was one big attic area. There were some items stored here, but there was also a lot of open space. It was in disastrous condition. We disturbed several bats as we walked around. There were pigeon droppings everywhere, and in some places the roof had leaked and rotted everything underneath. The air seemed almost non-existent, and what was there smelled horrible. Neither of us had any desire to spend much time up there.

As we hurried back to the side of the room where the stairs were, Connie stepped on a portion of the floor that was rotten from years of leaking water. Her right leg went through almost to her hip. I was glad she was wearing slacks to help prevent scrapes. I walked up to the edge of the rotten area intending to reach out and pull her free when her other leg fell through. Now only her head and shoulders were above the floor level. Most of the floor around her looked bad, and she had to be terrified that she would fall completely through. Because of the tall ceilings in the rooms below, slipping through would definitely injure her or worse. I knew I couldn't pull her free, since I couldn't get close enough without risking more damage and causing her to fall. I turned and ran back across the room trying to watch for the dangerous areas. I was sure I'd seen a pile of junk containing some old rope. As I ran she screamed, "No, don't leave me. Please..."

I tuned her out and scrambled for the rope. I found it the first place I looked, grabbed it, and sprinted back toward Connie. Her eyes were huge as she watched me, but she didn't say anything. I dug a piece of the rope that I thought looked sound and long enough for what I needed out of the pile. I leaned out and tossed the middle section behind her back. She didn't dare move to help, so I carefully pulled each end tight to her sides under her arms. When I walked each end around to her back I had her contained. As long as I could hold the pressure on the rope, she couldn't fall. I braced myself and began pulling. She moved a few inches, so I increased the pressure and pulled steadily backward with all my strength. I thought we were almost home free, when another part of the rotted floor around her gave way. Now the only thing holding her was the rope. It was burning my hands, and I didn't know how much long I could hold her whole weight. Using all my strength, I inched backward. When I knew my strength was almost gone, I gave everything I had into one last pull. I backed up with the slack I'd created and bumped into one of the columns supporting the room. I hit it so hard it nearly knocked me unconscious. Sobbing with relief, I tied the ends of the rope securely around the pillar. Now she couldn't fall, and she could help lever herself out of the hole. It took three more tries, with more of the floor giving way each time, before together we had her on solid ground. We both lay on the filthy floor, panting and trying to catch our breath.

When I could almost breathe normally again, Connie rolled onto her side and said, "You saved my life. I didn't know if you'd even try since we've treated you so badly. I'm not sure why we have, since the one we should be blaming is our father. My brothers just don't seem to understand that. I don't have anything to offer you in gratitude except my friendship. I hope you'll accept it."

Antique Discovery

by Eileen Harris
Mystery, 313 pages
Cover art by Richard Stroud

Blurb:A vacation becomes complicated by murder, discovery, and friendship.  Danger lurks in too many directions.  Alicia and her friends will have to stay alive and sort through the clues carefully if they want to save an innocent friend and prevent the destruction of an historic treasure.

Excerpt:As we continued riding, rather than getting better, both horses were shying at every shadow. We thought they must have eaten something toxic to their nervous system, but Nick had no idea what or how it could have happened. We decided to return to the ranch and hoped the horses wouldn't get totally out of control before we arrived. As we rode back the way we'd come, they actually seemed to calm down a little, and I had begun to believe they would be fine when someone fired a gun. The horses went crazy, and Nick and I both ended up in a shallow ravine next to the road. There were two more shots, and I heard the sound of the horses galloping away. When I thought of being stranded out here, I could feel panic crawling through my system. Counting to ten and taking several deep breaths, I worked to beat it back. I crawled over to Nick to make sure he hadn't been hit. He said, "Are you okay? Were you hit or hurt in the fall?"

"I'm okay. I'll probably be one big bruise tomorrow and the fall knocked the wind out of me, but all the parts seem to be working."

He said, "We need to crawl farther down where the ravine gets deeper. There's a rock overhang not too far down that will protect us from above."

I began crawling, but when I glanced back at Nick I could see his grimace of pain. I stopped until he caught up, and said, "Okay, obviously you aren't fine. What aren't you telling me?"

Antique Forgery

By Eileen Harris, Mystery, 305 pages

Cover art by Richard Stroud

Magic can't resist making an appearance when antiques, forgery, murder, and betrayal come together in a small Pennsylvania town, putting Alicia and her friends in grave danger.

Excerpt:

We were nearly halfway up the stairs when I heard Lawrence groan. I turned to see what had happened. He was deathly white, and while I watched, he sank down on the closest step. He was sweating heavily and clutching his stomach. He didn't seem coherent enough to answer any questions, so I ducked into my room and called for an ambulance. They only took about ten minutes to arrive, but it was horrible to wait. Lawrence was obviously in great pain, but couldn't tell me what was wrong.

The ride to the hospital took an eternity. They wouldn't let me ride in the ambulance, and I was so afraid of what would happen before he arrived. I was shaking and behind the wheel of a car was the last place I should have been, but as the ambulance tore through the streets with the siren blaring, I was right behind them.

I ran from the parking lot into the emergency room just in time to see them take Lawrence through a set of swinging doors where I couldn't follow. I slumped into a chair, and for the next two hours I sat in a waiting room with dull green walls and hard metal chairs. I never moved while I waited. My mind was busy begging Lawrence to hold on.

Since I was the only one waiting, when I saw an exhausted-looking man dressed in scrubs walk into the room, I took a deep breath and hurried to his side.

He said, “Are you the relative who brought Lawrence Hall in tonight?”

Afraid they wouldn't tell me anything if I confessed to not being a relative, I just nodded.

“Mr. Hall is a very sick man. He's been poisoned, and we think he must have eaten poisonous mushrooms. Our tests indicate they were probably green-spored lepiota.”

Desert Shadow by Eileen Harris

Adventure, 2433pages, ebook & print
Cover art by Richard Stroud
Purchase link to Desert Shadow

We couldn't stand by while they took these children. We both had guns, but so did they, and we knew a firefight wasn't the answer. We would definitely lose, and some of the children might be hurt. I couldn't think of a single way to create a diversion that would keep us from having to confront these thugs. There were only moments left before we'd have to act. Paul and I tensed in readiness to rush out in a hopeless effort at rescue, when somewhere behind the smugglers and their charges the Shadow Wolf group rose.

Excerpt:
We could see shapes moving, and now and then a flashlight would come on for a few moments. Once again, without discussion, we rose and started working our way closer. So far we saw no sign of the Shadow Wolves. It didn't worry us, because they seemed to have mastered the art of remaining invisible. It wasn't long until we could see the smugglers weren't alone. They were leading a group of ten people toward the area where they parked their SUV. They were getting close, but we kept moving slowly in their direction.

Where were the men who had promised to "handle it?" If something didn't happen right away, they were going to be gone, and the illegals with them. We kept working our way closer and closer and before long we realized with horror that the group being led by the smugglers was all girls. If nothing else happened in the next few minutes, Paul and I were going to have to do something. We couldn't stand by while they took these children. We both had guns, but so did they and we knew a firefight wasn't the answer. We would definitely lose, and some of the children might be hurt. I couldn't think of a single way to create a diversion that would keep us from having to confront these thugs. There were only moments left before we'd have to act.

Paul and I tensed in readiness to rush out in a hopeless effort at rescue, when somewhere behind the smugglers and their charges, the Shadow Wolf group rose. The men abandoned the children and ran for cover to confront the threat. At that moment, the illegals were alone. Paul and I jumped up and ran to them. We wanted to move them away from the conflict to somewhere safe, but they were confused and resisted. I used what little Spanish I knew. They were so frightened none of my efforts had any effect.

Out of nowhere, a young boy appeared next to me and began speaking to the group in Spanish. They calmed down then and began to follow us. I thought we might get away unseen, but one of the men noticed the girls moving away. I don't think they could recognize Paul and me from that distance, but they knew someone was interfering and trying to steal their night's work. Whoever had seen us began hollering at the others, and guns started turning in our direction. When I began to be afraid that the escape attempt had failed, a wall of fog descended between us and the fight below. The boy beside me said in perfectly English, "Go now and go quickly! Those men will see only desert for a short time. They cannot see you, but you must hurry!"

Mystery in Antique Magic

Antique Magic by Eileen Harris
Mystery
260 pages
Cover art by Richard Stroud

How did the deceased owner of the old house know so much about Ali Trent, the antique dealer hired to appraise her hoarded treasures? And can she stay alive long enough to solve the mysteries of murder and magic before becoming the next victim?

Excerpt:
I don’t know how long I’d been asleep when something woke me. Trying to hear the noise again and figure out where it had come from, I lay quietly and listened. A moment later someone turned the doorknob to my room. That was the sound I’d heard. It flashed through my mind there were only a couple of choices available. I could open the door in the hope of confronting whoever was attempting to enter or I could open the window and call for Dan. My thoughts were interrupted by a glow in the room coming from the bottle. Wild patterns were swirling inside and they were all very black. I wasn’t really frightened before, but when I saw this swirling black mass, it scared me more than the thought of an intruder. There was no way to be sure Dan was completely trustworthy, but I opened the window and shouted his name several times. Immediately all activity in the bottle ceased. In a minute or two, a loud pounding began at my door and Dan hollered, “Ali, Ali, answer me! Are you all right? What’s happening?”