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by Katlyn Bates (Author)
Her sixteenth birthday looming, Seattle urbanite Charley Kensey recklessly invites herself to her Pap's West Texas sheep ranch, a man she's never met, a man her mother has always distanced her from. If her dad were still around he could've stopped her. Her mom can't.
Pap is a hard and difficult man, and the Llano Estacado-the Texas Staked Plains-is every bit as hostile. Charley would turn right around and go home except for the mysterious horse that shows up on the ranch. Things quickly spiral out of control when Pap vows to shoot the blind animal she believes came to the ranch to be hers. Now she can't leave-she must stand in the way of Pap's bullet!
Against Pap's orders, Charley turns to local veterinarian, Dr. Ben, for information about the horse, but his harmless reminiscing of her mom dismantles everything Charley thought she knew about her family when he portrays a mother she doesn't even recognize, and innocently exposes the secret that split her family apart. Charley is the only clueless party: "Everybody in Quitaque knows your mother's business," affirms veterinarian summer assistant, cowboy-crush Brett Littleton. Except for Brett, the summer would be lost.
When Pap's savage anger turns violent, Charley and her horse bolt for the open plains, and flees for the very place she's been warned not to go.
Nightflower of Comanche Mound is a contemporary action-adventure thriller steeped in conflict, tension, and family dysfunction between three generations. It placed Finalist at the 2022 Writers League of Texas Conference in the Action-Adventure category.
