The train whistle shrilled, and within a minute, we were underway. The tracks east of Fallow were still blocked by wreckage. In addition to the exploded boiler, we’d set the boxcars alight, reducing the infected corn to ash and smoke. Whyborne and Niles had exchanged a series of telegrams; to say Niles wasn’t pleased by the loss of an engine and the repairs needed to his rail line would be something of an understatement.
As a result of the blockage, we headed southwest to Colby, where we could again begin to make our way east and back to Widdershins.
Back to home.
“Could you pour us drinks, please?” I asked the porter, once Fallow had fallen behind us and we were on the open plains. “And leave us for a short while?”
Everyone else looked at me curiously, but the porter only nodded and did as asked. When we were alone again, I rose to my feet and held up my glass. I let my gaze linger on my companions, each one in turn. Iskander, every bit as much a brother to me as Jack. Christine, who never hesitated to charge forward in our defense, whether the enemy we faced was otherworldly or simply society itself.
And my Ival, of course. Tired lines still showed around his eyes, but the sense of pain, of a burden carried in silence since July, was gone now.
“A toast,” I said, “to us. Whatever forces brought us together, we chose one another. You are my true family, and I love you all more than I can say.”
We clinked glasses. “Same here,” Christine said, and punched Whyborne on the arm.
“Ow! Why are you hitting me?” he demanded, rubbing at the spot.
“Because you were closer,” she replied with a shrug.
Then she hugged me, and after a moment, Iskander did as well. Ival slid his arms around us all, and we stood in a knot for a long time, heads together. Just breathing, while the train hurtled on, leaving the past and all its pain behind.
The adventures of Whyborne, Griffin, and their friends will continue in Draakenwood, coming 2017.
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End of Book Note
This was a hard book to write.
Let me rewind. All of Griffin’s books have been difficult. Stormhaven and Hoarfrost also gave me fits. Griffin has a lot of baggage; he’s way more screwed up than Whyborne has ever been. I knew from book one on that I wanted to bring Griffin back to Kansas eventually, to reconcile with himself if not his parents. I hope I’ve achieved that here.
If, like Griffin, you are a true denizen of Widdershins, you can join your fellow citizens in my Facebook group, Widdershins Knows Its Own.
Inspiration for the fallow place came from the Devil’s Tramping Ground in North Carolina. The tramping ground is a rough circle where nothing grows; local legend claims that’s where the devil comes to pace every night while mulling over his nefarious plans. I’ve never seen the site for myself, but the images online suggest reality isn’t quite as impressive as the myth.
Kansas achieved statehood as a free state only after clashes between abolitionists and slave holders earned it the moniker “Bleeding Kansas.” After the civil war, it became one of the primary states where African Americans sought refuge after escaping the south (Exodusters by Nell Irvin Painter is a great resource for anyone looking for more information). Rural schools weren’t segregated, and high schools even in cities weren’t segregated until 1905. In a time when many states had or were adopting anti-miscegenation laws, interracial marriage remained legal, and has done so throughout Kansas history.
Kansas was also ahead of much of the country in the area of women’s rights. Women’s suffrage was considered a matter for the states, resulting in piecemeal laws where women in one state might be allowed to vote in school board elections but no others, women in the next might vote on any state-level elections, and women in the next couldn’t vote at all. (If this sounds familiar, it’s because it is. We’ve been through the same damned mess with everything from anti-miscegenation laws to modern marriage equality.) By 1901, Kansas cities had elected sixteen female mayors, and women held other local government offices as well. Additionally, Kansas women could own and inherit property, retain custody of their children, and file for divorce (by some estimates as many as 8% of marriages ended in divorce by 1900, usually for reason of abandonment).
Before beginning Fallow, I’d never before heard of the concept of the poor farm. In the early planning stages, I was in the midst of picking a location for my fictional town. To my delight, I was able to download a high quality scan of a 1901 atlas of Norton County, KS. As I glanced over the map, I was surprised to see one of the lots marked “Norton County Poor Farm.” Clearly, this was something I had to investigate.
In general, there’s a dearth of information about the poor farms, especially when compared to their urban counterparts, the workhouses. But in an era when much of the nation’s population still lived in rural areas, some solution was needed to take care of the poor, disabled, or mentally unwell, and county poor farms were not at all uncommon, even if little scholarship has been done on them thus far. It was a fascinating piece of almost-forgotten history, and I was delighted to share some small part of it here.
Other books from Jordan L. Hawk:
Hainted
Whyborne & Griffin:
Widdershins
Threshold
Stormhaven
Necropolis
Bloodline
Hoarfrost
Maelstrom
Fallow
Hexworld
“The 13th Hex” (prequel short story)
Hexbreaker
Hexmaker (forthcoming)
Spirits:
Restless Spirits
Dangerous Spirits
SPECTR
Hunter of Demons
Master of Ghouls
Reaper of Souls
Eater of Lives
Destroyer of Worlds
Summoner of Storms
Mocker of Ravens
Dancer of Death
Short stories:
Heart of the Dragon
After the Fall (in the Allegories of the Tarot anthology)
Eidolon (A Whyborne & Griffin short story)
Remnant, written with KJ Charles (A Whyborne & Griffin / Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal story)
Carousel (A Whyborne & Griffin short story)
About The Author
Jordan L. Hawk grew up in North Carolina and forgot to ever leave. Childhood tales of mountain ghosts and mysterious creatures gave her a life-long love of things that go bump in the night. When she isn’t writing, she brews her own beer and tries to keep her cats from destroying the house. Her best-selling Whyborne & Griffin series (beginning with Widdershins) can be found in print, ebook, and audiobook.
If you’re interested in receiving Jordan’s newsletter and being the first to know when new books are released, plus getting sneak peeks at upcoming novels, please sign up at her website: http://www.jordanlhawk.com.
Find Jordan online:
http://www.jordanlhawk.com
https://twitter.com/jordanlhawk
https://www.facebook.com/jordanlhawk
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