Characters of the Nan's Heritage Series.
Nan
I am Nan and named after my Ma. Her name was Nancy. It has been difficult since her death. It could be said that the difficulty began when Pa died after the logging accident. Our idyllic life ended that dark day. Today was filled with worry. My step-mother has been riding little Elmer over ever little thing. She is a harsh woman. She better not take a hand to my little brother. He is only five and can't do all the chores she expects. I am so frustrated I don't know what to do. I have taken many beatings, but if she touches Elmer...What! What will I do? How can I protect him? I finished the dishes and spread the dish rag on the basin. Stretching the kinks out of my back I look out the window to see where he is. I see his white/blond head just across the farm yard. He is okay. I step across the board floor of the porch and sit down on the top step and contemplate. Why do I tolerate the beatings? Why don't I say no more to it? It must be that Elmer is so young. Mary Dewy can do what she will to me, but she better not touch one hair of Elmer's head!
Fred
I am Fred Young. As a youngster I had a happy life. My mother and father were the best there was. I married young and married well. My wife, Claire, was everything a good wife should be. We added a baby girl to our family and all was well.
I went to Bible College and felt the call of God on my life. I was blessed to be accepted to the position of pastor at a small church in my hometown. Everything went well. Our church was growing and I knew that I was reaching the people God intended me to reach.
One Sunday everything changed. My wife and daughter joined me as we found our way to the top of a mountain near Silverton, Colorado. We built a cabin and raised chickens. I ran a trap line and we built a life there. Things happened there and I became bitter.
The bitterness changed me. I became a man that no one recognized from my former days. My life changed so I changed. There is no way that I will allow myself to go back to the man I used to be.
Elk
My childhood was a mixture of joy and pain. The parents that raised me were amazing. They taught me honor and respect. Some of the other members of the tribe did not accept me. Those were painful times for me. I found myself being a Ute Indian in the body of a White man. I never seemed to fit in. All the stuggle was worth it when Morning Song told me that she would be my wife.
I traveled with the Wagon Trains as a guide to earn enough money for the many horses her father required for his daughter. I was successful in procuring the horses and I am ready to make her my bride.
On my way back to the village, God urged me to go to the cabin of an inexperienced family at the brink of starvation. I taught them many things about survival in this untamed land. I am worried about the oldest of the children, Miranda. She is suffering from a grief so deep that she may not recover. Maybe if she sees hope for her family, she will recover.
