Jane Catherine Rozek

What will a woman do for the man she loves! Travel three days by tractor and wagon to homestead in the Canadian wild country. Here's a scary excerpt for you from Chapter 5, book 3 in the Spirit Quest Series: 😟

"Kate knew the load was heavy because when Dave started up the tractor to pull the wagon forward, the hitch made a loud clunking sound. Still, they made it to Johnsons that night with no trouble and slept in the barn again, taking off early on the second day. It wasn’t until they rumbled through a couple of small creeks and started up a steep hillside that they ran into trouble. The rocky wagon trail cut a narrow swath across it with a dark forested ravine below. The woods were quiet when the sun slipped behind a cloud, and Dave stopped the tractor.
“You guys wait here until I get this load to the top,” he said.
Kate and her young stepson, David Dale, climbed off the wagon to lighten the load. At five months pregnant, she needed to stretch anyway. Kate slathered more mosquito dope on both of them, but it didn’t keep the tiny black flies from crawling up into hairlines and under the cuffs of their sleeves. She watched as her husband inched the tractor and wagon up the steep rocky slope. It looked like a twenty percent incline, and the engine shook with the effort. When the tractor’s front wheels reared up off the ground, Kate screamed.
“Dave, stop! It’s too much weight.” Visions of the tractor flipping over backward and Dave sailing off into the air petrified her. It had happened to Dave’s friend Mickey. He’d gunned his tractor in a thick mud bog, and it flipped over and pinned him under the steering wheel. His two sons were with him and had to watch as the life of their father flowed out of his body. Dave bought their homestead lease from his widow afterward. Things like that happened out in the wild country of BC, and risks always had to be weighed.
“Nah, I think I’ll be okay,” Dave chugged his way upward until he came to a hump in the road that left the front tires shuddering in mid-air. Slamming the brakes down hard, he held the tractor from slipping backward on the dirt incline.
“What now?” Kate yelled, her voice echoing off the thick forest above them.
“Dang it! I should have filled the front barrel with water at the last creek for ballast. Forgot this hill was coming up so soon.” Welding the old diesel barrel on a framework in front of the tractor engine had been for that very purpose.
“Are you going to go back and fill it now?” Kate asked.
“I’m already a quarter of the way up. I just need a little more weight out in front of the tractor.” He growled out his frustration. “David Dale, come and stand on the front frame and help balance the load.”
“No. No!” Kate yelled. “David, you will not go to help your dad. You’ll wait right here until we’re safe at the top.” Kate wasn’t going to let their eight-year-old do something so scary and foolish. She’d get on that contraption herself.
She walked up to where her husband was stopped. “Are you sure it’ll be safe?” she asked.
“I think so. You’ve got to learn to trust me,” Dave said.
Kate climbed up to stand on the corners of the frame facing Dave at the wheel, and held onto the top of the large rusty barrel. Dave put the tractor in first gear and inched forward again to climb the hill. Even with Kate’s weight, the front wheels skimmed the ground, lifting up from the road an inch or two every so often.
Kate kept her eyes pinned on each of the tractor’s front tires, and every time a rock stuck up from the surface, she held her breath as the wheels crept over it. She had to lean away from the barrel to put her weight out in front as far as possible. But then the tractor tilted and rose almost two feet up in the air, trembling.
Kate screamed in terror again. “Stop the tractor!” She leaned farther out over the road in front, hanging on for dear life.
Dave didn’t say a word. He looked wild-eyed and desperate until the front wheels fell to the ground again. Still, he kept pressing on up the hill.
“Dave, please stop. I’m scared,” she pleaded in a small, urgent voice.
“I can’t stop, Kate,” he said vehemently. “The weight will flip the tractor and send us both tumbling down the bank.”
Everything in her told her to jump off and save herself. Damn. Hanging on like Spiderman was the epitome of stupidity. But if she jumped off, could she bear to watch the tractor flip over and maybe kill her husband while his son witnessed the crucial moment? He’d blame her for his father’s death. She was caught between the needs of everyone. Then she remembered the unborn child in her belly. She had no choice but to stay on and hold her breath every time a front tire crept over a rock on that hill.
The tractor quivered from Dave’s slow, careful acceleration while Kate mumbled. God help us, please... Don’t let us die. Don’t let David Dale be left all alone.
Glancing backward, Kate saw they were three-quarters up the hill. She breathed in. Breathed out. Gripped tight. Leaned out. Dave’s eyes pierced hers with intensity. Was he mortified with the danger he’d placed her in, beseeching her even now to forgive him? He was trapped in the moment too, and there was no stopping the reality of what was happening.
Minute by minute passed by. The tractor chugged upward foot by foot, still lifting off the ground every so often. Kate’s stretched-out arms ached until the road below her finally seemed to level out. She pulled herself up closer to the barrel.
When the tractor and wagon rolled onto flat ground, Dave stopped the engine. He climbed down and tried to take Kate in his arms to comfort her. But she fled. No touch from him was going to console her. Instead, she ran ahead to distance herself from the terror and the single-minded drive of a man with a goal. She held her tummy as she ran and talked to the baby in her womb. It’s okay. You’re safe. It’s just you and me now and I’ll take care of you, somehow.
Her heart pounded. Her stomach wanted to heave from the adrenaline flowing through her veins. Dark, bitter thoughts thundered around in her head. How could Dave risk my life and our unborn baby like this and still love me? Do I love him? How much does a woman do for the love of a man?
As Kate walked along the dusty road, thick spruce trees formed a scented green tunnel above her. Roots crept up from the forest floor to support her. Treetops swayed gloriously in the sunlit sky, their branches filtering sparkles of light down upon her. But Kate hardly saw any of this as she stormed down the road. She didn’t hear the birds chirp or the chipmunks chatter, only the sound of the mechanical tractor coming up behind her. She kept out of Dave’s sight. She’d let him worry about something besides his bloody freight...."

Can you feel the silence, smell the moss? Here is the cover image for my third standalone novel in the Spirit Quest series, WILDERNESS COURAGE (Read the first chapter on Amazon!) This book won 1st prize in the Canadian Word Guild for life stories, a shining testament to the power of perseverance!!

I've learned a lot after writing 4 books about my off-the-grid wilderness life... You can too by reading them!

I hope you are in a happy chapter! If you're not, remember the sun still shines above the clouds.

Happy Easter weekend everyone!
Good Friday commemorates when Jesus died and was buried in a tomb. Easter arrives a few days later to celebrate when he rose from the grave and return to the Father in the heavens. Let’s explore the profound meaning of Good Friday and Easter, and discover the spiritual inheritance promised to us by Jesus. If we believe Jesus Christ lived and died on earth for us, we observe these holidays. But have you taken the time to read his celestial Will?

You know, when people pass on, they leave a WILL so family and friends can inherit their wealth and the things they valued? I think Jesus even mentioned you in his Will!

What if it were a celestially written will? Maybe the purpose of his death was so his will would be executed and our inheritance could be released. After all, someone has to die for an inheritance to be given. -Excerpt from my book: The Celestial Proposal, Chapter 5, Our Celestial Hero.

Before he suffered death on the cross he told us what our inheritance would be! After physically leaving our planet he promised to send something back for each of us. What was it?

"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." John 14:26

SPIRIT. Holy powerful Spirit. No wonder everybody today wants to be spiritual now days! It’s going to change our world. More and more people are growing spiritually-minded and basing their everyday actions on higher celestial principles. Like love, honesty, integrity, goodwill….

Yes, I know. Maybe you’re like me. We kind of cringe when people call us religious, but we’re proud to say we are spiritual. Isn’t that interesting?

Did you know that Jesus was known as the ‘Christ?’ That word means having a source of metaphysical power. He was empowered to do the miracles that were witnessed by masses of people. Christ was NOT his last name! That same metaphysical power is the gift that he gave to us in his WILL!

This powerful gift can live in you too. Because he gave his life for us. He loves us. We just have to make the time to (
1) read his will,
(2) accept our inheritance,
(3) align to his standards, and
(4) grow Spiritual maturity! And that inheritance is for everyone!

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

After we accept his love and the Holy Spirit into our hearts, he will give us metaphysical power too! He stated it very clearly with these words:

"Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. " John 16:23

WOW! What a rich inheritance that can be! I hope Good Friday is a solemn day for you and that you’ll take time to click the links and read about the WILL of Jesus.

This Easter is worthy of celebrating!
♥ From my heart to yours, Jane Catherine

’sSacrifice

More explanations in THE CELESTIAL PROPOSAL!
This dynamic book by the author will show you how to align with God, download his Spirit, and build a powerful faith, strong enough to change your personal world! Check out the many 5 star reviews, read the first chapter, and order this thought provoking book on Amazon!
Books of Life Publishing House,

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What are you doing tomorrow afternoon from 2-5:00?? Here's an invitation to all my friends and fans in the Kelowna area! Free admission to a book fair at the prestigious GRIZZLI WINERY! All 3 of my 🥇autobiographical novels in the SPIRIT QUEST SERIES will be on display for sale. Also, you get a chance to look over my ✴award winning nonfiction book THE CELESTIAL PROPOSAL, a powerful guide for the spiritually curious! Plus, enter to win a FREE book! 📚✴️

I'm thrilled to announce that I'm listed in the BC BookWorld, Canada's largest-circulation independent publication about books! To be featured alongside so many talented authors and book lovers, I'm honoured and grateful for the opportunity to share my work with their massive audience. 📚🎉

Hey! I love a good romance... but with depth and authenticity! My books are for women of faith who crave stories that go beyond surface level romance. Read the first chapters and 5* reviews on Amazon!

Ho Ho Ho! Happy Holidays!
My novel Innocence Derailed is now FREE on Kindle Unlimited until February 10th if you subscribe, and just a few dollars for the ebook for your laptop. That's instant delivery to curl up on the couch for the Christmas Season!