Day Ten Word count 48,088

I am finished with Chapter 20. I still have five chapters to go for the planned end of my novel. I am excited to realize that I will exceed my word count by more than just a hundred words that I planed for a cushion.

I have been working hard and putting in a lot of long hours. My book is just about to reach its climax and I can feel the tension rise in the story line.

A small excerpt Chapter 20.

Nate was almost home. He was bone weary and still did not know how to tell Cynthia about the squaw. She was more help on the trail that he would have thought. He was afraid that she would be a burden but he should have known better. Teka never was.

When he woke up the next morning Teka was sitting beside him.

“Why didn’t you wake me up when you got here?” Nate sat up and stretched. He smelled breakfast cooking. Smelled like fish.

“She said you did not make camp until well after dark. I was waiting until you woke up,” Teka said. “She told me what happened to you. I am happy my tribe is not dead.”

Nate was rubbing his face with his hands. “Let’s have a cup of coffee.”

The sat next to the fire. Nate was warming his hands. “Are you thinking of going back to the tribe?”

“No,” Teka said. “My family is my tribe now. May and the children would not adjust to my old way of life. I don’t think I would either.”

Nate nodded. He understood. He could not go home again. He was happy in his new life so he did not mourn that life anymore.