DESTINY’S WAY: A NOVEL OF THE BIG BEND
…“Shade and water. Absentmindedly Solomon reached around for the canteen on his left side. His gloved fingers were on the snap before he consciously realized that canteen had gone dry hours ago. The hand relaxed and moved away to help again in steadying the Leupold binoculars, and he mentally admonished it for having developed a mind of its own. But the offending hand did have a valid excuse, for it was just as parched as the rest of his body. Not only had Zacatecas taken the longer route to avoid flushing his prey, he had also taken the dry one. The other canteens on his belt were as empty as the one he had touched so slightly.
As the blazing sun had climbed into the morning sky, he had gazed longingly at the small pools of water shining along Terlingua Creek. However, he dared not move to those inviting reflections on the chance of missing the arrival of his quarry. In the excitement of finally spotting them, his insistent thirst had temporarily dissipated. Now it was back with a vengeance and Bill’s splashing about in the creek bed was not helping at all.”…
These words describe a scene in the middle of a manhunt that makes for the climatic ending to my new book Destiny’s Way. They say that once you have hunted armed men, you have hunted the most dangerous big game of all. For some, the sensation is so intense that you never have a real taste for hunting much of anything else.
It is an activity that strains the physical, emotional, mental and yes, spiritual makeup of those on both sides. The link between hunter and hunted has the ability of reversing in an instant. Like a three dimensional chess match, every move is linked to other moves at different levels and sometimes unintended results. Make one real mistake and you may not only lose the game, but also your life or someone else’s.
Add lack of sleep, lack or water, extreme environmental conditions and the tactical disadvantage of being outnumbered, and the most dangerous game of all becomes an unmatched quest for mere survival.
Ben H. English
Alpine, Texas
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