A novel-length dispatch from a futuristic elseworld at the junction of country music, utopia, adventure, and sheer gothic atmosphere.

Read it all at my #blog: https://www.adamasnemesis.com/2026/05/22/orphans-of-opry-tower/

#scifi #sciencefiction #books #novel #alternatehistory #gothic #story

Passing To Freedom, Chapter 50: Truth, or Lies?

Chapter 50

We celebrated as we laid our final plans to leave Philadelphia, recalling that even if the Senator chose to obey the order to go back to Virginia, we were far from free.

Courageous Red had insisted on accompanying us for the first half day’s ride out of the city. Someone lent me a good bay mare. She was young and a little skittish, but I was able to handle her. Anna rode with young Tilly on Captain, Tilly preferring to hold on to Anna from behind, rather than risk being near the pommel again.

We had trotted for nearly an hour, Red taking the lead, as he planned to circle around in a meandering path out of the way while heading back, so as to help confuse any trackers trying to follow us.

He suddenly kicked his horse into a run, Captain and my bay following almost automatically. Courageous Red was the first to go down. I saw him falling from his horse before I even heard the fatal gunshot, and then his horse was gone, my fear crazed bay snorting and skipping, then bolting at the sound of the next gunshot.

I heard the sound as I saw the world spin around, while I thought I saw…

Tilly!

No, not her!

I opened my eyes to a blur of red hair, matted with blood, lying only a few feet away from me.

Anna had charged. Captain reared, throwing little Tilly, and then proceeded to run down the man standing in his path. But then, he had been shot, and the valiant horse now lay on top of Anna.

Both were motionless.

My bay was also unmoving.

I found myself being dragged roughly to my feet, my arm screaming in protest. I grit my teeth and managed not to vomit.

It was a dark brown face, eyes black, darting about, and mouth quivering, that looked at mine. In the growing gloom it was getting harder to see, but his voice was sickeningly familiar.

“I’m sorry, Miss. So sorry. But I had to do it, I had to.”

It was our old friend, Farmer Brown. He had been the one, I could now see it replaying in my mind’s eye, who had stepped in front of us, dashing in front of Captain on the narrow path so suddenly that he’d seemed more intent on committing suicide than this second betrayal.

“You got no knife or nothing like that on you, do you Miss? I don’t want to have to search you.”

I was shocked that he would still bother with manners at a time like this. I could only glare at him.

“You a healer, Miss, you ain’t no murderer, I know it.”

I tried to give him a look that might make him think otherwise, hoping he would let me go, but he shook his head, whispering

“Won’t help no way. You just hang while I be free.”

I stared at him, my head snapping back for a moment, as he nodded, affirming,

“Um hum. I’d be the one get free, really free, at long last. Even if you kill yo master, all them other slaves back there, they get sold one by one, taken away, no more family, no friends, all for his damned debts.”

His debts, whose debts, the Senator’s debts? But how did this man, unlettered as he was, know about that?

“How do you-”

“Oh, I hears things. Everybody, for that matter, done heard about it, now. You done gone and made a right nice mess for that big ole white man.”

Then I remembered the grapevine. If his debts were that well known, it would be a serious problem for the Senator. Something I could use.

But this one, this Farmer Brown, here, debt had nothing to do with.

“But why little Tilly,” I demanded.

Mr. Brown had gone still, hanging his head, even starting to tremble:

“I got myself free from old Master Tibbet when that little thing was just starting to walk. Now, that bounty hunter, the colored slave catcher, comes to me and tell me that the master knows where I been living these last few years, like as if I was free, and this free issue slave catcher aims to bring me back to him, in chains. Except for one thing. The master willin’ to make a deal with me.”

“Why?”

“’cause he wants little Tilly there back more than he want old me. So, he tells me that if I was to take him to where that little gal was hiding, and on the way, tell him everything I know about them thieves that stole her, then he would give me my freedom.”

I was trembling, with rage: “You treacherous fool. Do you really think he will give you your freedom?”

“Yes’m. Give it to me, no whips, no chains, not even no workin’ for years to save up and buy my freedom. Me free, for free. And they was bound to find that young’un anyway. So, what was I supposed to do? You tell me, miss, you tell me.”

“Not this.” I started to pull away, but stopped short, barely controlling the pain in my arm. “You know better.”

He simply ignored me. “I don’t wish none of y’all no harm, but a man got to look out for himself, too, don’t he?”

So, then, our Farmer Brown here, had made a deal with the devil to save his body, if not his soul.

***

Passing to Freedom: Willow and Weems …

a historical novel by D. Antonia Jones, aka Nia or Ni,

fka Shira Destinie Jones

#WordWeavers May 22. If your MC came with a warning label, what would it be?

In Nathan’s case, loveable rogue that he is, it would be something along the lines of, “Don’t believe a single word that comes out of his mouth and when you’ve just shaken hands on a deal with him, always remember to count your fingers afterwards.”

#bookstodon #WritersOfMastodon #onthisday #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

New chapter of Charlotte is up.

The morning after the party should have been easy—pancakes, coffee, a little afterglow. Instead it turned into a slow slide toward the one sentence Tom never expected to hear:

“Thomas… we already did this.”

If you’ve been following the story, this is the chapter where the fault line finally moves.

#fiction #writing #amwriting #serialfiction #novel #Charlotte

https://open.substack.com/pub/charlottethenovel/p/save-the-last-dance?r=6v9b6f&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Thanatos

I wanted to create Thanatos studying magic or at least reading something i don't know lol

Drawing & edit by me!