"Hard Winter at Broken Arrow Crossing" by Stephen Bly

[reviewsbyerin]

When cold weather comes and the holidays arrive, I find myself drawn to reread favorite books from my youth. This was especially true this year, as I ran across my copy of Stephen Bly's final book, the one that he was writing when he died and which his family finished and published for him posthumously. Up until now I hadn't been able to bring myself to read it, but this time when I saw the cover I realized I was ready for another Bly adventure. But you can't just pick up and read Book 7 in a series which you have revisited in years, so back to the beginning I went. Back to where Stuart Brannon first met the literary world.

A broken man after losing everything he held dear, Brannon leaves his Arizona ranch to accept an invitation to join his friend Charley in the Colorado goldfields. During a blizzard he stumbles into the remote stage station at Broken Arrow Crossing, which has been all but abandoned for the winter, just as a claim jumper attacks the place looking for a map to Charley's mine. His horse stolen by the less than scrupulous fellow, Brannon finds himself a stranded nursemaid to old propsector and station manager Everett Davis, who was injured in the conflict. Davis informs him that Charley has died after spreading word around the area that he had struck it rich. With no way out of the mountains, Brannon settles in for what he figures will be a quiet winter at the station.

He couldn't have been more wrong. On Christmas Eve a pregnant Indian girl finds herself on their doorstep, having run away from the man who mistreated her. Soon her baby arrives, bringing both hope and reflection to the isolated cabin. Just a few days later their world is again interrupted, this time by a group who was traveling through the area in hopes of being the first settlers in a goldfield community. As they were dangerously turned around during the snowstorms, Brannon must help locate and recover all members of the party. It won't be easy, as there is an Indian hunting party nearby, as well as a gang of outlaw brothers who are also seeking to find the gold mine.

While fighting for the survival of the whole ragtag group, Stuart struggles to come to terms with his own past and the way he feels about God. Having always kept his distance from the Almighty, especially after the tragedies in Arizona, Brannon finds it hard to believe that God could truly care about him and the others stranded at Broken Arrow Crossing. As the long winter unfolds into an early spring showdown, Brannon's understanding of an all-wise, merciful God is opened.

It's a joy to revisit this series, first published in the early 1990s by Crossway and reprinted by Greenbrier in 2012. I can still hear my father's voice reading these books aloud to my siblings and me many years ago. Stuart Brannon is an old friend and it feels good to be back in the saddle with him again!