The Lady in White
Book 7 of the Mogi Franklin Mysteries

Donald Willerton

Paperback:
Perfect bound, xxx pages , 5.5" x 8.5" 
ISBN 978-1-938288-43-2
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Ebook coming soon

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About the Book

In The Lady in White, Mogi is working as a cowboy over the summer vacation on one of the largest ranches in New Mexico when hundreds of cattle start mysteriously dying there. Trying to understand the cause, he finds himself embroiled in the life of a boy who was kidnapped by Comanche Indians in 1871. In this seventh book of the exciting Mogi Franklin Mysteries, Mogi comes face-to-face with the ghost of the boy's mother, and must face the reality of the past to save the ranch from the enemies of the present.

Preview

Mogi turned his horse towards the man in the distance, gave more rein, leaned forward slightly, and lightly touched his spurs to the horse's flanks.

The man turned and rode away, slowly at first but then at a fast lope. Mogi judged how fast to run his horse to keep up. It was surprising; usually other riders would wait for you to join them.

The country was rough but familiar. They were headed for the S curves of the Canadian River. For pushing his horse as hard as he was, Mogi had not gotten any closer but watched as the rider ahead sailed over the ground ahead of him. 

It suddenly occurred to Mogi why the way the man sat on his horse seemed to be different–he had no saddle. That was strange enough but as the man drew close to the river, he had slowed to follow the winding trail and Mogi had a clearer view. 

Whoa. 

Mogi was looking at an Indian. Not an Indian like today, but from a hundred and fifty years ago. Cheesy western movies had them made up like clowns, but Mogi had seen the paintings of Remington and Russell, and this man looked like he had just stepped out of one of their pictures.

The man turned and his horse jumped to a gallop. Mogi shivered in his saddle, then spurred his horse on.

The trail was not well-traveled and not well-suited to a horse, but the man kept pushing ahead and Mogi followed as best he could.

Up, up, then to a side canyon, then up more, threading their way between boulders, outcroppings, and juniper trees. The trail was now not much more than a faint path. The Indian knew the way, still distant enough from Mogi for him to not even consider yelling or shouting at the man.

Mogi couldn't follow at the same speed and would lose sight of the man, then finish a section of the trail and find the man ahead, waiting.

Around two more curves and through a hardly-seen opening in an oak thicket, Mogi rode over a rocky ridge into a patchy forest of pine trees. 

He was on top of the mesa. He had not focused on anything behind him but now looked out across the huge canyon of the wilderness. It consumed the horizon.

He brought the horse to a walk, letting him rest from the effort of the last few minutes, and looked for the man who had brought him here.

There was nothing ahead of him. The Indian on the horse was gone.

About the Author

Donald Willerton was raised in a small oil boomtown in the Panhandle of Texas, becoming familiar through family vacations with the northern New Mexico area where he now makes his home.

After earning a degree in physics from Midwestern State University in Texas and a master’s in computer science and electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico, he worked for Los Alamos National Laboratory for almost three decades. 

During his career there, Willerton was a supercomputer programmer for a number of years and a manager after that for “way too long,” and also worked on information policy and cyber-security.

He finds focusing on only one thing very difficult among such varied interests as home building, climbing Colorado’s tallest peaks, and rafting the rivers of the Southwest (including the Colorado through Grand Canyon). Willerton also has owned a handyman business for a number of years, rebuilt old cars, and made furniture in his woodshop.

He is a wanderer in both mind and body, fascinated with history and its landscape, varied peoples and their cultures, good mysteries, secrets, and seeking out treasure. Most of all, he loves the outdoors and the places he finds in the Southwest where spirits live and ghosts dance. Weaving it all together to share with readers has been the driving force of Willerton’s writing over the past twenty years.


About The Mogi Franklin Mysteries

Mogi Franklin is a typical eighth-grader–except for the mysterious things that keep happening in his life. And the adventures they lead to as he and his sister, Jennifer, follow Mogi's unique problem-solving skills–along with dangerous clues from history and the world around them–to unearth a treasure of unexpected secrets.

The Lady in White is the seventh novel in the nine-book Mogi Franklin series of Southwest-based mysteries for middle-grade boys and girls.

Also available:
Ghosts of the
​San Juan
The Lost Children
The Secret of La Rosa
The Hidden River
The Lake of Fire
​Outlaw
The Captain's Chest
​River of Gold