Chapter 2

Despite some discomfort, he looked around as they rolled along, already intrigued by the scenery. Everything seemed so totally different from the gentle green hills of the family’s Lancastershire estate and the environs of London. All he saw appeared harsh, bright, sharp, and clean cut. Red stone poked out in bands from darker hills to the north, deep green and teal-hued shrubs or low trees squatted in ranks along the ridges. Overhead, the sky was bluer than a robin’s egg, and the sunlight seemed painfully sharp, slicing into his eyes with its intensity.

Sombra fit the landscape, Chaz decided. He was tall, two or three inches more than Chaz’s own height of a hair under six feet. The cowboy’s skin had a weathered texture and earthy tone, burnt brown by the fierce sun, although Chaz suspected where it was protected it would be as light as his own.