Judith Ebner

Dreamcatcher Judith Ebner

Lindy Bradford is a precocious little girl struggling to find acceptance from her family. When her mother dies during childbirth, Lindy is left with a resentful father and bitter older brothers. As a child, Lindy finds the love she needs from the family's housekeeper, Birdie, a freed slave. Holding to the promise she made Lindy's mother upon her deathbed, Birdie convinces a compassionate ranch hand, Chancy, to give Lindy the skills she needs to protect herself from an abusive family member. As Lindy comes of age she realizes she has a birth-right to be a part of the family she was born into and refuses to settle for less. Sharing her father's love of horses and skill as a horse person, Lindy's father slowly realizes his daughter, not his sons, will follow in his footsteps. As Lindy grows up the struggle continues, for a young woman whose dream is to become a horse trainer in a small, mid-1800's town that tries to dictate a more traditional role for her. Conquering the love and acceptance of her family seems simple to Lindy when she is faced with the challenge of finding acceptance from a world run by men. When Lindy falls in love with a man she has known since childhood, a man who watched her grow into a beautiful, competent horse trainer, her joy is one day turned to sadness when he gives his heart to another woman. As Lindy learns to cope with her loss she discovers another man is falling in love with her. A man who believes horses are just a passing fancy. Knowing she can only give herself to a man who is strong enough to allow her be the woman that she is, Lindy prepares for the fight of her life.