CONVERSATION WITH THE CHARACTERS: George Windrider Speaks

I suppose when it comes right down to it, everything that happened is my fault, but at the time, it seemed the only thing to do.

My name is George Windrider, Spirit Leader of the California Naturals and godfather to Andrea Talltrees. I remember when Andi came to live with the Talltrees, a frightened little blonde moppet of two, crying for her mother. Vicente called us all together and informed us that from now on, the child was to be considered his own and no Federation social worker was to be allowed near her! I watched Andi grow up, fall in love with Tran, give birth to Cash, and lose everything when Tran was arrested as a spy.

I knew he'd be taken to a secret intern camp. I'd been outside the Valley, had been a guard at a camp in another war, and I knew what might happen to him there. That's why I suggested Andi go to Sinbad. The Felidan and I had a history--more than even he knew--and it was a big shock to him, years later, when he actually found out why I sought him out. Never mind, that's a story for another day....

Anyway, no sooner than I had told Andi to find Sinbad, then I had second thoughts. I knew Sin hated Terrans--especially the women--and I certainly didn't want my little Andi hurt by that creature, even knowing everything about him that I did. Andi, being the hard-headed little lady she is, went anyway, found Sinbad, convinced him to help her--I never knew how--and, when Tran escaped and the Marshals came after her, Sinbad was the one who rescued her and kept her safe. I was grateful to him for that, but hated the fact that he made her break the rules of our following by taking her off-planet. We don't believe in using vehicles that fly--through either air or space, you see.

I helped watch over young Cash while his mother was gone, was overjoyed when she returned, listened anxiously while my wife, Goldie--the Naturals' midwife--agreed to deliver Sinbad's son. How I wanted to tell Andi what I knew, my secret, about children fathered by desperately ignorant young men who never knew what they'd done.... Again, I'm talking out of turn....

I was there when Cash returned with Sin and the boy and I quickly beat a hasty retreat to leave Andi and Sin alone together. I took Cash to the barn, to finish the milking but he's standing in the doorway, watching the house as if he's expecting it to explode any minute....

With those two in close proximity to each other, it just might happen!

(Sinbad's Last Voyage is the first novel in the series The Adventures of Sinbad, released as an e-book and paperback by Double Dragon Publishers. It has also been made into an audio book in abridged form by Books in Motion. Sinbad's Wife is scheduled for publication in June, 2008.)