Val Goldenbrook

Travels with Tara Val Goldenbrook

The author's third novella is a story of awakening. A young runaway named Shiloh sets out on a life adventure. Her traveling companion is a wild dog named Tara. Shiloh and Tara spend four years roaming gypsy-like and hitchiking from state to state. As she crosses the threshold of adolescence she confronts sadistic sexual exploits, armed robbery with an escaped convict, an old man's kindness and indulgence, a lifeline thrown by a poor girl, and an older woman's loving support. On turning eighteen Shiloh loses her fear of being apprehended as a runaway. Now a legal adult living on Martha's Vineyard (Massachusetts) three thousand miles from California. Feeling safe she contacts a former school frined only to learn that her beloved grandmother died. Grandmother Cora left Shiloh claims to gold mines in California. In the second half of the story Shiloh and Tara return to California in an old VW bus to claim her inheritance. Their adventures include a murder, a shocking environmental tragedy, and romance.