Clara's Crusade

By: C.J. Petit

Narrated by: Michael Alan White

Clara was angrier than she’d ever been before. But even her fury took second place to her deep frustration. They’d murdered her first husband as a warning to the others. Then six months later, after she’d convinced her second husband to join her crusade against the town’s corruption, he’d been shot in the head to put an end to her editorials. They thought she’d pack up and leave Cottonwood, but she refused to give up or back down. Two weeks ago, Clara had wired the Arizona territorial governor in Prescott, hoping he would send help. But now, those hopes were gone. She hadn’t even received a telegraphed dismissal of her request. Adding to her frustration was her printer’s refusal to let her continue her crusade. If she’d been able to set type and use the printing press, she could still write her accusatory editorials. She felt trapped, and her newspaper’s circulation was less than half of what it had been just two weeks earlier. As she stared at the cold steel printing press, Clara wished she knew how to use a gun. It may be the only way she could continue the fight as no one else seemed to care and there was no help on the way.

©2022 Lauren M Petit (P)2025 Lauren M Petit

Fighting a bully

I just finished reading “Clara’s Crusade” by C. J. Petit. Mr. Petit was a gifted storyteller, and over the past few years I have enjoyed reading many of his books. His personal story has always interested me as well. Not long after retiring from the Air Force he was diagnosed with cancer and during treatment he began writing simply for his own benefit. He never expected anyone else to read his stories, but his daughter encouraged him to self publish them on Amazon at a time when he did not have the energy to edit them. The lack of editing has been a frequent complaint in reviews, yet I read his work through audiobooks and have not noticed those issues because the narrator, Michael Alan White, handles the text so well. White continues to do extraordinary work bringing these stories to life.
I have loved westerns since childhood, and it is unfortunate that so few new authors are writing in this genre today. Petit filled that gap with heart and sincerity.
In this story Clara and her husband run a small newspaper in an Arizona town in the late 1800s. Their reporting challenges a bully sheriff and a corrupt mayor, and the conflict leads to the death of her husband. Clara refuses to back down, and her determination drives the story forward with the kind of strength and moral clarity Petit often gave his characters.