Margaret S Ward

Ring of Feathers Margaret S Ward

Ring of Feathers focuses on Sherri Foret, a 40-something widow whose husband was killed by rebels in Bogota. She now is moving from what had been their family home in Lafayette, LA, to a new home she is building in the small and closely-knit community, Woodsand Lake. The owner of the land there, Mike, is someone she had worked with on a restoration project on an 1890s plantation several years earlier. She has always admired his woodworking skills and asks him if he would build the home she designed for herself. He agrees, and she becomes close to him and his son, Ian. Ian competes in barrel races with his Appaloosa and talks Sherri into considering getting a horse for herself so they can ride together. After researching breeds, she decides she would like a Westphalian warmblood but the prices on them is more than the amount she thought she might spend. She attends horse auctions to see what horses are available nearby and at what price. Before the actual auctions, she looks closely at the horses in the corral and seems to have a knack for communicating with them without words. Some are heard to refer to her as a "horse whisperer." Her good friend, Anne, calls from New Orleans and asks if they can meet there for a catch-up talk since she had just returned from a month-long transoceanic cruise and was leaving the next day for shorter trip to Alaska. She has much news to share during their visit. Back at home, Sherri sets up an owl shelter on part of her three acres of land. Her friend Mike built houses for the owls who arrived in good health. For those who were brought by people who had found them injured, she and a veterinarian neighbor designed and built a chicken-wired infirmary where they were treated. The owls periodically leave feathers for her which she collects and ultimately creates a design based on rings of these feathers which she and her family learn are symbols of their guardianship by these owls.