FOREWORD

The Courir de Mardi Gras or Mardi Gras Ride is a country custom of the Cajun prairies and takes the place of fancy parades, floats, and balls found in the cities of Louisiana. Lately, I have seen the event referred to as the Courir du Mardi Gras as being more proper French, but Cajun French has never been proper French, so I will stick to the way I first heard of it.

On Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent begins, costumed riders gallop from house to house begging for the ingredients to make a communal gumbo: a bag of rice, a pound of sausage, a sack of onions or flour, and best of all, a live chicken that is tossed into the air to be chased down by the members of the ride. This form of celebrating Mardi Gras harkens back to the Middle Ages when revelers went from door to door seeking coins or small gifts of food and entertained with songs and stunts. Needless to say, much of the revelry is of the drunken variety, though in today’s world this has been toned down as entire busloads of tourists follow the riders on their course.

Courir de Mardi Gras is my third book with a Mardi Gras theme. This theme and the locale of Cajun Country is all that loosely connects them. Sometimes characters from one story will make a brief appearance in another tale, but mostly, the stories stand alone. Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball explored the meaning of the formal Mardi Gras celebrations of the past. Mardi Gras Madness portrayed a small town Mardi Gras. Now, we come to a country party with Courir de Mardi Gras.

Whatever the location, the masks and mystique of Mardi Gras lead to a turning of the plot—a brief affair, a hasty marriage, an abduction of a pretty woman. Anything can happen on Mardi Gras day, and often does. Enjoy the celebration!