Lori Copeland by Roses Will Bloom Again (epub)

Author:Roses Will Bloom Again (epub)
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mission Books
Published: 2013-03-12T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Yawning, Emma dragged toward the kitchen Friday morning, half awake. Nightmares had wakened her twice. Once she got up and shook out the sheets and blankets to make sure no spiders found their way into her bed; then she totally remade the bed at three o’clock in the morning. And at five thirty.

Her slippers flapped against the cold floor as she pushed through the swinging door. She mechanically spooned coffee into the filter basket, then lifted the stainless-steel percolator and turned on the water faucet.

Oink.

Hmmm? A sound slowly began to penetrate her murky brain.

Oink.

Oink. Oink.

Not believing what she heard, Emma turned slowly while still holding the pot under the stream of cold water. Her eyes widened. Two gigantic sows were poking their heads out of the pantry.

Oink, oink. Snort.

Emma’s jaw dropped. She shut her eyes, and then quickly opened them again. She was still asleep—the nightmares continued. The biggest sow—eighteen hundred pounds if she weighed an ounce—peered up at her, beady eyes shining above a long snout.

Oink.

Dropping the coffeepot, Emma left the water running and fled the kitchen straight out the back door, the tail of her housecoat whipping in the wind. She dashed through the snow in her house slippers, yelling and flapping her arms, whirling occasionally to point at the house before she sprinted on. She ran down the lane and crossed the street, screaming. Heads turned. Eyes widened. Early morning errand runners gave the wild-looking woman clear berth.

“That crazy Emma Mansi,” they muttered to one another. Bursting into the sheriff’s office, she breathlessly pointed at Sam and yelled, “Pig!”

Sam and Ken had both been scanning faxes while they drank their first cups of coffee. As one, the men turned to stare at her.

Holding the stitch in her side, Emma, round-eyed, repeated, “Pig!”

For a moment Sam glared at her. Color crept up his neck, and he fiddled with a pencil. He then calmly set his cup aside, refusing to meet her accusing gaze.

Ken stared at her coolly. “Pretty early in the morning for name-calling—”

“No! Pig!” She whirled, pointing to Ken. “You—pig!”

“Hey, come on.” Sam shot her a dirty look. “Don’t drag him into this.”

She was hopping on one leg now, soggy slipper pulled up to her knee. “You don’t understand. Pigs—in my kitchen!”

Ken caught on first. “There’re pigs in your kitchen?”

Emma nodded, trying to catch her breath. Her feet were two blocks of ice, her slippers encased in snow. “In my kitchen!”

Both men scrambled for coats. The three ran out of the office and piled into the cruiser and drove the short distance to the Mansi house with siren blaring. When they arrived, the back door was standing wide open.

Sam drew his firearm and Ken covered him. “Go back to the car and keep warm,” Sam told Emma, “while we see what’s going on.

“Be careful, Sam—they’re huge! They could hurt you badly.” She didn’t know what a pig could do to a person, but anything that big must be dangerous.

He ducked inside, Ken backing him up. The men were gone a good five minutes before they returned to the cruiser.

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