Strung II: The Valley of Death by Jacobsen Per

Author:Jacobsen, Per [Jacobsen, Per]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Horror, thriller
ISBN: 9788797329467
Amazon: B09RVC6NQC
Goodreads: 60729765
Publisher: HumbleBooks
Published: 2022-04-01T07:00:00+00:00

chapter twelve

Accommodating the Mayor's desire to keep Tommy away from San Hiva turned out to be a much easier task than Randall had expected.

The first few days after they had come home to the farm, he didn't even have to distract his older brother or make up excuses for why it was probably best to stay at home. Because during those days, practically only two things could motivate Tommy to get his ass off the armchair: an empty log basket and an empty stomach.

Part of the reason was, of course, the usual sloth-like laziness that Tommy had honed throughout his long life as a bachelor and had now mastered at an almost Olympic level.

Another reason—and this one gnawed a bit on Randall's conscience—was probably some kind of sadness. After all, Randall wasn't the only one who considered David a part of the family, and of course it also affected Tommy that he had moved out.

Surprisingly, it didn't seem to have had any impact on Billy whatsoever. In fact, he seemed a bit more lively than usual. Several times Randall had seen him milling around the house in his wheelchair … almost as if the boy wanted to take advantage of the extra space.

Finding a good excuse to keep Tommy at home on the Thursday when the shipment from Redwater was planned to arrive in San Hiva also didn't require any particularly creative effort from Randall. In fact, the excuse came to him, almost like a ready-to-use solution, during a radio call with David. In it, David told him that everything was going fine in the new home … except that he was a bit worried about Rose as she had been sick again that morning.

Randall had reassured him that it was probably just the season—and at the same time realized that he had just gotten the perfect excuse served to him on a silver platter.

And yes, when Randall told Tommy that Rose was sick and therefore couldn't look after Billy while Randall went to a meeting with the Mayor in San Hiva, he immediately took the job. He even agreed when Randall said it would probably be easier if they just stayed home on the farm.

So, as it turned out, keeping Tommy at home was almost too easy, as all the stars aligned all by themselves.

Unfortunately, not much indicated that the same could be said of the long-awaited Thursday when the shipment from Redwater was to arrive in San Hiva at noon.

Already two hours earlier, when he parked the car in front of Rose and David's trailer, Randall had felt it. Like a strong tension, almost an electrical charge, it lay in the air, and now—ten minutes before noon—it had only gotten stronger.

Nerves, tension, and uncertainty. An extremely dangerous cocktail. Especially if an explosive catalyst like Jack Brackett was added to the mix.

And Jack was present. Randall had seen him sneaking around among the many small clusters of camp members who had spread across the square in front of the corrugated iron building.

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