Coup de Glace by P. D. Workman

Author:P. D. Workman [Workman, P. D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: pd workman
Published: 2018-08-24T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

S

tepping out into the sun, Erin immediately regretted the choice to search the Prost property in the heat of the afternoon. They should have been there in the early morning as soon as the sun came up, or the evening as it went down, not right in the middle of it. She couldn’t imagine how they were going to traipse all over the farm without fainting of heat and dehydration. Erin put her sunglasses on, but she needed a hat. And an air-conditioned car.

Bella led them to the parking area and pointed to a small vehicle that seemed to be a cross between an ATV and a jeep. “Climb on.”

Vic didn’t hesitate; in fact, she seemed eager to climb aboard. Erin was the only one who seemed to have reservations about the idea. She stood looking at the dirty, chipped, open-air vehicle.

“Uh… you drive?” she asked Bella.

“Sure, I’ve been driving this thing around for years. Trust me, you don’t want to have to walk.”

Erin reluctantly climbed into the vehicle. “Is this safe? There are no seatbelts.”

“If it rolled over, you’d be pinned underneath,” Bella said blithely, “so no seatbelts.”

Erin looked at Vic. “If it rolled over?”

“Don’t think about it. Bella knows what she’s doing. Enjoy it!”

Erin hung on to whatever she could reach, thinking more about how to remain in the vehicle than of enjoying the ride. Bella keyed the ignition and the engine roared to life. Clouds of exhaust billowed out behind them. Before Erin had the chance to prepare herself, Bella put the car into gear and they started moving.

They bounced over the uneven ground. Erin felt every bump and clung tightly to her handholds. Vic give a whoop and leaned forward, looking like she was having the time of her life. She and Bella shouted to each other over the roar of the engine, but Erin couldn’t hear most of what they were saying. She was supposed to be paying attention to the landscape, looking for any clues as to what might have happened to Bella’s grandma. It wasn’t like she would find disturbed earth or new growth where a fresh grave had been dug; Mother Nature would have reclaimed the area over the ensuing decades. She tried to force herself to pay attention to the passing landscape anyway and strained to hear Bella’s comments as she gestured to various areas.

The road, if it could be called that, was rough and rutted, just a trail worn through the ground cover. They broke free of the thick growth of trees into a clearing, and Erin shaded her eyes from the sun in spite of her sunglasses. Bella pulled the car over to the side and parked it. The engine quieted a little.

“This is the lower pasture,” Bella explained, motioning to the goats grazing or resting in the field. It wasn’t flat like a farmer’s field. It was hilly and rough and the pasture itself was on a fairly steep slope. But Erin knew that goats could climb just about anything.

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