No Time For Mourning: Book Four in The Borrowed World Series by Franklin Horton

Author:Franklin Horton [Horton, Franklin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-02-14T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

The Valley

Jim settled Randi’s family into a house on a stretch of road between him and Gary. It was a white frame house that had belonged to an older couple, the Robinsons, who had been killed by the released convict that had wreaked havoc in the valley until Jim killed him. It appeared the couple had been beaten to death to obtain drugs, since pills were found scattered all around the home when the bodies were discovered. The convict had gone through every bottle of pills in the house, dumping those that he had no use for into the floor.

The house was older, well-maintained, and neat. It had a well, there was a creek that passed through the backyard, and a spring nearby for drinking water. There was an overgrown garden and several fruit trees. Like most in the valley, the house had a woodstove that could help a family survive the coming winter.

It had been grim work burying bodies that had been left laying in the house for several days in summer heat. Jim had stopped by and left the windows open in that house whenever the weather permitted to try to purge the smell. He had anticipated there might be a day when the house was needed again. Despite a vague hope that Randi would rejoin them, he hadn’t expected it and certainly not this soon. There was no denying, though, that having a nurse among them was a benefit.

On her first day in the house, Randi and her daughters were gathering up the old couple’s belongings and storing them in the attic when they heard a knock on the door. Randi answered it with a gun in hand, finding Gary standing on the porch, an AR slung over his shoulder.

“Well good morning,” Randi said.

Gary held up a thermos. “I brought you some coffee,” he said. “I wasn’t sure that you had any.”

Randi’s eyes lit up. “We don’t. We’ve got some canned food and a few things that were here in the house. No coffee, though.”

Gary handed the thermos over. “You can use the cup on the thermos. I’ve already had some this morning. Do your girls drink coffee?”

“Not if they don’t know about it,” Randi said. She gestured at the porch swing. “Have a seat.”

Randi sat, unscrewed the cup off the thermos, and poured the cup full. She held it under her nose, letting the warm smell waft into her nostrils. “God, I’ve missed that.” She took a sip.

“I have to admit I brought that as a bribe,” Gary said.

Randi looked at him over the cup. “For what?”

“I’d like you to talk to my daughter Charlotte,” he said.

“Have I ever met her?”

“Probably not,” Gary said. “She lost her husband a few days ago. I don’t know how much you’ve heard. We were basically run out of my neighborhood. It was an indefensible location and it became clear we would never survive staying there. All the preparation I put into the place was basically for nothing.”

“I’m sorry that happened,” Randi said.

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