Cool Shade Read Online Free Page B

walked. Too late now.
    Story of her life.
    There was no place to turn around, and there was no way she could back the distance she'd come. It was hard enough going forward, but to go in reverse was unthinkable. Her rusty muffler and wired tailpipe would never make it.
    She'd probably gone a mile, but it seemed like five, her car creeping so slowly that the speedometer tried to register something but could only bob feebly.
    Then the darkness of the overgrown lane suddenly gave way to muted light.
    A circle. And not of the crop kind.
    She’d arrived in an area that had once been cleared but was now on its way to becoming overgrown with brush and several years' growth of saplings. In the center of the clearing was a two-story farmhouse.
    Just a farmhouse.
    She didn't know what she'd expected. Some Gothic structure with turrets and a swirling sky behind it. Like everything else, the house was a victim of years of neglect. There was no way to know what color it had once been. Every stroke of paint was gone, and the exposed wood had turned a depressing shade of gray that made her think of storms.
    On the porch, below wooden, moss-covered shingles that bore witness to the absence of light, was an abandoned wicker rocking chair, a broken railing, and a torn and rusted screen door. Half of the building was covered with tangled ivy, several windows completely obscured.
    She shut off the car and stepped out.
    The air was heavy and still, smelling sweet, like clover, and pungent, like the catnip that made Hemingway go nuts. She took a deep breath and stood a little straighter. To her left, not far from the house, was an abandoned car. The kind of car that had once used a lot of gas and made a lot of noise.
    It wouldn't be doing any gas-guzzling now.
    It looked as if it had been driven up the road into the clearing, parked, and never touched again. The tires were flat and petrified. The body had settled into the ground so the car rested on the frame and axles. Huge tangled weeds with leaves that looked suspiciously like marijuana grew out the broken back window.
    To the right of the vehicle she detected what may have been a trail leading to the front steps, or at least an area that wasn't as tangled, that seemed somewhat beaten down.
    As in other instances in her life when she had to make a choice, she now took the path of least resistance.
    Weeds scraped her bare legs, making her think longingly of the jeans she'd left back at Enid's house, and of her penchant for finding even the smallest bit of poison ivy.
    At the farmhouse, she picked her way across the bowed porch, careful to watch for rotting boards. She felt like an idiot. No one except for maybe a family of racoons could possibly be inside. She knocked, the outer door banging loosely, releasing the smell of old, musty wood.
    Through the screen was a carved oak door, a door that, barring a tornado or fire, would outlast the house. The only ground-floor window that wasn't covered with ivy had a yellowed shade pulled down tight against the sill.
    Nobody could possibly live in such a dump.
    Feeling more ridiculous by the minute, she knocked again.
    Nothing.
    Except for the sound of bees moving through wildflowers. Except for crickets. And cicadas. Except for blackbirds, calling noisily from nearby trees, as if angered by her presence.
    Except for barking.
    Barking?
    Coming from the wooded area to her right.
    Getting closer.
    She froze, one hand raised to the door, her body turned slightly in the direction of her car.
    Never run from an angry dog. Just slowly back away. Never look an angry dog directly in the eye. It might take that as a challenge.
    A shaggy, middle-sized dog burst from the underbrush, barking frantically.
    Moving fast.
    She wasn't going to stick around long enough to issue a challenge. And to hell with walking.
    She gauged the distance from the porch to her car. If she hurried, she could make it before the dog nailed her.
    Her brain issued the command. Her feet,