Home Fires Burning (Walking in the Rain Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

Mark and I saw his brother Nick wince.  I guess he saw something in my face, a cast to my features that made him wish his brother had kept his mouth shut.
    “My daddy was in the Marines, and he taught me a few things, plus I’ve been moving through the woods and hunting since I was a little kid.  I picked up a few tips in the Boy Scouts, like I told Stan, and I know how to make snares for small game and what plants won’t kill you.  Until I met up with Amy, I traveled alone and hardly talked to anybody.
    “Mainly, I avoided people where I could and stayed in the woods, living off what I could find.  Yes, I did take things that didn’t belong to me, but only things nobody else had claim to.”
    “So you admit it!  You are a thief and a looter.”  The older man nearly cried out, and I noticed more people were looking at him than at me.
    “Mister, I don’t know what you think you know, but unless you’ve been out there, you are freakin’ clueless.  You want to know how I got these weapons?  Ask Stan.  He was there when I got most of them.  But my first pistol, you want to know how I got that one?  Really want to know?”
    As I spoke, my voice grew harder even as my volume increased.  I was staring hard at the loud mouthed man and I realized I was nearly shouting at his level.  I answered my own question then, and let my words spew out.
    “I cut a man’s throat for that first pistol.  Just slipped into his camp, crawled up to his bedroll and slit his throat ear to ear.  He moaned and thrashed around so much, he woke up the woman that was there with him.”
    “Did you kill her too?” the angry man demanded, a look of triumph in his burning eyes.  He nearly spit the words.  I don’t know what was driving him on but I would not back down.
    “No, I untied her hands and gave her back her clothes.  The guy had been raping her all day, off and on, and I’d just run across the camp that evening.  She was beat up pretty bad, put up quite a fight, but she said she’d heal.  I left her the shotgun and she made me take the pistol.”
    I stopped talking then, my head bowed, my thoughts scattered.  I don’t know why I told that story.  I could have just made something up, but for some reason my subconscious made me tell the truth.  Maybe it was because I felt guilty for what had happened, for not acting sooner.  Or maybe because these folks needed to hear something like this as a warning for what could happen.
    Finally, I found my voice and spoke up, my ragged voice breaking the long silence.
    “Darwin, if you’ve got a map, I’ll show you what I know.”
    That was really all I could do at this point.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
    After laying out my bedroll next to the old Ford pickup, I found myself unable to sleep.  Mr. Keller had offered me a spot in their bunkhouse, but I admitted I didn’t know if I could sleep indoors again for awhile.  Amy accepted the offer from Ruth and Stan to sleep on the blow up mattress in Ruth’s old room after I insisted.  She could use the rest and really, I just wanted some time to myself.
    I stared up at the stars and thought about what to do next.  My goal remained the same, get home, but maybe I could rest up here a few days and get myself better outfitted.  After we finished going over the map, Mr. Keller allowed that he would be willing to trade with me for my share of the extra weapons we brought.  Seems the immediate family was well set on firearms, mainly PTR-91 rifles for the men and ARs for the ladies, but the cousins and such trickled in with little more than a few shotguns and hunting rifles.
    “You got a minute?”
    I’d heard the man approach, and when I recognized the voice I released my hold on the Glock under my pillow and sat up.
    “Got nothing but time, Nick.  Come on over and have a seat.”
    The man shaped shadow moved slowly in the dark and I felt more than saw his body sink down into a seated position.  I