If I thought for one miserable minute......

Spanky said:

I think the assassin is Inga's old boyfriend form her horse riding days. That ties up all the loose ends and explains how they kept her under surveilance as well. I guess we have to wait for a few months to find out. Excellant job on the story Pac

Click to expand...

PacNorWest said:

#1
"Grandma, I've got a problem." Sandra poked at her supper, uninterested in what there was to eat. "There's this kid at school that wants me to go to the dance with him. I don't want to hurt his feelings, but I'm not very interested.

Evie put down her fork and gave Sandy her consideration. At thirteen, the girl was beautiful. But better than that, she was kind and responsible. A youth that could, and did, make a grandmother proud.

"Well honey, the first person you have to please is yourself. I do want to tell you," Evie toyed with her fork, before answering; "I honestly feel you are too young to be dating for a dance." Evie frowned.

"Tell me," she continued gently "what do you feel?"

"I think I'm glad you don't think I'm old enough. I like the guy fine, but not like a boyfriend." Sandy was pretty emphatic about her position. "Some of my friends,..well they are interested. Is there something wrong with me?" she wavered a bit, suddenly doubting her stand.

There was a creak, then a groan then a breaking, splintering sound. "Oh, it's an earthquake," Evie gasped, grabbing at the table. "Quick, we have to get outside."

The warm Spring afternoon was filled with the omnimous sounds of grinding rock, the jiggling earth rolling and undulating with wave upon wave of released tension. The barn bucked like a bronc as it rode the seismagraphic terror.

From out of nowhere, Wayne came running into the yard. "Come" he urged with ragged breath. "I don't know if we are high enough. This will cause a tsunami." he pulled hard on Evie's arm. "We have to go, NOW!"

Click to expand...

PacNorWest said:

#19
"OH MY GOD, Clora, look at that!" Lainey barely whispered the words, but Clora heard them loud and clear. The tsunami wave had come inland more than a quarter mile. Vehicles, camp trailers, sheds, fences were bobbing in the tarnished brownish black water.
From their higher vantage point the girls could see the total annihilation of the narrow ribbon of land between the sea and the foothills of the mountains.

"I can't believe it," Lainey sounded ready to cry. I have never...." overcome with emotion the slightly pudgy woman couldn't finish her thought.

Shaken to the core, Clora couldn't take her eyes off the roiling, boiling water as it surged up and then started backward at the same speed. As the water receded, it left lumps and blobs of glistening mud covered wasteland.

"We need to go help," Lainey whimpered. "There are people down there, OH MY GOD, the people."

Clora was busy saying a prayer and she almost missed Lainey jerking Sherman around in an attempt to go back down the trail.

"Stop Lainey," Clora pleaded. "Think, we can't do a thing to help anyone. What would you do if you found injured people. I have four bandaids with me, how many do you have?" Lainey shot a look that would curdle milk, but Clora ignored it.

Clora had her cantle bag, a mini-mini BOB that she kept permanently tied on her saddle. The pommel bag had two bottles of water and a couple granola bars. The rest of the items she kept on her person, out of sight. Behind the cantle bag she had her rain slicker with a few well chosen articles folded and rolled inside the bright yellow coat.

Patton stomped his feet, as an aftershock rattled through the ground. Sherman and Patton were two very stocky, overfed quarterhorse geldings that were built like tanks. Equine bulldozers, Clora teased Lainey about her 'boys'. Normally rock solid and imperturbable, the geldings fidgeted nervously as the ground continued to roll.

"Lainey, we've got to get out of this area, too many rocks and trees." Clora quietly turned Patton around and Sherman followed. Lainey seemed incapable of breaking the trance like fright that gripped her. Clora was scared that at any moment Lainey would order her to head back down. After all, the horses were Lainey's, and she didn't want to think about what she would have to do if Lainey got belligerent.

Clora had no intention of heading back down the mountain into the maw of the wave caused destruction. What Grandma had repeated over and over, rang in her ears. If you find yourself in a situation, make sure you are observant before you get in trouble. Know where you are, know where you need to go to flee danger, have tools to help you at all times, and don't panic and loose your head.

Clora smiled thinking about Grandma at a time like this. Grandma used to make cookies and bring them around to eat. But first you had to show her that you had a pocket knife, a bandanna and a match case in your pocket. Cookies were deducted for the items you didn't have, and sometimes you got to stand and watch the rest of the kids get your extras, cause you had forgot.

Clora didn't think it had ever been necessary to go hungry more than twice, before the required items were loaded in your pockets every morning. She patted her right hand jeans pocket to feel the ultra sharp Gerber folder in it's usual place, beside the match case.

Her left pocket held a bandanna and a small used mint tin with an assortment of things young ladies normally would not carry. Clora set her jaw in a determined line as she angled out of the timber and into more open ground.

She looked at the sun, and then her watch. They had gone riding after they had finished teaching for the day, leaving the pickup and trailer about 5pm. Clora estimated they had three hours at the most before it would be too dark to ride, unless they could find the road.

Her mind was going a thousand miles a minute. Should they go back to the trailer and pickup and retrieve more items, or would they be better off just to head for Evergreen. Another shake and rattle made up Clora's mind for her. They should be closer to the highway by now, than the trailer.

"There sure as the heck won't be school tomorrow," she told Patton as she patted his neck. He returned the favor by alerting to a rustle in the brush on the uphill side of the trail. Clora caught a glimpse of a small black furry patch as it went scooting through the old slash piles.

"Lainey," she hissed, "Com'on, we gotta get, that was a cub and you can bet Momma's around here close."

Click to expand...