Story Grace, Mercy and Blessings

TALLON

Contributing Member
Wow, what a summer I have had. I started reading this saga on May 10th and just caught up. You have written an outstanding story, and I am now part of the loyal fans who will be checking often for updates. Also, I can make comments that will not be years late and only show at the end of the book. I hope your health is on the mend and I wish to add my prayers and thanks.
 

PacNorWest

Veteran Member
#824

Rosie nodded acceptingly, she understood completely. Bub was not. "I'm agin this, yer too young and still wet behind the ears."

"Sorry to go against your wishes, Sir, but we will be doing this Monday. We need to get settled in and ready for school on Wednesday. My brother has a washing service that I work for, I have this year's tuition and and books; MR has her scholorship, so that give me a year to put aside money for next year."

Rosie nodded again, and Leroy and Connie Sue wisely said nothing. Bub wen
 

PacNorWest

Veteran Member
#825

Sorry about the abrupt ending in the above chapter....not what I intended.



Bub stomped around the kitchen while the rest of the family held their collective breaths. He finally cooled down long enough to glare at Don and thunder out. "yer gonna do it anyway, ain't ya, no matter what I say."

'yes Sir, we are going to do just that. We do together, better than we do apart." Don was firm, honest and sincere

That probably left Bub more cross than having the lot of them whine and plead for his blessing. It was going to happen. no matter if he approved or not.

"Alright,: he growled and then smiled when MR rushed over to give him a big hug.. Don was right there to shake the old man's hand. Bub spoke low to Don, looking sternly at the young man.

He threatened Don with all sorts of back woods justice if he ever made Mercy Rose sry.

Don was sincere once again. "No Sir, that would hurt me something terrible."

"You jest remember what I told you, an w';ll git along jest fine/"

Mercy Rose was over hugging Rosie, and Rosie whispered that Bub would come around directly. Leroy and Connie hugged and said their congrats. Connie Sue whispered to MR, :you stinker, leaving us to deal with Bub/"

MR said, "Ah, your tough." and Connie Sue snorted..

"Come help me pack. I have to stay with my parents" Don grabbed MR''s hand and started for the stairs.

"Mind your manners," Leroy called out, "I'm here to help Bub." and then he laughed loudly. He hadn't heard what Bub said, but h;dd been through the same admonition from his dad, Bob's brother.

In the Milo Linderman household, Milo ang Honey were seriously discussing Woody's offer.

"I like the idea of moving, frankly my talents are wasted washing trucks, I need to get back into marshalling and build up our bank account.

Honey had been so afraid that Milo would dismiss the offer, she was so relieved and happy, that she could have kissed Milo. right then and there. So she did.

"I take that as an approval of the idea," Milo teased. Suddenly Honey looked more energized and alive than she had been in a long time.

It wasn't rocket science to deduct that Honey put up with rural living because Milo preferred it. But now the chance to be in town for long term stay was irredtible.

Milo felt bds, obviously he had overlooked Honey's wishes for a long time. Robbie might be the only hold out, but he could always come out and stay with Ma and Dad, any time he needed away from the city. So i6t was settled, and he called Woody.
 

PacNorWest

Veteran Member
#826
Milo had given Gary a tidbit of info that the retired major chewed on as he drove home. It concerned moving houses and taking over Milo's larger home and acreage and the washing business.

It was the right time to approach Breezy, she was having a frustrated fuss about being so cramped small house. Although she wasn't thrilled about the idea of living in the country, she had to agree there wasn't room on their small lot for the washing truck and trailer..

"How many bedrooms?" she asked for the second time.

"Four," Gary replied patiently. "It wouldn't take much to make two of the bedrooms into a home office, it would be about the same amount of room as the old house. Room for a private door for clients. amd room for all the vehicles associated with my business."

"So you're serious about buying Milo out?"

"Yes, best I can do without going back to school. I've thought hard about it, and I'm not school material."

Breezy nodded, "OK, make it t happen. Thanks for asking my opinion Gary, it makes me feel like a valued member in this marriage.

"Always sweetheart, always."

So the Linderman family moved houses once again. Mark quietly bought Gary and Breezys house for Don and his soon to be bride. He let them sort out if they wanted Bub and Rosie to live with them or not.

The small house wasn't all that expensive, and as Bub had fixed the inoperative chimney in the town house. The best part of the chimney fix, was the long handled push broom that Bub used to sweep the cobweb from the overhead ceiling light/ Bub replaced the bulb he broke, taking out the camera and listening device, throwing it in the trash.

Bub and Rosie went to stay at Leroys as Don and Mr claimed the small house for their honeymoon.


Milo and Honey and kids drove to the address Woody gave them in the Maryland suburb, only to find out it was right next to Woody and Tess who were moving in.

Everyone but Robbie was thrilled with the modern, spacious home. "I may have to go live with Granddad and grandma. This is the worst place we've ever been in.'

Already Milo could feel twinges of agreement with Robbie.
 

Echo38

Contributing Member
After going back and rereading the whole series yet again I have come up with two possible people for the unnamed man. The second assassin the one who was missed by the prince's men and was working in the store to get close enough to finish the job when the town burned. The other possible I thought of would be Ronnie.
 

PacNorWest

Veteran Member
#827

Clora spent the day going through the unkept cupboards and cleaning. There were dushes she liked and kept, others she stacked on the end of the table for MR and her grandparents housekeeping.

The longer she worked, the more Clora had the feeling that Mark needed to take car of a looming problem.

Finally she thought of a solution and went to mark's study. She came with two cups of coffee and a small dessert plate with two cookies balanced on top.,

"We have a problem." she began. "We are going to be raided by an agency, looking for the sniper rifle. This has been demanded by the Saudis, hoping to pin the death of the prince on you."

"So, I'm to be the sacrifice," Mark looked out the window with a deep frown. "You know I'm way past my expiration date. Most operatives are long gone by my age."

"I believe with all my heart, that if God has need of you, you will not die. Conversely, when it is your time, nothing can keep you alive, Besides I've thought of a clever hiding place for the rifle."

"Oh yeah where?"

"The heavy wood bedroom set you've been complaining about. Detach that monstrous sized footboard, turn it up side down and hollow out a compartment. If you are careful, you can plug the hole with the length of the first cut out. I'd say that you have no more than three days, at the most."

Mark nodded, finished his coffee and both cookies. "Good idea, I'm on it" he announced with grim determination.

"I'd be careful about doing anything outside, I feel we might be under surveillance. You need to sweep with the bug finder" Clora reminded him as she gathered up the mugs and plate.

Mark nodded again, he couldn't believe he was being so sloppy and forgetting to do his basic maintained.
The large, rusty bolts holding the footboard to the frame, took a little persuasion with a ratchet and a breaker bar. But Mark was a determined man.

The sniper rifle was the finest take down instrument he had ever used. It might eventually be found, but they were going to have to put effort into the discovery.

The detector sweep yielded nothing, and Mark breathed a sigh of relief. As he etched his cutting lines on the upended bottom rail. He couldn't help but feel very pleased at the hiding place.

It was a sawdust mess for Clora to clean up, and it looked that Eula hadn't cleaned under the bed in forty years. It was clean when Clora got done with it,

Don showed up about noon time. "I could smell that soup when I turned at the Y in the road." he approved the large stockpot filled with turkey vegetable soup.

Don decided to wait until after lunch to ask about housekeeping supplies. Ma had said she would have extras for them, but he didn;t want to distract her from getting dunner on the table.

There was soup, rolls ,the last of the sliced had, warmed over dressing and huge dish of pickles and olives.

Don was pretty sure he could smell apple pie, but he had to be careful about that. Dad could get snarly if he thought Don was getting more than his reasonable share.
 

PacNorWest

Veteran Member
#828
Clora brought out the apple pie and restricted Don to two healthy pieces. He tried a pitiful St Bernard look for more, and Mark growled.

Don hastily decided he was full of pie and didn't need anymore.

"That's what I thought," Mark didn't give up growling. This was his house and by golly if he wanted to get up during the night and have a piece, he had every right to expect that pie to be there.

Don was a human food compactor, let him and his bride do the feeding and care of his appetite.

Don hauled out box after box of surplus dishes, pots and pans, a bed and bedding. A table, chairs, Eula's ghastly sofa, and two old dressers.

"I'll br back tomorrow for the big stuff. The Jeep is full," with one last, lingering look at the pie dish on the counter, Don left for his new house.

"I thought I was going to have to get physical with the kid, too bad, I'd hate to hurt him. On a better note, I've almost finished with the hiding place. And as a bonus, I see a couple more possibilities"

"It wouldn't hurt to have a cash stash, and do we have any Rhodium left to hide?" Clora mused. "Any left over gold or you know, valuables?"

"Yeah some maybe more as soon as I get the the town house sold. Do you want me to call the crazy porch lady?" Mark teased.

"Not on my account," Clora smarted right back." A real estate person would be just fine."

Working together they hid what they needed too, moving boxes to the rooms.
 

PacNorWest

Veteran Member
#829

The two of them worked long and hard to create many hidey holes; in the house. The footboard idea was so good, that they used the headboard the same way. The facings along side the bedroom window were removed with care and weapons and valuables were stashed.

Mark was remerging snippets of conversations that Wayne had passed on, concerning the varied hiding places that had been found in the long ago forgotten roadhouse raid.

He moved his desk forward six inches, used a hole saw to create an open plug. Drilling into a floor joist, gave hin a bottom for the opening, and a roll of tightly rolled bills was inserted. Furniture coasters were placed over the openings, and the desk placed on top of them.

It was so neat and tidy, it made Mark grinned in appreciation. They had all the curtains closed, and Mark had swept the house three separate times and not found any devices.

The next morning they set out for church service in the little white clapboard church about a mile west of the house.

During the last song, Clora touched her forehead briefly, and then whispered ::they are at the house.:

When the song ended, Mark said, "let's go for a hamburger and get the rest of our stuff from the town house."
 

PacNorWest

Veteran Member
#830

"um, is there a reason you are avoiding going back home?" Clora imquired with an arched eyebrow.

"Well, I wouldn't want to interupt the raid , tat wouldn't be nice, now would it."? Mark held the open hymnal up to his mouth. "Our friends might not get the full enjoyment out of their little house party."

"I see, is it going to make a big mess?"

"Maybe in a couple of places, but mostly on them. You remember the exploding dye packs? I had a couple, real indelible stuff. I don't like the bedroom carpet anyway. It smells like Eula's smelly stuff' that pot of stuff that I threw out that was on the dresser."

Clora chuckled, she didn't like frang a pani incense any more than a normal person. Only she forgot and said it out loud. It made Mark laugh out loud, and it made several heads turn their way in dissaproval..

Clora was smiling broadly behind the cover of the hymnal.. She cleared her throat purposely, and refused to liik at Mark. He was tugging on his moustache, a little pain to keep himself from laughing.



Buzz and Yum had Clayton and Tyson tied to kitchen chairs in Buzz's dirty kitchen.

:Watcha doin this for," Clayton whined. "You got us out of jail for this."

"You boys cost us a lot of money, we's kinda wondering how we's gonna get it back, naybe with a lift of yer skin." Yuma that the world's largest Bowie knife he was honing of the bottom of a crockery bowl.

"Well," Tyson stalled, "I ain't got any money."

"Me neither." Clayton continued to whine.
 
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