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Back The Nest Save as PDF
Chapters (82)
  1. Cover
  2. Copyright page
  3. Introduction by Will Errickson
  4. Acknowledgements
  5. TREMORS
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. SUSPICIONS
  13. 1
  14. 2
  15. 3
  16. 4
  17. 5
  18. DREAD
  19. 1
  20. 2
  21. 3
  22. 4
  23. 5
  24. 6
  25. WITNESS
  26. 1
  27. 2
  28. 3
  29. ALERT
  30. 1
  31. 2
  32. 3
  33. 4
  34. 5
  35. ENCOUNTER
  36. 1
  37. 2
  38. 3
  39. 4
  40. 5
  41. 6
  42. HAVOC
  43. 1
  44. 2
  45. 3
  46. 4
  47. 5
  48. 6
  49. SEARCH
  50. 1
  51. 2
  52. 3
  53. 4
  54. 5
  55. CLASH
  56. 1
  57. 2
  58. 3
  59. 4
  60. 5
  61. 6
  62. 7
  63. COUNTERATTACK
  64. 1
  65. 2
  66. 3
  67. 4
  68. 5
  69. 6
  70. 7
  71. VICTORY
  72. 1
  73. 2
  74. 3
  75. 4
  76. 5
  77. 6
  78. 7
  79. 8
  80. 9
  81. EPILOGUE
  82. About the Author

The man looked back. No roaches were following the bulldozer as it clanked on to the road. The noise and the exhaust had apparently discouraged them. There was easier food around than a tough salt like Russell Homer, he crowed to himself, laughing aloud with relief and accomplishment. He sat like a lord on his yellow mount and shouted his joy as he steered the banging contraption toward the lighthouse. He could hear the metal can bouncing in the scoop, and knew it was safe. He had whacked the cover on so tight they’d need a crowbar to get it off! He had been needlessly reckless, Homer grinned to himself, but here he was rolling down the highroad bringing home the terrible bacon. The lighthouse was just ahead. He looked back at his boat. It was taking a beating. By the time he could get back to it, there might be nothing left. But it was worth it, the man told himself. He was keeping his promise!

5

FIVE

Deirdre and Tom Laidlaw had decided to walk the mile to the Tintons for their jeep instead of calling one of the Scott cabs that served Yarkie in the summer. The Tinton phone hadn’t answered, and they wanted their car for shopping. The coming storm was threatening rain, but they didn’t mind getting wet—it was part of the change of pace Yarkie meant to them.

In some ways they enjoyed the wind-­blown days like this quite as much as the sunny mild ones. They liked the teeth of the wind, reminding of the sting of salt spray when they sailed. On idyllic Yarkie, it took the advent of foul weather to remind one that outside there was a world full of evil, crime, and catastrophe. Far away, for the summer, at least.

The couple walked toward the Tintons hand in hand. All winter long the demands of their separate jobs in publishing left them little time for each other, and the Yarkie weeks were a precious renewal. They took comfort in and from each other, and after thirty years of marriage found the quiet sharing as important as passion had once been.

Deirdre Laidlaw sniffed the air and wrinkled her aristocratic nose in distaste. “The wind must be coming off the dump today.”

Tom Laidlaw agreed. “Awful stink.” He ran his hand through his graying hair, and looked around with easy, blue eyes that held a deep appreciation of the woods. “Maybe it’s that spray the firemen were warning us about earlier.”

“What were they spraying against?”

“Tent caterpillars, maybe.”

Deirdre nodded her handsome head. “Lots of them this year, aren’t there?”

Her husband smiled at her fondly. “Wouldn’t be Eden without some pain in the arse, would it?”

“Pain in the arse that the Tintons kept our car last night.”

“I’m enjoying the walk.”

“Notice, no birds, Tom,” the woman said questioningly, stopping to listen.