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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

“No way. The men need us here. It’s just the storm has me jittery.”

“No, I mean, this trouble we’re having, it isn’t really your concern.”

“Hey! I’m with you, Liz!”

“I only mean there’s no reason for you to expose yourself to danger.”

“I’m not in any danger.” Bonnie’s lovely, strong chin came up and she said with confidence, “Peter and Wanda will work it out, I’m sure. I just think everyone is so wonderfully brave, like the way they’re plowing into the forest fire up there . . .”

Elizabeth said thoughtfully, “You’re talking about men who have been to sea, Bonnie. It separates the men from the boys. They can’t afford to treat anything as an ‘emergency’—they have to be cool every moment, know exactly what to do and not to do. The ocean can be a lot rougher than this, you know. Sometimes, with the wind blowing one way and the tides running differently, even the waves don’t know where they’re going! That takes sailing!”

Bonnie allowed herself a small, confessing grin. “I never dreamed I’d be interested in a fisherman . . .” She added self-­consciously, “Of course, I mean just as a friend.”

Elizabeth smiled to herself. Storms were unpredictable and so were people. If Bonnie liked Craig Soaras, so much the better for both of them.

Checking the floor above, the women found another broken window and leaned loose boards against the opening. It did little good. The wind kept blowing sand all over the room, but no one was using it so it made little difference.

When there was no more they could do, Elizabeth started down to the kitchen. “Vegetable-­peeling time, I’m afraid.”

Bonnie said, “I’ll tell you a secret, Liz, I love cooking.”

Elizabeth Carr laughed, a welcome bright sound. “Don’t ever tell my mother, but I do, too.”

Bonnie said in a teasing tone, “And don’t think I didn’t notice the way you gave Peter Hubbard the best parts of that fish chowder, friend.”

Elizabeth responded lightly, not wanting to be drawn into the circling confusions in her own mind. “Why, of course, Bonnie. It’s an old Yarkie custom to give a visiting scientist the red carpet treatment.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Bonnie added at once. “I think he’s absolutely super.”

Elizabeth made herself shrug. “Yes, my father—and Wanda Lindstrom—think the world of him.”

2

TWO

In the laboratory room, Peter Hubbard and Wanda Lindstrom were making new dissections. Their gleaming steel scalpels clicked on cold glass slides as they worked with silent efficiency amid the bubbling flasks and other apparatus.

There was a clicking from a roach container. Hubbard murmured, “I wish you had gotten the screw-­top jars.”

“I know,” Wanda Lindstrom said. And defensively, “The stockroom sent up the wrong cartons, and I’d have missed the plane if I’d waited.”