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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

His wife laughed at him. “Don’t be such a fusspot, Reed. We know every inch of this place and there isn’t a blessed thing in there that can hurt them.”

Brockshaw didn’t answer his wife, and he didn’t stop. Doreen held her peace. She knew the constant anxiety for the children her husband harbored. If her own answer was her morning prayers, his was this special vigilance. He was tactful, she appreciated. She didn’t think the children were aware how closely he kept them in view.

In the forest, David, as the older child, took charge. He pointed to a thicket on the right, in the direction of the distant village dump. “You go that way,” he commanded his sister. He himself had spotted a pile of broken branches on the opposite side and intended to gather its riches alone.

The little girl went obediently into the thick copse, though she could see nothing but the crowding bushes. She had trouble getting through even with her small and agile body, but she was intent on bringing back as much wood as any old officious brother. Kim dropped to her knees and wiggled on. She heard her father calling and flattened herself in the leaves so he would not spy her.

In the quiet she heard an unfamiliar sound. It was coming from behind a heavily leafed bush before her. It was a rustling of leaves accompanied by a hissing Kim had never known before. With curiosity, the girl spread the bush apart with her hands, wincing at sharp thorns that drew spots of blood.

Kim peered into the gloom. The noise might be a baby bird fallen from its nest, or a baby rabbit, or a chipmunk caught in a crevice—though she had never heard such hissing from any of those friendly animals.

She decided she would go back and tell her father when she heard her brother calling triumphantly through the trees, “Hey, Dad, betcha Kim can’t beat this load!”

The bravado of it stung Kim with an anger that steeled her purpose. She lowered her head and butted her way obstinately toward the sibilant sound. She came to a half clearing where there was a little more light. It fell on a gleaming jewel lying in the leaves before the child’s astonished eyes. Directly on top of a heap of leaves there was an iridescent shell, longer than her longest finger, which scintillated like treasure in a ray of sunlight.