Today’s blog post is a short excerpt from my soon-to-be-released fourth book, Grave Heritage. Darcy and Flora face danger from a deranged killer and a record-breaking flood.
The fireplace in our Levi house radiated a most welcome warmth. My chilled feeling may have been due partly to rain-cooled air and damp clothing, but mostly to shock. The fireplace had been damaged in last year’s earthquake but after being repaired, it burned as cheerfully as ever. We had found several sticks of dry wood in a basket by the front door and coaxed them into a blaze to take the dampness out of the living room. With the doors securely locked, we began to relax.
“It’s like old times, isn’t it?” Mom asked, holding out her hands to the flames. “This seemed the best place to come since we can’t go back home and Pastor Hughes isn’t here. I don’t think he would mind.”
Standing up, I turned my back to the burning logs, relishing the welcome heat.
“No, of course he wouldn’t mind. It is, after all, still our house and we don’t know where Trace is.”
Mom had found a pair of Trace’s socks and these replaced her one ruined house shoe. Now, she got up to rummage around the kitchen.
“I feel strange poking through his things,” she said, “sort of like an intruder, but I’d sure like to perk a pot of coffee.”
“I hope you do,” I said. “The coffee Doris gave us was hot but not nearly as strong as the coffee you make.”
Soon the aroma of fresh-perked coffee joined the fragrance of wood smoke. We settled in front of the fireplace, holding our cups of hot caffeine.
Rain continued to fall but not nearly as hard as earlier. A strip of blue sky appeared under the clouds to the west.
Mom yawned. “I could almost close my eyes and doze off. Now, isn’t that strange? We just escaped death by inches, were nearly swept away in a flood; there’s a madman somewhere out there who’s killed two people and wants to kill us and here I am, getting sleepy.”
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