Read Online Renewal 6 - Cold by Jf Perkins - Free Book Online Page B

that promised another hot and humid day in Tennessee.
    Aggie walked into the kitchen, having completed the arduous task of waking Bill. He was a handful right now, a man of endless work stuck in bed. She was ready to kick him out the door and let him hobble around town, annoying everyone else.
    “Ok, boys. He’s awake, but that’s about all I can promise,” she said. “Good luck.”
    “Thanks, Aggie,” Terry replied.
    Seth mumbled something around his cornbread, and smiled at the boss’s wife as they set their dishes by the sink. As they made their way upstairs. Terry could almost feel Bill’s foul temper before they entered the bedroom. He was squinting in the bright light glaring through the windows and grimacing from the pain and stiffness.
    “I should be feeling better by now. It sucks getting old, men. Sucks!” Bill declared.
    “Morning, Bill.” Terry greeted his leader. “Hey, we got Big Seth, the human crutch. Wanna go outside?”
    “My wife will string me up if I leave this bed,” Bill replied, pouting like a little boy.
    “And you always do exactly what she says, right?” Terry asked with a sly smile.
    Bill grunted in surprise and said, “Come here, big guy. I’m starting to hate this room.”
    Seth stepped over and set his hands under Bill’s arms with a disarming gentleness, and effortlessly lifted Bill to his feet. Bill winced at the motion, but settled quickly to a point of balance. Seth was too tall to serve as the human crutch, and Terry took his place supporting Bill’s left side. They stepped out to the head of the stairs, where Seth joined back in and simply carried Bill to the first floor. From there, it was an easy limp to the front porch. Terry left Bill holding the porch rail, with the notion that Bill could move around a bit, while still having some support. Terry stood a carefully calculated distance to Bill’s left, and Seth stepped off the porch to face Bill from the street level.
    “This ok, Bill?” Terry asked.
    “This is good,” Bill replied, swaying slowly from side to side. “Good idea.”
    Seth saw Aggie watching from the glass, and gave her a massive thumbs up. “I think she’ll let you live, Boss. Me and Terry, maybe not.”
    “Don’t you worry, boys. She’s likes the young men,” Bill said, turning his head to look at Terry.
    Terry was suddenly uncomfortable, and covered it by giving his report. “So, we talked to Larry...”
    “Don’t keep me waiting. What did he say?”
    “He agreed to help out. It took some talking, and there’s no telling how many he will bring, but he said he’d come.”
    “Good. How did you convince him?” Bill asked.
    “I didn’t. I got him to the fence, maybe. His son, Tate, kicked him over,” Terry replied.
    “Really? I wasn’t even sure those boys could talk. Miracles never cease...”
    “Anyway, they could show up as early as today, depending on how hard they try to recruit the neighbors.”
    “Ok. We’ll have the front guards on the lookout for them. There are six men up front now, and double on the patrols.” Bill was thinking out loud.
    “We talked to Charlie. Mike is getting better, but it’s going to take time for the head injury.”
    “Mike took a serious beating, all right. Did you give Charlie my requests?” Bill asked, all business now.
    “We did. The aide shipments are on their way this morning. Getting Charlie down here was iffy. He wants to come, but he sort of said that his wife is a little touchy about her men traveling right now.”
    “Understandable, I reckon. Still I hope he can work it out. We need more people, and I think Charlie can help talk a few into helping us,” Bill said, staring into the middle distance.
    “Yeah, all I know for sure is that he understands, and he wants to help.”
    “What about the third favor?”
    “Charlie said his hands are tied. He has separated the Judge from the Dragon, but he can’t legally stop them from having visitors. He can’t really speed up the