Read Online The Light at the End of the Tunnel by James W. Nelson - Free Book Online

the
other two trainers, who both were shaved bald, and shorter and
blockier than the first two, and both around thirty.
    Riley Stokes brought up the rear, “I always
go last,” he announced, “Sort of like the captain being last to
leave a sinking ship.” He grinned, “Or, in the case of the movie ‘Titanic’ going down with the ship.”
    Both women laughed, the chaplain smiled, the
four trainers gave an assortment of laughs and comments. To the
chaplain the group of people all seemed nice, almost like a family,
except for no mother figure. He then wondered where Riley’s wife
was.
    “So, where you sit for meals we assume is
called the captain’s table?” asked the chaplain, surprising
everybody, especially Nicole.
    “That’s correct, Radford.” Riley said, and
gave a good-natured-appearing grin.
    “You’re a good captain, Riley!” said the
older man in the front of the line, now leaving with a heaped
plate, “Always leading the charge, too.”
    Behind the counter in the very
clean-appearing kitchen stood two more men, one obviously the cook,
both wearing a white apron and a chef’s hat. “Everybody takes a
turn at mess-cooking,” Riley said, “That’s Sheldon back there now—“
the shorter of the two men waved, but remained almost angrily sober
“—so he’ll be rejoining the trainers tomorrow, and little Sadie
will take over mess-cooking duties.”
    That brought a quick look back and a quick
grin from Sadie, but not a smile.
    The meal passed quietly. Everybody,
evidently, was hungry and tired, because, when people finished
eating, they quickly left.
    Sadie was first to leave the captain’s table.
“Goodnight, everybody,” she said, “See you later, Nicole.”
    Riley had finished eating earlier but then
returned to the table with a cup of coffee. He then sipped his
coffee and waited quietly as the Chaplain and Nicole finished
eating. When they finished they both took their plates and utensils
to the counter, then returned to the table.
    “So, what do you folks think so far?” Riley
asked.
    “That mess-cook kind of scares me,” Nicole
said quietly, then glanced toward the kitchen area.
    “Sheldon? Oh, he’s harmless,” Riley said, “He
just doesn’t smile much. In fact, Nicole, he will be your main
trainer tomorrow and for the rest of the week…will you be okay with
that?”
    Nicole’s mouth kind of fell open as she
released a breath, then glanced at the chaplain before answering,
“Yes, of course.”
    “I hope so, because Sheldon is our best in
the martial arts, so there will be some physical contact.” Riley
turned his attention to the chaplain, “How about you, Radford? Will
you be okay with Nicole working with Sheldon?”
    The chaplain first glanced at Nicole, now
sober. She tightened her lips and nodded positively. “Yes,” he
said, “Nicole handles herself fine.” He returned attention to
Riley.
    “You maybe have wondered about my wife. She
doesn’t always eat with us, and right now she’s visiting our son
down in Yuma. Our daughter is back east at Harvard. Eventually
we’ll have our own attorney right here at the ranch.”
    The chaplain was glad to hear about the other
family members, and finally asked, “What will I be doing
tomorrow?”
    “You’ll work with Tucker, the older guy first
in line tonight. We’ll start you out with the .45 caliber
semiautomatic pistol. Have you worked with guns at all?”
    “Not much, sir.”
    “Well, when you two leave here you will both
be experts.”
    “How long…will we be here?” the chaplain
asked.
    “That’s up to you, Radford. I recommend six
to ten months at least, with vacations of course.”
    “Rad,” Nicole exclaimed, “Can we afford that
much?”
    “Not to worry,” Riley said, “You can work for
your stay.”
    “’ Work?’ ”
    “Yes. We—all of us—do certain jobs for the
government, for rich people, even for poor people—and for free—at
times, and that’s all I will tell you right now. I said