Read Online The Siege by Rick Hautala - Free Book Online Page B

now.”
    In a flurry of activity that seemed to contradict the ancient quiet of the house, a young girl with long, dark braids bouncing on her shoulders burst into the hallway. She was dressed in jeans and a light yellow T-shirt with a brightly colored parrot design. Her face was flushed from running.
    “Hi, grammy,” she gasped. Breathing heavily, she leaned over to catch her breath but took the opportunity to glance slyly at Angie.
    “Lisa, this is Mr. Harmon and his daughter, Angie. They’ll be staying with us for a day or two. Maybe you can show Angie around town a little.”
    Dale had finished with the registration card and, as he handed it back to Mrs. Appleby, he glanced at Lisa and gave her a warm smile. There was no doubt that she was related to the older woman, he thought. Her eyes had the same blue intensity of her grandmother’s.
    “You know,” Mrs. Appleby said, looking at Dale. “I shouldn’t be prying into your business, but you never mentioned why you folks are up this way. Are you taking a family vacation?”
    Dale stiffened as chilled fingers gripped his stomach. For a moment, he had forgotten why they were in town. Carefully placing the pen back on the desk so he could avoid eye contact with her, he said softly, “No. We’ve come up from Thomaston for…” His throat caught, and he almost couldn’t continue. “For Larry Cole’s funeral. He worked with me down in Augusta.”
    “Oh, my,” Mrs. Appleby said, clicking her tongue and shaking her head. “Wasn’t that a shame? I’ve known Larry’s mother and father since they were children. As a matter of fact, I had both his parents and him in class when I taught. Of course, I’ve been retired for twelve years, now. I started taking a few boarders to keep myself busy. But wasn’t that accident a shame? Now with his father gone, that just leaves poor Mildred. It’s a terrible tragedy when you lose a child. Terrible!”
    Dale couldn’t shake the feeling that Lillian Appleby was speaking from personal experience. It seemed obvious that Lisa lived here with her, and there had been no mention of her parents.
    “Actually,” Dale said, clearing his throat, “I was hoping someone could tell me where his mother lives. I wanted to stop by the house and visit her before the funeral.”
    “You’re parked right out front,” Mrs. Appleby said. “Why don’t you bring the car up into the driveway and get your luggage up to your room? Lisa, why don’t you take Angie downtown for an ice cream before it gets dark?”
    “Well, we haven’t had supper yet,” Dale said. “I was thinking we’d unpack and then go find someplace to eat.”
    “Oh, pshaw,” Mrs. Appleby said, waving her hand in front of Dale’s face. “The sign says ‘bed and breakfast,’ but that’s just because I didn’t know what else to call it. You can have supper here with us if you don’t mind waiting until after seven.”
    Dale looked at Angie, who gave him a what-the-heck shrug. “Fine,” he said. “That would be just fine. A home-cooked meal will beat anything we could find in town, I’m sure.”
    “You two run along now,” Mrs. Appleby said, shooing her hands at Angie and Lisa. “Just don’t go off so far you don’t hear when I call you for supper, all right?”
    With quick nods of their heads, Angie followed Lisa back out of the house the way she had come in. Again, there was a loud slam as they went out into the back yard by way of the kitchen door.
    Dale turned to go down to the street and get his car, but before he went, he turned to Mrs. Appleby and said softly, “I want to thank you.”
    She smiled widely. “For what, renting you a room? Don’t worry. I’ll give you a bill for that.”
    “No,” Dale said. “I mean for everything else. Just for being here and even for having Lisa here. Coming for Larry’s funeral hasn’t been easy for me or for Angie. Larry was more than just someone I worked with. He was almost a part of our family. But I was