Page 34 of Kane's Bounty
Chapter 6
Hopewell, New Jersey, hosted rolling hills and beautiful country homes. Cows and horses munched happily on rich green grasses and children rode bicycles down Route 518. It was bucolic in its serenity. The small, white farmhouse was set back off Sunnydale Road. The sign at the road said Wilmar Farms and had the outline of a horse burned into the wood.
“Your grandmother runs a horse farm?” Joshua asked.
She smiled. It was not entirely out of the question. Gran probably could run this farm if she wanted to. “It belongs to some old friends of the family.”
The sedan worked the dirt drive into a cloud of dust as they approached the house. Two figures waited near the porch. When the car pulled to a stop, Lena opened the door, ignoring the warnings from both men.
They were both out of the car an instant after her. Bill and Peggy Flack waited with big smiles on their faces as soon as they saw Lena get out of the strange car. She flew into the waiting arms of the tall woman and felt the comforting pat on the back from the stocky man beside her.
Peggy was lean and muscular from a lifetime of training horses. Bill was several inches shorter than his wife, but he was as solid as he’d been forty years earlier. They were both past seventy and as sharp and strong as most people half their age.
“Lena, we didn’t know what to think when we heard the car. No one we know has a car like that. Uncle Bill has his revolver tucked in his belt and I stashed the shotgun on the porch.”
“Do you want me to shoot these two, Lena, honey? I’d be happy to do it,” Bill said.
She broke away from the comfort of the hug. “No, Uncle Bill. They look shady, but they’re with me. Uncle Bill, Aunt Peggy, this is Kane and Joshua Lakeland.”
Joshua shook Bill’s hand and nodded to Peggy. “You have a pistol, sir?”
Bill pulled the Colt revolver from the back of his pants, removed the clip and pulled the slide to remove the round in the chamber. He handed it to Joshua. “Just my service pistol, but I keep it clean and fire it regular.”
Joshua examined the weapon. He held out his hand. “May I?”
Bill thought a moment and then handed him the magazine. Joshua snapped the cartridge into the butt of the gun. “Best to keep this loaded, sir. You never know when you might need it.”
He handed the gun back and Bill nodded.
“We’ve been worried sick about you, Lena. Your granny’s beside herself with no word in months.”
“I know, Aunt Peggy, and I’m sorry. I couldn’t risk contacting you.”
“Best if you go see her now. She’s up at the barn,” Bill said.
“Are these two here to protect you?” Peggy asked.
Lena looked from Kane to Joshua. They did look as if they were bodyguards the way they were hovering around her and searching the area. “They’re…involved,” she said, for lack of a better explanation.
Peggy nodded. “I’ll put some coffee on.”
Coffee was the answer to most of life’s problems. As a child, Lena could never remember being at the farm when there wasn’t the smell of coffee warming the air. She smiled and started toward the barn.
The long white building brought back a flood of happy memories.
“Are they related to you?” Kane asked.
She shook her head. “No. Gran’s best friends. I’ve always called them aunt and uncle. Oscar doesn’t know about them. He didn’t ask much about my family and I never mentioned the Flacks. It seemed as if it would be a good place for her to hide out.”
“Did you grow up near here?”
“No. Cherry Hill.”
The barn door was slightly ajar. They could hear humming coming from within. A moment later, an older woman with white hair and fair skin stepped into the yard.
“Gran.”
Grandmother’s eyes were wide and a smile spread across her face, which could only be described as pure joy. “Lena.” She opened her arms and Lena rushed into them and started to cry.
