"William W Johnstone - Ashes 30 - Tyranny in the Ashes (txt)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Johnstone William W)

into her mouth, wondering why they hadn't already come for her.

As she left the room, Bettye Jean lit a small kerosene lantern on a
table next to the door. The cabin had no electricity or running water,
and the bathroom was in a small shed fifty yards down the path.

15

Claire's face flushed and her heart pounded as she read the headlines of
the two-week-old paper: "President Warner and President Jeffreys Make
Progress toward Peace Agreement."

President Warner? Why that backstabbing son of a bitch, Claire thought.
When I get back I'll show him who's President! I'll personally put a
bullet in the bastard's mouth!

She finished the cereal and struggled out of the bed, hobbling on a
still-sore left ankle toward the kitchen. She had to get to a phone so
she could let them know at government headquarters she was still alive.
She'd be damned if she was going to let this peace proposal go any further!

"Bettye Jean," she said from the door to the kitchen.

Bettye Jean looked over her shoulder from the sink where she was washing
dishes. "Oh, you scared me, Mary."

"Bettye Jean," Claire said, handing her the bowl and spoon, "I've got to
get to a phone. How far is it to the nearest one?"
Bettye Jean pursed her lips, thinking. "Oh, 'bout five mile down the
road. There's a gas station there that has a phone on the wall." She
shook her head. "Course, they don't often have any gas to sell, since
that crazy Osterman lady done started this here war."

"But she had to," Claire said, exasperated that this simple country
woman couldn't understand the dangers the country faced from Ben Raines
and his Rebels. "She had to protect the country against the Rebel Army."

Bettye Jean put her finger to her lips. "Shhh, don't you let Billy Bob
hear you takin' up fer that bitch. He's liable to take a switch to you,
or worse," she said, naked fear in her eyes.

"Do you think he'll take me down to the gasoline station in your pickup?"

"I doubt it, Mary. He says we don't got no gas to waste on foolishness,
what with it costin' five dollars a gallon now, when they got any."

Claire was getting awfully tired of the crap this hillbilly

16