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

Claire Osterman looked up into Bettye Jean Holt's face, fighting to come
fully awake and put the horrible dream behind her. She glanced around at
the small bedroom where she'd been staying since hobbling through five
miles of wooded Ozark mountain forest with a broken jaw, broken left
arm, and severely sprained left ankle to finally find refuge in the
Holts' small wooden shack a month before.

Bettye Jean Holt was carrying a bowl of what could only be described as
gruel. She'd told Claire it was oatmeal, that being the only thing
Claire could manage to eat as her broken jaw healed, but if there were
any oats in it, they were few and far between.

"What time is it?" Claire mumbled sleepily, rubbing her eyes to erase
the picture of General Willford Hall being blown to bits above her.

"Heck," Bettye Jean said in her thick backwoods accent,

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"h'it's almost five in the mornin'. Billy Bob's gone out to feed the
chickens an' hog." She grinned, exposing yellowed teeth with several
black gaps where malnutrition had caused them to fall out.

Claire reached for the oatmeal, wincing as pain shot down her left arm,
restricted by the crude splint Bettye Jean had taped on it after setting
the broken bones.

"He said to git yore lazy butt up an' fer me to git his breakfast 'fore
he came back, Mary," Bettye Jean said, using the fake name Claire had
given them when she found out they hated Claire Osterman and the entire
government of the USA.

"He said it was about time you started earnin' yore keep around here,
but"-and Bettye Jean's voice changed to a conspiratorial whisper as she
continued-"I tole him yore arm weren't healed enough jest yet."

As Claire took the oatmeal from her, Bettye Jean pulled a folded-up
newspaper out of her apron pocket. "I also brung you a paper Billy Bob
got when he drove the ol' pickup into town yesterday. H'it's a couple'a
weeks old, but I figgered you'd like to know what was goin' on in the
world since you fell outta that tree."

"What... oh, yeah," Claire said, remembering she'd told the Holts that
she'd received her injuries when she climbed a tree to get her bearings
after getting lost in the woods. Billy Bob had said he thought she
looked like Claire Osterman and if she was, he was going to shoot her.
Her cover story had been a quick attempt to save her life until the
search party from USA headquarters could find her.

Claire took the spoon and bowl and began shoveling the soupy mixture