Finding Floyd Read Online Free PDF Page B

was
good-looking and around her age, but sadly, he wasn't Chris
Owen.
    A sharp rap came from the front door and she
started. Chris is back! I'll bet he just went out to the store for
something. She turned to answer the knock at the door, but screamed
when she collided with a strange man whose broad shoulders filled
the kitchen doorway.
    Tall and dark, his coal black eyes gave her a
cool appraising look. A firm thin lipped mouth was framed by the
largest handle bar mustaches she'd ever seen. He was dressed
entirely in black, from the Stetson hat that sat on his black mane
of hair, down to his highly polished cowboy boots. His entire
appearance was decidedly sinister and icy fingers of fear tickled
her spine.
    "Can I help you?" she stammered.
    "Sandy about anywhere," he said in a low
rumble, taking in the room and its occupants. He nodded to Jesse,
who grinned back at him.
    "She's away for a while. I'm looking after
things for her."
    He grunted, pulled out a kitchen chair and
joined the other two at the table. The man was huge, dwarfing Jesse
and Kyle.
    Frightened, Diane stepped back and said, "I'm
sorry, but we won't be accepting any guests until after the end of
the month."
    He nodded and pulled off the Stetson. "Not a
paying guest. Name is Woodruff. Come for the music mostly. Sandy
knows we come Saturdays, leastways, when we've got good
weather."
    "Well, I'm not aware of anything," her voice
trailed away.
    "Mornin', Woodruff," said Jesse.
    "Mornin'." The big man looked around for a
place to rest his hat as Kyle handed him a mug of coffee."
    "You eat yet?" Jesse asked. Diane here just
made us some fine griddlecakes. I haven't had the like since my
wife passed."
    "I could eat somethin'," said Woodruff.
    "Diane will bring you a plate. We're about to
help her out with that downed tree."
    "I guess that's my cue," she muttered,
heading back to work. Irritated, she spooned eight circles of
batter onto the hot griddle. Another guy for breakfast? When do I
get to eat?
    Woodruff was at her elbow as soon as they
were ready, so she piled a stack of four on his plate and waited
for him to sit down. He stood there staring, until, reluctantly,
she added another stack beside the first.
    The next stack is mine! Eight more circles on
the griddle. I'm hungry and I'm running out of batter. She heard
the sound of an engine. Fuming she stepped into the hall to see if
Chris had returned. Another pickup and a van turning into her
driveway, and more men climbed out to join the crowd. They all had
big white mugs of coffee, just like the ones the B & B had.
Where did they buy coffee way out here?
    Back in the kitchen, she was just in time to
flip the batch on the griddle and stack them on her plate. Finally.
Now where can I hide these?
    The big creepy guy in black looked up from
his coffee, scowled at her, and then stared at her pancakes. His
plate was clean. Sighing, she extended her arm, and he slid her
breakfast onto his plate. That's when she noticed Kyle.
    He grinned at her from the other side of the
room where he was serving coffee from a party sized coffee urn.
"Didn't think you'd mind darlin', if I put the big pot on. It'll
make things easier on you than making lots of those little bitty
pots. Don't want you to go to no trouble on our account."
    "I see," she murmured as the empty package
from the expensive special grind coffee flew across the room, hit
the side of the trash can, and rolled away. Outside, more vehicle
doors slammed and several chain saws began to growl.
    "We best get a move on, son. Looks like the
boys out there got a head start on us. We'll get that wood stacked
once we get 'er cut up," said Jesse as he drained his coffee, set
the cup down with a decisive thunk, and headed for the door.
    "They're crawling over that tree like ants on
a sugar cube," said Kyle watching the growing chainsaw gang.
    Dismayed, Diane tried to grasp what was
happening. "What are they all doing here?" she asked, leaning over
his shoulder to watch. A few