Rise Again Read Online Free PDF Page B

polka; it was hard to tell. An intense, vinegar smell of bubbling chili wafted across Main Street from the dozen or so cooking stations set up in front of the Quik-Mart. Danny saw a “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” T-shirt, the initial letters far larger than the rest, but she didn’t have time to issue a citation to some mullet-wearing tool who couldn’t dress himself for public occasions. Past the crowd was the official ceremonial flatbed truck, parked up under the shade of the town’s lone ash tree.
    Danny’s belly tightened with anticipation. She didn’t love public speaking. Gordy Morton and Eleanor Dennison were already sitting up on the back in folding chairs above the richly draped red, white, and bluebunting that hid the truck’s chassis. Also up on the flatbed was Zach Greer, the fire chief, Hillman Jones, who ran the public works department, and Mayor Sy Crocker, checking his notes at the podium they’d requisitioned from the gymnasium. Sy was dressed in the ill-fitting George Washington outfit he’d originally put together in 1976 for the Bicentennial. Danny walked toward them through the crowd, muttering a last checkup on her deputies over the radio.
    The noon bell on the firehouse was ringing as Danny stepped up onto the flatbed and stood with legs apart and arms behind her back in the “at ease” drill stance. Sy tipped his braid-trimmed tricorn hat to Danny and waved down the street at Julius Argandoña, the music teacher. Julius made a throat-cutting gesture and the student band abruptly stopped playing, precisely as the last ring of the bell sounded out. Now there was only crowd noise, laughter and murmuring voices. Most of these folks couldn’t care less about the ceremonials, but at least they turned in the correct direction. Danny’s heart was racing. She did her breathing and brought it down.
    Sy tapped the microphone, then launched into his speech. “Ladies and gentlemen, and local folks, welcome to Forest Peak’s Fourth of July celebration. Every year we get together to cheer on what’s great about our nation and our community. And by way of raising money for the fire department, we also sling a mean chili.”
    People cheered at this. They’d cheer for anything edible, Danny thought. Part of the eternal holiday spirit.
    “And every year we celebrate somebody who made a difference in our community, who gave more than they took, with our annual Key to the Mountains award. This year we honor somebody real special. She was born and raised here in Forest Peak, and before she took the job of sheriff, she took the job of serving with the U.S. Marine Corps. That job sent her overseas to a place very different from here. Like going from a birthday party to a fistfight is how she put it one time.”
    Laughter was followed by more cheers. Danny could feel a hot blush crawling up her skin, making her back prickle. For starters, she’d never said any such thing. Sy was making it up.
    “Let me introduce Sheriff Danielle Adelman: She won a Purple Heart and a Silver Star, got wounded but she won’t say where…”
    Cheering, rebel yells, a “hell yeah” from the guy in the FUCK shirt. Sy patted the air down, indicating the crowd should let him finish his speech.
    “…And as you can see, she came back alive, and she is still serving ourcommunity today as sheriff of our small but capable peacekeeping force. So here’s to you, Danny—it’s not fancy but it is the thirty-fifth annual Forest Peak Key to the Mountains, our award to an outstanding member of the community and a great American.”
    Sy flipped open the official key-presenting box, revealing within its red velvet lining the gold-colored, five-inch key on a ribbon. He took the thing out and held it up for the crowd to see, then attempted to lower the ribbon over Danny’s head. Her Smokey hat was too big. So she took it off, and her hair fell heavily around her neck, to the tremendous delight of the crowd. People were cheering and