Wishes on the Wind Read Online Free PDF Page A

group have been at the bottom of every unlawful incident since I assumed ownership of this mine five years ago, but they've gone too far this time!"
        Affixing his eye on the massive Scottish captain who cautiously maintained his silence, Lang continued in a lower tone. "I want to know how that group of assassins found out about that unscheduled shipment long enough in advance to effect a plan. Thanks to their sabotage, traffic on the tracks will be tied up for an inestimable period. The fools! They'll be putting their own people out of work if I have to suspend shifts because of backup in the coal yard. Of course, the layoffs will be my fault, too."
        Frowning as his uncle's tirade continued, David Lang shot an anxious glance toward his aunt's stricken face where she stood a few steps to his rear. Her fading blond hair unbound, a powder-blue dressing gown that accented her delicate coloring hastily thrown over nightclothes, she appeared unexpectedly fragile as her gently rounded body trembled with anxiety. Beside her, his fifteen- year-old cousin, Grace, stood silent, fear and curiosity equally mingled in her wide-eyed expression.
        David stepped toward his aunt and slipped his arm around her shoulders. His whisper bore true concern as she looked up at him with a bewildered expression that bordered on tears.
        "Aunt Letty, why don't you take Grace back upstairs with you and try to go back to sleep?"
        "Oh, David, I couldn't!" Her pale blue eyes wide with uncertainty, Millicent glanced again at her husband's flushed face as his ranting continued. "Martin is so upset. I fear he'll go into apoplexy if I'm not here to calm him."
        David suppressed the smile his aunt's response elicited, despite the gravity of the moment. The woman had raised him from childhood after his parents had been killed. She was endlessly kind and generous, and treated him as well as she did her own child. He loved her dearly, but he knew that she concerned herself with little outside of the workings of her lovely home and the education and future of the children consigned to her care. For five years she had managed to divorce the Mollies' acts of terrorism and murder from her own personal world, fearful only for her husband's "state of mind."
        Realizing at the moment, as the volume of Uncle Martin's voice rose another notch behind him, that there was much to be said for her fear, David forced his most reassuring smile.
        "Uncle Martin will probably stay up the rest of the night, Aunt Letty. I can give him all the help he needs right now."
        Aunt Letty blinked and a weak smile touched her pale, gracefully aging face. "Do you really think so, David?"
        "I'm sure of it, Aunt Letty." Taking Grace's arm, aware that his cousin was too curious for her own good, he drew her forward. "And I think it's best if you take Grace upstairs. She looks frightened."
        Her momentary bewilderment apparently past, Aunt Letty nodded and took Grace's arm firmly. She ignored her daughter's protests as she ushered her up the staircase, and David found himself hoping the time would never come when the dear woman would be put to the test of truly trying circumstances. He doubted she would be able to survive.
        "David."
        Turning at his uncle's summons, David followed as Martin Lang gestured the uniformed police captain and him into the study. Not for the first time, David felt a flush of pride at the    unspoken confidence that caused his uncle to request his presence whenever matters of importance at the colliery were discussed. He had long ago resolved to be worthy of that confidence.
        Inside the elaborately paneled room, Martin Lang turned toward the big, dour-faced captain of the mine owner's private police force. Barely waiting until David closed the door behind them, he questioned the man sharply.
        "All right, Captain Linden, I'm anxious to hear what you have to say