Organically Yours: Sanctuary, Book Five by Abbie Zanders (classic books for 11 year olds .TXT) 📗

rocker had been added shortly after Lottie began her weekly visits. It appeared that Mr. O’Farrell was just as sweet and thoughtful as Doc.

“Would you mind taking these back to Kate? Doc forgot to take them with him yesterday.”

It didn’t surprise Tina that Mr. O’Farrell knew about her Sunday trips to Sanctuary, nor did she mind. “Sure, no problem.”

“He’s a fine young man, you know,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.

She grinned. “Yes, I know.”

“Kind, smart, generous, honorable, brave. A hero really. He’ll make a good husband for the lucky woman who can capture his fancy.” The old man winked.

“You think so?”

“Oh, aye.”

“Good to know. You two have fun. I’ll be back around seven.”

Mr. O’Farrell reached out and took Lottie’s hand in his. “No hurry.”

Tina was smiling as she backed out of the driveway. She continued to do so all the way to the edge of town—right up until the time she realized she was being followed.

She didn’t recognize the vehicle. It stayed far enough back that she couldn’t make out the make or model, only that it was a dark pickup similar to hers. That didn’t tell her anything since the majority of vehicles in and around town were either trucks or Jeeps.

The driver and passenger were unrecognizable. From what she could see in her rearview, they wore dark hoodies, baseball caps, and sunglasses. She couldn’t even say for sure if they were male or female, but her instincts told her they were male.

To confirm that she wasn’t just being paranoid, Tina drove past the turnoff to go up the mountain toward Sanctuary and into the gas station on the corner instead. The dark truck cruised past at least twice while she filled up her tank and cleaned her windows.

Once she left the gas station, she noticed the truck a few lengths behind her again. Several turns later, there was no longer any question she was being followed.

Thankfully, traffic was light. Tina gunned the gas pedal and shot forward, taking advantage of all eight cylinders to put a decent amount of distance between her and the cars behind her. When the road opened up to the straight quarter-mile stretch past the town limits, she jammed on the brakes and executed a sliding U-turn any stunt driver would be proud of. Once she was facing the opposite direction, she sped back toward town—and her pursuers.

When she spotted them—the driver was definitely a him, given the visible facial hair—she hung another U-ey, putting her behind him.

Heart racing, adrenaline pumping, she floored the accelerator, closing the gap between them. A flash of an arm from the passenger side was the only warning before a bottle hit her windshield and exploded, sending golden-colored liquid across the glass.

“You fuckers!” she yelled. She flipped on the wipers, even angrier when she saw the crack in her windshield.

A second bottle came hurtling back, connecting with her front end. A third quickly followed, this one heading for her driver’s side. Tina swerved and narrowly avoided it, growing angrier and more determined by the second.

Their narrow back window opened up, and Tina caught sight of the rifle barrel. She might have been angry, but she wasn’t stupid. She yanked the wheel hard to the right and decelerated but not before she heard a pop, and the right front end of her truck dropped suddenly.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Doc

Doc checked his phone again, frowning when it remained dark and message-free. Tina was late.

His plan was to greet her upon arrival and then occupy himself while the women had their coffee. What happened afterward would depend largely on Tina. If she was feeling up to it, they could take advantage of the beautiful spring day with a slow-paced walk along one of their many trails. If she wasn’t, they could hang in his trailer and watch a movie or something.

“She’ll be here,” Kate told him. “She’s probably just running behind.”

Maybe, but the growing knot in his gut told him it was more than that. He worried that perhaps Tina had pushed herself too hard, too soon and suffered a mild relapse. Or worse, she’d had another run-in with her brother over her weekly trips to Sanctuary and had a change of heart. Either way, he didn’t like it.

He went back inside, silently reciting the watched pot never boils rule. His scientific side recognized the ridiculousness of his own reasoning. Water would boil when it reached the correct conditions to do so regardless of whether or not anyone was there to witness it, and Tina would arrive when she arrived regardless of whether or not he was waiting on the steps to greet her.

Doc made his way to the rec room, finding only one other there—a relatively new guy who went by Yaz. It wasn’t unusual to find it so empty during the middle of the day, especially when the weather was nice.

Most of the residents were in their rooms or off doing something. Part of the Sanctuary philosophy was ensuring that everyone always had something useful to do. Exactly what that was depended on the individual. Some helped out in the kitchen. Others did general carpentry or landscaping, or if they had special skills—like Justin, the dog whisperer—they did whatever suited them best. Church firmly believed that everyone had something useful to contribute and strongly encouraged those around him to utilize their own unique strengths to do so.

Yaz looked up when Doc entered. “Up for a game?”

“Sure.”

Doc was a decent pool player, but Yaz was better. It was pure luck that Doc won the first game. Yaz easily won the second, neatly pocketing one ball after another with skill and precision.

They were just about to start the third game for a best two out of three match when Mad Dog poked his head into the room.

“Doc. Tina’s just arrived. You’re going to want to see this.”

Something about Mad Dog’s tone made Doc’s blood run cold.

“Continue this later?” Doc said to Yaz, setting his cue stick back in the rack.

“Sure, man. Just