Dux Bellorum (Future History of America Book 3) Read Free

cleared his throat.   "So, are the Larssons—is that what you said their name was?"
    She turned back to face him and nodded.   "Oh, yes.   Edgar and Victoria Larsson."   She smiled.   "Eddie and Vi."  
    Evans nodded as he munched on his second cookie.   "I take it they're not home?   Did they leave for someplace warm, I hope?" he said with his own smile.
    She chuckled and took a second cookie from the package, pinched between her fingertips like it was delicate treasure.   "Oh good heavens, no.   They spent every summer up here while their kids were growing up then moved in permanently some time ago.   We miss their little ones so dearly now.   They used to always run between our yard and the Colonel's…"
    Colonel? That's interesting.  Must be the house on the other side of the Larsson place.   Have to take care of him.   Can't afford some ex-hero fucking things up.
    Mrs. Holden prattled on.   "…retired now, like the rest of us," she said with a rueful laugh.   "But why we spend our remaining years up here around this frozen lake instead of down on some beach in Florida I'll never know."  
    Evans glanced out the window at the snow as she laughed at her own wit.   "So they haven't left then?   Must be in town?   What about the Colonel?"
    She laughed.   "I don't know if he was a real colonel, mind.   Everyone's just called him that since…well, forever.   He could be a private for all I know."   She looked thoughtful for a moment, took a nibble at her cookie and then spoke again, "No, they haven't left.   We all just finished bringing in the last of our crops a few days ago."   She winked at him.  
    "Between you and me, they had the bigger haul, but don't let Alvin know I said that.   Alvin, Eddie, and the Colonel have some geriatric rivalry going on as to who can grow the most during the year.   Us wives used to laugh at them," she said and took a sip of coffee.   "Now that the whole world   has gone crazy, I suppose we'll all be more thankful we have that much extra food put away for the winter."   She shook her head sadly.  
    Before she could say anything else, Evans spoke up: "That's probably a smart thing to be doing right around now.   I'm driving around to take a head count and make sure everybody's set up for the winter.   Governor's orders.   The state wants to marshal its resources and I'm looking to see who will be in the most need…"  
    Oh, that was good!   Have to remember that…
    She nodded wisely.   "That is an excellent idea—probably the smartest thing I've ever heard come out of the governor's office!" she laughed again.   "If Vi didn't answer the door, that means she's in town and he's probably down by their boathouse.   Eddie loves to tinker with that sailboat of his.   My Alvin, now, he can putter around with the best of them—but he prefers the garden," she said with a wave of her hand. "For things mechanical, he'd just as soon take it to a professional."   She looked around as if making sure no one was listening and leaned in across the small table.  
    "Personally, I think that's best for everyone."   She leaned back, chuckling as if she had just delivered one of the funniest jokes known to man and reached for another cookie.   "Now, don't you be telling Alvin I've been into these," she said with a wink.
    Evans flashed a smile and finished his last cookie.   He looked at the structure of her face and her fair hair—despite being mostly white, it looked like it'd been brushed to a polished shine.   For someone who looked in her late 70s, he had to admit she didn't look half-bad.   He idly wondered what she would've looked like as a teenager…
    "Is it as bad out there as we've heard?" she asked quietly.
    He cleared his throat and put the coffee mug on the table.   Time to look grim and official.   He tapped his finger on the rim of the cup, trying to appear lost in thought.   He swallowed.   It was a new kind of fun, stringing her along like