Renewal 6 - Cold Read Free Page B

half-miserable.”
    “I guess that’s true, now that you mention it. I never would have thought of it myself.”
    “So, you’ve always been nice to Aggie?”
    “Well, sure... Wait a second. I’m always giving her a hard time, and she’s always giving it right back.”
    “There you go. It only takes a little fight to win the pretty girls, but it takes a fight. Otherwise, I figure they just get bored.”
    “You may be onto something there, my smart young friend.”
    “I guess we’ll see.”
    Bill didn’t respond to that, but it may have been the half pound of pork he was trying to gnaw into submission.
     
    Chapter 6 – 4
    The approaching tractor was our only warning before a huge thump shook the wall of the barn. I peered out through the gaps in the barn to see that Mr. Carroll had placed a big round hay bale against the barn. He backed the tractor away and used a long spike, located where the front end loader had been, to tip the bale onto its round end. He pushed the bale several feet until he had it in position and then drove off, presumably to find another one.
    He was at it for hours, driving off into the wind and dust and returning with another bale. He carefully nudged each bale with the tractor until it was situated in a line of bales he was building all the way around the barn. From inside the barn, it felt like we were being enclosed in a case of Coke cans. The direct light was slowly being replaced by the filtered light from higher in the barn. There was still plenty to see, but the overall sensation was a little claustrophobic. I was distracted by the process. I had not even thought about Dad, Arturo, and Kirk roaming around in the open.
    I’m sure Mom was thinking about them. She kept herself busy with the task of sorting and organizing our supplies, making lists in her little notebook, and just generally looking worried. Juannie was serving as Mom’s assistant. The lecture she had received had gotten Juannie up and moving, but she was still doing as little as possible, waiting sullenly until Mom gave her direct orders before she lifted a finger. I could tell from Mom’s expression - darker than the clouds scudding overhead - that she was only about an inch away from one of her patented shrieking hissy fits. If that happened, I planned to run.
    Mom never did lose her temper, but eventually, the weight of worry built up until we were talking openly about the fact that our men hadn’t returned. Mr. Carroll had managed a double layer of round bales around the barn. The high wall of bales combined with the ominous weather made the barn a dim echo of what it had been that morning. The good news was that it was noticeably warmer, probably from the lack of wind rather than any insulation value from the hay. Dad had planned well on his rapid fire expedition into Wal-Mart on the day of the Breakdown, but he had not planned perfectly. We had decent rain gear, but we did not have any cold weather gear at all. We mostly hoped that they would make it back without trouble, but right behind their safe return was the hope that they would make it back with some warmer clothes. If I had ever taken a look at the list Mom was making, I’m sure that winter wear was right at the top.
    We didn’t know the temperature, but we knew it was too cold to wander around outside in our blue jeans and windbreakers. Our confinement gave us plenty of time to think about our situation. Kirk and I entertained ourselves with Jimmy and Tommy, daring them to climb up into the drying beams of the barn with us. We could only climb up to the first set of beams before we were back into the wind blowing across the tops of the hay bales. It was cold enough that I didn’t want to stay for long. I imagined how much fun this barn would be in warmer weather, but was forced to seek out the warmest place I could find. I ended up huddled in one of the tents with the little boys. We were fully engaged in a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors when I heard