The Glory of Green by Judy Christie Read Free Book Online

here alone," he said again.
    "You're my husband, not my bodyguard," I said, trying to use a smile to soften the words. "You know you've got to get out there."
    "I'm concerned," he said. "But I won't leave my bride until someone else shows up."
    The sight of Alex coming through the front door had never been so welcome.
    My only true reporter, a veteran at age twenty-three, had discarded his tie, but he wore loafers rather than his ragged tennis shoes and looked more mature than usual in his wedding slacks and nice shirt, dirty though they were.
    "How bad is the damage?" I asked.
    "Beyond bad," he said. "The mayor wants you at the command center. Chris, she needs you to meet a crew at the Grace Chapel parking lot."
    "Fatalities?" I asked.
    "Yes."
    "How many? Who?" Chris asked.
    "I think that's what the mayor wants to talk with Lois about. She won't tell me."
    "Chris, I've got to go," I said, grabbing my purse, an extra notebook and a small digital camera. "Alex, you stay here and keep your fingers crossed that we get phone service back. Help Stan and Tom work up a plan for an extra edition for tomorrow afternoon. I'll be back as soon as I can."
    "Take a laptop, boss," Alex said, handing me one of the two portable computers the newspaper owned.
    Chris looked agitated. "I'm going to the motel to pick up your brothers and head out to see what needs doing. I'll plan to meet you back here in four hours. If you need me before then, send Alex or Stan. I'll use Mama and Daddy's place as a base."
    "If it's still there," I said.
    "It will be," he said. "It has to be."
    I rushed into Chris's arms and held tight. "I don't want you to go."
    "I'll be back," he said, pulling my head to his shoulder. "Be careful, Mrs. Craig."
    "I will," I said, unable to come up with a clever response. "I love you."
    "I love you, too." He kissed me gently on the mouth. "You were a beautiful bride."
    The front door swung shut, my husband out in the pitch black night, the beam of his flashlight already gone.
    "Lois, are you OK?" Alex asked.
    "Not yet," I said, shaking my head. "But we know how to cover the news, and that's what we have to do. Lives depend on us. Have you heard from any of the others? Tammy or Katy? Linda? Anyone?"
    "Everyone's spread out, but we agreed to check in here. I haven't run into Tom, but he posted a story at seven-thirty saying a massive storm was headed our way. I did two updates from the courthouse. We scooped everyone, and the Associated Press has picked up my first story."
    "The wire services are following this?"
    "I'd say everyone in the country is following this."

5
    A loose billy goat has been impounded by Bouef Parish officials after chasing calves on local farms. A deputy found the goat and is attempting to identify the owner because "this seems to be a real good quality animal." If the owner is not found, the goat will be adopted or sold at auction. If the sheriff's department has got your goat, give them a call.
    —The Green News-Item

    E va Hillburn, flanked by three or four men, including the police and fire chiefs, pointed to a large map of Bouef Parish.Her back was to the door of the basement command center, and the room around her buzzed like the yellow jacket nest Chris had stirred up while mowing my yard last summer.
    I stood silently at the back of the room, taking in as much information as I could without getting in the way.
    "We have to go here next," Eva said, pointing to the core of town with her coral manicured fingernail. She wore the silk suit she had on at our wedding. "Door-to-door, block-toblock until everyone is accounted for. I feel certain that damage is extensive in this neighborhood. The houses were practically falling down as it was."
    Jerry Turner, the banker who had run against Eva for mayor, sat hunched over a map on a tan metal desk and slammed his hand down on a nearby metal desk. "No," he said. "We know outlying areas are hard hit. We can't waste time on inner-city neighborhoods that may be