HOMEFRONT MM

by LOGAN CHUCK

• ISBN13: 9780060570217
• ISBN10: 0060570210
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

The daughter of ex-cop Phil Broker and ex-army major/anti-terrorist operative Nina Pryce, Kit Broker is no ordinary eight-year-old. She has seen more -- and survived more -- than most grown-ups. And now she has inadvertently invited a nightmare into the lives of those she loves. Phil Broker and his family moved to tiny Glacier Falls, Minnesota, to heal from the psychological wounds they received while helping to avert an inhuman act of terror. But young Kit chose the wrong adversary when she triumphed over local schoolyard bully Teddy Klumpe -- for the boy's disreputable clan does unholy business from the darkest shadows of their small town . . . and they do not forgive. What begins as a minor feud between neighbors quickly escalates into a major offensive of intimidation, destruction, fear . . . and death. And the worst is yet to come -- because terror has come home.

Excerpts

Homefront

Chapter One

It was another March surprise. Yesterday the kids were playing inlong sleeves and tennis shoes. Then the storm moved in last night,riding on serious cold that knocked everyone's weather clock for aloop. Now there was a foot of fresh snow on the ground. The airtemperature stuck on 18 degrees Fahrenheit, but the windchillshivered it down to 11. School policy put the kids out in the snow ifthe thermometer topped zero. Ten-thirty in the morning at GlacierElementary. Recess.

The new kid was a snotty showoff, and it was really starting to bugTeddy Klumpe. Especially the way a lot of third-graders hadgathered on the playground to watch her.

Just like yesterday, when she was doing skips on the monkeybars. Not just swinging, flying almost. And everyone big-eyed,checking her out, like wow. See that? Three-bar skip. Excepttoday it so was so cold -- ha -- that her gloves slipped on the icybars and she dropped off, the heels of her boots skidded in thesnow, and she fell on her skinny rear end. But then she got upand studied the stretch of steel bars over her head; studied themso hard these wrinkles scrunched up her forehead. Slowly, as herbreath jetted in crisp white clouds, she removed her gloves.

Boy, was that dumb. It was just too cold ...

But it didn't stop her. She mounted the wooden platform andcarefully placed her gloves on the snowy planks. She blew a coupletimes on her bare hands, took a stance, gauged the distance,bent her knees, swung her arms back, and sprung. Parka, snow pants, bulky boots. Didn't matter. Smoothly, she caught the thirdbar out.

Yuk. The thought of his bare skin touching that frozen steelmade him wince. Along with the fact he was too heavy to propelhimself hand over hand. But when she dropped back to theground. Then he'd show her. Skinny, red-haired, freckle-facedlittle bitch.

The Klumpe kid was almost nine. Naturally powerful for hisage, he packed an extra ten pounds of junk-food blubber in asumo-like tire around his gut and his wide PlayStation 2 butt.Biggest kid in the third grade. Most feared kid. Knew the mostswear words. King of the playground.

Screw her.

Teddy scouted the immediate area.

Mrs. Etherby, the nearest recess monitor, was watching thekids sliding down the hill on plastic sleds. The other monitor wason the far side of the playground, where some fourth-graderswere building a snow fort.

Ten of Teddy's classmates were standing over by the slide nextto the monkey bars, making a winter rainbow of fleece red capsand blue and yellow Land's End parkas against the oatmeal sky.All of them curiously watching Teddy and the new kid. Theyshould be watching him take his snowboard down the hill. Andrepairing the bump jump when he smashed it apart. Instead,they were watching to see what he would do.

The new kid swung from the last bar, landed lightly on herfeet on the far wooden platform, and blew on her chappedhands. Teddy eyed the gloves she'd left on the opposite end. Asshe leaped up and grabbed the bars for the return trip, Teddywalked over casually, snatched up her gloves, and stuffed them inhis jacket pocket.

"Hey!" the kid yelled, swinging hand over hand.

Teddy ignored her and kept walking, around the back of asmall equipment shed near the tire swings.

"Hey," she said again, dropping to the snow and trotting afterhim. "Those are my gloves." Her breath made an energetic white puff in the air. Two brooding vertical creases started between hereyebrows and shot up her broad forehead.

Teddy angled his face away from her but let his eyes roll to theedge of his sockets. Kinda like his dad did when he was gettingready to get really mad. He took a few more steps, drawing herfarther behind the shed, out of sight from eyes on the playground.Then he spun.

"Liar," he said.

She balled her cold hands at her sides and narrowed hergreen eyes. The creases deeper now, pulling her face tight."Thief," she said in a trembling voice.

Teddy saw the tension rattle on her face, turning it red. Heheard the tremor in her voice. Little bitch is scared. Encouraged,he surged forward and pushed her chest hard with both hands.She went down on her butt in the snow. Then he yanked hergloves from his pocket and tossed them up on the roof of theshed, where they stayed put in a foot of snow.

"Yuk," Teddy wiped his own gloves on the front of his jacket."Now I got girl cooties all over me."

She was starting to get up, working to hold back tears."Now you're gonna cry. More girl cooties," Teddy said with agrin.

"No, I ain't," she said in a trembling voice as she drew hard,pulling the tears back inside her eyes. She pushed up off thesnow.

"Crybaby girl cooties," Teddy taunted, and he rammed herwith his shoulder and hip. Ha. Hockey check. She went downagain.

"Leave me alone," she said in the shaky voice. "I mean it,that's two." This time she was up faster, bouncing kinda . . .

Two? Teddy laughed and shoved her again. "Loser," hetaunted. It was one of his dad's favorite words. Then he blinked,surprised because this time she surged against him, kinda strongfor a girl, and kept her footing. Doing this dance thing on theballs of her feet.

"That's three," she said, still moving away from him but her small fists swinging up; tight, compact miniature hammers. Redwith cold.

"Oh, yeah?" Teddy sneered, opening his arms, palms out,elbows cocked to shove her again. As he charged forward, herealized she wasn't moving away anymore.

Homefront. Copyright © by Chuck Logan. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

---

Excerpted from Homefront by Chuck Logan
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.