CHAPTER 7
The sun was fiery red as it came up over the
hill spreading welcome daylight throughout the valley. It reflected
off a puddle and right into the sleeping face of Hampton who had
holed up in the cement tube for the night. He slowly opened one
eye. Then the other. He sniffed the air, drinking in the smells of
a new October day. It was the sweet smell that lingers after a
heavy rainfall. The sun was out, but the air was still heavy,
leaving fog in the valley and steam rising from golden, wet leaves,
which in a few days would say good-bye to their summer branches and
float down to Earth. The sunlight cut beams through the changing
autumn trees making the vivid colors even more vibrant.
Hampton licked his leg. It was stiff from the
mud that had hardened into a rather effe
