Free Avenging Autumn: Seasons Change Book 1 of 4 by Derek A Schneider

M-16
held to his chest.
    Luckily, the tree’s trunk was thick enough to
hide Frank from view, and as the guard came up beside it, the old
man quietly moved around the opposite side with his sword held
high. As the guard examined the dead dogs lying in the grass,
Frank’s blade fell, decapitating the servant from
behind.
    Re-sheathing his sword, The Old Man turned his
at-tention back toward the rest of the property.
    The house had a balcony that wrapped all the
way around the second floor, where another guard was posted.
Looking up now, Frank saw that the second guard was moving toward
the other side of the house, apparently not noticing the killings
that had occurred below.
    Frank slowly crept in toward the front
door.

    Meanwhile, on the east side of the wall,
Benny, Jack, and Autumn had just found a good place to climb
over.
    “ Alright,” Jack said, once again
clasping his hands for a foot hold, “you first, Benny.”
    Benny gave his brother a sarcastic smirk, “You
should go first, you’re lighter than me.”
    “ Yeah, but your taller, it would be
easier for you to reach the wall with your long arms, and then
reach down and pull us up.”
    “ Well, I guess that makes since, I
am stronger than you.”
    “ Whoa, now wait a minute,” Jack
said seemingly unable to believe what he had just heard, “who said
anything about you being stronger?”
    Autumn let out a groan that seemed to go
unnoticed.
    “ Of course I’m stronger,” Benny
continued. “It’s all in the weight.”
    “ Bullshit, I’ll arm wrestle you
right now.”
    “ Would you two macho idiots shut
the fuck up and get over the wall?” Autumn bellowed.
    Jack threw his hands up in surrender,
“Alright, alright. Don’t get your pulse rate up.”
    Benny snorted laughter.
    “ Oh, ha ha, very funny,” Autumn
said, “you’re short and your scrawny, now get over the damn
wall.”
    The two men gave Autumn an identical look of
in-sulted hurt.
    “ I’m not that short,” Jack said
solemnly.
    Jack boosted Benny up to the top of the wall
for a look around. He saw one guard walking toward the front of the
house, yawning as he went. Once the thug was around the corner
Benny pulled the rest of his body up and, positioning himself on
his stomach, reached down for the others. Jack put his hands on
Autumns waist and lifted her up to Benny’s out-stretched hand. Once
she was over, Benny reached down for his brother. Jack jumped up
for Benny’s hand, but missed it completely.
    “ Autumn’s right,” Benny whispered,
“you are too short.”
    “ Fuck you!” Jack shot back. He
backed up about ten feet and got a running start. Kicking his foot
off the wall to get extra height, he was able to reach
Benny.
    Once the three of them were over, they all
stood mo-tionless against the wall and looked around. After seeing
the seemingly deserted lawn, Jack strode forward with
confidence.
    “ Jack,” Autumn said quietly, “what
are you doing?”
    “ What?” he asked, “This is going to
be easy.”
    When an angry pit bull leapt out of the tall
grass, knocking Jack to the ground, the surprised look on his face
was almost comical. Benny and Autumn stood motionless for a moment,
staring at the dog in shocked surprise.
    “ Benny,” Jack shouted, “do
something.”
    Jack had his hands on the dog’s chest, holding
it at bay, as it snapped and slobbered inches from his face. Benny
pulled his sword out and held the blade facing downward with the
intention of stabbing the hound in the back. He hesitated,
wondering if he could accidentally stick Jack as well.
    “ Come on, man.” Jack
begged.
    Benny then turned the sword around in his
hands and swung it like a golf club. He was surprised at how easily
the silver blade cut through the pit’s rib cage. The bottom half
fell to the ground while the top half continued to squirm and
writhe in Jack’s hands.
    “ Jesus!” Jack exclaimed. He threw
the top part of the dog aside, looking down at his jacket as he
stood up,