Uncle Hiram (WC 298)

Joey Gunderlack wants to go home; Uncle Hiram is one scary dude.

Uncle Hiram

“When I catch you, boy, I will tan your hide or worse!”

Joey stayed still.

“You’ll be sorry ‘til the day you die!”

Was today that day?

“In fact, you’ll wish you were dead!”

Twelve-year-old Joey Gunderlack had been forced to stay with his Uncle Hiram while his father tended to Joey’s mom at Mercy Hospital. Rita Gunderlack had been sick for a while. She seemed to be getting better, but then suddenly worsened. And now Joey was staying at his uncle’s run-down farm, and at his mercy.

Hiram Gunderlack was a nasty little man with a horrible temper. Joey was counting the days until he could leave.

The small, dilapidated outbuilding smelled of Peat moss and decay. Joey readjusted his achy body on the lumpy earthen floor. He’d been trapped there for hours. He was hungry and thirsty, but if he gave up, he could end up dead.

All he had done to earn his Uncle Hiram’s wrath was open the worn, brown leather-bound book on the coffee table. The cover was blank except for a huge red star.

This mysterious book was written in a foreign language that Joey didn’t understand…so he couldn’t read a word. Why did the old man get so mean about it?

“No harm, no foul, Uncle Hiram. I can’t read it.”

“You’ve no idea what you’ve done. What you have violated!”

Say what?

Hiram Gunderlack picked up an ax and lunged for Joey. The boy ran for his life, found the tiny building, locked the door, and hid next to the back wall.

Joey didn’t care what was in that stupid book! He just wanted his mom to get better; he wanted to go home! He needed to pee!

Oh yeah, and he wanted Uncle Hiram to put down the ax!