Chicken Feathers by Joy Cowley

Author:Joy Cowley [Cowley, Joy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781101652329
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2008-05-29T04:00:00+00:00

The long hospital corridor, smelling of antiseptic and dry linen, was lit with the last light of day. Another of Tarkah’s eggs about to disappear, thought Josh as he strode out ahead of his father. Lights were switched on in some of the rooms, but Elizabeth’s room was almost dark. Josh stopped with a feeling of dread. His mother was lying on her pillow, eyes closed, the tube in her arm.

Tucker wasn’t prepared for this either. He went to the bed and put his hand on his wife’s forehead. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. Josh heard her say, “Bleeding again.”

Bleeding? What did that mean? He pushed in beside his father and looked down at the needle in the back of her hand. It was the same as the day she came in here, a tube that went all the way up the bed to a bag of fluid on a metal stand. His throat went dry. “What’s gone wrong?”

Her free hand went to the back of his head and pulled him down so that she could kiss him. “Nothing’s wrong. This is a way to take medicine that’s too bad to swallow.”

He knew she was pretending. “Is it the baby?” he asked.

Elizabeth glanced at Tucker, then she smoothed Josh’s hair away from his forehead. “Honey, the baby’s okay. We had a little scare this afternoon, but now everything’s fine.”

“You sure?” He put his head down on the pillow against hers. Her hair was as thick as Annalee’s, but it smelled of hospital. “I wish you’d come home, Mom. We’d look after you real good.”

“I wish too, but this is the best place for me right now. Josh, if I were a chicken, no farmer would ever want me. I’m such a bad layer. Chickens have the sense to hold on to their eggs until they’re ready to be laid. My body doesn’t want to wait. You know what happens to a baby if it’s born too soon?”

He nodded.

“This is one busy little baby. I think she’s going to be a ballet dancer. But she’s small. We have to give her as much time as we can, and that’s the reason for the medication.” She eased herself up in the bed and took a deep breath. “All right, my two guys. How are things back at the ranch?”

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