Healer of My Heart by Sheila Turner Johnston

Author:Sheila Turner Johnston [Johnston, Sheila Turner]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackstaff Press Ltd
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

20

AT ONE O’CLOCK in the morning David pushed the quilt back and slid out of bed to sit at his desk looking out at the moonlit garden. The flowers and leaves were garnished with silver, a faint breeze stirring the lilac and the tall fronds of the pampas grass. There was a movement at the hedge next the road. A fox emerged and snuffled silently along the flower bed, stopping now and then to capture a titbit, to push under leaves, to lift her head to listen intently, her paw frozen in mid-air. She trotted to the pampas grass, her luxurious brush slicked with moonlight.

David watched, fascinated. She circled the clump of pampas and then stopped again. She looked to left and right, then her head turned and she looked straight up at David’s window. He felt her meet his eyes. For a long moment they looked at each other. Then the fox dropped her head and disappeared the way she had come, like a beautiful ghost.

Tiredness, concern and the night were doing funny things to his brain. He leaned on his elbows and put his hands over his face. He tried to pray but no words would come. It didn’t worry him. He let his feelings speak instead, letting them swirl from him in an inarticulate tide.

When he opened his eyes again, he knew he was not going to let this person go. He didn’t understand what was wrong with her. He just knew all that was right with her.

The pictures almost completely covered two walls. Angus lay on his bed and pondered the framed print of a rustic bridge and apple trees on the third wall. Who had given him that rubbish? It would go in the bin and leave the entire expanse beside the window free for the next pictures.

He held up the latest photograph he had printed. It was one he had taken at Groomsport, just before David had seen him. Shaw’s arm was around Robyn, his expression calm but otherwise unreadable as she leaned against him, her feet tucked under her and her eyes closed. Around them, the sights of the seaside in summer had been frozen in the moment.

If she spoke to the headmaster about what had happened, it was her word against his. And this photograph could be very useful. He smiled. He wasn’t going to go near her for a while. Just let her relax. He would be the soul of civility.

On Thursday, Robyn saw a notice in the window of a charity shop. She walked in and volunteered to work two mornings a week till the third week in August to help out when the regular volunteers took their holidays.

On Thursday night David phoned.

She talked to him briefly, pleasantly, telling him about the shop. He sounded pleased. After a minute or two, he went quiet. Then: “Robyn, what’s changed? I know something happened, but I don’t know what. Tell me.”

“How’s your Dad keeping.”

“He’s going for a check-up tomorrow. Don’t change the subject.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.