Initiation by Paula Millhouse

Author:Paula Millhouse
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BelleBooks Inc.
Published: 2018-02-17T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Max

MAX WRAPPED HIS arms around Sam inside the protective iridescent bubble for the trip back to the surface. Poseidon’s seahorse was pushing the air bubble they traveled in so vigorously, Max worried he’d burst it. While Sam could breathe at these depths, he couldn’t.

Up, up, up they ascended until they popped their heads above the waves. The seahorses nosed the bubble out of the water and onto the sand. Once it ruptured, their clothes didn’t even get wet. Max took Sam’s hand, and they walked across the beach. Terra firma. Finally. Would it be weird to kiss the sand?

A lone figure appeared at the head of the dunes. Sam’s sister, Cyn, sporting her black hair in its short, spiky bob. She shielded her eyes against the afternoon sun, but turned away before they got there.

“Your sister doesn’t look happy to see us,” Max said.

“She’s never really happy at all,” Sam said. “Living with horrible secrets can do that to a person.”

What could he do to help unite them? Sam would be happier if she and her sister could find some common ground, especially if some harm came to their mother. He wiped those thoughts from his mind, and focused on the future.

Once they cleared the dunes, green grass and shade trees popped up everywhere, shading them from the beach’s sun.

The old weathervane, a giant marlin, swung at the top of the roof, telling the ways of the wind and the sea. Max stared at the property stretching out around them. Free-range chickens scattered, and pecked at the grass as they rounded the old stone path laid from the beach to the lawn. Two hammocks beckoned, hung side-by-side underneath an ancient sugar maple. “Mom still taps that tree in the springtime for maple syrup,” Sam said.

“You miss her.” Max tightened his hold on her hand.

Sam nodded.

“I miss my mother, too.”

White birches and balsam firs outlined the farm, granting seclusion from curious neighbors. What was that Frost poem? Yes, there were classic New England rock fences all about, demarcating the property. Good fences grew good neighbors, after all.

“Your mother always loved this place,” Max said, a hint of nostalgia in his voice. Colorful whirligigs turned their paddles in the sea breezes, adding a quirkiness to the property. “Mine did too,” he said, the sweep of memories from the farm reminding him how his mother would bat at the yard decorations. He waved at the whirligigs. “She used to make it a game for my brothers and sisters, pulling them down from the trees, teaching us how to hunt.”

“They should be here, with us,” Sam said, her tone urgent.

“They will be, if I have anything to do with it.” He strode away from her, toward the farmhouse to deal with this disaster. “Come on. Let’s go find them.”

Sam

I FOLLOWED MAX into the house.

Shade glanced up at us, then frowned. “So, I take it it’s a no-go with your dad, huh?”

Weird. He was always asking about Poseidon. “Umm, well, it’s complicated.”

“Figures,” Cyn remarked. “He’s never around when Mom needs him most.

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.