Shattered Lives (Flynn Family Saga Book 1) by Erica Graham

Author:Erica Graham [Graham, Erica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-05-07T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

In the morning, Maggie went to the barn. She had just started to clean out Rosalind’s stall when she heard a groan. She turned.

Her father lay on the dirty straw. His jacket was covered in vomit, and he shook like a leaf. She knelt beside him with a water bucket and washed his face.

“Maggie?” He blinked at her blearily.

Maggie nodded. She continued to clean him up.

“I’m sorry, Maggie.” He turned away from her.

“Why do you do it?” She sat back on her haunches and thumped the water bucket down so hard that water sloshed over the sides.

“I don’t know.” Her father spoke without looking at her.

“Was it the war?”

Slowly, Michael turned back to her. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t remember any of it.”

“But you were there!” Maggie’s hands curled into fists on her thighs.

Michael looked away again. “Yes, I was, but I don’t remember what I did. It’s like—it’s like sleepwalking, Maggie. The last thing I remember is Henry Jenkins handing me his silver flask.” He looked back at her, and his eyes held such pain that Maggie had to look away. “I was so scared, Maggie. And so ashamed of being afraid. And when he gave me the whiskey, all that fear went away. But then—but then I couldn’t stop.” He drew a shuddering breath. “I still can’t. And the worst of it is, I want to. I want to stop, and I can’t.” He started to cry.

Maggie thought of the men who lined Eleventh Street, men who were missing arms and legs. She sighed. “I guess there are some wounds that don’t show.”

Michael looked up at her. “You don’t hate me?”

Maggie shook her head. “But you have to go. If Grandfather finds you here, he might hurt you.”

“I don’t care.” His voice was as dull as the coat of an ailing horse.

Maggie bit her lip. “I care.”

Michael’s eyes widened. “You do?”

Maggie nodded.

“Why?”

She drew a deep breath. “Because I remember what you used to be like. Oh, not much. But I remember that every night before I went to sleep, you came into my room and sang to me. You had such a beautiful voice.”

Tears shone in Michael’s eyes. “You remember that?”

Maggie nodded. Tears burned her eyes, too.

“Oh, Maggie!” He took her in his arms and held her tightly. “I want to be that man again. Only—only I don’t think I can.”

“Grandmother says you can do almost anything if you put your mind to it.”

Slowly, Michael released her. He turned away from her again. “I used to believe that. Once. But I failed at school, and I failed at war. I’m just no good, Maggie.”

“Mama doesn’t think so. She loves you, Papa, more than anything. More than—more than me.” Maggie got up and ran back to the house. She ran to her room and cried. When she was calmer, she washed her face in the china basin with the pink roses on it and walked back to the barn.

Her father was gone.

She sighed, and continued to muck out the stables.

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.