Silk and Stone by Deborah Smith

Author:Deborah Smith [Smith, Deborah ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-79654-7
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2011-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Seventeen

Don’t tell them. Please, don’t tell them. Each time Sam looked at her sister she saw that plea in her eyes. The dilemma made Sam sick at her stomach. Wrapped in blankets, she and Charlotte sat on the hearth of the Raincrows’ fireplace, but the seductive heat of the fire couldn’t penetrate the cold anxiety in Sam’s muscles.

Jake’s mother hovered over them with maternal alarm, dabbing at their damp hair with a towel. His father stood by a window, watching with a grim, puzzled expression, and Ellie Raincrow hunched on the edge of a chair she’d pulled near the hearth, her long legs and loafers tucked behind the chair’s legs, her quiet green eyes boring into them. Jake, melted snow puddling beneath his hiking boots onto a colorful rug, roamed the big, comfortably shabby living room like a caged tiger, and each time he passed near Sam he managed to brush the fingers of one hand over her shoulder, a gesture of concern that made her chest ache with a tangle of emotions she couldn’t risk.

She and Charlotte had landed in the middle of a well-meaning and inescapable clan. A mother, a doctor, a doctor-in-training, and Jake—whose mission in life was to find lost souls, whether they wanted to be found or not. Four people imbued with innate compassion and a long-simmering contempt for Aunt Alex. People who would fight her on Charlotte’s behalf if Sam told them the truth.

But the Raincrows couldn’t do anything about it. They didn’t know Aunt Alex the way Sam did. Aunt Alex wasn’t just manipulative, she was ruthless. Sam couldn’t let them be hurt.

“Please, just take us to the bus station at Stecoe Gap,” Sam said again. “No one ever has to know we were here. Just help us get that far, before it’s too late.”

“I told you that’s not an option,” Jake said gruffly. She met his apologetic but angry gaze. Sam fought for control and said as calmly as she could, “Then Charlotte and I will end up back at Highview, and there won’t be a thing you can do to stop it.” Charlotte moaned and Sam quickly put a reassuring arm around her. Her head rising with weary defiance, Sam added softly, “The next time we leave, I won’t make any mistakes.”

Jake flinched.

Mrs. Raincrow wrung the towel between her hands and dropped to the hearth beside her. “You don’t have to explain to me that you felt trapped by your aunt, and you were unhappy.” She glanced at Jake sadly, then back at Sam. “But something god-awful must have happened to make you take this chance. Can’t you trust us enough to tell us why you ran?”

Before Sam could answer, Charlotte blurted out, “Aunt Alex … she told me I had to let my second holes grow together.” Charlotte nodded wildly, as if that strange excuse were indisputably sufficient. Sam’s heart sank.

“What second holes?” Ellie asked, arching a black brow. “I don’t recall my professors discussing extra holes in anatomy class.”

“Earrings.” Charlotte’s face turned bright pink.

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