The Earth Breaks In Colors by Patti Davis

Author:Patti Davis
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781504028752
Publisher: Open Road Distribution

25

The clock sat between the three of them on Odelia’s bed like a shiny offering they needed to decipher. Kitrel leaned down close to it and breathed on the gold, fogging it up. He put the sleeve of his sweatshirt over his hand and wiped it clean.

“So let me get this straight, Whisper. This is yours, but you stole it. And you want to sell it and give my parents the money.”

“I didn’t steal it,” Whisper answered defiantly. “It was always supposed to be mine. It’s my inheritance. My father said I could have it now and give it to your parents, only they gave it back.”

“So then you stole it.”

Odelia punched her brother in the shoulder. “Cut it out, Kitrel. She’s trying to help.”

Kitrel had a long square face, like his father’s. Whisper hadn’t really noticed before how much Odelia looked like their mother—wide-set eyes and high cheekbones, a mouth that curved up soft and full. She was wearing red and white plaid pajamas and she had her bare feet tucked beneath her.

“Girls,” Kitrel said, “I am the only one who can help you here.” He said it in an exaggerated tone, grinning widely. His teeth were so white against his dark skin that Whisper couldn’t help staring at them. “So go get dressed, little sister, and let’s get this show on the road.”

Odelia hesitated for a moment, but then climbed off the bed. “Where’re we going?”

“To find us a buyer for this clock, what do you think? Now get a move on.”

Jackson Waters heard a car start up on the street and, because it sounded like some old rattletrap engine—unfamiliar in this neighborhood—a cold wave went through him. They had gotten some hate mail; people had found out where they lived, probably by checking property tax records. At this still hour, he imagined the worst—a burning cross or some kind of hanging effigy left on the lawn. He got out of bed and went through the dark house to the front windows. Standing off to the side, he peered around the edge of the drapes, but he didn’t see anything. Only lingering smoke from the engine of the shoddy car that had driven off.

When he went back into the bedroom, Brenda was sitting up in bed, her eyes wide and scared.

“What happened? Did something happen?”

“No. Just a car. Everything’s okay.”

He got back into bed but since she didn’t make a move to lie down, he remained sitting as well, wedging a pillow between his back and the headboard. They had never spoken about the night that changed everything, yet it loomed between them, twisting in an awful dance like the monsters Odelia used to imagine when she was younger.

He missed who Brenda used to be—tender and smiling, always the calm voice during any kind of upset. She must miss him, too, he thought—the person he used to be. Now Jackson carried with him a potent mix of rage and fear. He would look down sometimes at his hands and discover they were clenched into fists.

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