The Reader by M. Pax

Author:M. Pax [Pax, M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Speculative Fiction, Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781519946447
Amazon: B018BHIFI2
Barnesnoble: B018BHIFI2
Goodreads: 27917874
Publisher: M. Pax
Published: 2015-11-20T00:00:00+00:00

Earl’s voice croaked in a whisper. If he spoke any louder, he might frighten Ida away. “Are you real?”

The little girl squeezed his hand as hard as a seven-foot miner’s. Something wasn’t right. Slowly, he scrutinized her from scuffed, lace-up boots to the top of her golden brown hair. Curls waved her bangs tenderly over her brow and two braids tied with pink ribbons fell over her shoulders. Clothed in a sweet ivory and blush calico print dress, she had come straight out of 1867. Then her eyes turned white as ash in a cold hearth.

Dizziness seeped up from Earl’s fingers into his veins. His heart pumped waves of vertigo spidering through his veins where it grabbed his thoughts and memories, dragging them into his blood then back down to his fingers into Ida’s tiny hand.

“You went to mine gold, leaving Mama a California widow and me and my sisters California orphans. Mama so cherished your letters. Then you quit writing.”

He stared into her colorless eyes, wanting her to be Ida, yet wanting to let go of her and run far away. How could she know? “A child is to mind her parents.”

“I’m not a child anymore.”

The thing holding his hand grew into a woman. Earl had never seen Ida full grown, so couldn’t say if the likeness was true or not. She slapped him hard across the cheek.

The strike rattled his mind and raised a welt on his flesh. She had to be real. He narrowed his eyes, and she shrunk to the ten-year-old girl he remembered.

Blue irises flickered in the whites of her eyes, eyes just like his. Just like Charming’s.

“I’d like to meet her,” she said. She tugged on Earl, trying to lead him toward the ranch.

“Meet who?” A powerful energy leaped from her hand into his, stinging up his arm, rattling his joints and thoughts. It quivered in his veins until he wobbled like a drunk. The feeling found itself into his mouth, pushing his lips to smile stupidly.

“Charming. She’s family. I want to meet her.” She batted those innocent eyelashes, and her lower lip protruded as cutely as when she was two.

He wanted to stay put and keep silent, but he couldn’t deny her. Words fell from his tongue, his control of them dissolving. “You’d like her. She has a lot of spunk.”

“Does she burn her skirts?”

Earl’s throat constricted as he fought to remain mum. Sound gurgled from his throat, incoherent.

Ida yanked violently on his arm. “Tell me, Papa. Please, tell me. You must tell me. Oh, Papa!”

Her pleading filled his senses, blocking out the sun. He plunged into the depths of a cold darkness. Pain exploded in his cheek and a woman with round eyes and round cheeks shook him hard.

“Earl, you’ve got to let go of her. I don’t know what she’s doing, but she’s not your Ida. You’re as pale as the dead.” Gussie knelt over him. Her dark hair swung over her dark face, coyly hiding some of the freckles that spilled over her nose.

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