The Iron Quill by Shelena Shorts

Author:Shelena Shorts [Shorts, Shelena]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Delphi Distribution Inc
Published: 2011-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

THE PIECES OF THE PAST

My mom did her very best to appear normal, and I appreciated it more than she knew. It helped settle my nerves while I buried myself in end-of-year schoolwork. It also gave Wes and me some time to prepare our reveal to her.

After much discussion, we agreed that it would be a good idea to include Tom. Certainly, going from no one knowing about Wes to my mom and Tom knowing was risky, but we didn’t see any other way.

Wes had been around for years, but when it came down to it, we were both clueless, and Wes wasn’t afraid to say he felt like he’d let Amelia and Lenny down. It didn’t feel that way to me, but he was hard on himself about it. Add in the immense pressure he felt now and he was ready and willing to accept additional help. It wasn’t a decision we took lightly.

When the weekend came, I went over to his house to prepare. He took me into the library and I watched as he stood on a ladder and removed a handful of books, carried them down, and gently set them on the desk.

The bindings indicated they were standard encyclopedias. Quite old, they nevertheless looked boring. While he made his way up the ladder a second time, I paid more attention to the collection of other items on his desk.

There was a small lamp, a few neatly stacked pads of paper, an intricately designed paperweight, and a long, narrow box set precisely in an upper corner of the desk.

Wes was on his third trip up the ladder, facing a now-empty section of the bookshelf. I wondered what he was staring at, but I also wanted to see what was in the box, so I quickly pulled it close and opened it. Inside was a beautiful antique pen. It was brass with carvings painted green and gold, which wowed me, but what intrigued me the most was the tip.

It wasn’t a standard ballpoint tip, but a sharp pointed nib. My eyes traveled back to the box, now understanding the purpose of the little jar resting in it. Like a moth to a flame, my hand took it out and before I could stop myself, I grabbed a notepad and began writing.

At first, I started with my name, and couldn’t believe how easy it was. And not only easy—my penmanship was actually neater. It was clearly my handwriting, but there was something about the way I had to angle the pen and write each letter with care that made the words look more elegant.

After the initial feeling of admiration, my breath caught as I realized I had no prior experience using a quill and real ink, but it seemed easy. Looking for someone to help me understand, my gaze traveled up to Wes, who was standing at the top of the ladder, watching me.

“I’m impressed,” he said.

I looked back down at the page, “Yeah, me too.”

He smiled. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’d had practice doing that in another lifetime.

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.