Water Shall Refuse Them by Lucie McKnight Hardy

Author:Lucie McKnight Hardy [Hardy, Lucie McKnight]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781911585572
Publisher: Dead Ink

I was making a sandwich in the kitchen when my dad came back in. He looked surprised to see me, but busied himself by folding up the dustsheet that was under the window. He’d found some paintbrushes and paint in the shed and had made a start on painting the window frame. Fresh white gloss had taken the place of the wood he’d exposed and the window looked incongruous, the newness of the paint stark against the ancient glass. He cleared his throat.

‘We’ll need more water tomorrow, Nif. Can that be your job again?’

‘S’pose so.’ I thought of the climb up the hill, the heat on my back, the clinging sweat beneath my breasts. Then I thought of Mally. ‘Yep. I can do that.’

‘Can you make sure you go early, love? The Christians will be out in force, it being a Sunday and all, and it’s probably best if you can go under the radar, so to speak.’

I nodded and crammed the sandwich into my mouth so I wouldn’t have to say anything else.

I hadn’t heard my mother coming into the room, but when I looked round she was standing in the doorway. She’d washed her hair and it lay in folds on her shoulders, glossy and smooth. She was wearing make-up, eyeshadow and a slick of lipstick that made her look younger and fresher. The dress she wore was one of her old ones that I hadn’t see her wear for months, a long, silky white one with embroidery around the neckline. As she stood in front of the window, the light gathered around her, and it was like she’d regained her old radiance, that luminescence she used to have that made people flock to her. That contemplative, placid smile had found its way back to her lips and for a fleeting moment, I thought she looked like an angel.

My dad looked surprised to see her. ‘I was just…making you a sandwich, love,’ he managed, and held out a hand to gesture at the loaf of bread and the cheese I’d discarded on the sideboard. He picked up the knife.

My mother nodded, but didn’t say anything.

‘Cheese or ham?’ My dad was really struggling now, but my mother just shook her head.

‘I don’t need food.’ She spoke in a whisper, and her words hung smoke-like in the still air.

My dad put the knife down. He put his hands very gently onto my mother’s shoulders, and steered her to a chair. He pushed her down and she complied, all the while with that strange smile on her lips.

‘You’ve got to eat, love. Keep your strength up. You know what the doctor said: a healthy body equals a healthy mind.’ As soon as he’d said it, my dad looked embarrassed, and he shuffled back to the sideboard and started making the sandwich. The butter had melted and he was scooping an ooze of yellow against the flabby bread.

‘I don’t need food. I already have all I need.’ My mother had raised her voice slightly, but it still came out as barely a whisper.

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.