When the Bough Breaks by Connie Monk

Author:Connie Monk [Monk, Connie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, General
ISBN: 9780727880178
Google: B7MVkgAACAAJ
Amazon: 0727880179
Barnesnoble: 0727880179
Goodreads: 10353947
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2011-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Six

Bruce chose a spot beyond the lake, at the far side of the lawn that sloped to the wood. If Jess had been coming home, he would have left Dennis to bury the puppy at Westways but, as Beth had said ‘me and Jess are in charge of him’ and Bruce feared from reading between the lines that Fudge wouldn’t have been dealt with with the reverence he deserved.

Before he could bury the puppy he had to break the news to Beth that Jessie wouldn’t be coming home; she and Fudge had died together.

‘Think I knew really. Didn’t want to know.’

He ached with pity for the waiflike child who, despite the good home cooking she was fed at Westways and despite Jessie’s outgrown clothes from last year, a waif was what she still looked. To see sadness in the eyes of an adult is hard, but when a child looked at him with misery combined with fear, uncertainty and trust, he wanted to hold her in his arms, to break the barrier that held back her tears.

But there was something Beth wanted to tell him and listening to the words pouring out of her he was thankful; what she said gave him a hint as to how to approach the next few minutes. The only evidence of Beth’s bottled up emotion was that the recent improvement in her speech was forgotten.

‘When Jess ran into the road and Fudge saw her and came dashing to meet ’er, she was so happy. It was like she’d seen something sort of wonderful – and she had of course cos she’d seen Fudge. What am I going to do with Fudge? If I ask them, after school tomorrow – I don’t want to go to school, not without Jess . . .’

‘After school . . . ?’ he prompted.

‘I been thinking the girls might help me dig a place for him. But I gotta hide him for tonight, cos you see Jessie’s dad wasn’t pleased about us having him and ’e might just throw him away like he was rubbish. Not Fudge . . . ’e was such a nice puppy, him and me and Jess, we sort of belonged like.’ And with that her battle was lost. As her face crumpled she found herself lifted in his arms and held close.

As her uncontrolled sobbing grew quieter he passed her a handkerchief that he unfailingly wore in his breast pocket to match his tie. ‘Blow your nose and wipe your face and then I’ll tell you what I think we should do.’

So it was that a minute or two later she gave Fudge a final stroke and goodbye kiss, then they reverently put him in the pillowcase Bruce had found in readiness and went off with a shovel.

Some days go like a flash, some seemed never to end. This one was one of the latter. When Kathie heard the click of the gate she ran out to meet Beth and already Bruce was starting back along the lane.

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