Belle by Cameron Dokey

Author:Cameron Dokey [Dokey, Cameron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Published: 2011-01-03T13:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

We waited four long weeks, until the days slid from April into May. At last, the weather turned fine: Glorious spring days filled our hearts with hope for the future.

And so, at last, my father came home.

He arrived at noon, just as Celeste was preparing to set our midday meal on the table. We’d had a brief and unexpected burst of rain that morning, but it had quickly passed, leaving the day sparkling and warm.

Celeste was just taking a fresh-baked pie from the oven when she heard footsteps at the kitchen door. Her cry brought us hurrying in from all parts of the house. Within moments, Papa was seated at the kitchen table, a mug of the tea he so loved close at hand, while Maman, Dominic, and we girls ranged around him.

“It’s all right, mes enfants,” he kept saying over and over. I’m all right.”

But it was clear that he was not.

The man who had ridden out to the city four weeks ago had been in high spirits. He’d had a glimmer in his eyes. The man sitting now at the kitchen table was bowed down, as if by some hidden weight almost too great to bear. I’d never seen my father look like this, not even in the days before we’d moved to the country, when each morning brought word of some new loss.

My mother sat beside Papa, an arm around his waist as if to shore him up.

“Drink your tea, Roger,” she urged in a soft, firm voice. “You got caught in that rain squall this morning, didn’t you? The tea will warm you up.”

My father took a sip, obediently, like a child.

“I’m sorry to be such trouble,” he said.

“Papa,” I said, shocked. “How can you talk so? We love you. How can anything we do for you trouble us?”

The mug of tea slipped from my father’s fingers, then bounced off the tabletop and smashed on the floor. Hot liquid and broken crockery shot every which way. None of us moved or made a sound.

Our attention was riveted on my father’s face, on the tortured expression in his eyes as they stared into mine.

“Belle,” my father said hoarsely, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise at his tone. “Ma petite Belle. I wonder if you will say that when you know what I have done.”

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.