Elizabeth Webster and the Court of Uncommon Pleas by William Lashner

Author:William Lashner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2019-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

“Sit down, Elizabeth,” said my mother, her voice flat and cold. The kitchen was all in shadow except for a cone of light from the fixture over the table where she sat.

“Maybe I should stand,” I said. There was an anger flowing from her that seemed to wrap around my throat, something as alive and as real as Beatrice’s ghost.

“Sit,” she said.

I slumped into a chair as if my mother’s anger had grabbed me by the collar and flung me down.

“I’ve been thinking all evening of what I should do about our problem.”

“So that’s what I am, a problem to be solved?”

“Well, aren’t you? Didn’t I tell you that regarding Webster and Son there is no debate? I will not allow you to have any involvement with that firm. I know things you don’t know. And if I must do something drastic to get you away from the world in which your father operates, I will. I know of a boarding school in Massachusetts where you would fit in wonderfully.”

“I suppose it’s filled with misguided freaks just like me,” I said.

“You’re not a freak.”

“Just misguided.”

“Yes.”

“And that’s your answer. Shuffle me off to boarding school so I can no longer infect your new family with my Websterism.”

“Maybe we’ll go up this weekend and take a visit.”

“Don’t you want to know where I was tonight?” I said. “Don’t you want to know what happened?”

“It’s enough that you are back and safe, at least this time. I can imagine the rest.”

“I’m sure you can.”

“What does that mean?” snapped my mother. “And what did you mean in your letter when you said that I, more than anyone, can understand your desire to help that boy?”

There was so much about my mother I didn’t know, more than I could ever have imagined before I first stepped into my father’s office. I stared at her for a long moment. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, but in my mother’s eyes the shades were drawn.

“Dad’s missing,” I said.

“He’s been missing from your life for years. What’s new about that?”

“I think he’s in trouble.”

“He has been in trouble since the day I met him.”

“How did you two meet?”

My mother flinched, as if a wasp were coming near. “It’s not important now.”

“I’ve been asking for years, and all you do is smile,” I said. “Maybe now it’s time for some truth.”

“You’re asking me for the truth? Don’t you find that ironic?”

“I kept what I was doing a secret because I knew how you’d react. I’m sorry for that. I left the note with Peter so you would know that I won’t lie to you anymore. But I’m not the only one who’s been hiding things. You kept my father’s business, his office, and my grandfather from me. My grandfather!”

“I would have eventually told you everything.”

“When, Mom? How old would I have to be to learn the truth about myself?”

“This isn’t about you.”

“I heard that Dad is a hero. I heard that he goes to the other side to save people.

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.