(Legend, Colorado #1) Legend by Jude Deveraux

Author:Jude Deveraux [Deveraux, Jude]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

L E G E N D

and son had held on to every inch of land in the hopes of creating a

Utopia. I had the mines blown up, so they couldn't be worked, then I hired guards and dogs to patrol the empty town. I didn't allow so much as a vagrant to live there."

It took Kady a moment to digest this information. "And what happened to the people who lived in Legend?"

For a while Ruth looked at the moon, taking her time before answering. "They left, of course, and they came to hate me as much as I hated them. Oh, not the saloon owners and the girls or

even the miners, they could get a job anywhere; but my husband and son had worked hard at bringing decent families into Legend, and there were several of them living there then. They had planted gardens and repaired houses; they had made homes for

themselves and their families."

Kady sat in the still darkness for a while, trying to imagine the rage that Ruth's evictions must have caused. Something like a

smaller version of the Cherokee's Trail of Tears.

When Ruth spoke, her voice was very quiet. "There was a

cholera epidemic that winter, and many of the former residents of Legend died, including some of Cole's young friends. The parents sent me photos of their dead children. They--

Pausing, Ruth took a deep breath. "They cursed me. One old woman spit on me on the street and said she hoped my dead grandson haunted me forever. And she hoped my new baby would come to hate me. "

As goose bumps rose on Kady's arms, she rubbed them. She wasn't Catholic, but she felt that she should cross herself against such an evil wish. "It has all come true," Ruth said.

"Cole haunts this town, wanting desperately to grow up, to love, to have children of his own. And my living son-"

Kady listened while Ruth told of how she'd imprisoned her youngest son, how he was never allowed off the grounds. When he was three, Ruth had received a kidnap threat from a person who had once lived in Legend, so Ruth redoubled her attempts to keep him safe.

188

When Ruth paused and seemed as though she was going to say no more, Kady said,

"What happened to your youngest son?" then tried to prepare herself to hear of yet another tragedy. "When he was sixteen, he climbed over the fence and ran away." Ruth took her time before she spoke again. "He left behind a letter that said my hatred of Legend was stronger than my love for him. He said I had allowed my grief for the dead to override my love for the living."

Ruth looked at Kady. "I was furious at first, and as always, I blamed Legend for taking yet another loved one from me, but as the months, then the years passed, I came to realize that my son was right. I was the one who had lost my only remaining child. I could blame this tragedy on no one else.

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.