The Foaling Season by Heather Henson

Author:Heather Henson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

18

Sky checked her father’s boots first. It’s where he’d always hide an extra stash of money if they had it; it’s where she’d found the little bottles the first time, back on the beach.

But tonight the boots were empty. So she moved on to the jackets and shirts, sliding the hangers quickly, reaching into the pockets.

If she found anything, she’d pour it down the sink—she’d done that once in Florida. She paused a couple of times to make sure no one was coming. Once she thought for sure her father was there, but it was just the mares, the usual stomping, pawing, getting settled for the night.

Sky was about to give up, a final check of the very back of the closet, when she caught a faint whiff of something so familiar it hurt.

Gardenias.

Her mother’s scent. Gone from this place, from everywhere. Returned somehow. Faint but distinct.

Sky raked the hangers back, and there it was: her mother’s favorite shirt. A light blue madras with silver stitching at the collar, bird shapes. A souvenir from India, where she’d traveled before meeting James Doran, before having a daughter.

Sky just stood staring for a moment. She’d done a whole load of laundry only yesterday. She’d put her father’s clothes away herself. And this shirt had definitely not been here. It should be in the trailer, all the way at the back of the farm, packed in a box like everything else that had belonged to her mother.

Why?

That’s what she wondered. And then: Why not?

She walked all the way inside the closet, put her nose to the shirt, inhaled deeply, and her mother was there with her, telling her how everything was going to be fine.

But that was the first time. After the first doctor visit. When they thought one operation and some chemo would do the trick. But it hadn’t. Not at all.

Sky reached up and tugged at the sleeves of the shirt, tugged them tight around her shoulders. And then she closed her eyes and pretended, pretended that it was her mother’s arms, not just lifeless cotton, her mother’s arms, holding her close.

You’ve got to be strong, Sky.

That’s what her mother had said before she died.

You’ve got to be extra strong. For your dad.

And Sky had promised even though she hadn’t understood, not really. Her father had always been strong. What could possibly change? What had changed?

Sky’s eyes popped open. She really did hear footsteps this time, coming down the aisle, outside the main door to the Doran Suite. She pushed the shirts back into place and got ready to rush out into the bathroom, just around the corner.

But the footsteps didn’t stop, they kept on going down the aisle—Gaby or Frank or her father, she couldn’t tell which, checking on the mares.

Sky closed the closet door behind her and went to her own room. She was suddenly so tired, she could hardly keep her eyes open. Her arms and legs were heavy, weighted down. But she made herself put on her

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.