The Silver Penny by Randall Wright

Author:Randall Wright
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-11-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

W HILE T AM and Bray hurried toward the barn, Deb kept his gaze fixed on a patch of ground before the porch. He squinted at the small, shiny object that winked up through the grass and dandelions, but it was too far off to be sure. He considered the distance to the object. He tried to convince himself the stretch was possible.

The stairs would be the hard part.

He put his good foot down on the porch and tried to grip onto it with his toes. He lifted his injured leg with both hands and brought it around to the edge of the couch. The crutch the stranger-boy had made would have been useful, but it was still lying on the floor at the foot of his bed. The post of the porch would have to be support enough. He pulled himself to standing, then balanced with a hand on the post. His right leg hung crooked and useless.

“Just wait,” he whispered to it. “I’ll have that penny.”

A shuffling hop brought him to the top of the stairs. There he hesitated, scanning the yard. Bray Skoolle stood just inside the barn door looking out at him. Tam was away off at the field. Deb puffed his breath out through clenched teeth and gave another hop, but in his hurry, his injured foot dragged on the top step.

A shock of pain flashed up his leg. He flailed his arms, but that sent him farther off balance. Clutching for the post, he let out a cry and lost his footing altogether.

He heard a popping sound as he crashed down into the yard. The pain rushed through his whole body. He tore up a handful of grass and tried to will the hurt away into the brown-patterned darkness that seeped into his vision. He rolled to his back, blinking at the searing light of the afternoon sun.

“I’ll help,” he heard a voice say.

“I can do,” Deb groaned in return.

He pushed himself to his hands and knees, struggling against the pinpricks that crawled all over him. From a distance he heard a scream. Tam, he thought. He felt a pulling at his leg, dragging him into darkness. He squeezed at the silver penny he’d clutched along with the fistful of grass. But this time the monster’s grip was too much. Deb no longer had the will to fight.

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