The Wolf At Large (The Wolf of Corwick Castle Book 2) by Terry Cloutier

Author:Terry Cloutier [Cloutier, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: TCC Publishing
Published: 2020-02-02T22:00:00+00:00

9: Outlaw

Little Jinny, I thought in wonder as I stared at the slight blonde girl weeping across the table from me. How was it even possible? My mind turned back to a morning filled with smoke, tears, death, and the overwhelming stench of burning flesh. I remembered seeing Little Jinny among the bodies as I’d searched for my father. She’d been lying with her knees drawn up to her chest and I recall thinking that she could have been sleeping if not for the blood on her dress. I’d been so focused on finding my father, however, that I hadn’t even thought to check on her.

I shook my head, feeling unbelievably guilty for abandoning Jinny as I tried to think of something to say. “I’m so sorry,” I finally whispered to her. “I didn’t know.”

Jin blinked at me in confusion through her tears and she sniffed loudly as Daughter Gernet put her arm around the girl to comfort her. “What could you possibly be sorry for?” Jin asked in a tiny voice. “You were just a child like me.” She leaned her head on Daughter Gernet’s shoulder and stared at me with big eyes. “I’m the lucky one,” she said in a voice so low that I unconsciously leaned forward to hear her better. “I was too young to know what was going on and I don’t remember any of it.” She looked at me in wonder. “But you, Hadrack. You saw everything, didn’t you?” I breathed in deeply and nodded, remembering the blood and terrified screams of the men, women and children as the nine slaughtered them mercilessly. “I’ve spent my entire life wondering what really happened to my mother,” Jin said, “and now, thanks to you, I’ll finally get to know.” Jin sat up, pausing to nod to Daughter Gernet in reassurance before facing me. “Please, don’t ever tell me you’re sorry for what happened in Corwick, Hadrack.” She placed her hands over her heart. “I know in here that none of it was your fault.”

Her words hit me like hammer blows, one after the other and I swallowed and looked down at my filthy hands that I’d clasped together on the tabletop. She didn’t know what I knew, and when I told her what I’d done, about how it had all begun, then I knew her attitude toward me would change. I’d only known Jin for a short time, but already the idea of seeing this pleasant, sweet young girl viewing me with hatred was almost too much for me to bear. I focused on the small, jagged white scar on the knuckle of my little finger on my right hand and I rubbed it unconsciously as I stared at it. Baine and I had been wrestling down in Father’s Arse, I remembered, and my friend had unintentionally butted me in the face with his head. It had been an accident, but even so, I’d become instantly enraged and had swung at him without thinking, chipping one of his teeth and slicing open my hand.

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