Unbecoming Emma by Kelly Byrne

Author:Kelly Byrne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kelly Byrne

I gained control of myself and stopped laughing at the ridiculousness of what had just happened. Then it dawned on me to question what had just happened.

“Why are you here? Did you follow me?”

Cassie ignored me and groped the surrounding ground, filled with dead leaves. “Where is it? I had it…”

“Where is what?”

“The box. I was holding it when I fell.”

“I’m sure it’s here somewhere. Can you stand?”

She glared at me like I was a daft child. “Of course I can stand.”

I stood and held my hand out to her. She ignored it and struggled to her feet on her own. Her snub might have offended me before, but I remembered the feeling I’d had at the Blackwell house when I’d brushed against her back. Everything made sense now.

“That’s part of it, isn’t it?” I asked, still inside my own thoughts.

“What is part of what?” she asked, searching the leaf and brush covered hillside for the box. “You ought to learn how to form a cogent question.”

“Noted.” Can a person be born arrogant? “Touching you, that terrible bleak feeling, the burning everywhere. That’s all part of the curse, isn’t it?”

She stopped with her back to me, panting, but didn’t turn around. I stood about three feet down the hill from her.

“You shouldn’t say that word in public.”

“I think we’re okay. Not a lot of foot traffic out here.”

“I could use less sass, if you don’t mind. It’s been a day. Now, what was your question?”

“At the Blackwell house, when I touched you, I felt…”

“Burned and hollowed out all at once,” she said, still turned away from me.

“It was like I could feel your sadness, everything you’ve suffered through. Have I come unbuckled?”

“No,” she said, turning toward me, careful not to lose her footing again. “You’re quite firmly buckled.”

“Does it work both ways?”

“It does.”

“Wow.” The things I’d experienced in my life nearly drowned me at every turn. It was the Everest I was sure I’d never summit. I’d always be stuck at base camp because I didn’t have the proper training to move forward and keep climbing.

When I was younger, I wanted her to know my pain. To feel it and understand what she’d put me through by leaving us. But now that she was here—here, with me, at the nest!—tiny and sick and looking like a lost child, I couldn’t imagine wanting her to suffer through that. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

“Found it!” Cassie shouted, halfway up the hill. She pulled the box out of the underbrush and navigated the path down, much more carefully this time.

“How do you know about this place?” I asked. “Did you follow me?”

“Everyone knows about the nest. No one’s brave enough to come here.”

“Well, brave or stupid, we’re here now.”

“Indeed.”

“Should we get back, though? We’ve got a curse to break.”

“What did I just say?” She sounded more and more like someone’s mother.

“Sorry,” I said, not sorry. “Why did you bring the box with you? It’s heavy and awkward. Makes for tricky hiking as you were clever enough to discover on your way down the hill.

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.