What About Lilly? by Kim Delmar Cory

Author:Kim Delmar Cory
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gatekeeper Press
Published: 2022-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Sunday, July 4th

9:23 PM

Will rocked alone on the porch awaiting a glimmer of fireworks above town.

The garden below had begun sprouting in earnest with the recent rains, sunshine and cooler weather. Green beans, cucumbers, peas, squash and some other green growths Will didn’t remember. Would they even ripen in time for Hannah to make a vegetable soup? Pumpkins?

A new flat rock had been added to the rock pyramid. Big deal. Was he supposed to add another one? Was the same person adding rocks or were the others taking turns? He was out of the loop which was fine with him. He had no clue why they were building a rock pyramid anyway. Something new for Archie to pee on? Who would even see it besides them? Stupid.

None of the others had seemed interested in watching the fireworks with him. Did Amish even celebrate the 4th of July? No clue. Not that it mattered. He preferred his own company at the moment. Not in the greatest mood. Archie had sat next to him on the porch for just a few minutes before yawning and leaving probably to find Martha. Thankfully, he seemed okay after the chicken coop incident. Poor little guy.

A thin strip of saffron bordered the horizon beneath a layer of aquamarine that melted into a star-studded indigo sky. Ear-splitting cricket chirps counterpointing the boisterous bullfrog serenade from the lake sounded off key.

Those jerks in town. Will couldn’t stop thinking about them. They were so disrespectful of Hannah. He felt his face heat up, his breathing quickened. How they’d bragged about being paid to destroy the chicken coop. He should have knocked their blocks off when he had the chance.

But who had paid them? None of them looked old enough to have a driver’s license but one of them must have driven the pick-up truck he’d seen on that night.

I’m only 14 and I drive Ed’s truck.

That mercantile man? He’d said some nasty things. That drunk who came out looking for Lilly and complained about his wounded ass? No, he would spend all his money on booze. Will hadn’t mentioned the boys’ boast about the coop to Hannah, unsure of whether she’d heard their comment.

But he’d heard it. Should he mention it to Samuel? Maybe.

Those boys who had insulted Hannah had also threatened Lilly. Called her something he could never repeat. Someone had paid them to trash the coop. Was Lilly next? These righteous ignorant people who somehow feared a sweet little girl. Because she had polio? Was Korean?

Emitting a sigh of exasperation, Will realized. Probably both.

As the thundering booms reverberated, a scruffy looking Patsy carrying Lilly crumpled within her arms appeared next to him. Lilly’s white cotton nightie danced about her ankles.

“She’s scared and wants Mr. Will.” His sister sounded ornery too.

She plopped the child hugging her one-eyed brown teddy bear onto Will’s lap and left, the screen door slamming behind. Was Lilly sniffling? She smelled like flowers and snuggled into his lap like a puppy.

“So…do you like fireworks?” He regretted the words the moment he spoke.

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.