What Once Was Lost by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Author:Kim Vogel Sawyer [Sawyer, Kim Vogel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Christian, Historical, Romance, General
ISBN: 9781410460660
Google: hNQc3HQXAKQC
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Published: 2013-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

As Levi hitched the horse to his wagon, he squinted against the bright Sunday morning sun. The clear sky overhead gave no evidence of the recent rain. If it weren’t for the muddy ground beneath his feet, he might have thought yesterday’s gray gloom was just a dream. By the time he finished securing the rigging, he carried a half inch of goo on his boots. He scraped them as clean as possible on the edge of the porch stairs, then tromped to the door and stuck his head inside the house.

“Tommy? You ready?”

“Comin’!” The boy moved across the floor from the bedroom to the front door, hands wavering in front of him and head bobbing but picking up his feet rather than shuffling. He’d slicked down his hair with water and tucked in his shirt, which was buttoned all the way to the top. He’d even managed to tie a black ribbon, albeit a little crookedly, around his neck. He looked spit-shined and happy, and just seeing the cheerful expression on the boy’s face gave Levi’s heart a lift.

“Pretty muddy out here,” Levi said as Tommy stepped over the threshold onto the porch. “All that muck is bound to muss your boots and maybe even the hem of your britches. So here …” He took Tommy’s hand and placed it on his shoulder. “Let me piggyback you to the wagon.”

Tommy drew back. “You sure? I ain’t piggybacked on anybody since I was a kid.”

Levi swallowed a chuckle. Over the past week Tommy had frequently referred to himself as grown-up or a man. Not being cosseted by womenfolk had turned his thoughts around. Levi wouldn’t argue, but neither would he confirm Tommy’s claims to having left his childhood behind. Levi bent forward slightly, bracing his hands on his knees. “We’d better keep your boots clean so you don’t muddy up the church floor. Just give a hop.”

With an embarrassed giggle Tommy caught hold of Levi’s shoulders. He bounced on his heels a few times before giving a nimble leap and straddling Levi’s hips. Levi looped his hands beneath the boy’s knees and carted him to the wagon with Tommy’s laughter huffing in his ears. He grinned as he set the boy’s behind on the wagon bed. Tommy scooted backward, using his heels to propel himself all the way to the front.

While Levi climbed aboard, Tommy scrambled over the seat’s back and settled himself, hands in his lap, chin angled high with a grin splitting his face. “That was fun. My pa, he used to gimme rides around the yard sometimes before—” His grin faded.

Levi took up the reins and released the brake. “Before …” He flicked the reins, and the horse strained forward, pulling the wagon toward the road.

Tommy hung his head, his shoulders slumping like a deflating balloon. He jostled with the wagon’s movement as though he lacked the strength to hold himself erect. “Before I got blind and burned. After that, Pa didn’t seem to like me much.

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.