LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

clothes, and shoes for school. Here and there other things had come my way that I hadn’t exactly asked for. They’d been gifts from Grace.

      I nodded and looked at the paper. My hands shook. This would put me close to the house and close to Grace, but the longer I’d worked at the Rollins plantation, the more I’d grown to love caring for the property.

      “I’d planned to get an architect to design the whole thing. We don’t have the inside drawn up yet, but you could start the outside walls,” Mr. Rollins said.

      “I could draw in the rest if you’d like.” I looked at the rose maze dimensions.

      “You’ve learned enough arithmetic that you think you can do that?” Mr. Rollins sounded pleasantly surprised.

      “Yes, sir. I believe I have.” Glad for a distraction, I scanned the clearing in front of me. The rose maze slowly took shape in my mind.

      Mr. Rollins and my father left me to the figuring it took to start placing the trellis posts for the maze. Within a few hours, I placed the first few holes in three feet intervals.

      When I went home, it was later than usual and the house was quiet. I stepped into the kitchen where Grace sat at the dinner table. Across from her, a plate of mouth-watering stew, a heaping mound of potatoes, and a glass of ice-cold sweet tea waited for me.

      Grace smiled. “I thought you might be hungry. It’s sort of a peace offering.”

      After days of not seeing or hearing from her, this was good. I wanted us to work things out and be friends.

      She was a little overdramatic at times, but girls could be, I supposed.

      I neared the table and slid the chair out. “You really didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”

      “After the way I’ve been toward you, I did. I needed to know you don’t hate me.” She stared at the plate.

      “I could never hate you.” I sat down. “You were just looking for that special someone. I always imagined everyone has a soul mate. When you find yours, there’s nothing that could stop the two of you from being together.”

      “You’re right. I’ll find him. When I do, I’ll never let him go.” She smiled sweetly. “Now, eat up. You’ll need a lot of energy for what’s to come.”

      “Yes. That rose maze is kicking me in the seat of my pants.” I took the fork laid out for me. After a few bites, I shoveled the food into my mouth while Grace giggled. I wiped my mouth with a fancy napkin she’d brought from the house. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”

      “It’s absolutely to be expected. Now, I’ll take the china back and let you rest. I took the liberty of feeding your mother and father, too, just before you came in. They’ve already retired for the evening. They were gracious enough to let us have this time alone to talk. You’re lucky.”

      “I wondered where they were. Yes. They’re good folks. I’ll wash the dishes and bring them up. You’ve done so much already.” I put my napkin on the table and finished off the tea.

      “If we’re going to be friends, I should tell you”—she pinched her nose—“you stink. If I were you, I’d bathe before sleeping.”

      I sniffed my shirt.

      She giggled and winced.

      “Wow. You’re right.”

      We both laughed.

      “I’d planned to bathe, anyway. I’m not sure if I like the new you. Pointing out my flaws. It was nice when I always smelled like roses and could do no wrong.”

      “I’m sure there’s plenty wrong you can do.” She winked and with a swish of her skirts left the kitchen.

      Well, that ended well.

      * * * *

      After washing the dishes and hurrying to the back steps of the house, I found a servant on her way in. She took the China and glasses back to the kitchen for me.

      As I passed the four-foot tall purple Sweet Williams growing against the main house, the breeze carried tinkling piano music. It was a sad but beautiful song.

      I’d heard it before when I’d taken late night walks through the trails in the woods. The wind carried the same excerpt to me a few seconds later, and I closed my eyes. Something about the music and the cool breeze calmed my twitching muscles.

      Just as I opened my eyes, a shadow passed over the curtain, and a girl in a white nightgown leaned out.

      I almost fell out into the moonlight.

      Her long wavy hair slid over her shoulders and fell over the threshold of the window. Annabeth Rollins.

      Falling backward, I landed on some sticks and made a horrible racket.

      When Annabeth turned her head toward the spot where I now huddled against the house, I caught my breath.

      Her hair lifted with each gust of breeze, as she regarded the dark purple-blue sky, her milky white neck looked soft enough to touch.

      A rock jabbed my buttocks, forcing a garbled noise from me. I scrambled closer to the stone wall.

      With a stare aimed in my direction, she looked over me.

      I crouched perfectly still.

      She drew her windows inward. After a few seconds, the candle in her room flickered and went out.

      Finally able to breathe, I fell back on the bed of pine needles and shoved the rock over into some bushes. If she’d seen me, there would’ve been no way to explain myself.

      She’d think I had been purposely spying on her.

      I’d had no idea that her room was the source of the music.

      Suddenly too tired to make the long walk to the waterfall, I started for the pond. My knees felt as though they might not even make it there, but I had to bathe before sleeping.

      After stumbling down the embankment, I stripped down and half washed my body.

      Exhaustion hit me like a ton of manure. I lay on the bank and rested my head. A rustle at the top of the path to the pond would have normally jerked me awake, but I was so weary my head floated.

      Standing above me, a blurry girl in a white nightgown stared down on my nakedness.

      In an attempt to roll over and cover myself, I looked like a fish out of water.

      She turned, floated down the embankment, and stood over me.

      As if I were under the water, I couldn’t make her out, but when her white gown slid over her shoulders and landed at her feet, my body became heavier. The inky sky and her porcelain skin intertwined. The cool night air contrasted with her warmth. She spoke words that made no sense, and as if she and my body knew a language I didn’t understand, they carried out an act I had no control over. When it was done, she slid away from me.

      Grace Rollins loomed just over me. “Sleep, my love.”

      * * * *

      When I woke the next morning, it was Sunday, the Lord’s day.

      I sat on the end of my bed.

      Mama and Pop rustled around in their room, gathering their Sunday best for church. I couldn’t explain what had happened to me, but I knew it had been of the devil.

      Mama poked her head in my door. “Son, you’ll be late if you don’t hurry.”

      I stared at the wall. “I’m not going.”

      Without looking at her, I knew her mouth had fallen into an O. She took going to church and her faith very seriously. Mama stepped into my room and shut the door behind her. “Is something the matter?”

      “There are a lot of things the matter. I wouldn’t know where to start. I just don’t think I

Скачать книгу