[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Shit, Quaid, get me the hell out of here! Ruben snapped, jerking
on the chains holding him to the wall.
Billy! Mrs. Thornton admonished. You shouldn t swear.
Ruben rolled his eyes. Sorry, Mom.
Mrs. Thornton smiled and went back to stroking her fingers
through Ruben s hair. You re such a good boy. You always were.
She frowned suddenly. Not like your brother Clem. He s just like
Ira, so mean, both of them.
Yes, Mom, Ruben said. He made an exaggerated widening of
his eyes.
Billy, Quaid said as he reached to uncuff Ruben s hands. Your
mom wants us to take you out of here and get you somewhere safe. I
was thinking that maybe your mom could go with us. Wouldn t you
like that?
Cowboy Way 135
Ruben looked at Quaid like he was crazy, but he nodded his head
anyway. Yes, I would like it very much if my mom could go with
us.
Lilia, would you like that? Quaid tried to speak very softly as he
finished uncuffing Ruben. Maybe we could go down by the creek for
a picnic.
Oh, I haven t been on a picnic in years, not since Billy was a
baby. Mrs. Thornton turned to look at Ruben again. Do you
remember when we used to go down by the creek, Billy, just the two
of us? Those were my favorite times.
Ruben seemed to be getting what Quaid was trying to do with the
older woman. He smiled and once his hands were free, reached down
and grabbed Mrs. Thornton s hand. I d love to go for a picnic with
you, Mom.
Mrs. Thornton suddenly frowned and looked down at their
clasped hands. I miss my Billy. He was such a good boy. Ira took
him away from me. He said I couldn t keep Billy anymore because
Billy belonged to Clem.
She turned to look at Quaid, and for just a moment, Quaid saw
intelligence in the woman s eyes. That s not right, is it, taking a boy
away from his mother?
No, Mrs. Thornton, it s not right.
I tried to stop it. I threatened to go to the sheriff if Ira didn t send
Clem away. I wasn t going to let Clem hurt my baby, but when he
came back, he was even worse. He never touched Billy like that, but
he beat him all the time. Ira said either Clem beat Billy or he She
shook her head. It s just not right for a brother to want those things
with his own brother. It s not.
Quaid inhaled softly as all the pieces of the puzzle fell together for
him. He knew Clem had an unreasonable obsession with Billy. He
just never understood why until now.
Mrs. Thornton, was Clem in love with Billy?
136 Stormy Glenn
That wasn t love, she replied. You don t hurt the ones you
love. Clem is infatuated with Billy. He thinks Billy belongs to him.
That clinic he went to taught him he couldn t touch Billy the way he
wanted to, but he wouldn t stop obsessing over him.
Quaid, we need to get out of here, Sheriff Riley whispered.
Quaid nodded, having forgotten the sheriff in the face of Mrs.
Thornton s announcement. He would be really interested in finding
out what clinic Clem had been sent to. It might help convict the man
and send him to prison for even longer. The man never needed to see
the outside of a jail again in his life as far as Quaid was concerned. He
was a menace.
Come on. Quaid held his hand out to Ruben and helped him up.
Ruben groaned just a bit but seemed to be able to walk on his own.
We need to be as quiet as possible. We have no idea who might hear
us.
Ruben nodded and wrapped an arm around Mrs. Thornton s
shoulders. The four of them slowly crept back up the stairs. Quaid
still couldn t hear anything from upstairs. He assumed Lachlan and
Asa hadn t broken in the front door yet. They needed to get as close to
the backdoor as possible before that happened.
Quaid grabbed Mrs. Thornton s arm and started pulling her faster
up the stairs. If he wasn t afraid the woman would freak, he would
have just picked her up. But she was so out of it, Quaid didn t know
what the woman would do.
Once they reached the top of the stairs, Quaid ushered both Ruben
and Mrs. Thornton toward the backdoor. He could hear the sheriff
walking quickly behind him. They all wanted to get out of there as
fast as possible.
Get the door, Ruben, but open it slowly, Quaid ordered softly.
It squeaks. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl chiara76.opx.pl
Shit, Quaid, get me the hell out of here! Ruben snapped, jerking
on the chains holding him to the wall.
Billy! Mrs. Thornton admonished. You shouldn t swear.
Ruben rolled his eyes. Sorry, Mom.
Mrs. Thornton smiled and went back to stroking her fingers
through Ruben s hair. You re such a good boy. You always were.
She frowned suddenly. Not like your brother Clem. He s just like
Ira, so mean, both of them.
Yes, Mom, Ruben said. He made an exaggerated widening of
his eyes.
Billy, Quaid said as he reached to uncuff Ruben s hands. Your
mom wants us to take you out of here and get you somewhere safe. I
was thinking that maybe your mom could go with us. Wouldn t you
like that?
Cowboy Way 135
Ruben looked at Quaid like he was crazy, but he nodded his head
anyway. Yes, I would like it very much if my mom could go with
us.
Lilia, would you like that? Quaid tried to speak very softly as he
finished uncuffing Ruben. Maybe we could go down by the creek for
a picnic.
Oh, I haven t been on a picnic in years, not since Billy was a
baby. Mrs. Thornton turned to look at Ruben again. Do you
remember when we used to go down by the creek, Billy, just the two
of us? Those were my favorite times.
Ruben seemed to be getting what Quaid was trying to do with the
older woman. He smiled and once his hands were free, reached down
and grabbed Mrs. Thornton s hand. I d love to go for a picnic with
you, Mom.
Mrs. Thornton suddenly frowned and looked down at their
clasped hands. I miss my Billy. He was such a good boy. Ira took
him away from me. He said I couldn t keep Billy anymore because
Billy belonged to Clem.
She turned to look at Quaid, and for just a moment, Quaid saw
intelligence in the woman s eyes. That s not right, is it, taking a boy
away from his mother?
No, Mrs. Thornton, it s not right.
I tried to stop it. I threatened to go to the sheriff if Ira didn t send
Clem away. I wasn t going to let Clem hurt my baby, but when he
came back, he was even worse. He never touched Billy like that, but
he beat him all the time. Ira said either Clem beat Billy or he She
shook her head. It s just not right for a brother to want those things
with his own brother. It s not.
Quaid inhaled softly as all the pieces of the puzzle fell together for
him. He knew Clem had an unreasonable obsession with Billy. He
just never understood why until now.
Mrs. Thornton, was Clem in love with Billy?
136 Stormy Glenn
That wasn t love, she replied. You don t hurt the ones you
love. Clem is infatuated with Billy. He thinks Billy belongs to him.
That clinic he went to taught him he couldn t touch Billy the way he
wanted to, but he wouldn t stop obsessing over him.
Quaid, we need to get out of here, Sheriff Riley whispered.
Quaid nodded, having forgotten the sheriff in the face of Mrs.
Thornton s announcement. He would be really interested in finding
out what clinic Clem had been sent to. It might help convict the man
and send him to prison for even longer. The man never needed to see
the outside of a jail again in his life as far as Quaid was concerned. He
was a menace.
Come on. Quaid held his hand out to Ruben and helped him up.
Ruben groaned just a bit but seemed to be able to walk on his own.
We need to be as quiet as possible. We have no idea who might hear
us.
Ruben nodded and wrapped an arm around Mrs. Thornton s
shoulders. The four of them slowly crept back up the stairs. Quaid
still couldn t hear anything from upstairs. He assumed Lachlan and
Asa hadn t broken in the front door yet. They needed to get as close to
the backdoor as possible before that happened.
Quaid grabbed Mrs. Thornton s arm and started pulling her faster
up the stairs. If he wasn t afraid the woman would freak, he would
have just picked her up. But she was so out of it, Quaid didn t know
what the woman would do.
Once they reached the top of the stairs, Quaid ushered both Ruben
and Mrs. Thornton toward the backdoor. He could hear the sheriff
walking quickly behind him. They all wanted to get out of there as
fast as possible.
Get the door, Ruben, but open it slowly, Quaid ordered softly.
It squeaks. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]