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The Tarnished Necklace. Trish Inc. DuffinЧитать онлайн книгу.

The Tarnished Necklace - Trish Inc. Duffin


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unsure of her father’s reaction.

      Andrew turned to look at his daughter, it was hard to accept she was a woman now, no longer a little girl. “I would say he was a very sensible young man.”

      Maria laughed, “That’s good, because he did. His temperature has gone down and he doesn’t look as if he is in so much pain this morning. I think he is getting better.” Her joy showed clearly on her face. The next hour was a peaceful time. Maria had more or less been in the house for the past three days. She had been constantly on the edge of exhaustion caring for Peter as much as possible, as well as helping her mother in the kitchen. She missed being outside in the warm autumn sun. It was good to feel her fear start to trickle away with the sun on her back. It was also good being with her father as she enjoyed working alongside him.

      The two of them headed back to the house. Andrew was in need of food and water. This was also the time he would check in on Peter and help him if needed. This time he was awake and staring at the ceiling. He smiled weakly when Andrew peeked in. Andrew sat in the chair recently vacated by Joanne.

      “How are you?” he asked quietly.

      Peter slowly moved his head sideways. Not wanting to jar his head or make his ribs protest he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. “Better, still very sore though. How is the harvesting going?”

      Andrew chuckled quietly. “Jasper, Ezra and John are working in the fields. They are obviously town boys and haven’t a clue what they are doing, but the work is getting done. They are suffering and so they should.”

      Peter wrinkled his brow, “Why are they working for you?”

      Andrew looked down at him, “How much do you remember?”

      Peter looked up at Andrew. Maria had asked him the same question hours earlier. He had been struggling to remember when Andrew walked in. His answer was slow in coming, almost hesitant, as the memories were blurred. There was a long pause before he replied. “I remember going to the lake with Maria, I caught two fish. I teased her and she pushed me in.”

      Andrew chuckled, “Well, that explains why you were so wet when we found you. What else can you remember?”

      Peter thought back over that day, it was hazy. At that point Maria walked in and sat down on the edge of the bed. She laid her hand in his. He turned his wrist and covered her hand with his before looking back to Andrew. “I remember coming back. We were holding hands. Maria left.” His memory was very hazy now, just static images. He struggled to make sense of them. “I heard them behind me. They were drunk, whisky bottles were in their hands. Jasper spoke to me.” Peter paused, trying to fight through the fog and then he recalled the words. “He said ‘I thought we had an agreement,’ then he threw the first punch, I didn’t see it coming. I don’t know what happened after that. I guess it became a brawl.”

      His face was tired and his voice was the barest whisper. He looked over to Maria, his eyelids beginning to droop. Then his eyes opened wide. “Maria what exactly did you write in that letter?”

      Andrew looked over to his daughter. Maria tried to remember. She had quickly scrawled the letter before giving it to her father. “I wrote that I hadn’t been honest with him and didn’t return his affection. Then I wrote something like I didn’t want him to waste further time on me. Pa, what did Jasper say when you gave him the letter?”

      Andrew was growing confused, “What letter are you two talking about?”

      Maria sighed, sometimes her father seemed half asleep. “Do you remember me giving you a letter the other week when you went into town? I said you must give this letter to Jasper when you went to the store.”

      Andrew searched his mind. He recalled Maria giving him a letter as he harnessed the horse and putting it in his pocket. Then he went to the store to get twine and sacking. Stanley served him that day and then his friend Raymond came into the store. Andrew remembered leaving the store with Raymond and they had a drink together. Then he left. He realised he never gave the letter to Jasper. He turned to Maria. “I’m sorry my love, but I didn’t see Jasper and I never handed the letter over. I guess I lost it. I’m sorry. I had completely forgotten about it.”

      Maria pushed her chair back and buried her face in her hands. Peter closed his eyes in resignation. He was so tired, his body was aching with fatigue but he forced himself to remain awake while they figured this mess out.

      Maria summed it up. “So let me think through this. Jasper wanted to court me and asked you to back off.”

      Peter nodded, ouch, bad idea, that hurt.

      “Then midweek he came here and asked me to go for a buggy ride with him. I was bottling that day and was covered in juice so he suggested Sunday.”

      Susan by then had come in and joined the group.

      Maria continued, it was all getting a little clearer. “I lied to him and said I was going to visit a sick friend. Well that much became true didn’t it, talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy. Then I went out to you, asking you to rescue me. You told me to be upfront with Jasper and tell him the truth. So I wrote the note and gave it to you Pa. However Jasper didn’t get the note and so thought I was with a sick friend. On Sunday we went fishing and had a picnic. Jasper must have seen us, felt we had lied to him and got angry. Oh, you don’t think he was spying on us do you?”

      Peter was struggling to stay awake at this point, but he spoke quietly, “So he saw you with me and thought that I wasn’t keeping my word. Combine jealousy with alcohol and this is what you get.” At that he yawned. He was glad to get that all clarified. His eyelids gave up the fight. He fell into a deep sleep, completely unaware of an upset father and daughter seated beside him, each feeling guilty.

      Susan looked at both of them and suggested they come out and have a good talk, which they did. Tears were shed, apologies were made, hugs were given and Maria forgave her father. Peter was the major victim but he was sound asleep. Later that evening everyone gathered around the table celebrating Maria’s 19th birthday. Her mother had prepared her favourite meal. Then the best gift of all. Her father helped Peter out to the table and he joined them for a few minutes. He looked hungrily over at the chicken. Susan said ‘Doctor’s orders’ before giving him only mashed potato and gravy and denying him the more solid food. She did allow him to have a bite of apple pie with custard and that cheered him up. Then Andrew helped him up and back into his room but not before Peter claimed a birthday kiss.

      Chapter 16 Clarification

      Maria’s birthday was the turning point for Peter. Each day there was steady recovery. His blinding headache started easing and he could handle a bit more light and conversation. The day came when Andrew helped him out to rest on the porch in the shade. Jake lay beside him, tail gently wagging. Peter’s ribs still caused him considerable pain. The main trick was to not breathe too deeply, turn, stand, sit, laugh, sneeze, cough or talk loudly, some of which he could accomplish. He had broken his right collar bone and that was proving to be difficult as his arm was bandaged tightly to his chest. Even the simplest of tasks proved to be a challenge. Mercifully his appetite started coming back as well as his ability to keep food down. Since the attack Peter hadn’t worn a shirt due to the impracticalities of wearing one and his weight loss was becoming glaringly obvious.

      Grace was often found near Peter. As he improved over the week she took to bringing her favourite books to read to him. Other times she brought out Daisy and her three horses. She would then sit beside him, quietly chattering away about their latest adventures. By the end of the second week Maria and Peter had started to take small walks to the chair under the walnut tree. The walk always resulted in Peter falling asleep on the chair for a while, his head pillowed on her lap.

      During that week Andrew, Susan and Maria went into town to meet with Damien, Jasper, Ezra, John, their parents and the Reverend. The town was yet to get a sheriff, so the Reverend was often called upon in such moments as these. They discussed the events leading up to, and including, the fight. Initially the boys were reluctant to admit what had happened, but eventually the story came out. They said how Jasper


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