Alabama Moon Read Online Free PDF

crying. Then I couldn’t take it anymore and leaped off the hide pile and ran out into the night. “Stop!” I cried after the creature. Even if it was just a coon or an armadillo, I wanted something to be with me that night. “Don’t leave! Come back!” But my shouts made the rest of the forest creatures duck away and grow silent. I was left standing in the clearing with only the sound of the windin the treetops. Then I imagined that the law was all around me. I started breathing hard and staring into the darkness beyond the trees. Suddenly I was running as fast as I could. Spiderwebs covered my face and tree branches slapped my cheeks. Every time I thought about slowing, I imagined people running behind me. I wasn’t taking any trail that I knew of, but following the gaps in the trees. Sometimes the ground would fall from under me and I’d roll down a hill, only to get back up at the bottom and keep going. I crashed through a creek and climbed up a steep bank by clutching tree roots. At the top of the bank was a clearing that I dashed across and then ran on again beneath the tall pines.
    Eventually, I broke from the trees onto the lawyer’s new road. It felt better to have clear space around me where I could see that nothing was hidden and watching me. I started down the road, and the air whistled past my ears and my moccasins padded on the soft dirt. I kept on until the new lodge rose in front of me. The sight of it made me stop and stare up at the windows on the second floor.
    â€œHello,” I said, but not loud enough for anyone to hear.
    The lodge was dark except for one lit room on the corner. I stepped sideways across the clearing and saw a man sitting in the room reading a book. I sucked in deep breaths to calm myself the way I always did before I pulled the trigger on a rifle, and my panic began to go away. It made me feel better to watch the man, even though I didn’t know him and didn’t want him to know I was outside. I could see there was at least one other person in the world besides me.
    I sat against a tree at the edge of the clearing. The wind rustled the treetops and reminded me that I’d left the shelterwithout my jacket and hat. I pulled up my knees to keep warm and watched the room.
    It was just breaking day when I opened my eyes and saw the man standing over me with a rifle. I leaped to my feet and stared at him.
    â€œWhat are you doing out here?” he said.
    I was too startled to reply.
    â€œAre you lost?”
    I shook my head.
    â€œYou’re the boy who buried his father, aren’t you? The constable’s been out here looking for you.”
    â€œI didn’t do anything wrong.”
    â€œI didn’t say you did. I was just about to step off into the woods and do a little hunting. I saw you sitting here.”
    â€œI’ll go now.”
    He put his rifle over his shoulder and motioned towards the lodge. “Come on inside. I’ll fix you something to eat. I can go hunting tomorrow.”
    â€œI better not. The law’s gonna be after me soon.”
    â€œI’ve got a chime that goes off if anyone drives through my gate. I’ll know if somebody comes for you. Besides, from what those surveyors said, it would take an Indian chief to find your shelter.”
    I didn’t know what a chime was, but it made me feel better to hear that the constable wasn’t close.
    â€œAre you Mr. Wellington?”
    â€œI am.”
    â€œI got scared out there last night. I shouldn’t be here.”
    â€œDo you like sweet rolls?”
    â€œI never had any.”
    â€œLet’s go get some, then. I’ve got one left on the counter that I didn’t eat.”
    I thought about it and watched his face. I didn’t know Mr. Wellington, but my lonely sickness was less at the sight of him. I didn’t see anything in his expression that told me I shouldn’t trust him, and I still needed someone to tell me