Between Two Ends Read Online Free PDF

Would you go outside for a few minutes? Apparently I’ve been excluded from some important conversations.” She glared at his father. “I want some clarity before we go any further. Perhaps Yeats could take Odysseus for a stroll?”
    Yeats looked at his father, who nodded. Gran frowned but lifted her arms to allow Odysseus to jump down from her lap.
    â€œDon’t touch anything,” Faith warned.
    â€œTouch whatever you want,” Gran countered.
    â€œThe house isn’t safe, Mum,” William said.
    â€œLife isn’t safe, William.”
    As he made for the door, his father suddenly grabbed his wrist. A line of sweat trickled down his face. “Don’t take off that necklace, Yeats! It’s important. Promise me!”
    â€œI won’t, Dad. I promise. And promise me you won’t drink anymore when you’re upset.”
    His father squeezed his eyes shut. “Never again, son. You have my word. Tastes awful anyway.” They shared a rare, brief smile.
    Before the door closed behind him he heard hismother say, “You’re scaring him, both of you! I’ve had enough of all this.”
    Yeats bit his nails as he plodded into the garden. The weekend could hardly be going worse. And now, banished outside, he couldn’t even be a referee between his mother and father. He longed to be home, or anywhere else. But there was no getting away. His father’s depression would come and go like clouds extinguishing the sun, following their family forever. The endless counseling sessions had not worked. The antidepressant drugs had failed. His mother and father were in the worst fight of his life. His mother was at her wit’s end. And how could he blame her after what he had just heard?
    Magic? Yeats sat heavily on a garden stone and covered his face. His heart thumped. His worst fears rose up like ghastly shadows and darkened his thoughts. His family would break apart for sure now. He could still hear his mother’s skeptical voice.
    His heart skipped again as another fear rushed over him. What Yeats had always believed was that his father suffered from a treatable depression. Now he saw it as something far deeper: his father waslosing his mind. It was obvious. He acted childlike around Gran. He broke out in a sweat at the mere mention of Shari. Like old Mr. Sutcliff, his father was overwhelmed by tragedy and was slowly falling from reason. How long before he stopped cutting his hair and rang a bell for his tea? What would they do if his father lost his job at the university? Where would they go? Would he and his mother leave to let his father wallow in madness?
    A tear squeezed out. It wasn’t fair! Things were going well. Their house was in the middle of the street surrounded by kids his age and his school only a short distance away. Why did this have to happen now?
    Yeats rubbed his eyes as a last specter loomed. Perhaps insanity ran in the family! His father, and now he learned his great-great-grandfather, were both completely loopy. Maybe it was only a matter of time before Yeats went mad as well. He saw his father’s face again, white and sweating.
    And then his mother’s words echoed in his memory.
Your father is brilliant, Yeats. Don’t let his gloomy clouds fool you. You have a right to be proud. Imarried an intelligent, kind, and handsome man. And our son is too
. She had not said anything like that for a long time.
    Taking a breath, he looked around. He needed something to focus on, something to break up the adult banter and worrisome thoughts in his head. Gran’s garden spread out in front of him.
    Gran. What a character. And, yet, there was something comforting about her too. It felt good to have her hands on his shoulders. How could someone so strong, so clear, be caught up in a conversation about magic?
    He glanced over the yard to where the fountain gaped open. With nothing better to do he made for it via an overgrown trail. Vines