Blue Willow Read Online Free PDF Page B

part to the state, for a park. Now, instead of enclosing a kingdom, the Blue Willow estate enclosed only thirty square miles. It was still more land than Artemas could imagine.
    The driver opened the car door, and Artemas got out slowly. The MacKenzies were waiting for him on the porch of their farmhouse—Mr. MacKenzie, tall and strong, one arm ending in a nifty metal hook, his tanned face and brown hair making him the same color as a long stretch of earth. Grandfather and Grandmother MacKenzie, both old and hunched but full of great stories about bears and wildcats and Colebrooks, and Mrs. Mackenzie, holding Lily
    Artemas measured his step across the sandy yard, stepping with dignity past the flower beds and under the big oaks, ignoring the fat yellow dog licking his hand and the purring cats coming out to meet him. Inside he was an empty ache.
    The thick grove of willows along the creek moved gracefully, waving good-bye to him. Their history was tied up in the mysterious circle of MacKenzies and Colebrooks. There was even a huge willow in the park at the estates entrance, given to his family by the MacKenzies. That was his tree. He thought he’d die if he never got to climb it again.
    “How do, Artie,” Mr. MacKenzie said kindly, then came down the porch steps and scooped Artemas up in his good arm. Startled, Artemas choked up, hating the way his lower lip trembled. Drew MacKenzie was the opposite of his own father. Without the least embarrassment he gave Artemas a deep hug and kissed him on the forehead. “You be good now, you hear? You grow up to be the kind of man your grandmother wants you to be, all right?”
    The store of confusion and heartbreak and shame inside his chest burst up through Artemass throat and couldn’t be contained any longer. He said brokenly, “Grandmother says it’s all up to me. But I try to make things better, and I never can. I try and try until it hurts so much I can’t breathe. I know I can fix things some way. But how can I figure it out by myself?”
    He heard Mrs. MacKenzie make a soft sound, like a cat searching for its kittens. “You helped bring Lily into the world. You caught her and kept her from fallin’. If you care that way for everybody who needs you, you won’t go far wrong.”
    Artemas pondered that clear-cut idea and clung to it. “Catch people and keep them from falling. I can do that.”
    Mr. MacKenzie patted his leg approvingly. “Always do what’s right, not just what’s easiest. Listen to the wise voice inside you. Don’t ever stop listenin’, and it’ll tell you exactly.”
    Artemas nodded, gripping one of the suspenders that kept the old brown trousers from sliding down Mr. MacKenzie’s long legs. “I’ll miss you,” he finally managed.
    Mr. MacKenzie nodded, swallowed again, and carried him up to the porch. He set him down in front of the grandfolks. Their warm, gnarled hands patted Artemas as if he were a beloved puppy, and Grandmother MacKenzie said a prayer for his future. Then he went to Zea MacKenzie and Lily.
    His chest was tight with memories—all the days and nights he’d spent here with Mrs. MacKenzie, wearing softoveralls and going barefoot, eating fresh peaches and homemade ice cream, working in the fields, playing with the animals. She knelt down in front of him, her big blue eyes full of tears, and swept him to her while she cradled Lily in her other arm. The baby, dressed in a diaper and tiny white T-shirt, seemed to look straight at him.
    “We’ll take care of Blue Willow for you,” Mrs. MacKenzie whispered.
    Tears crept down Artemas’s cheeks then, and he couldn’t stop them. “I’ll come back. I promise.” He looked at the baby, cleared his throat, and said what he wanted to say most. “I’ll come back and marry Lily, and then you’ll really be my family.”
    Mrs. MacKenzie hugged him tighter and made a soft chuckling sound. “You come back when you’re grown and talk to Lily about it.”
    “I will. Promise you