Bound by Blood and Brimstone Read Online Free PDF Page B

to remain invisible. That left Momma and Aunt Celeste in the house for the
    rest of the week, trying to come up with ways to appear to like each other.
    I counted the endless days until Friday, when I knew the three of them would pile into
    their brand new Ford and make their way to the mouth of the hollow. With only one day left
    before regaining our lives, I chanced upon a conversation couched in so much mystery it harried
    my thoughts and invaded my dreams for years.
    I’d assumed everybody had gone into town with Daddy and Robert when I climbed our
    oak tree with my copy of Alice in Wonderland , my best idea for a retreat. The wildflowers were
    in bloom by the smokehouse, and the sky, with its high clouds, looked like patches of blue velvet
    and lace. After a while, the heat enticed me to the house for a glass of Momma’s lemonade.
    As I neared the top step of the porch, I heard voices through the screen door and stopped
    dead in my tracks. It was Momma and Aunt Celeste.
    “I never thought I’d live to see the day when you’d refuse me a simple request, especially
    after what we’ve shared.”
    “Celeste, be fair,” Momma said plaintively. “What makes you think I have that kind of
    money, anyway? Just look around you, for heaven’s sake. This isn’t exactly Buckingham Palace.
    If I had the money, you know I’d give it to you.” I could hear the strain in her voice, and was
    suddenly angry with Celeste for upsetting her.
    “Just who do you think you’re dealing with here, Mona Roberts? I know you have
    money. I know it’s a lot, and I also know William doesn’t know anything about it.” My heart
    skipped a couple of beats, the fine blond hairs along my arms, stiffening. Momma had money? It
    was impossible!
    “Mona, I’ve told you how it is. Robert may not be called back to the plant, and we could
    lose the house. Do you want to see me wandering the streets? Do you want to see Melvin go
    hungry? You’re the only person who has the power to help me.” Her voice was growing shrill
    and thin, grating on the summer air like a key raked across sheet metal.
    When Momma didn’t respond, Celeste’s tone took on a desperate quality, and she spoke
    with urgency, as I continued to hold my breath. “Listen, Mona, I know we’ve always had this
    wall between us, but I’ve never asked you for a thing in all these years. After all, I am your only
    sister.”
    The hot air seemed to thicken. My head was spinning. What was going on? How could
    Celeste think we had money, when she was the one with all the finery?
    I knew when Daddy had met Momma he’d been looking for factory work after the war.
    He’d told me he’d seen her the first time in a boarding house in Huntington, where she’d stayed
    while teaching school. I knew Momma was educated and had been earning her own money, and
    she’d given it up to move to Silver Rock Creek to be with Daddy.
    She’d known him only a month when they got married because Daddy said they couldn’t
    stand to be without each other. Though enchanted by their romantic story, I realized there was a
    lot I didn’t know about my parents.
    “Celeste, please don’t put me in this position,” Momma said, an undercurrent of anger
    tightening her voice. “William could never stand secrets, you know that. You can’t ask me to
    risk losing him after all I’ve been through.”
    “What you’ve been through? It’s always been about you, hasn’t it, Mona? What about
    what I’ve been through?” Her screechy voice, so full of venom, chilled the sweat on my brow to
    icy rivulets. “What do you think it’s been like for me, knowing what I know, afraid to breath a
    word of it, terrified if I did tell, it would end in a shooting?”
    “Celeste, are you trying to blackmail me?” I could hear Momma’s voice break, the tears
    close and ready to fall. The question hung in the still air as though caged there by her sorrow. My
    scattered thoughts fluttered against my skull like frantic