Dark Water Rising Read Online Free PDF Page B

trickling down my back. My first day at work would be a hot one.
    “Hey!” a voice called from below.
    I stepped closer to the unprotected edge of the gallery and glanced below at a young man who looked to be a few years older than me.
    “You shouldn’t be up there,” he said.
    “Sorry!” I yelled down, wishing I’d waited on the ground instead of prowling around. “It’s my first day, and I guess I was a bit curious.”
    I climbed down while he watched, his blond hair and blue eyes vivid against a sun-browned face.
    “You’re the new helper?”
    I nodded and held out my hand. “I’m Seth Braeden.”
    He peered at me from under the brim of his straw hat. “Henry Covington,” he said, ignoring my hand. “You look young.”
    I let my hand fall to my side. “I’m almost seventeen.”
    “Yeah, like I said. Young. Got any experience?”
    “Some.”
    He gave me a skeptical look, which along with the ignored handshake I took as bad signs. I hadn’t beenhere five minutes and already someone didn’t like me. While I stared at him, trying to remember where I’d heard his name, another man arrived.
    “You two meet?”
    Henry turned, and to my surprise, his attitude toward me seemed to turn just as quickly. “Yessir, Mr. Farrell, we have. This is Seth Braeden, your new man, and he looks pretty able if you ask me.”
    Mr. Farrell’s grin crinkled the corners of his eyes and showed a gap between his front teeth. “Glad to meet you, Seth. Your uncle tells me you’re a fine carpenter, almost as good as your father.”
    “Thank you, Mr. Farrell. I appreciate this opportunity, and I’ll sure do my best for you.”
    He nodded. “Fair enough.” He looked past Henry and called out to a young colored man standing barefoot by the raised basement. “Come on over here, boy.”
    The man trudged through the sand, his dark limbs willow-limber and just as graceful.
    “That’s Josiah,” Mr. Farrell told me. “Now, I allow I wasn’t too excited about working a colored boy, but he appears to be a dang good carpenter and minds what he’s told. If he gives you trouble, Seth, let me know.”
    “Yessir,” I said, though I couldn’t imagine what kind of trouble Mr. Farrell might expect. A closer look at Josiah told me he was younger than I first thought,nearer to my age than Henry’s. It was his height that’d fooled me. He looked to be at least six-foot. I nodded my greeting, and he nodded back, barely meeting my eyes before he dropped his gaze back to the ground.
    “Let’s go to work, boys,” Mr. Farrell said.
    “But where’s Zach? And Frank and Charlie?” Henry asked. “Are we gonna have to work double time to make up for the Three Musketeers today?”
    I saw Mr. Farrell’s jaw tighten. “I gave the Judson boys time off for the funeral, remember?”
    “No, sir; I mean, yessir.” Henry’s face flushed red. “I guess I did forget about their daddy dying and all.”
    Mr. Farrell shook his head and turned his back on Henry. “We’re working three men short today,” he said to me and pointed to the third house. “Think you can build a staircase?”
    “Yessir.”
    “Good. Then you and Henry start on that while me and Josiah finish framing up the top floor. If there’s something you’re not sure about, ask
before
you cut lumber, not after.”
    “Yessir,” I said again and followed Henry to the third house.
    “You weren’t trying to hornswoggle the boss, were you?” he asked over his shoulder.
    “Hornswoggle?”
    “Yeah, about knowing how to build a staircase.”
    I shook my head. “It’s a bit foolish to say you can do something when you can’t.”
    “So how many you built before this one?”
    “I’ve helped my father with a dozen or so, and I’ve built one by myself.”
    “One?” He laughed. “Well, I guess that makes you the helper, doesn’t it?” He pointed to the lumber in the basement. “You bring out the sawhorses and two-by-twelves, and I’ll get the tools.”
    I ducked my