Flight of the Earls Read Online Free PDF Page A

was not a man who cared to be touched.
    â€œDa. We’ll be all right.” Clare approached as one would a wounded animal.
    He made a grunting noise, as if laughing to himself. Without facing her, he spoke with an unusual tenderness. “My Clare. Always there to salve our bleeding wounds. Well, I’m afraid I’ve done too much damage and for the last time.”
    â€œNo. We’ll be fine, you’ll see. We’ll just plant again and next time will bring us a rich harvest.” Clare sensed his discomfort rising.
    â€œWish that it be so.” Da lowered his head. “Hope is for another family. The Hanley curse is your only dowry, I fear.”
    â€œDon’t say this.” On impulse, Clare wrapped her arm around her father and rested her head on his shoulder. She anticipated he would flinch, but he didn’t, and she longed for him to return her embrace. It had been years since her father allowed her to be this close.
    His smell returned memories of being in his arms when she was a little girl. Those sweet days when her da was still able to laugh and dream. She reveled in the intimacy of silence.
    Then Da lifted her head from his shoulder and swung his legs down from the fence. The moment was gone, and with it the warmth of her feelings retreated to those lonely corners of her memory.
    â€œI made a decision, I have.” Da angled his chin. “I’ll need you to prepare yourself.”
    â€œPrepare for what?” Clare’s knees started to shake.
    â€œI’ll need you to go the way of Margaret,” he said sternly.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYour sister Maggie.”
    â€œWhat are you saying? To America?”
    â€œYes. America. You need to finish what Margaret began. If she had only made it there, we wouldn’t be facing such hardship.”
    â€œBut you can’t mean this?” She took a step backward. How could her father risk the life of another daughter? She was glaring into the eyes of a madman.
    â€œYou and Seamus. Both of you.” He fumed, but then his disposition melted. “Clare. It’s the only way. The field is dead. There’s no life in her. We’ll surely starve. You. Cait. The boys. Your mam. All of us.” He raised his eyebrows as if to punctuate the point. “Hmm?” He patted her on the shoulder and started to walk away.
    Her lips trembled, then her face drew taut. Clare chased after her father and yanked his arm. “I won’t go.”
    He scowled at her hand clasping his arm and she loosened her grip. Clare’s nerve was slipping. “You want me to leave for America? Haven’t you lost . . . enough?”
    His gray eyebrows hooded cold eyes and she could sense the venom growing. “I wanted you to go with Tomas instead of Maggie. I wanted her to stay back with us. But he wouldn’t take you.”
    The words pierced through her anger like shards of glass, and Clare’s stomach roiled. On the edge of defeat, all that remained was her concern for her siblings. She pointed toward the house. “I can’t leave the little ones. Look at them. What would they do?”
    â€œCaitlin will manage fine.”
    â€œCait? She’s just a wee girl.”
    Da reached out and cupped the balls of her shoulders, and the pain traveled through her arms. “You will go. And you will take that worthless brother with you across the sea. And if Seamus drowns on the way, then at least he’ll be food for the fish.”
    He spun and tromped toward the house, halting only to dare Caitlin to speak. She cowered from his path and he disappeared into the house, slamming the door behind him.
    Tears blurred Clare’s vision, the vibrant green of the farm around her abstracting. When she saw the form of her younger sister running toward her, Clare dabbed away the moisture.
    â€œWhat did he say?” Concern swallowed Cait’s demeanor.
    In her mind, Clare saw her sister as a child, never