Margaret's Ark Read Online Free PDF

with Vince. He hadn’t been able to console her after the fire. He’d been such a mess himself, forced to take a leave of absence to recover from the loss of one of his men – and his best friend. She’d tried to keep a distant eye on him, asking others about him when she had the chance. He seemed to be doing well, except for a touch of insomnia. She leaned over, held his hand. “It's okay, Marty. Just say it.”
    He squeezed her hand in return, then held on for a moment, cleared his throat and released her. He straightened the wrinkles on his pants.
    “Marty. Out with it.”
    He stared into her eyes. “I know this will sound kind of weird, but Sunday night, just before sunrise,  I swear I saw you standing outside the fire house with someone.”
    Slowly, very slowly, Margaret leaned back in her chair. Blood rushed from her face. He'd seen her. Just as she’d seen him . But none of it really happened.
    Oh, God, please don’t do this to me .
    She needed to stall. “You saw me where ?”
    Marty no longer looked tired. He leaned forward, scooting toward the edge of the cushion. He said, keeping his voice low, “The center of town, on the common. Early, before the sun even came up. I guess that’d be Monday morning, actually.”
    He'd seen her. She couldn’t decide if that was good or bad. Bad. Very bad. He could confirm everything, including what the angel told her. Everyone on the planet was about to die. She’d have to build an ark, in the middle of the town square, find thirty people....
    No , she thought. I won’t not accept that.
    Unable to smooth the shaking in her voice she said, “Marty, you haven’t been sleeping, have you? You've lost weight, too.” She had to turn things around. She took the man's hand again. It felt limp. What Margaret said next she had to say, or everyone would die.... “Marty, I wasn't on the common, at least not Sunday night.” She looked away, hating herself, playing her part well. “I think the last time I was there was for the lighting of the trees before Christmas.”
    Marty's expression fell to its original, weary look. She felt like an ass, wanted to scream, You were right! You weren't seeing things. I was there with an angel who’s been terrorizing me and saying horrible things!
    The chief blushed, uncomfortable with the sudden silence between them. “Sounds dumb, doesn’t it? And you were - never mind... never mind.” He stood up and pulled his hand away from hers. “Sometimes I fall asleep and don’t realize it. Mostly I don't. Sleep I mean.”
    “Have you seen a doctor?”
    He nodded. “Once a week, every Wednesday if I'm not needed at the station. Maybe I need a new one, though.”
    “Why's that?”
    Marty unconsciously rubbed his left arm. “No reason. Change of opinion, maybe. Do I look that bad?”
    She laughed softly, felt dirty doing it. Faking it. “Yes. “
    “Well, I'm glad you weren't there. It had to be a dream. How often does a giant boat spring up in the middle of town then just disappear?” He let his gaze linger a few seconds longer, then walked towards the door.
    Margaret didn’t follow. The room was tilting too much.
    “Good night, Margaret. It was nice to see you.”
    She forced herself to look up and say, “You take care, Marty.”
     
     
    The night was cool, flagstones slippery in the premature dew. Spring was here, no question. As long as Marty's back was to the house, he allowed himself a nervous smile. He might be losing his mind, but he couldn't miss her reaction. She was there the other night. Somehow, what he'd seen was real. Tonight's conversation wasn't complete proof, but coupled with other things he was starting to hear from people, it was enough for the moment. His chest tightened. He needed to see another doctor soon, but not for his insomnia. Sometime he wondered if he was deliberately letting himself fall apart, as if the world had already ended for him but he was too stubborn to realize it. Still, he needed to keep a