Song of the Magdalene Read Online Free PDF Page B

scream cut the air. I wanted to shout. But no words came. It was as though a sheepskin had been placed over my face and I’d never breathe free again. Pain seared through my hand. My body was rock. Then I was pushed on my side.
    In the instant that these things happened, my thoughts raced. My last fit had been no product of a child’s feckless mind. A second demon had joined the first and I knew I was lost as the room went out of focus and I moved into a state of not knowing anything.
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    The water was icy on my cheeks.
    I opened my eyes and cried out.
    â€œHush, child.” Hannah cradled me in her arms. I struggled a moment, then settled against her cloak. The wool was rough and smelled of lanolin. I wondered irrelevantly why Hannahwore her cloak in the house, why she hadn’t hung it on the peg by the door, but I was too tired to ask. Every muscle in my body was sore. I blinked my eyes. We were both on the floor by the fireplace. “You’re safe now,” Hannah crooned. “You’re safe.”
    As the light in the room replaced the blackness that had filled my mind, I realized that I had fainted away, just as I had in my first fit. My right hand throbbed terribly. I held it up before my eyes. The blisters shone.
    Hannah took my right wrist gently and dunked my hand into a bowl of water in which icicles floated. She held it there against my will till it grew numb and blue. Then she placed my hand on my stomach. “It will heal.”
    I twisted around and saw my friend pressed against the nearby wall, his eyes on my face. Worried eyes. “What happened?” I asked.
    My words were directed at Abraham, but Hannah answered. “You leaned over and hit your head on the fireplace. Don’t you remember?”
    I kept my eyes on Abraham as Hannah spoke. I hadn’t hit my head at all. Abraham knew that.
    Hannah stroked my cheek. “You fell into thefire and Abraham pushed you clear of danger. My Abraham.” Hannah’s voice trembled with pride. “Only your hand got burned. Only your hand.”
    Abraham had rescued me. It was he who pushed me on my side at the start of the fit.
    Hannah put a cushion under my head and stood. “Your father should be told. If you feel well enough for me to leave now, I’ll go for him.” She reached for Abraham’s poncho on the hook.
    â€œGo,” I said. “But leave Abraham here.” I looked at Hannah. “I need him.”
    Hannah’s eyes widened. “You need him?”
    I had to talk to him alone. But I wouldn’t explain to Hannah. Not now. “Leave him,” I said with force. “I want him here.”
    My order seemed to relieve her. Wanting was more understandable than needing. “Yes, Miriam.” She patted my shoulder gently and left.
    I turned and faced Abraham. “Why did you lie?”
    Abraham looked at me.
    I got up, holding my wounded hand to my chest. I walked over slowly and sat beside him.
    â€œIt wasn’t your first fit, was it?”
    â€œMy second.”
    Abraham’s eyes wandered from my face. “I saw a boy have a fit once. Years ago. I was with your father. He took me to visit a healer who lived in a hut on the plain of Genezareth.” Abraham paused. “It was hot and oppressive.” He stopped, almost as though the memory made him tired. Then he turned his eyes back to me. “But the land was rich, farming land, and the green helped to make the heat bearable. I was breathing that heat. And so was the boy who came to be healed. Just like me. And he went rigid, thrashing stiff arms and legs. And he shook fast.” Abraham’s eyes were unmoving. He licked his lips. “Just like you.”
    I sidled closer. I hadn’t known that I thrashed and shook, but of course that’s what made me feel so exhausted. “What happened to him?”
    â€œHe opened his mouth wide.”
    I put my hands to the