Taken Read Online Free PDF

fixtures on vidscreens across the U.S. Honestly, I can’t understand what people see in her.
    My relationship with Mickie hadn’t changed much since the divorce. Very little had changed since then. Mickie had kept our last name. She explained to me that it was “for brand identity.” I think she liked the alliteration, too. Victoria and Albert started calling her “Ms. Meyers” instead of “Mrs. Meyers.” My dad started bad-mouthing her openly. That was about it.
    Mickie used the kids in our class shamelessly for her education segments and her holiday segments and her family segments, and this day would be no exception. She shouted, “Hello, children! How is everybody?” Mickie didn’t wait for a reply, but continued, “And a happy Christmas! A happy Edwardian Christmas. Right, Mrs. Veck?”
    Mrs. Veck responded promptly, “That’s right. The children have been working on cards—”
    “So they have! Lovely. Charity, honey, let me see yours.”
    I held up my red-berry-and-green-holly creation for her to admire.
    “Lovely. A lovely work in progress. And I see the rest of you are still hard at work on your works in progress, too. So here’s what I’d like to do. Lena has a box of finished cards that she’ll spread out on the table here. Go ahead, Lena. And Kurt will get some shots of all of you with your finished cards and your works in progress.”
    Lena and the cameraman quickly followed those instructions as my ex-stepmother continued, “Now, while you are finishing up, I’d like to record a comment or two about how an Edwardian Christmas is different from a modern Christmas. Mrs. Veck, maybe you could lead a discussion of that.”
    Mrs. Veck smiled bravely. “Certainly. We were just discussing how the Edwardian era got its name. Who remembers that?”
    After three seconds of dead airtime, Mickie filled in. “It was from King Edward. Right, Patience?”
    Patience gulped. “Right.”
    “And which King Edward was it, honey? Was he the seventh?”
    “Yes.”
    “Now why don’t you put that all together for me into an answer for Mrs. Veck.”
    “It was King Edward the Seventh.”
    Mrs. Veck nodded gratefully as Kurt the cameraman squeezed around her and continued to shoot. “Now, who can tell us how these cards differ from our modern cards?”
    During the silence that followed, Mickie Meyers directed the cameraman to vid certain specific cards. Then she looked right at me and raised her penciled eyebrows high, indicating that I should provide the answer.
    At that moment, Sierra mumbled something to Pauline.
    Patience seized the opportunity to suggest, “I think Sierra knows.”
    “Really? Okay, Sierra. You go ahead, honey.”
    Sierra pulled her lips back in an enormous sneer, like a cornered raccoon. “I didn’t say anything.”
    “You didn’t? Well, how about saying a line for the segment, like ‘Have a happy Edwardian Christmas’?”
    “I’m not gonna say that.”
    “No? What would you like to say?”
    “Nothing.”
    “How about you, Pauline?”
    “Nothing. This is stupid.”
    “Oh! Come on, girls. I saw you working hard on the cards. Hopewell? Do you want to say something in the segment?”
    Hopewell let his head slide down to the right, and it remained in that position until Mickie gave up. “Okay, Charity. It looks like it’s back to you.”
    I mumbled “As usual” as Kurt lined up his shot. Patience, ever faithful, slid closer and looked into the camera with me as we intoned, “Have a happy Edwardian Christmas.”
    Mickie appeared to be satisfied with our greeting, insincere as it was. She immediately dispatched Kurt to the Square to set up for the second half of the shoot. She added, “Mrs. Veck, you and the children should follow quickly. All right? Each child should bring a finished card, one of the nice ones that Lena gave them. And a clothespin. Lena, do you have those?”
    Lena reached into a coat pocket and produced a handful of red and green clothespins, which she