The Cinderella Hour Read Online Free PDF

down, over and over, with punishing grace.
Snow didn’t count the number of chin-ups in a row, didn’t want to. But she
would order him to “Stop it! Please .”
    Luke would comply with a laugh. Being strong was good, he
told her. He could never be too strong. He would switch to one-handed chin-ups
then, or hang by his knees and do curls.
    Summer ended with a taste of what it would be like when Luke
left town. Despite his frequent absences from Pinewood Elementary, he had managed
to advance to seventh grade at Nathan Hale Junior High two miles away.
    Even the hope of glimpsing him in the hallway was gone. Snow
wanted to be at Hale. She would be—eventually. If she skipped fifth grade, she
would be in seventh when Luke was in ninth, and they would overlap for a year
at Larken High, too.
    Snow’s teachers approved her plan. She was ahead of her
classmates as it was. Leigh had no problem signing off on the accelerated
curriculum without asking Snow why she was in such a rush.
    Snow didn’t tell Luke they would be together in junior high.
She couldn’t bear his reply—that he would have walked away from Quail Ridge
long before she entered seventh grade.
    Already Luke was walking away. He met her less often in the
forest and was remote on the days he bothered to appear.
    On November first, he spoke the dreaded words.
    “I’m leaving.”
    No .
“When?”
    “Tomorrow morning.”
    “Why?”
    Because my father knows about you. They had gotten careless over the
summer. He had gotten careless. And last night, with a casualness Luke
knew to be false, Jared had said, “I hear you have a friend named Snow.” Don’t
bother to deny it, his father’s tone implied. Don’t tell me she’s just a kid
who tagged behind you on warm summer days.
    Luke had no idea how much his father knew about Snow and
Leigh. But Jared would have no trouble finding out everything. Like a carnivore
with a bone, he would gnaw to the marrow, devouring all that was good.
    Jared would enjoy the pain it caused Luke, without regard for
anyone else who was harmed.
    Luke should have left Quail Ridge last night. But he had
promised Snow he would say goodbye. Tomorrow would be soon enough.
    And he needed a little time to prepare for the rest of a life
without her.
    “Where are you going?” she asked.
    “I don’t know. Away.”
    “But you’ll come back someday.”
    “No I won’t, Snow. Not ever.”
    “I’m coming with you!”
    “You can’t.”
    “I could .”
    “I don’t want you to.”
    “But we’re friends . ”
    “You’ll find new friends, Snow, and forget all about me.”
    “I’ll never forget about you! I don’t want to.”
    “You have to. Forget about me, like I’m forgetting about you.”
    “Why are you being so mean?” Snow regretted the question the
instant she spoke it. Luke wasn’t mean. The accusation would hurt his feelings,
and did. “I’m sorry!”
    “You have nothing to apologize for. You need to remember
that.”
    What did he mean? Snow knew he wouldn’t explain, and there
were far more urgent issues. “You’ll write to me, won’t you?”
    “No.”
    “But how will I know you’re all right?”
    “I’ll be all right.”
    “What have I done wrong? Luke? Please tell me!”
    “Nothing, Snow. Not a damned thing. It’s just time for us to
say goodbye.”
    I can’t say goodbye to you, Luke. I won’t. Her silence had no power. He was
leaving, with or without her farewell.
    She didn’t want him to go. But, without knowing why, she knew
he had to. And, most of all, she wanted his journey to be safe. He was halfway
across the clearing when she realized it might not be. She could have remained
silent about the money, forcing his return to Quail Ridge, to her . . . and to
the father he loathed.
    “Luke! You forgot the jar!”
    Luke turned to face her, but he made no move toward the
fallen log. “The money is yours, Snow.”
    “What?”
    “It’s for you, in case you ever need it.”
    “Why would I need