The Keeper of Secrets Read Online Free PDF

for dinner. That’s okay, isn’t it, Mom?”
    His parents glanced at each other, which meant they wanted to tell him something.
    “Sit down, Dan,” his father said, sounding suddenly serious. “That’s what we want to talk to you about.” Daniel felt a prickle of unease. He did as he was told, sitting down not beside his mother but in a chair opposite her. David cleared his throat loudly.
    “When I picked you up Monday, I had a chat with Mr. D. while you collected all those eggs. He’s very worried about the bruise on your finger. He thinks you should stop playing ball—”
    “No!”
    It was an instinctive reaction. He was driven to his feet by the force of the statement.
    “Sit down, son. Nothing’s decided, we’re just talking. Mr. D. knows how good you are. He thinks you can go all the way to Carnegie Hall, be a concert violin—”
    “But I don’t want to be a concert violinist! And he’s not my real teach—”
    “Don’t interrupt your father, Daniel. You can’t know that yet. If you have the talent that everyone thinks you have, you must be what you must be.” He could see his mother was losing patience and that meant an explosion was not far away. When she paused for breath, David abruptly took up the argument.
    “Dan, you could break a finger. If it doesn’t heal correctly, it’d change your whole fingering pattern. We’ve talked abou—”
    “But I won’t break a finger. No one I know has ever broken a finger playing baseball. I catch the ball with a glove.”
    He couldn’t believe they could be so ignorant about something so important. His mother glared at him.
    “Tony sprained his wrist last year and it took weeks to heal. And you know some of the boys have cuts and bruises.”
    “Oh, come on, Mom! They told me to be careful but what I did during the holidays was up to me. Maestro knows it’ll never stop me playing the violin.”
    “But that’s just the point, darling, it might. Forever. And we can’t risk that; you’re just too talented. We’ve put too much time and money into this. You won an international competition, for goodness’ sake. What if something happened and you couldn’t play at the symposium? How would that look to Maestro Gomez?”
    His father came between them and stood over him. Through his anger Daniel registered that David was sweating slightly and the vein in his temple was throbbing, a sure sign he was agitated; his eyes were focused on a spot to the left of Daniel’s face.
    “So that’s it, subject closed. But even though you won’t play baseball anymore, we’ll still go to the field and watch the Cubs, I promise you that.”
    Daniel slumped back and stared at them in horror. Anger and frustration and panic and loss swirled around inside his head. He could see his father was concerned, but there was something else in his eyes—guilt.
    “Talk to me, Dan. Don’t bottle this up. If you talk to me, you’ll see I’m right—”
    “So we’re not actually discussing it at all, you’re telling me what’s been decided.”
    Cindy made her gesture of extreme exasperation. “It’s for your own good, darling. When you can look at it coldly, you’ll see that.”
    Daniel pulled himself to his feet.
    “Where are you going?” she demanded.
    “Out!” He spat the word back at her.
    “Before you go I want your glove and your bat and your ball.”
    Daniel turned away and headed for the door.
    “Daniel! Did you hear what I said?”
    He spun around, his dark eyes blazing and his face flushed.
    “I’m getting them, okay? You win, Mom, as always. They’re no good to me anymore.”
    When he returned, the gear in his hands, he could hear the raised voices still coming from the lounge. He paused at the door and listened.
    “He’ll cool down, David, and then he’ll understand. He’ll see we’re right. He’s a very bright boy and music is his life.”
    “Perhaps we’re putting too much pressure on him. He’s just fourteen, for God’s