Read Online A Slender Thread by Katharine Davis - Free Book Online

was in a graduate program in London. Neither could get home this year for Thanksgiving.
    Margot and Wink gradually fell behind the others. “I want to take astronomy in college,” Wink said.
    Margot looked up into the darkness. She was weary from her concerted effort to keep smiling. The clean, sharp air felt good. The moon was nearly full, and the sky was filled with stars. They, along with the lights from the houses in the neighborhood, made it easy enough to find the way along the village streets. She glanced over at Wink, who was also gazing upward as if dazzled by the sweep of stars.
    Margot loved the twins equally, but she couldn’t deny a special feeling of tenderness she kept for Wink. Toni had been the fussier of the two as babies, and when Margot had gone to visit, she had held Wink more often, so that Lacey could tend to Toni. The feeling of that warm little body nestled up against hers, so dear, small, and defenseless, was something she would always treasure.
    â€œYour dad said you wanted to major in math,” she said.
    â€œI do, but I like science, too,” Wink said. “You need math for all of it. What I love are the patterns in nature. It’s amazing that there are all these invisible forces, the moon, the tides, and even when we understand it, there’s nothing we can do to control it. We’re all swept into the patterns.” She looked down and began to kick at some pebbles. Wink was the more serious twin, quiet, often caught up in her own daydreams. She looked like Alex, with the distinguished George nose and soft reddish brown hair. Tall and willowy, she had a less predictable prettiness than her twin sister. Toni, though not as tall, resembled their mother.
    Margot remembered once being with Lacey on this very same walk when the twins were little girls. Toni and Wink must have been at least three, as they had trotted along by themselves on either side of their mother, Wink stopping to pick up a random stone and Toni with a wilted dandelion blossom squeezed in her fist. It must have been summer. Margot seemed to recall the girls wearing sundresses and sandals. Their small round feet were tanned from the long days outdoors. There was a strong breeze that afternoon and large puffy clouds tumbled across the sky.
    When Toni caught sight of the low wall close to the beach, she started to run ahead, squealing with delight to be reaching their destination. Lacey hurried to catch up and bent over to scoop Toni into her arms, lifting her up toward the sky before hugging her closely to her chest. Toni’s shrieks of laughter melted away as she buried her face in her mother’s neck.
    Margot nearly stopped breathing as she watched the two of them together. She wanted nothing more than to enter into Lacey’s loving aura, to be a mother too, to be part of a family; she ached for a piece of that world. The knowledge that her life could never be like Lacey’s had crept into her thoughts like a shadow, but her momentary sadness had disappeared when she felt Wink’s small, warm hand slip into her own. Margot looked down at the serious eyes gazing up at her and she smiled. “Come on, little Miss Winky, let’s catch up with those two. I’m going to draw pictures for you in the sand.” They skipped along together toward the beach wall, Margot keeping Wink’s hand securely in hers.
    Now the chill November night gave Margot a momentary shiver. A wind had come up as they neared the water. Wink stopped for a bit and turned toward her. “Do you think my parents are okay?”
    Margot looked quickly at her niece. “What do you mean?” she asked.
    â€œThey don’t seem very happy right now.” She resumed walking. The rest of the group was well ahead, almost to the wall at the end of the road that overlooked the ocean.
    Lacey had started the tradition of night walks to the beach when the girls were very young. It had been a special treat for