Read Online Bone Dust White by Karin Salvalaggio - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Karin Salvalaggio
Ads: Link
a tree. You seemed to be the only one that wasn’t worried.”
Elizabeth’s words are sharp. “That’s because she didn’t understand the danger she was in. I still don’t know what possessed her to wander off like that.”
Grace can still hear them shouting her name. Flashlight beams had darted through the woods like fireflies. She’d gone looking for her mother. She had seven dollars and twenty-three cents in her pocket and a map she’d stolen from her uncle’s truck.
Dustin tilts his head. “I’m just grateful I was there when you needed me.”
Grace looks at Dustin and their eyes meet for the briefest of seconds. She owes him so much.
When her uncle Arnold was still alive he threw a party at the house on Summit Road every year for his employees and their wives. After one too many beers her uncle had humiliated Grace in front of his friends so she’d gone off and sulked, sitting out on the back porch of an unfinished house a few hundred yards away. She was eleven, but felt four, and aside from a few geeky girls she’d met in Sunday school she was friendless.
Walter Nielson came looking for her. He sat down next to her on the step and patted her knee in a friendly way. It seemed as if he’d been working for her uncle as a truck driver since the beginning of time. He’d also known Grace’s mom. Grace trusted him.
He held out his beer. Just like his body, his fingers were big and fat. “Go ahead,” he said, offering it to Grace. “Have some. Will do you good to have some fun.”
Grace hesitated but he insisted so she held the beer with both hands and put it to her lips. In that moment he took the opportunity to put his hands up her dress. She sat frozen with the bottle in her mouth, swallowing hard and pretending she wasn’t there and it wasn’t happening. In her mind she floated above the porch, watching Grace and Walter from her perch among the latticework of two-by-fours tracking through the unfinished roof. But Walter didn’t go away, and his hands stayed where they were. He had one hand inside her panties and the other one was down his own trousers. His face was twisted up into shapes she’d not seen on a man before. He pushed his way on top of her and groaned into her neck, his hot breath on her cheeks, his swollen lips eventually closing over her mouth. She looked past him up into the darkening sky and thought about the number of ways she could die. Walter mumbled into her neck that she was his baby girl and she imagined jumping off the north bridge into the Flathead River, slipping into the dark water, never to be found again. There were all kinds of ways she could die. Walter, however, seemed impervious. She didn’t know how to get away from him.
It was Dustin who came to her rescue. Shaped like a whippet, he was surprisingly strong. He grabbed Walter by the throat, pounding his big round head hard into the pavement and threatening to kill him if he ever so much as looked at Grace again. Walter staggered off toward the woods. That was the last time Grace saw him. He died in an alleyway in Boise a week later. Someone bashed his head in with a baseball bat.
Dustin clears his throat before handing Grace the teddy bear. “I brought you a little present. I know it’s a bit childish, but I guess a part of me doesn’t want you to grow up.”
“Thank you,” she says, setting it on her lap. “It’s very sweet of you to come by.”
“It’s the least I could do. How are you feeling?”
Grace holds the bear close to her chest. “Fine, thank you.”
Elizabeth lets out a heavy sigh. “Quit lying, Grace. You’re not fine.” She looks up at Dustin. “You know she’s lucky to be alive. She saw the killer.”
Dustin gazes directly at Grace. “Is that true?”
“I didn’t see him properly,” she says, her face reddening. “He was too far away.”
Elizabeth huffs about, looking on the floor for her handbag. “Are you sure you don’t remember anything else about him?”
Grace
Elizabeth’s words are sharp. “That’s because she didn’t understand the danger she was in. I still don’t know what possessed her to wander off like that.”
Grace can still hear them shouting her name. Flashlight beams had darted through the woods like fireflies. She’d gone looking for her mother. She had seven dollars and twenty-three cents in her pocket and a map she’d stolen from her uncle’s truck.
Dustin tilts his head. “I’m just grateful I was there when you needed me.”
Grace looks at Dustin and their eyes meet for the briefest of seconds. She owes him so much.
When her uncle Arnold was still alive he threw a party at the house on Summit Road every year for his employees and their wives. After one too many beers her uncle had humiliated Grace in front of his friends so she’d gone off and sulked, sitting out on the back porch of an unfinished house a few hundred yards away. She was eleven, but felt four, and aside from a few geeky girls she’d met in Sunday school she was friendless.
Walter Nielson came looking for her. He sat down next to her on the step and patted her knee in a friendly way. It seemed as if he’d been working for her uncle as a truck driver since the beginning of time. He’d also known Grace’s mom. Grace trusted him.
He held out his beer. Just like his body, his fingers were big and fat. “Go ahead,” he said, offering it to Grace. “Have some. Will do you good to have some fun.”
Grace hesitated but he insisted so she held the beer with both hands and put it to her lips. In that moment he took the opportunity to put his hands up her dress. She sat frozen with the bottle in her mouth, swallowing hard and pretending she wasn’t there and it wasn’t happening. In her mind she floated above the porch, watching Grace and Walter from her perch among the latticework of two-by-fours tracking through the unfinished roof. But Walter didn’t go away, and his hands stayed where they were. He had one hand inside her panties and the other one was down his own trousers. His face was twisted up into shapes she’d not seen on a man before. He pushed his way on top of her and groaned into her neck, his hot breath on her cheeks, his swollen lips eventually closing over her mouth. She looked past him up into the darkening sky and thought about the number of ways she could die. Walter mumbled into her neck that she was his baby girl and she imagined jumping off the north bridge into the Flathead River, slipping into the dark water, never to be found again. There were all kinds of ways she could die. Walter, however, seemed impervious. She didn’t know how to get away from him.
It was Dustin who came to her rescue. Shaped like a whippet, he was surprisingly strong. He grabbed Walter by the throat, pounding his big round head hard into the pavement and threatening to kill him if he ever so much as looked at Grace again. Walter staggered off toward the woods. That was the last time Grace saw him. He died in an alleyway in Boise a week later. Someone bashed his head in with a baseball bat.
Dustin clears his throat before handing Grace the teddy bear. “I brought you a little present. I know it’s a bit childish, but I guess a part of me doesn’t want you to grow up.”
“Thank you,” she says, setting it on her lap. “It’s very sweet of you to come by.”
“It’s the least I could do. How are you feeling?”
Grace holds the bear close to her chest. “Fine, thank you.”
Elizabeth lets out a heavy sigh. “Quit lying, Grace. You’re not fine.” She looks up at Dustin. “You know she’s lucky to be alive. She saw the killer.”
Dustin gazes directly at Grace. “Is that true?”
“I didn’t see him properly,” she says, her face reddening. “He was too far away.”
Elizabeth huffs about, looking on the floor for her handbag. “Are you sure you don’t remember anything else about him?”
Grace
Similar Books
