Read Online Canes of Divergence by Breeana Puttroff - Free Book Online

than it is in your world – well, in the Colorado mountains, anyway. I’m sure there are other places there that are more like here. It’ll do this all winter. You’ll get used to it.”
    “I wasn’t complaining.”
    He smiled. “I like it, too. And so do the kids.”
    She looked around at the wide area where they were all playing, then frowned. “They are going to destroy those.”
    He followed her gaze.
    Emma and Alice had wandered away from the playground area, and they were climbing into the huge bed of rose bushes that lined the back wall of the garden. In the summer, the area was a huge cascade of blooming flowers that seemed to pour off the stone walls and stretch forever, separating this area from the kitchen gardens.
    During the growing seasons, it would have been impossible for the children to even get in there. Now, though, it was slightly more sparse – mostly a tangled mass of sticks and stems; the last of the blooms had finally wilted and been trimmed off the remaining canes by the gardeners only a few weeks ago.
    The two children were climbing carefully, but every few seconds, another twig would snap. As he watched, Emma stepped right into the middle of one of the bushes; the leg of her pants caught on the thorns for a second before she pulled it free.
    “Yes, they are. Where are Ben and Linnea?”
    She nodded toward the swings as he stood and handed the baby back to her. Ben had just picked up Sarah, who was crying, and Linnea was bent down talking to Alex.
    “I have no idea what those two think is appealing about playing in those thorny roses, but my mother won’t be happy if they kill all of her bushes. I’ll be right back.”
    “I knew you’d get out of it somehow,” she teased, chuckling as she reached for the diaper bag.
    He raised an eyebrow at her. “Right. Because I haven’t changed the last hundred diapers. Do you even know how to do it?”
    “Um…” She giggled as she glanced into the bag. “I’m sure I can figure it out.”
    “I love you,” he said, kissing her on the head.
    “I love you, too. Now go, before there are no roses next cycle.”
    He’d only been kidding, of course. Quinn had changed her share of Samuel’s diapers, but he considered it only fair that if she had to do all of the feedings, then he could do as many of the changings as possible.
    He yelled for the girls before he ever reached the flowerbed, but they were so wrapped up in whatever they were doing that neither one of them even turned at his voice. Sighing, he looked for the clearest route through the thick brambles and climbed in.
    Less than ten feet into the flowerbeds, he noticed the girls had stopped moving and both of them were kneeling down. A second later, he saw what was holding their attention so fully.
    “Emma! No!” he shouted.
    Whether she’d finally heard him, or she was just frightened by the sudden movement of the animal that crouched in the bushes didn’t matter. Emma stood up and leapt back in such haste she bumped into Alice, knocking her sideways into the bushes – and right into the path of the startled fox.
    In the next instant, Alice was screaming, and William was running toward her, his worry about the plants forgotten.
    “Get out of here, Emma, now !” he yelled as he reached them.
    Before he could grab Alice and yank her out of the way, the fox sprang, closing its jaw around the little girl’s forearm.
    He reacted without thinking, elbowing the fox’s muzzle twice, until it let go of Alice and then shoving her to the side. Immediately, the animal’s teeth sank into his arm.
    William twisted his whole body in an attempt to get away from the fox, but it wouldn’t let go. The girls were both screaming and crying now.
    Suddenly, he felt a huge thud , and then the fox whined, its teeth finally loosening from his arm.
    He scrambled away as quickly as he could, trying to pull himself to his feet at the same time, putting himself between Alice and the fox.
    The high-pitched