Read Online Far Away Home by Susan Denning - Free Book Online Page B

real interest.
    “I am well.” She
smiled weakly at the man. “This,” gesturing to Aislynn as though she were a
piece of furniture, “is our new girl. She’ll begin cleaning tomorrow. It’s such
a relief.” The woman sounded as though a weight had been lifted from her.
    Aislynn assumed
Herschel was the woman’s husband. He turned toward Aislynn and examined her
from head to foot. His scrutiny made Aislynn feel uncomfortable. When his dark,
fluid little eyes stopped at her breasts and her hips, she stepped back toward
the door. Herschel looked down at the woman and in a syrupy voice said, “I’m
sure she’ll be a very interesting addition to our household.”
    He nodded at
Aislynn as he left the room. Uneasy, Aislynn’s eyes followed him out the door,
and she listened for his steps to die away. When she turned back to her
employer, Aislynn discovered the woman standing directly in front of her.
Aislynn heard the slap hit her cheek before she fully felt it.
    “Get out, you
slattern. Don’t you dare come near this house again.” 
    Aislynn reeled
from the pain. In disbelief and fury she countered, “Are you insane?”
    “Get out or I’ll
call the police!” the woman screeched.
    Aislynn took her
anger and her humiliation and left through the front door. The city was
darkening. The buildings were shadowed, and the fabulous homes with their
unevenly lit windows seemed sinister and unbalanced. Soot and ash blackened the
barrier of snow remaining on the curb. Puddles of filthy water stained the
cobbles on the streets. As she walked alone, every sound made her start. She
hurried home, fearing that in a few days she might be living on these streets.
    While sitting in
her mother’s rocker, she looked out at the cold night listening to Papa Nolan
snoring. He had decided she should not sleep in her apartment alone and had
taken to spending the night in her father’s bed. Soon, she had to leave the
apartment and had nowhere to go but consoled herself with the thought that at
least she would not have to listen to his snoring.
    Aislynn looked
around the room. Since the day her mother died, nothing had changed. Her father
had not added one piece of furniture. Except for the addition of a small vase
of paper flowers Aislynn received for her fine performance at school, she had
not changed anything, either. It remained her mother’s home. She pulled her
shawl around her and wondered how her mother’s arms must have felt when they
hugged her. At times the Nolans and her father hugged her, but she imagined a
mother’s touch would be different. She pulled her legs up into the chair and
hugged herself as she rocked. I’ve spent my life longing for my mother, and
now I’ll spend the rest of my life missing them both. She looked up toward
heaven. If you’re watching, I could use some help.
    Aislynn’s eyes
searched the darkened room. Looking over its shadowed contents, she decided to
sell the furniture and thought she could make enough to pay the funeral bill. At
least I’ll be starting off without a debt. Now if I only had somewhere to go .
She rocked back against the wall and kept the chair suspended in the air.
Closing her eyes, she imagined she was flying, flying to some place far away,
some place she could have a home, a job. She lost her balance, and the chair
fell forward, landing loudly on the wooden floor. Her eyes flew open with the
jolt, and she caught the glimmer of a solution sitting on the table in the
corner of the room.

 
     
     
     
    Chapter 6
     
     
     
    As soon as the
men left for work, Aislynn ran up the stairs to old Mr. Rattawitz’s.
    “I need some
help. I have some things I want to sell.” Aislynn needed a pawnbroker and after
years of peddling on Orchard Street, she knew Louis Rattawitz could direct her
to one she could trust.
    “Vat are you
selling?”
    “I have silver,
real sterling.” He looked at her quizzically. “It’s mine,” she established.
“Lady Falwell, my mother’s