Read Online Light Over Water by Noelle Carle - Free Book Online Page B

room grew silent
as the door slammed and the man lifted his head.  He had dark curls that were
tousled by the wind, a lanky long-boned look in spite of average height and his
vibrant blue eyes scanned the room. He was awkwardly adjusting his clothes as
he eyed everyone, the reason for his fumbling starkly clear.  The left sleeve
of his uniform was pinned up, and he reached across his body as if to feel what
was left of his arm.
              “Remick!”
              Dr. Dan Granger stood
up so quickly that his chair leaned back precariously until he caught it. 
After setting it upright, he hurried across the crowded room and embraced his
eldest son for a long moment.
              Then, as the rest of
his family rose too, wonder and pain written on their faces, another figure
hurtled towards Remick Granger, sobbing as she reached him.  Esther Eliot, who
for so long had presented a face of composure and nonchalance even at the
mention of Remick, made it wondrously clear how she felt.  She cried as she
hung on to him, completely unmindful of their audience.  Remick held her with
his one arm, his cheeks flushed.  As he patted her back, he smiled in some
confusion.  She moved away as the rest of his family surged around them.
              “I went home,” he
said above their heads to his father, “but no one was there.”
              “Come on,” urged his
father.  “Let’s go back outside.  Why didn’t you let us know?”
              His answer was lost
as they moved out the door with Esther determinedly holding to his arm.  And
the villagers found their voices again.
     
              Remick was changed. 
While he had always been the quiet one, and more sensitive by nature than
Alison, she knew his withdrawal was more than that.  It was as if he’d rallied
all his strength for his homecoming, then it was depleted.  His father examined
his injured arm, endeavoring to be detached and clinical.  He allowed Alison in
the room, in the name of science, while he stared at the stump, its skin tight
and shining.  Then she was astonished when her father staggered back to the
edge of his desk, fumbling for his handkerchief, his face as white as a
seagull’s wing.
              “It’s a good clean
wound,” Remick offered.  “No infection.”  His face remained impassive as he
studied his father’s reaction.
              Dan Granger finally
spoke.  His voice trembled as he said, “I’m sorry, son, that this has happened
to you.  It’s a…” He swallowed.  “A good clean wound.”  He left his office
then, wiping his eyes with his handkerchief.
              Alison helped her
brother button his shirt back up.  Remick watched her tight-lipped as he saw
that her eyes too were brimming with unshed tears.
              “Don’t pity me,
Allie.  I’m one of the lucky ones.  I’m not coming home in a box, or blind, or
burned, or paralyzed.”  He pushed her hands away and awkwardly worked the
buttons on his shirt himself.  “I thought he’d…”  He stopped then and shook his
head.  He breathed slowly for a moment, finally meeting his sister’s eyes.  She
was working hard not to cry, and looking miserable in the effort.  Remick
lowered his eyes.  “I’m going to lie down.”
              He spent hours in his
room.  He ate as if food meant nothing to him, causing Aunt Pearl to double her
efforts.  They were living with the newly introduced “food conservation”, which
made it difficult to make his favorite desserts, with less sugar and less
butter.  He would sit on the porch with Esther when she could come away from
her added responsibilities, although she too seemed unable to draw him out. 
But she was so happy to have him home that she didn’t mind just sitting with
him. 
              The cat, Maggie,
purred in a hard rattling purr whenever he let her jump onto his lap. He would
settle