Read Online Morning Sky by Judith Miller - Free Book Online Page B

trunk. Ezekiel went outdoors to wait. Lilly nonchalantly drew closer to Jarena once Ezekiel had moved away from the house. “If you like, we can still make the perfume. We’ll merely need to begin earlier in the day and keep our actions secret. The flowers will still be fine tomorrow morning.”
    Jarena shook her head and declined the offer. If her aunt intended to continue the perfume-making business, it would be without her assistance. Jarena wasn’t willing to break the rules set up by the town of Nicodemus. Predictably, Lilly seemed unruffled by the refusal.

CHAPTER
7
    New York City
    M acia slumped forward, unable to control herself. She gasped for air as her upper body came to rest atop the polished oak desk. The familiar scent of lemon oil filled her nostrils while the cool wood soothed her fevered cheek. In the distance, she heard a faint tapping—perhaps a woodpecker drumming his beak on the ancient walnut tree outside the window. The tapping grew louder and more insistent. A slight breeze dusted her cheek as a loud thwack sounded directly beside her ear.
    Her eyelids fluttered open and she settled her bleary gaze upon the wooden rod lying beside her face. She wanted to lift her head—she told herself to move, say something, sit up, do anything—but all to no avail. The stick moved from sight and was replaced by her French instructor’s face. Mr. Gautier’s head was tilted to the side, and he looked directly into her eyes.
    “Est-ce que je vous dérange, Mademoiselle Boyle?”
    The words jumbled in her mind as Macia attempted to translate the question into English. “ Oui , I must take a nap.”
    “Levez-vous, s’il vous pla t!”
    “I can’t sit up—my head.”
    She listened to the sound of Mr. Gautier’s departing footsteps, but she was still unable to move.
    Rennie grasped Macia by the shoulders. “Macia! You must sit up.”
    Macia’s dead weight settled against the chair back. “Mr. Gautier has gone to report you to Mrs. Rutledge. This is the third day he’s caught you sleeping during class. He’s very angry, Macia.”
    “I’m ill, Rennie. I can’t sit here. Please help me upstairs; I must lie down.”
    Inez’s voice came from a couple of desks away. “You’d best not, Rennie. You’ll get in trouble, too. Macia’s likely pretending to be ill again because she hasn’t completed her lessons.”
    If she’d had enough strength, Macia would have hurled her lesson book across the room at Inez. The girl was frightfully mean-spirited and certainly not someone Macia would ever count a friend. In fact, finding fault, either real or imagined, with others was the only thing that seemed to give Inez pleasure.
    Macia handed Rennie her lesson book. “You can turn this in for me, Rennie, but I’m going upstairs, even if I must crawl on my hands and knees.”
    Amanda hurried to Macia’s desk and encircled Macia’s waist with her right arm. “I’ll help you to your room, Macia. If Mr. Gautier wants to refund my parents’ money, I’d like nothing more than to return home. I didn’t want to come here in the first place.”
    “We’ll both help you.” Rennie gathered their lesson books and handed them to Lucy. “Here, Lucy, please turn in the lesson books for all three of us.”
    Lucy took the books, though she was obviously vacillating between fear and admiration as she danced from foot to foot. “What should I say to Mr. Gautier?”
    “The truth. Tell him we’ve assisted Macia to bed, and when we feel it’s appropriate to leave her alone, we’ll return to class—which may not be today.” Rennie grinned. “Though you need not add my final remark.”
    Macia groaned as the girls helped her to her feet. Her legs felt as though they’d been pumped full of jelly. Her knees buckled with each step. Amanda and Rennie tightened their hold as she began to sink toward the floor. She could feel perspiration on her forehead and upper lip as the girls hauled her to the stairs. By the time they