Read Online Purling Road - the Complete Second Season: Episodes 1-10 by M L Gardner - Free Book Online Page B

her gait uncertain. Samuel and Savrene paused eating. They watched her every move. She smiled at them, and only Samuel gave a timid smile back. She reached out and touched his arm.
    Looking in Arianna’s general direction, she said, “I’m sorry.” Her voice was hoarse, her breathing labored.
    Arianna turned from the sink. Ethel was dressed, albeit sloppily. Her blouse hung from her bony shoulders, and her hair was a mess.
    Arianna couldn’t find it in her to accept.
    What was she supposed to say, it’s all right? It wasn’t.
    Was she supposed to say she forgave her? She didn’t.
    She terrorized the house every other day with her fits, scaring the children and created more work for Arianna than she could handle. She just stared at her, wondering how long she’d remain lucid before forgetting who everyone was again and began throwing plates around the room. She dreaded the next time she had to wrestle her up the stairs.
    “I know I’ve been bad,” Ethel said quietly, looking down.
    “So, you’re aware of what you’re doing?” Arianna asked, feeling her temper rise.
    “No,” Ethel said quickly. “I don’t understand what’s happening to me. But I hear you and Caleb talk. I know he’s building that little house for me because I can’t be here anymore.”
    “It’s for the best. For everyone,” Arianna said.
    Ethel’s face pinched, suddenly ready to cry. Her voice was childlike. “I’m scared to be alone. I don’t want to be with a stranger.”
    Arianna closed her eyes. The last thing she needed was Ethel saying this to Caleb, crying that she was scared so he’d change his mind.
    “Ethel, your fits scare these children. They’re afraid of you. Every time you do it, they run and hide. You screaming and thrashing and your madness ran Emily off, and I can’t keep up with all the things you break and the bedding you wet every night!”
    “If I promise not to—”
    “You can’t promise, Ethel!”
    A little voice in Arianna’s heart told her to try and find a shred of kindness, a pinch of patience. She searched her soul and found neither.
    “Caleb’s going to build that house, you’re going to move into it, and that’s all there is to it. I don’t want you here anymore.” Arianna returned to the sink, aggressively scrubbing potatoes.
    Ethel nodded, slowly, then rose and shuffled out of the room.
     
    ***
     
    “Can you come with me?” Peter asked.
    “Where?” Muzzy asked, peeking up from her typewriter.
    “It’s not too far away. Maybe a mile.”
    “What’s maybe a mile?”
    “The place I want to show you. Stop asking so many questions,” he teased.
    She sighed. “Peter, I have a lot of work to do.” Her eyes dropped and her fingers started flying again.
    “It won’t take long, and I promise you’ll want to see this.”
    She agreed, reluctantly, and made him wait three more minutes until she finished her article.
    Out back, she snapped her goggles on. “You’re pulling me away from work. This better be good.”
    He smiled. “It is. Follow me.”
    He set off on his bike with a tear, a hard lean to the left turning out of the alley into the street. Muzzy had no trouble keeping up. Besides the fact Peter was very easy on the eyes, an excellent cook, good company, and a God almighty good kisser, Muzzy liked the fact that he adored motorbikes and knew how to ride as well as she did. It also helped that despite the fact that her reputation was becoming more scandalous by the day, he helped immensely with keeping her bike tuned and running smoothly. Provided it didn’t hurt sales anymore, it was a good trade in her eyes. He even helped her with a small repair to her printing press the previous evening, a repair she could not have afforded to hire out. She followed him away from downtown into the residential area of Pigeon Cove. He stopped on the side of the road.
    “Well, here it is,” he said, grinning madly.
    “Here what is?” she asked, throwing her leg and standing. She was