Read Online The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry - Free Book Online
Authors: Julie Berry
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I tried to pull away, but my wrists might as well have been enclosed in iron. She looked down at her hands holding mine and seemed to realize what she was doing. She let go.
"Don't go, Lucinda. I'm not a murderer. Please believe me."
I couldn't think what to do, so I stayed to listen. My senses were numb, my ears ringing. She searched my face and took courage from the fact that I wasn't leaving.
"I was a little girl," she said, her words tumbling out in a rush. "I came here as a child, something like ten years old in your years. I came here, and your earth races around its sun so quickly! Time sped for me. I aged quickly.
Almost overnight, I was a young woman."
Earth races... sun... what?
I didn't have time for a lesson in physics.
"I fell in love," she said miserably. "Desperately in love with a young man in the village near where I'd... arrived. I had allowed a widow woman to take me in, and I helped her with housework. It saved me from people asking questions, 81
or worse. But, as I said, I fell in love with this young man. He loved me, too."
I watched Beryl's face. Not even she could keep her marble composure in telling about this young man. Her eyes drifted toward the portrait of the handsome young man on the wall.
"He wouldn't marry me until his younger sister was grown. Both their parents were dead, and he felt the responsibility of providing for her." She laughed, a bitter sound. "He was worried about providing for a sister and a wife.
Turnips and onions! I need no food at all. But he didn't understand. That was the price of both our happiness. Turnips and onions."
I nodded to show her I was listening. I could understand, at least in some way. The littlest things ruin lives. A faulty carriage wheel, a misshod horse... something such as this cost me my parents, and all my happiness.
Beryl continued. "We met in the woods one day. He was a timberman by trade. I pleaded with him to marry me and take me away from the miserable old widow. I promised I'd be a second mother to his little sister. But he would not bend."
She closed her eyes. "I grew angry. I told him I could have offered him endless life--and I could have. He said he had to get along with his work.
We... struggled over the handle of his axe. I was just trying to make him stay, stay a little longer to listen, so that perhaps I could persuade 82
him. He... he saw my strength and grew frightened of me."
Beryl sat very still.
Page 27
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"All his love for me drained out in that moment when he began to fear me. He turned and ran, leaving the axe in my hands."
Even knowing how this tale must end, I dreaded it. I closed my eyes.
"I hated him for fearing me. For abandoning me, when I'd done nothing but love him."
Please, make it end. I couldn't bear this story. Even behind my closed eyes, the portrait of the smiling youth lay before me.
"It was so sudden. I was young, Lucinda! Too young for my body, for my strength. All in an instant, I wanted to wound him like he'd wounded me."
I couldn't say I'd never felt that way toward Aunt. "I threw the axe after him. It found its mark."
The bloodred flowers in the picture became the young man's blood, spilled on the ground around him.
Beryl's voice pleaded with me. "I didn't understand about dying. I didn't know what would happen to him."
If she came from a world where there was no death, she might well not understand. Pity for Beryl flowed over me. And yet, I couldn't allow her excuse to stand on its own. "But you knew you wanted to hurt him."
She nodded. "That is true."
83
"And the little girl?"
She turned and looked at me sharply. "What little girl?" I pointed to the portrait on the wall. "The little girl who looks just like the young man you killed."
She hung her head.
"A sister?" I asked.
She nodded. "She found the body."
If I pitied Beryl, I pitied this poor child far more. An orphan, like me, but at least she'd had a
"Don't go, Lucinda. I'm not a murderer. Please believe me."
I couldn't think what to do, so I stayed to listen. My senses were numb, my ears ringing. She searched my face and took courage from the fact that I wasn't leaving.
"I was a little girl," she said, her words tumbling out in a rush. "I came here as a child, something like ten years old in your years. I came here, and your earth races around its sun so quickly! Time sped for me. I aged quickly.
Almost overnight, I was a young woman."
Earth races... sun... what?
I didn't have time for a lesson in physics.
"I fell in love," she said miserably. "Desperately in love with a young man in the village near where I'd... arrived. I had allowed a widow woman to take me in, and I helped her with housework. It saved me from people asking questions, 81
or worse. But, as I said, I fell in love with this young man. He loved me, too."
I watched Beryl's face. Not even she could keep her marble composure in telling about this young man. Her eyes drifted toward the portrait of the handsome young man on the wall.
"He wouldn't marry me until his younger sister was grown. Both their parents were dead, and he felt the responsibility of providing for her." She laughed, a bitter sound. "He was worried about providing for a sister and a wife.
Turnips and onions! I need no food at all. But he didn't understand. That was the price of both our happiness. Turnips and onions."
I nodded to show her I was listening. I could understand, at least in some way. The littlest things ruin lives. A faulty carriage wheel, a misshod horse... something such as this cost me my parents, and all my happiness.
Beryl continued. "We met in the woods one day. He was a timberman by trade. I pleaded with him to marry me and take me away from the miserable old widow. I promised I'd be a second mother to his little sister. But he would not bend."
She closed her eyes. "I grew angry. I told him I could have offered him endless life--and I could have. He said he had to get along with his work.
We... struggled over the handle of his axe. I was just trying to make him stay, stay a little longer to listen, so that perhaps I could persuade 82
him. He... he saw my strength and grew frightened of me."
Beryl sat very still.
Page 27
ABC Amber Sony Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcsonylrf.html
"All his love for me drained out in that moment when he began to fear me. He turned and ran, leaving the axe in my hands."
Even knowing how this tale must end, I dreaded it. I closed my eyes.
"I hated him for fearing me. For abandoning me, when I'd done nothing but love him."
Please, make it end. I couldn't bear this story. Even behind my closed eyes, the portrait of the smiling youth lay before me.
"It was so sudden. I was young, Lucinda! Too young for my body, for my strength. All in an instant, I wanted to wound him like he'd wounded me."
I couldn't say I'd never felt that way toward Aunt. "I threw the axe after him. It found its mark."
The bloodred flowers in the picture became the young man's blood, spilled on the ground around him.
Beryl's voice pleaded with me. "I didn't understand about dying. I didn't know what would happen to him."
If she came from a world where there was no death, she might well not understand. Pity for Beryl flowed over me. And yet, I couldn't allow her excuse to stand on its own. "But you knew you wanted to hurt him."
She nodded. "That is true."
83
"And the little girl?"
She turned and looked at me sharply. "What little girl?" I pointed to the portrait on the wall. "The little girl who looks just like the young man you killed."
She hung her head.
"A sister?" I asked.
She nodded. "She found the body."
If I pitied Beryl, I pitied this poor child far more. An orphan, like me, but at least she'd had a
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