Read Online The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Francine Rivers
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he was Brogan Kai’s son, I guessed my life was over. I was a rabbit, and a wolf with bared fangs was chasing me. I looked for a hole to hide in, but Fagan was coming too quick for me to see much of anything but a blur of green slapping my face when a branch caught me hard above my right eye. Fagan ducked. I felt him getting a hold on the back of my dress. The seam tore in my struggling, and I managed another blow or two before he let me loose.
Trying to beat him across the meadow was a mistake. He took me down less than halfway across and knocked the wind clean out of me. I lay on my back like a banked fish, gasping for air, while he, on hands and knees beside me, did the same.
“You crazy or what?” He was red-faced, though whether from temper or running I weren’t sure. As soon as I got my breath back, I figured on tearing out of there before I found out.
I dragged in badly needed air and let out a sob, scrambling back from him.
All the heat went out of his eyes. “I didn’t mean to scare ye, Cadi. Cross my heart and hope to die.” He made the sign of the cross over his chest and held his hand up in a solemn oath. “I just wanted to talk to you is all.”
I figured he was telling the truth, for his wind was back and he wasn’t strangling me or pounding me into the ground.
Sitting back, he plucked a blade of grass and chewed on it. “Ye ought not to run like that. Ye could step on a copperhead and be bit without even knowing it. It’s a slow, mean way to go.”
His uncle had died of snakebite before I was born. Granny had told me the story. The uncle, Brogan’s brother, had been bit while hunting. He’d cut and bled himself right after it happened and made it back to the house. Gervase Odara applied plasters, but it hadn’t done any good—the poison had gone into his blood. Once that happened, there weren’t nothing to do but wait for the end.
I sat up slowly, keeping my feet under me so I could run if I had to. I didn’t say anything but kept my eyes fixed upon him to judge his mood. I figured Fagan would say what he wanted as soon as he was ready. But it better be quick or I’d lose my nerve and run for it.
He tossed the blade of grass away and looked at me with his solemn blue eyes. “Ye hadn’t oughta go looking for the sin eater, Cadi. I ain’t never seen my father afraid of nothing. But he’s afraid of him.”
I stared at Fagan, surprised. Everyone in the valley knew that Brogan Kai was afraid of nothing. Why would he fear the sin eater? “Maybe your father was just angry at ye for speaking of the mon.”
“Sure enow, he was mad, but he was scared, too. I’m telling ye, I saw it in his eyes. For just a second, he went so white I could feel my hair stand up. The sin eater must be the devil himself, Cadi.”
“He wudna hurt me.”
“Maybe he’s hurt you already and ye dunna know it.”
“How so?”
He frowned, scratching his head in frustration. “Well, your mind is fixed on him, ain’t it? Ye looked at him once, and ye ain’t been able to get him out of your head since. That ought to tell you summat. He’s laid a curse on ye just like ye were told he’d do if ye looked.”
His words seemed sound and troubled me greatly, but they didn’t break my resolve. If anything, they made it all the more important to find the man. If Fagan was right, then what else could I do but find the sin eater and try to undo what had already been done? If the sin eater had cursed me, who else but the sin eater could undo it? I did not try to explain this to Fagan, thinking he’d see it for himself once he thought it over. Besides, it didn’t matter. I was cursed already, my sins heavy upon me.
I didn’t say that to Fagan, either. He would want to know the full reasons behind my thinking, and what I had done was too shameful a thing to talk about. The people only knew the half of it—what had happened, not what had brought it on. Even Mama and Papa and Iwan didn’t know. But God did. God
Trying to beat him across the meadow was a mistake. He took me down less than halfway across and knocked the wind clean out of me. I lay on my back like a banked fish, gasping for air, while he, on hands and knees beside me, did the same.
“You crazy or what?” He was red-faced, though whether from temper or running I weren’t sure. As soon as I got my breath back, I figured on tearing out of there before I found out.
I dragged in badly needed air and let out a sob, scrambling back from him.
All the heat went out of his eyes. “I didn’t mean to scare ye, Cadi. Cross my heart and hope to die.” He made the sign of the cross over his chest and held his hand up in a solemn oath. “I just wanted to talk to you is all.”
I figured he was telling the truth, for his wind was back and he wasn’t strangling me or pounding me into the ground.
Sitting back, he plucked a blade of grass and chewed on it. “Ye ought not to run like that. Ye could step on a copperhead and be bit without even knowing it. It’s a slow, mean way to go.”
His uncle had died of snakebite before I was born. Granny had told me the story. The uncle, Brogan’s brother, had been bit while hunting. He’d cut and bled himself right after it happened and made it back to the house. Gervase Odara applied plasters, but it hadn’t done any good—the poison had gone into his blood. Once that happened, there weren’t nothing to do but wait for the end.
I sat up slowly, keeping my feet under me so I could run if I had to. I didn’t say anything but kept my eyes fixed upon him to judge his mood. I figured Fagan would say what he wanted as soon as he was ready. But it better be quick or I’d lose my nerve and run for it.
He tossed the blade of grass away and looked at me with his solemn blue eyes. “Ye hadn’t oughta go looking for the sin eater, Cadi. I ain’t never seen my father afraid of nothing. But he’s afraid of him.”
I stared at Fagan, surprised. Everyone in the valley knew that Brogan Kai was afraid of nothing. Why would he fear the sin eater? “Maybe your father was just angry at ye for speaking of the mon.”
“Sure enow, he was mad, but he was scared, too. I’m telling ye, I saw it in his eyes. For just a second, he went so white I could feel my hair stand up. The sin eater must be the devil himself, Cadi.”
“He wudna hurt me.”
“Maybe he’s hurt you already and ye dunna know it.”
“How so?”
He frowned, scratching his head in frustration. “Well, your mind is fixed on him, ain’t it? Ye looked at him once, and ye ain’t been able to get him out of your head since. That ought to tell you summat. He’s laid a curse on ye just like ye were told he’d do if ye looked.”
His words seemed sound and troubled me greatly, but they didn’t break my resolve. If anything, they made it all the more important to find the man. If Fagan was right, then what else could I do but find the sin eater and try to undo what had already been done? If the sin eater had cursed me, who else but the sin eater could undo it? I did not try to explain this to Fagan, thinking he’d see it for himself once he thought it over. Besides, it didn’t matter. I was cursed already, my sins heavy upon me.
I didn’t say that to Fagan, either. He would want to know the full reasons behind my thinking, and what I had done was too shameful a thing to talk about. The people only knew the half of it—what had happened, not what had brought it on. Even Mama and Papa and Iwan didn’t know. But God did. God
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