Being Magdalene by Fleur Beale Read Free Book Online Page A

far as the sand. ‘You go, Luke. I don’t want to run.’ I gave him a push.
    He didn’t need persuading, and tore off down the long beach after the others. I watched them growing smaller in the distance, then I walked until I was bymyself, away from other people. There weren’t many around. It was December, but the day was cold with a sharp wind cutting the air.
    I sat on the sand, watching the flat, grey sea.

    ‘Magdalene!’ Abraham’s voice made me jump. ‘Great heavens, girl! What are you doing?’
    I looked down at my hands. They were dark with sand. I seemed to be sitting in a hole. I must have dug it, but I couldn’t remember doing so.
    The boys took my arms and hauled me out. ‘You’re wet through,’ Luke said. ‘You’ve dug down to the water — with your bare hands.’
    Had I? Why couldn’t I remember?
    Zillah grabbed hold of my hands. ‘They’re bleeding! Magdalene, your hands are bleeding.’
    I couldn’t feel them.
    For the second time that day, Abraham picked me up. I heard him and Luke talking. Doctor … shock .
    Zillah said, ‘We have to ask Father. He’ll make her learn psalms if we don’t ask him first.’
    Why was she crying?
    ‘I’m all right. I don’t need to go to the doctor. Put me down, Abraham. I can walk.’
    ‘Shut up,’ my brother said.
    Luke opened the car door and buckled my seat belt for me.
    ‘I can do it. I’m fine.’
    He took no notice. Zillah slid across to the middleseat so she could sit close to me. ‘You’re shivering and you’re all wet.’
    Abraham made the engine roar, jerking the car as we moved off. I shut my eyes, glad of Zillah’s warmth as she snuggled close.
    After a bit the car stopped. ‘Don’t we have to have an appointment?’ Luke asked.
    Abraham just said, ‘Hold the door while I lift her out.’
    ‘Leave me alone. I’m not going to the doctor.’
    ‘Shut up, Magdalene. Put your arm round my neck. Zillah, stay with Luke.’ He marched off, carrying me.
    I can walk. Put me down.
    Doors swished open, and we were inside a big room full of staring people. Abraham strode up to the desk. ‘Can somebody see my sister right away? She’s in shock and she’s shredded her hands.’
    Next, I was lying on a bed in a room not much bigger than the discipline room. Abraham was frowning. Luke and Zillah were there too, even though Abraham was telling them to leave.
    A nurse came in. She shooed the others out, helped me out of my wet skirt and wrapped a blanket around me. ‘Let’s see those hands, my love.’ very carefully, she uncurled my fingers.
    I stared at them. ‘I don’t know what happened. Why are they bleeding?’
    ‘Never mind that now. Let me get all this sand off. Be brave, honey. It’s probably going to hurt a bit.’ She talked in a sing-song voice as she poured water over my hands to wash away the sand and blood. Itdidn’t hurt much, although she kept telling me I was being brave. How did she think I’d behave? Seemly and modest . Didn’t she know girls had to be seemly and modest?
    ‘There we are, sweetheart. The doctor will have a look at you and then we’ll pop some bandages on.’
    ‘Please, I don’t want bandages. I can’t help Mother with bandages on.’
    A man came in before she could answer. His name tag said Dr Alex Masters . ‘Hi there, Magdalene.’ He perched beside me on the bed and took my hands, turning them gently to look at my palms. His wedding ring felt smooth against my fingers. I wondered if he made his children learn psalms when they transgressed. He had a kind face even though he was frowning. ‘Hmm,’ he said, ‘you sure made a mess of your paws, little lady. You were at the beach?’
    I nodded. ‘We went with Abraham.’
    He moved to a chair and the nurse started to dress my hand and wrap it in a bandage. I tried to pull my hand away. ‘I can’t help Mother with bandages on.’
    Doctor Alex said, ‘They’ll get better quicker this way, Magdalene. Tell me about the beach. Do you like it