Blue Thunder by Spangaloo Publishing Read Free Book Online

two of
them alone and Daphne didn’t whimper or fret when she returned
later.
    “Dat boy is sho’ good fo’ dat girl,” stated
Effie.
    “You may be right.” Melissa hugged her.
    The days were getting hotter and water was
becoming scarcer, they had to ration their supplies carefully. Even
after Melissa urged Sam to take his share, many times he refused a
drink so the women would have more.
    “Sam,” she scolded, “we’ll be up duck’s
creek of you lose your strength. We not only need you to drive the
wagon, but to track down our meals every night.” Sam would only
shrug and take a sip once in a while, leaving Melissa feeling
totally frustrated. Daphne was spending a lot of her time with Seth
and she loved the boy for being so patient. She wondered if one day
she could trust him with the truth, it was something to
consider.
    As the wagon train neared Phoenix, there
were many casualties due to fever, starvation, and careless
accidents. Melissa never realized the hardship people went through
to get to the Promised Land. Was it worth it? Many thought it was,
but she wasn’t sure. When an axle broke a child was thrown from a
wagon, hitting her head on a rock. Another child died with the
mother in childbirth. The distraught husband killed himself two
days later. They lost several men when they were attacked by a band
of Indians passing through Long Valley. She thought Effie would die
of fright. Sam took an arrow in the thigh, so Melissa had to do all
the driving for a while. She prayed they would make it to
California without another incident.
    Daphne was improving, much to Melissa’s
surprise and delight. She still didn’t speak but the girl’s eyes
were becoming more alive; she didn’t have that far away look
anymore. Her sister
    30
    now did things for herself and seemed to
brighten when Seth came to take her for rides or to read. Melissa
had stayed in the shadows one night and watched the two. She
wondered if now would be a good time to tell him the truth,
noticing how tender he was with her. Then she wondered if maybe she
had waited too long and if the boy might think she played him for a
fool. At the end of the trip they would split up and probably never
see each other again. Leave well enough alone, she told herself as
she returned to the wagon.
     
     
    31
     
     
    EIGHT
     
    Seth was feeling strange sensations in the
pit of his stomach and elsewhere when he sat near the youth. He
couldn’t quite put a finger on why he was so unnatural around
David. A few times he caught his friend’s eyes on him, making him
feel as if the boy was looking into his soul. That night, Seth lay
awake, seeing the boy’s face before him. Earlier, he found himself
looking at David’s perfectly carved mouth, wondering what those
lips would feel like. He turned and pounded his bed roll. Was there
something wrong with him? He knew about men who preferred other men
or boys to women; was he one of them? Should he talk to his father
about this? No! He chided himself; his parents would be horrified.
He fell into a restless sleep, remembering dark haunting eyes. The
next day he decided to help David overcome his fear of horses.
    “See, he won’t hurt you.” Seth took David’s
hand and placed it over the animal’s muzzle. “See how soft the skin
is.” He let the trembling hand go and was relieved when the boy
didn’t remove his palm and petted the horse. He had a terrible urge
to protect the adolescent but he was somewhat nervous, fearing that
sooner or later his parents would notice his abnormal attachment to
his friend. He had come to the conclusion awhile back, that if this
was the way it would be, he’d no longer fight it. It was unnerving
and once he stayed away three days faking illness, but he missed
the youth so much; the loneliness had driven him crazier than his
unsettling conscience.
    Now, standing behind David, he had the
uncontrollable urge to feel that soft curly hair. Slowly, with
trembling hands, he reached up