Catch the Fallen Sparrow by Priscilla Masters Read Free Book Online

against the wind – reining it in to take him where he would go. And it would have been heaven to have had Joanna there with him, at his side, both of them working together. A swift vision of strong brown legs, smooth and firm, and that quick laugh she would give, triumphantly, at the challenge of pitting their skills together against the elements.
    But here he was ... on a golden beach, standing on hot sand, beneath a cloudless blue sky, watching the waves slap against the boat. And he knew. He could not possibly feel more miserable. And now Eloise had lost her bracelet somewhere on this beach and Jane expected him to spend all afternoon searching for it.
    â€˜I know it’s here somewhere.’ Eloise pouted a little and watched her father through her eyelashes. She tugged his arm. ‘Please look for it, Daddy. Please.
    Matthew was exasperated. ‘No,’ he said. ‘No. We’ll never find it.’ He glanced along the expanse of sand. ‘It’ll be buried by now. You’ll never find it. We’ll just have to claim off the insurance.’
    Eloise began to howl, flicked one pale plait back over her shoulder and stuck her thumb in her mouth, noisily sucking it.
    Jane intervened. ‘Don’t be hard on her, Matthew,’ she said. ‘Don’t be angry. It was carelessness - that’s all. Nothing more.’ She looked at her daughter. ‘Wasn’t it, darling? Don’t suck your thumb.’
    Eloise ignored the censure but took the proffered excuse and seized it eagerly. ‘That’s right, Mummy,’ she said. ‘Carelessness.’ She slipped her arm through her father’s. ‘Just carelessness. I wasn’t being purposely bad, Daddy. I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t being quite careful enough.’ She frowned, looking anxiously from her father to her mother and back to her father again. ‘And Granny would be so upset if I had lost it. Daddy ...’ she said firmly, ‘we must find it.’ She screwed her face up. ‘Come on,’ she said, dropping to her knees on the hot sand. ‘Help me look.’
    Matthew gave her a glance of exasperation. ‘No,’ he said. ‘It’s a waste of time.’
    The child attacked his Achilles’ heel and began to howl again.
    â€˜Someone else will find it.’ Tears splashed down her cheeks. ‘What’ll Granny say when she knows I’ve lost it? She’ll be furious and horrible,’ she wailed. ‘She’ll say I’ve been careless.’ She sniffed loudly, ignoring the blob of mucus that bubbled from her nose.
    Matthew stood by helplessly.
    â€˜I’ll never see it again and it’s worth ever such a lot of money.’ Her tears were accompanied by spasmodic sobs.
    â€˜Darling, don’t cry,’ Matthew pleaded uncomfortably. ‘Please don’t cry.’
    The child sobbed louder.
    Matthew glanced at her anxiously. Her tears had always moved him to a feeling of helpless frustration. It made him feel sick and responsible. He simply wanted her to stop crying. ‘Darling ...’ he said, ‘darling
    Eloise only howled louder. ‘Granny will hate me.’
    â€˜No she won’t.’ Jane put her arm around the girl’s shoulders and drew her towards her, kissing the top of her head as though calming a baby. ‘She’s inconsolable,’ she said accusingly. Then she clutched Matthew’s arm. ‘Help us look,’ she hissed. Her face was hard and unforgiving and still pale. ‘Or do you mean you can simply sit here on the beach and watch your own daughter break her heart. But yes,’ she added softly, ‘I can believe that.’
    Eloise looked out from beneath her mother’s shoulder and glimpsed her father’s face, pink with anger, flushed and sweating – for all the cool breeze that was blowing hard in from the sea.
    Her mother’s voice was shrill. ‘Is that how little you