Dandelion Fire by N. D. Wilson Read Free Book Online

and they react perfectly normally to light. If his eyesight had been damaged by a lightning strike, swollen eyelids would be an unrelated symptom. Quite honestly, my bet is that he had a mild allergic incident that triggered massive anxiety. A panic attack. He believed himself to have been struck by lightning, and, after the swelling, he believed himself into blindness. If he doesn't regain his sight soon, I think you should start by taking him to a therapist.”
    “The burn,” Frank said.
    “Excuse me?”
    “What about the burn?”
    “Well,” the woman said, “I can't explain the burn, but I can tell you that it is not like any lightning injury that I've ever seen, and it's certainly not serious. It looks ugly, but it's rather shallow. It's not infected, and it's already healing over. It may play a role in his panic, but it is unrelated to his other symptoms.”
    “Madam?” came Richard's voice, nasal but bold. “Ahmm, yes, excuse me.”
    The woman was laughing. “What can I do for you?”
    “I'm afraid you are mistaken. I cannot believe that Henry York would falsify his blindness.”
    Henry could have climbed out of bed and hugged him.
    “Oh, his blindness is real. It's just that his anxiety is causing it.”
    “Henry is not inclined to fear.”
    Henry swallowed. This, unfortunately, he knew to be false, but Richard continued. “I have stood beside him inextreme peril. Only I was standing more behind him than not. He did not panic and imagine himself to be blind. He did what had to be done.”
    “Richard, honey,” Dotty began, but Frank was chuckling.
    Richard sniffed. “If I lay blind upon the bed, and you told me that the weakness of my mind had been the cause, I would believe you. Not Henry.” Richard kept talking, but his voice grew quieter, more distant. And then it stopped. They'd left the room.
    Henry was embarrassed. Embarrassed because he knew Richard was wrong. He was entirely capable of a panic attack. But this wasn't one. He wasn't panicked. He opened one eye and squinted up at … nothing, where there should have been ceiling tiles and fluorescent lights. He was blind, and that was that.
    Worse than being blind was being blind and being told that he wasn't really. Worse than that was being blind and being taken home from the hospital, where his cousins would be told that he wasn't really, that his mind was only playing make-believe.
    Penelope would pity him. She'd probably offer to read to him. Anastasia would ask him why he didn't just stop it and start seeing again. Henrietta would think he was weak. She already did. Henrietta would know she was right.
    And Richard—loyal Richard would stand with his scrawny arms crossed and his thick lips pursed, and he would defend the honor of Henry York, knight of therealm. That would be the final touch. Richard's defense would make everyone want to believe Henry was nuts.
    A pit grew in Henry's stomach as he finally realized the worst. His cousins would tell Zeke Johnson. Zeke, who had taught him to play baseball and never laughed at him, who had belted a witch and saved Henry's life. Zeke would finally look down on him. And all the guys at the ragged baseball diamond would wonder why Henry didn't play anymore.
    Henry thinks he's blind.
    All in a moment, Henry wished he was back in Boston. He wouldn't be sent to school if he was blind, and when he was lying on the couch in his mother's new apartment, there would only ever be one person there to think he was weak. The nanny would look at him and shake her head, but he wouldn't see and he wouldn't care. He wouldn't know her.
    Or maybe it would be a man. Someone strong enough to control him when he had his regular panic attack.
    When they came back, Henry was sitting up on the side of the bed, wondering what he looked like in his little gown.
    No one asked if he could see.
    Everyone left while he redressed himself, or he thought they did, and then Aunt Dotty took his arm and led him through the halls. He