Finding Noel by Richard Paul Evans Read Free Book Online Page A

Don’t go!”
    Macy began crying. “I don’t want to go.”
    As Mr. Thorup pulled, Noel clutched all the more desperatelyto the skirt of Macy’s dress. He stood awkwardly in the center of the room, holding the little girl horizontally as she screamed loud enough to be heard anywhere on the floor, and city employees looked out of their offices to see the commotion.
    â€œMuzzle that brat,” Irene shouted.
    â€œSomeone should muzzle you,” the man said under his breath.
    Mrs. Thorup walked over, glared at Mrs. Hummel, then gently pried Noel’s fingers loose from Macy’s dress. Noel screamed even louder and grabbed frantically for her sister. The instant Macy was free of Noel’s grasp, Irene pulled her away and pushed her toward the judge’s chambers as the little girl, restrained by her father, screamed and swung her arms wildly. “Let me go! Let me go! I want Macy! I want Macy!”
    Macy was still whimpering when they got to the door. Irene Hummel dug her fingernails into Macy’s shoulder. “Stop crying.”
    As Macy entered the mahogany-paneled room, her sadness quickly turned to fear. The hearing wasn’t held in a courtroom, but in the more private judge’s chambers. The judge didn’t wear a robe, just a crisp white shirt with a bright blue necktie with yellow and red sailboats. He looked like a kind man, with pictures of his own children and grandchildren strategically placed around his office. He smiled pleasantly at Macy and she could tell he liked kids. He’ll understand, she thought. If she got a chance to tell her story.
    Mrs. Hummel sat close behind her, her knees touching the back of Macy’s chair.
    The judge looked over his desk at her, softly tapping his brass pen on the leather desk pad, “Hello, Macy.”
    â€œHi,” she said timidly. Her fear escalated. She wanted to hide. She wanted her sister back.
    The judge leaned forward, his gaze fixed only on her. “Do you know why you’re here?”
    Under the pressure of his dark eyes she just nodded.
    â€œWe are here because the Hummel family would like to adopt you into their family. Do you know what ‘adoption’ means?”
    It means you have to go someplace you don’t want to , Macy thought. Again she nodded. The ambient sounds of the room grew loud and drowned out everything else—the brass, glass-domed clock on the shelf, the growling of Mrs. Hummel’s stomach—the judge was speaking and she heard words here and there like the tuning of a radio.
    â€œDo you know …change your last name?…no longer …Macy Wood …Hummel?”
    Then Macy didn’t hear him anymore at all. The voice became a drone of authority that pinned her down like gravity. Her eyes opened wider, and the largeness of the moment swallowed her in, and she clutched her chair. Then abruptly everything stopped. Everyone was looking at her.
    â€œIs this okay?” the judge asked gently. He nodded as he spoke and Macy, wide-eyed and trembling, imitated his motion. Didn’t he know she was afraid? Couldn’t he see the Hummels were bad people?
    As quickly as it began, it was over. There were congratulations and smiles. Everyone seemed happy. As Macy walkedout, she saw her sister. She was eating a sucker and facing away from the door.
    â€œSissy.”
    Noel turned, and Mrs. Thorup quickly put her arm around her to restrain her. Noel began to cry again. “Don’t go ’way.”
    Macy’s lip quivered. “Where’s your heart, Sissy?”
    â€œMacy,” Noel cried. She strained against Mrs. Thorup’s grasp. “Let me go!”
    â€œSissy,” Macy repeated. “Where’s your heart?”
    Noel stopped struggling and put her hand over her chest.
    â€œKeep me there,” Macy said.
    Noel’s soon-to-be father lifted her and carried her into the room and Macy shuffled out with the rest of the Hummels.