Jane's Long March Home by Susan Lute Read Free Book Online

feet, won his freedom to race ahead to the barn, shouting, “Leave my brother alone.”
    Admiring his nerve, Jane reluctantly followed Russell.
    She should be grateful for the distracted interest that filtered across the Doc's handsome face. It meant he wasn’t lingering on that little episode aborting his play therapy.
    At the end there, something had passed between them. Not sympathy. Or pity. A promise perhaps, that he wouldn’t give up on her, no matter how much bull she threw at him. Which could be a lot, given her present state of mind.
    She slipped into the barn, stopping just inside to adjust to the dim interior. Russell and Gus squatted next to a small child - he couldn’t have been more than five or six - lying motionless on the hay covered floor. The teen she’d caught stood over them, fear laden eyes darting from face to face with equal parts anger and apprehension.
     A quick assessment had Jane locking up her seriously stormy emotions. She would wager a king's ransom these kids were homeless, runaways maybe, but definitely without a loving family to look after them. She knew the signs.
    One look at Russell’s face, the concern pulling at the edges of his mouth, and she was swearing under her breath. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind he was about to offer the children sanctuary; in fact, would insist on making whatever was wrong, right for them.
    What man with his background wouldn’t? Worse than that? Jane knew if it was left up to her, she would do the same thing. Despite whatever mistakes she’d made in Madrid, she would do whatever it took to help these kids, too.
    The revelation was a shock, but it didn’t change things. Mentally, she did what no Marine did. She retreated.
    What happens to these kids has nothing to do with you.
    “I’m okay.”
    “He’s not hurt!” Alarm made the boys’ voices squeak.
    “We need to see how badly he’s injured.” Russell spoke directly to the older boy, his tone discouraging any argument.
    Jane wiped her sweaty palms on her pants.
    The teenager’s lips compressed together in a belligerent slash across his none too clean face. She knew that look. The memory had a face. It slammed her in the gut.
    Wanting more than anything to leave the suffocating, cavernous barn, she started to back up. As much to distance herself from the sight of Russell murmuring encouragement as he calmly checked the frightened boy for injuries, as from an overwhelming need to protect herself from the panic spilling from the dark eyes of the older kid.
    “I could use some help here.” Russell’s sudden, steady regard halted her hasty retreat, while daring her to cross over the line into his camp. She knew what Sister Mary Margaret would expect her to do.
    The little guy attempted to sit up. Straw clung to his clothes.
    From a distance she was reluctant to give up, Jane offered, “It’d probably be best to keep him still until you’re sure he’s not injured.”
    “Good advice. Thanks,” Russell sneered. Placing a firm hand on the kid’s shoulder to hold him still, he shot her an exasperated look that almost had her smiling. Almost.
    She sighed heavily. A good Marine always obeyed orders, she reminded herself, dropping to her knees at the boy’s feet. Starting at his thighs, she checked for fractures, working her way towards his well worn sneakers.
    “Leave him alone!”
    “We won’t hurt him.” Russell’s reassurance was just a shade too welcome. Her edginess dissipated like a squall gone to ground. The older boy hovering over them shoved his hands in his pockets and stood down too.
    The Doc certainly had a way with casualties. That shouldn’t be so surprising, she decided, locking her attention on the teenager. “What’s your name, kid?”
    Instead of answering, he braced his feet on the straw littered floor. Cocky, scared, and too easy to read, he smelled of trouble with a capital T.
    Jane had been where he was, had done far worse than steal a few apples when she was