Katie's Dream by Leisha Kelly Read Free Book Online Page A

Post’s pickup again. Ben Law would know what should be done for Katie, whether she’d been abandoned, kidnapped, or whatever. Maybe he would want to talkto Edward. Almost surely he would. But I was still glad Edward hadn’t stayed.

    Late in the night, I woke to find Samuel shivering. It wasn’t cold, not by any stretch of the word. Almost I waked him, thinking it was one of those dreams he used to have when we were first married. But I only kissed his forehead and let him sleep on, because if I woke him I thought he might not go back to sleep at all.
    Slowly, quietly, I slipped to our bedroom to check on Katie again. She looked like an angel there on our bed, her dark curls spread out across the pillow. But then I noticed that her cheeks were wet. She was crying in her sleep. I gazed through the doorway toward Samuel on the sitting room floor. It seemed almost as if they were sharing something tonight. Some sadness that no one knew about but them.
    I went back to my place on the quilt, thinking it might be better not to take this child to Ben Law. Who would care for her? It sounded as if her mother really did leave her, regardless of what Edward’s role in that might have been. What if they couldn’t find the woman? Or if she refused to take responsibility for her child, even if they did?
    I lay down carefully, scooted up against Samuel, and eased my arm around him. He turned his head just a little. “Bear paws,” he said. And then he was still.
    â€œWhat was that?” I asked, sorry I’d waked him with my touch. But he didn’t answer. He wasn’t awake.
    I lay there listening to his steady breaths. He knew everything about me. I’d told him what it had been like when I was a little girl, losing my mother and then my father. I’d told him about Grandpa Charlie, and especially about Grandma Pearl and all the things we used to do together. But I only knew Samuel’s parents’ names and that they hadn’t exactly been pleasant most of the time. I’d met his mother and his cousin Dewey, the only relativehe could halfway trust. But Samuel didn’t tell me details. He just didn’t talk about it, especially about his father or Edward.
    Lord, you know. You make no mistakes, and I’m sure we’ve met Katie for a reason. But this is so hard for Samuel. Help him. And help us to help this little girl.

FOUR
    Samuel
    I woke with the dream still on me. My father. Holding me over the stair rail, shouting at my screaming mother.
    Hurriedly I sat up. Juli was already started on her day, and the sun was rising outside. How could I have slept so late?
    With a dull ache in my stomach, I went to the washstand and poured water from the pitcher to the basin. The water on my cheeks was cool; it felt good to wash away the night. But we still had the day to face. My brother’s actions. And a scared little girl named Katie.
    She was not in the bed when I peeked in. I found her and Juli together in the kitchen, stirring something in the batter bowl. I might have thought it was Sarah for size. But this girl’s hair was darker, curlier. Sarah’s was more like Julia’s, lighter brown, straight, and beautiful.
    â€œRobert’s up already too,” Juli told me. “I sent him to check the eggs.”
    â€œYou should’ve waked me.”
    â€œIt does you good to sleep in a little, Samuel. You’re always up so early.”
    â€œThis is not just any day.”
    Katie looked up at me, her sad eyes seeming filled with questions.
    â€œGood morning,” I told her.
    But she didn’t answer.
    â€œI thought I’d let Sarah sleep as long as she wants,” Juli continued. “But it won’t be long. You know her.”
    â€œI better get the milking done.”
    Juli nodded. I took the milk pail and headed out to the barn. As I walked I thought on that child. She seemed to like Juli. Maybe her own mother hadn’t been so warm