My Heart Remembers by Kim Vogel Sawyer Read Free Book Online

the edge of the wagon. “Come on now.” He lifted Maelle from the back. “Scoot on into the store.” Although his words were gruff, she saw kindness in his lined eyes. She moved to the boardwalk but didn’t step up on the wood walkway.
    The man pulled himself onto the seat and then looked at Mattie, who stood in the bed of the wagon opposite to where the little girls huddled together. “Matthew? You want to help yer pa drive the team?”
    Mattie’s eyebrows shot up. He touched his own chest with a questioning finger.
    The man smiled. “Yes, I mean you. C’mon up here, boy.”
    Mattie scrambled to the front of the wagon, and the man settled him between his knees. He placed the reins in Mattie’s hands, curling his own large hands around Mattie’s much smaller ones. The man guided Mattie’s hands into flicking the reins. “Giddap!” The horses lurched forward.
    The wagon rolled down the street. Mattie’s face appeared briefly as he leaned out and craned his neck to look backward. But then the man shifted his shoulders, shielding Mattie from view.
    The intense pain in Maelle’s heart made her legs feel weak. She longed to chase after the wagon, to cry, to scream, to storm at the unfairness of having Molly and Mattie taken away. But a part of her recognized no amount of protest would change a thing. They were gone. Her sister and brother were gone, and she— “Mike?” Watts called from the doorway of the dry goods. “I bought these britches extra big so they’d last longer. You’ll need suspenders to hold ’em up. Come choose a pair.”
    Maelle cared nothing about suspenders. Where was the family taking Mattie? She squeezed her eyes closed, and then she remembered: Shallow Creek. She added the name to her memory bank. Standler. Shallow Creek. Then, opening her eyes, she took a step farther into the street for a last glimpse of the wagon.
    A hand clamped around the back of her neck, yanking her onto the boardwalk. She yelped, swinging her arms. Watts let go with a shove that sent her sideways. Maelle regained her footing and glowered at the man.
    Hands on his hips, he growled, “Mike, I’m a mild-mannered man, but when I tell you to do something, I expect you to obey. I got hundreds of dollars worth of photography equipment you’ll be learning to use. One misstep because you didn’t follow directions, and something gets ruined? I’ll cut me a switch and leave tracks on your legs that’ll be there ’til next Christmas. Do you understand me?”
    Maelle clenched her jaw so hard her teeth hurt. She sucked air through her nose to keep from crying. Reaching back to rub her neck where his fingers had dug in, she gave a single nod of her head in reply.
    “Good. And one more thing . . .” He bent forward, bringing his face level with hers. “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep your brother.”
    She searched his eyes. Was he being honest with her?
    “I don’t have room for him in the wagon, and I don’t have need for more than one apprentice. Besides, he’s with a family. Isn’t that what you’d want for him?”
    Maelle considered his words. A family was best for Mattie—a ma and a da, and even sisters. Her heart skipped a beat. Mattie would have sisters. Would those new sisters replace her and Molly?
    He straightened. “Well, you’re a quiet one, now. Seem to have lost that fire you had in the church.” Arching one brow, he mused, “I figure it’ll come back, though. When the hurtin’s done in your heart.”
    Maelle swallowed. He’d sounded . . . kind.
    Then he grabbed her shoulder and turned her toward the dry goods door. “Get in there and pick out some suspenders. In time, you’ll be so busy you’ll forget you had a brother.”
    Maelle did as she was told, but she made a promise to herself. She’d never forget she had a brother in Shallow Creek. Or a sister with a family named Standler. And someday she’d find them. Like she’d told Mattie, she’d know them by their ties to home.

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