Nevermor by Lani Lenore Read Free Book Online Page A

him.
    Wren let him
leave her, even though she knew he was furious – even though she knew he might
walk out onto the street and never come back.  She didn’t have the energy to
stop him, and maybe it was better this way.  They were all going to be
separated – it was fast-approaching now – and maybe it would be easier if she quietly
gave up her stock in her brothers and let this happen.
    Wren sat there
for a long time, even though she was supposed to be back at her chores, but she
stayed for as long as the quiet would last, alone with her fear and sorrow and
self-loathing.
    Nothing matters
at all now, she
thought.   Nothing at all.
     
    3
     
    That night in
the gloom of the dormitory, Wren could not find sleep for the jungle of worry
that had sprung up around her.  Though she’d told herself that the burden of
her brothers was simply too much to carry anymore, she had been glad to find
that Henry had not fled, but was now sleeping in the bed next to hers.  Max was
still oblivious to his fate, which would be good enough for as long as it
lasted, but Wren could not stop worrying about what was going to happen to
their family.
    She kept having
visions of Maxwell crying for her at night after he was taken away, seeking her
but not being able to find her, and then eventually forgetting about her
completely as he grew older.  She imagined Henry in the darkness of a mine
shaft, dirty and alone until falling rocks would take his life before he was
even a man.
    And what of
her?  Without them, would she be taken on by an unscrupulous lout who only
wanted to abuse and molest her – or until she was pregnant with her own child
which she would be forced to give up because she couldn’t afford to feed it?
    Wren closed her
eyes tightly, trying to shut those images away, but they kept returning,
flashing across her, making her head ache and her stomach churn.
    So horrible…
    You must stop. 
Just go to sleep.  There is nothing that worrying will do.
    The whole ordeal
was exhausting her, and she felt more tired than she had in a long time. 
Taking a deep breath, she gave in and let her eyes flutter to a close.  She
tried to keep herself still and relaxed, looking for some distant island in her
mind, fancying that she heard the melody of a flute serenading her from
somewhere beyond the ocean.

Chapter Four
    1
    Wren was
imagining the gentle sound of waves on a shore, rocking her to sleep.  It was
peaceful for a while with the water sighing as it rose up beautifully and
collapsed on itself, but as she continued to listen, the wind became a roar in
her ears, whipping around her in curling gusts.  There was a sound of thunder
in the distance, grumbling lowly in the heavens, and she knew that a storm was
not far away.
    She woke up with
her face in the sand and her gown feeling damp around her legs.  Tiny grains
were stuck to her face, and she passed her fingers over it to brush off the
grit as she sat up with a start, blinking to focus on her surroundings.  It was
night; the moon was enormous above her, taking up most of the space in the sky,
flanked by a million winking stars.
    Where am I?
    She was certain
that she’d fallen asleep in her bed at the Home.  How could she have woken
at the beach?  She hadn’t even been to the ocean in years – not since she was
very young, and certainly before her parents had cast her off.
    I must be
dreaming.  
Yet everything around her had such vibrant life.  The waves were tossing on the
sea which stretched out for miles ahead of her.  She could smell the salt, feel
the bite of the wind nipping at her.  Wren shivered, rubbing her bare arms
to generate heat.  The moon’s eerie blue glow covered everything, allowing her
to see down the shoreline without need of a lantern.
    She looked
around, down the length of the beach, but there didn’t seem to be anyone else,
and she might have scolded herself for being out in the middle of the
night.  The beach was empty – with good reason