Night Light by Terri Blackstock Read Free Book Online Page A

survived this long.”
    Jeff disappeared from the mouth of the well, and Doug went back to digging.

eight
    W HEN D OUG GOT HOME, COVERED WITH THE DIRT AND CLAY he’d been shoveling out of the hole, he went into the bathroom where Kay had a bowl of water waiting for his cleanup. What a day! First the meeting and the bad news about the banks, the promise of the measly disbursement money, the thieves walking away with their food, then the miserable work at the well …
    Now he had to prove to his son that those kids were nothing more than pawns of sick parents who’d trained them to burglarize from those who actually worked for their food.
    He splashed water on his face, soaped up, then rinsed. The water was brown, just from his filthy hands. He sighed. Sometimes he thought he would never be truly clean again. Two months ago, dirt under his fingernails would have been a shocker. Now it seemed tattooed there.
    He did his best to wash off the sweat and grime, then got dressed. He found his family sitting around the patio table. Jeff had Kay’s rapt attention. Great. As if she wasn’t stressed enough about the pulsar, now Jeff was giving her those kids to worry about.
    “Doug, we’ve got to do something,” she said. “Those poor children!”
    He dropped into the chair. “How much food did you get back?”
    “A few jars of vegetables. A bag of potatoes. But I left them the apples.”
    Doug gritted his teeth and looked at the sky. They’d worked hard for those apples. In exchange for two bags of them, the entire family had had to ride five miles to the Hortons’ orchard and spend the day harvesting the fruit. It was the Hortons’ way of maintaining the orchard while keeping up the daily drudgery of surviving. For two bags of apples, a family had to work several hours. Now they were gone.
    “Doug, he says they’re all alone. Orphaned children, living there with nothing to eat.”
    “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
    “Good. Then let’s go,” she said.
    He sat up straighter and turned his troubled eyes to his wife. “Go where?”
    “To see for ourselves. Doug, if this is true, we have to do something.”
    He could see in her eyes that there would be no talking her out of it. He let out a heavy breath. “All right, but I want the sheriff to go with us.”
    “Dad!” Jeff said. “You can’t arrest a bunch of little kids!”
    “Not to arrest them,” he said, sliding his chair back and getting up. “I want him to be there to see what’s going on with the parents. Sounds like it’s a case of neglect, maybe even child abuse. He should be aware of it.”
    “Do you want me to come with you?” Jeff asked.
    “No,” Doug said. “You and Deni stay here and do your chores. What’s the apartment number?”
    “4B, Sandwood Place Apartments. They’re a block south of the bank, or you can cut through the woods.”
    “I know where it is. When we get back, you and I are going to talk about that window you left unlocked.”

nine
    K AY ’ S FIRST REACTION TO THEIR FOOD BEING STOLEN HAD BEEN pure rage. Though they often shared with their neighbors, their resources had been stretched unbearably thin. The family had shared in the work of growing the food and canning it, and they’d bartered and baked and built and babysat to stock their pantry.
    But now, as she pedaled her bike to the sheriff’s department, she didn’t know who to blame. Starving children didn’t deserve her wrath. But someone must.
    How she longed for the days when she could whip over to McDonald’s in her SUV and get the kids combo meals. Would those days ever return?
    It wasn’t all bad, of course. Strange as it seemed, the Pulses had brought about some good. Before the outage, she’d only had a waving acquaintance with most of her neighbors. Time spent with her kids was in the car to and from soccer tournaments, baseball games, and ballet lessons. Doug was rarely home, and when he was, he was on his computer. The kids were always lost in