OUT OF THE DARKNESS (THE PRESCOTT SERIES) by B. J. McMinn Read Free Book Online Page B

moved in unison as they converged into the room. None became misplaced within the small circle as they shuffled toward the bed.
    Distorted images swirled around the family as her mind superimposed other blurred features on each face. Images of her past? A past she couldn’t remember before she had lived with the Indians. Her headache worsened.
    T he woman must have realized they must look like a batch of newly hatched chicks huddled together for protection against a hawk circling overhead. She stepped from the small cluster. A grin tipped the corners of her mouth upward.
    “Goodness, you must be starved. I’ll bring you some breakfast. ” She shooed everyone from the room, talking as she gave the small boy an extra nudge to get moving.
    The man backed out the door . His blue gaze held her captive. It was like looking into the azure blue of a bright summer sky.
    Only muffled noises wormed past the completely closed door. Why couldn’t they be this quiet when she had been asleep? She was accustomed to the hushed noises of the village in the early mornings. In fact, the People never made an abundance of sound. They were always afraid of discovery.
    The woman came bustling in carrying a tray loaded with buttered bread, eggs, bacon, and coffee. She set the tray on a chair next to the bed.
    “I know you won’t be able to eat much, but eat what you can. You will gain your strength much faster if you do. Oh, by the way, my name is Margaret. What’s yours?”
    Jade scooted up in bed and reached for a piece of butted bread but stopped with it half way to her mouth. Name, she couldn’t tell these people her name. She sat there with her mouth wide open, then stuffed a large bite of the bread in and closed it. Maybe with her mouth full, the woman wouldn’t think it strange that she didn’t answer her question.
    Margaret, arms crossed over her bosom, waited for Jade to provide her name. Ignoring the woman, she continued to eat. When she remained silent, Margaret gave her a sympathetic smile and left the room saying she would return for the tray. Jade let out her breath in a long sigh.
    Her gaze darted around the room. What was she going to do? When these people discovered she would remain a stranger without a name and unable to communicate, they would ask her to leave. Where would she go if she couldn’t stay here with this woman and her family? The future didn’t look bright for her or her child. She placed her hand on the roundness of her stomach and slid down under the covers. Somehow, she would survive.
     

CHAPTER 5
     
     
    Hip leaned against the sink and a cup of hot coffee in his hand, Jason waited for Margaret to come from the ‘girl’s’ bedroom. He blew into the cup trying to present a casualness he couldn’t quite achieve.
    Finally. The door opened, and he straightened.
    “Did you fin d out anything about her?”
    Margaret wore a slight frown when she returned to the kitchen and placed the soiled dishes in a pan of water.
    “W ell, who she is? Where is she from? What was she doing out here in the middle of nowhere?”
    “No. I don’t know. She didn’t say. And I have no idea.” Margaret answered each of Jason’s rapidly fired questions. “It’s too soon to start asking questions. Let’s give the poor girl enough time to make sense of everything before we start plaguing her with questions and demanding answers.”
    “Well, we can’t keep calling her ‘the girl’,” Jason complained. For some reason it irritated him to hear her called ‘girl’, yet, in some ways he didn’t want to know her name either. He liked to think of her resp onding to the special name he’d given her in the wee small hours of the night when he’d held her hand and talked to her.
    “Right now we have a more pressing problem.”
    Jason lowered the cup of coffee from his lips and stared at Margaret.
    “Is she injured worse than we thought?” Jason scarcely got the words passed the lump in his throat.
    “No, I didn’ t