The Spirit Keeper by Melissa Luznicky Garrett Read Free Book Online Page A

my questioning, and I wondered what he was thinking about. Something was definitely bothering him.
    David had been in his third year of college when his parents and my mother died. Though Meg was technically my legal guardian, he had agreed to move in with her and live rent-free in exchange for helping to take care of me. For the most part, they were both very easy-going people. It usually took something of Katie Cunningham-proportions to ruffle their feathers, at least where I was concerned, and I kept quiet about her as much as possible. I didn’t want them to worry.
    I recalled my one and only physical confrontation with Katie, which happened during recess in the fifth grade. Katie knocked me to the ground and stuck wads of chewed gum in my hair as the Double Ds pinned me down. I suppose they had wanted to make me cry. But as upset as I was, I was determined not to give them the satisfaction.
    I didn’t fight back. I didn’t even tell on them when they finally let me go. If Priscilla hadn’t been home sick that day, they probably wouldn’t have done it. But I couldn’t rely on Priscilla to fight my battles for me, and so I had learned to deal with Katie in my own way, even if that meant keeping my mouth shut and not pointing fingers.
    When the teacher saw what a mess I was, she sent me straight to the principal’s office to tell my side of the story. Of course the principal called Meg, and together they forced the truth out of me. Meg was livid, and she called Katie’s parents that night to discuss the incident . But all that did was put me at the top of Katie’s hit list from that day forward. And even though Katie never laid another finger on me herself, it didn’t stop the abuse. She just got others to do it for her, whether it was tripping me in the hall, knocking the chair out from under me, or calling me names.
    “Come on,” I prodded, when I realized David wasn’t going to open up. “What’s up with you and Meg?” I knew that whatever it was didn’t have anything to do with Katie Cunningham. Not this time.
    David stood up. “Nothing. Besides, I’m taking care of it. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

    And without another word, he turned for the house, leaving me scrambling after him and wondering what the heck that meant.

Chapter 4
    Laura Beth arrived to pick up Priscilla soon after breakfast.
    I had barely slept a wink and was really dragging and irritated with everyone, but Meg wouldn’t take any pity on me or give me the day off.
    “You know Saturdays are our busy days,” she said. “If you’re serious about saving up for a car, then that means being responsible even when you don’t feel like it. Now take the trash to the curb.”
    As I was wheeling the garbage to the end of the driveway, longing for the days of Saturday-morning cartoons and eating Fruit Loops in front of the TV, I spotted Adrian’s dad across the street. He had a bunch of broken-down cardboard boxes tucked under both arms, and it looked like he was struggling to get them down to the curb. They kept slipping and falling to the ground, and he was getting all mad and doing a lot of muttering under his breath. I was going to turn around and leave without saying anything, but then he looked up and saw me.
    “Need any help?” I called out, not knowing what else to say. He didn’t look any friendlier today than he had yesterday. And unlike Adrian, he had this whole sinister vibe-thing going on.
    The corners of his mouth turned down, and he dropped the boxes at the curb and glowered at me with unflinching, black eyes. Then he said, “I don’t need your help,” with a nasty sneer, before turning around and walking away.
    “Um. Okay,” I said once he disappeared inside. “Weird.”  
    I stood there for a few minutes, trying to figure out what I’d done for him to act that way to me. But then I shoved the incident to the back of my mind when I heard Meg yelling for me that business was picking up and I’d