Read Online Shannon's Daughter by Karen Welch - Free Book Online Page A

get you
upstairs to bed in no time.”   No idea
where that bit of optimism had come from.   Trudging up that narrow staircase without further damaging one or both
of them seemed doubtful at best.  
    They
reached the second floor with only a little less effort than he’d feared.   Winded and mildly light-headed, he followed
Michael into Peg’s bedroom.   Waiting
while he turned back the bedclothes and plumped the pillows, Kendall took a
moment to check the patient.   “How’re you
doing?   Ready for a good rest, I’ll bet.”
    “I
guess.   Dad, I’m hungry.   Is there anything here to eat?”   Although her voice was still slurred, she
seemed far more alert than only a few minutes earlier.  
    “Is it
wise to eat, after. . .well, you were pretty ill back
there.”   His own voice sounded notably
strained.   He wondered just how long it
took to prepare a bed for an injured princess as Michael smoothed the sheets
and further adjusted the pillows.  
    “There
now.   Where’s your nightie, darlin’?”
    “I
don’t need it now, Dad.   Kendall, put me
down, will you?”   She wiggled
impatiently, which he accepted as a positive sign that she was returning to
normal.  
    He
settled her on the mattress, certain he heard a complaining
crack from his lumbar region as he stood upright again.   “How’s that?”
    “Good.   Wonderful actually.   I’m feeling much better.   Dad, I really need something to eat.   Please.”
    “Very
well.   I’ll see what Katie left in the icebox.   Kendall, what about you?   Did you get your dinner tonight?”
    He
realized he hadn’t eaten since morning.   “No, sir.   But don’t
trouble yourself on my account.”
    “Nonsense.   I wouldn’t mind a bite myself.   You stay here with our little patient and I’ll put together a picnic for
us, how’s that darlin’?”
    “Fine,
Dad.   Thank you.”   She turned her eyes up to Kendall, eyes much
clearer and brighter now.   “I’m sorry.   Did you hurt yourself lugging me around like
that?”
    “Oh,
nothing permanent, I’m sure.   How are you
feeling?”
    “Better.   Don’t let Dad give me another of those
tablets, even if I’m screaming with pain.   Ugh!   If that’s what it feels like
to be drunk, I’m never taking a drink!   That’s for sure.”
    He
chuckled, instinctively reaching out to smooth her matted hair.   “You’ve had more than your share tonight, kid.   How’s the ankle?’
    “What
ankle?”   She managed a weak but
nonetheless impudent grin.   “I’ll bet you
never volunteer to mind a bunch of kids again, huh?”
    “Not if
you’re in the lot.   Seriously, Peg, you
could have broken your neck.   Promise me,
no more tree climbing.   I’d hate to hear
that you met an untimely end rescuing another baby bird.”
    “You
were really scared, weren’t you?   That’s
very touching, considering you only just met me a week ago.   I told you we were going to be good friends,
remember?”
    “I’m
not sure how many friends like you a fellow can survive.”

 
    He
excused himself from the “picnic” of stale sandwiches and ginger ale and
collapsed on the bed in the tiny spare room, not bothering to turn back the
covers or undress.   Exhausted as he was,
the residual adrenaline allowed him to do no more than doze.   There was always the possibility Peg would
need something and he wondered if Michael would be up to the task.   Based on his observations of the two, he’d
concluded Peg was more parent than child, and Michael followed her lead if not
blindly, then certainly with one eye closed.  
    Between
bites of her sandwich, Peg had convinced her father to take his nightly sleeping
medication, insisting that she could manage fine by herself, while glancing in
Kendall’s direction implying his inclusion in her vision of self-reliance.   Peg, it seemed, was her father’s guardian as
well as his filter from the harsh realities of life with a pubescent
daughter.