excerpt
But she called me soft and said … she said I should grow
up.” A tear slid down the girl’s cheek and she lifted a hand to brush
it away. “And then the guys came in a car, and Lyssa got my coat and
threw it at me, and said okay they’d take me home if I was going to be
such a … such a big baby.”
“So why didn’t they bring you home?” Morley asked.
“I told them to but they wouldn’t. They said we were just going for
a drive. I didn’t know they were taking us to the dance.”
Tyne winced at the image of her daughter being literally held captive
in the car.
Morley leaned forward. “You were drinking, and you smelled of
cigarette smoke.”
Rachael’s head snapped up. “I wasn’t smoking, Dad, honest.”
“All right, you weren’t smoking, but you were drinking. What
were you drinking?”
Rachael sniffed and looked down at her feet again. “Just beer.
They made me drink a bottle of beer.”
Morley’s hand struck the arm of his chair so suddenly that both
Tyne and Rachael cringed. “No one can make you do anything you
don’t want to do, Rachael. And don’t demean yourself by blaming
someone else for your behaviour.”
Rachael’s lips trembled and more tears crept down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Morley stood up. “All right, we’ll say no more about it. Your
mother and I talked before Ronnie brought you home, and we agreed
that you are not to see Lyssa, except when you see her at school, until
the end of term. And, if you have any reason to go to the Harrisons’, it
will be only when your Aunt Ruby is there.” He looked at Tyne. “I’m
going to do the milking with Bobby. I told Ronnie to go home and get
some rest. He said he got less than an hour’s sleep last night.”
Tyne reached out to squeeze his hand then let him go. She got
to her feet, went to the sofa and put her arms around her weeping
daughter.
Libros Libertad 