The Dream Thief, Kari Kilgore [reading well TXT] 📗

said. She reached for the older woman, but Gemma pulled away. "I understand. But if people are finding you here, attacking you like this, it might not be safe anymore. How many times has this happened?"

Gemma crossed her arms and shrugged at the same time. The furious, confident woman had been replaced by a stubborn teenager right before their eyes.

"It doesn't matter," she said. "None of them have managed their mischief."

"But they're not stopping, are they?" Karl said.

He winced when Gemma turned to him. Tears stood in her eyes, and he was looking at a heartbroken little girl. Loretta put her arm around her grandmother.

"How many times, Gemma?" she said. "You know I can just ask Walton. I'm sure he helped you clean up the messes." Gemma stared at the ground and muttered something. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"I said I don't know," Gemma said. "I stopped counting a long time ago."

Loretta closed her eyes and shook her head, and Karl saw muscles flexing in her jaw.

"What have I been paying blasted Walton for? He's never mentioned a word of this to me." She looked at Karl, the exhaustion he'd seen earlier clear on her face. "I can't leave her here. Not anymore."

Karl was torn between relief and sympathy for the two women. He'd thought the very same thing when he first saw Gemma. Rullin shifted on the ground, jarring Karl into action.

"We need to talk about this, but not right here," he said. "I don't want this piece of shit knowing any more than he already does."

He bent to grab the boy's shoulders, surprised to see Loretta and Gemma get his feet.

Loretta smiled at Karl. "I doubt he could do more than throw himself off the bed the way you've got him trussed up. We'll put him in the spare bedroom for now."

"You'll regret this, each and every one of you," Rullin whispered when Karl got a grip under his shoulders.

"I already regret not killing you when I had the chance," Loretta said, her voice somehow more menacing in its cheerful tone. "You're giving me motivation to eliminate that regret. Keep it up."

With Rullin dumped none too gently on the floor and the door closed, any plans to argue Gemma's fate were interrupted by groans from the couch. Morgan tried to sit up, but Karl put a hand on his chest.

"Not so fast," he said. "You're fine right where you are. Can you speak?"

"I guess so." The boy's voice was terribly raspy. "How did I get in here?"

"A nasty piece of work threw you into my fence," Gemma said. "That's how."

Gemma sat down beside Morgan with a damp cloth, gently blotting at the blood on his face.

"Didn't throw me at all." He twisted one thin arm out from under the blanket and took the cloth, scrubbing at his own mouth. "I jumped."

"You did what?" Gemma said, her hand over her heart. "Why ever would you do such a thing, child? You knew about that fence. You've been up here with your father."

"That's why I did it," he said. "Can I have something to drink, please? I knew about your door, too, Ms. Gemma. He was going to make me try to open it. When he started dragging me off the horse, I jumped off and ran toward the fence. I figured I'd have a better chance with it, and maybe your door would kill him dead."

Loretta smiled at Karl, the satisfaction in her eyes a little frightening and a lot arousing.

"He's not quite dead," she said. "But he knocked himself out. Are you okay, Morgan? What hurts?"

"What doesn't hurt?" He moved to sit up again, and this time Gemma and Karl helped him move back against the cushions. "My head feels like it wants to split, but I think I'm fine."

"What happened?" Karl said. "How did he get you?"

"Same thing that always happens," Morgan said. "Just usually by other kids. He waited outside the school, followed me until he caught me alone. It's not all that hard."

"This has happened to you before?" Gemma said.

She handed the boy a cup of water, cool from her larder.

"Well, my father owns more than horses and wagons, you know. He owns a lot more houses than this one, and he treats you a lot better than most of his tenants. That doesn't make him a lot of friends. Me either."

"How old are you, Morgan?" Karl said.

"I'll be thirteen this summer. I know I look younger. I get that a lot."

"I'm sorry," Loretta said. "Other kids can be shits, especially when you're a little bit different. Or when your family is." Morgan giggled at her words, and her sad eyes didn't match her smile. "I appreciate you and your father taking such good care of Gemma, but what happens to you isn't fair."

"Nope, but what is?" Morgan said. "I'm sure he'll be beating down your door in the morning looking for me. Can we leave the alarm on for him?"

The twinkle in his swollen eyes left Karl not sure whether he should laugh or cry.

"We'll do no such thing, child," Gemma said. "What we must do is get you cleaned up and settled in for the night. If your previous visits are any indication, you're probably hungry."

Gemma was halfway to the kitchen before Morgan could respond.

"You bet I am! Can I help with the gadgets?"

Karl once again put a hand on the boy's narrow chest.

"You can see just fine from here," he said. "Listen, was anyone else with Rullin? The man who grabbed you?"

Morgan shook his head and winced. "Just him. He'd already grabbed the horse, probably right out of the stable. My father might be a jerk, but he's going to make this guy beg to hit that door again."

"We can throw him in the back of the wagon overnight." Gemma had an odd little smile on her face. "We're already in close quarters with our young guest here. No need for Rullin to take up a perfectly