A Greater Love Read Online Free

surprised him that the memory brought back so much pain. “Just before Manuel was killed. Why he had to die instead of that ungrateful fool he saved from drowning, I’ll never know.”
     Cristina put an arm around him. “I’m sorry.”
    He let out a long sigh. “So am I. But it’s in the past. It has nothing to do with us now.” He arose and strode to the entrance of the cabin, grabbing the fishing pole from a hook by the door. “What do you say we go catch some fish?”
    She laughed. “I thought you’d never ask. But you go on. I’m going start the stove so the coals are ready by the time we catch one. I’m starved.”
    “You just want to stay out of the cold.”
    A grin lit her face, making her even more beautiful. “Hey, it’s your boat. You do the work.”
    Daniel dropped the pole and returned to his wife’s side, taking her into his arms. “The smartest thing I ever did was to marry you,” he murmured into her hair. “I’ll do anything to make you happy.”
    “I wonder,” she said. The words held a haunting melancholy that made Daniel feel uneasy. He looked at her closely but her smile was bright; when he hugged her, she didn’t pull away. Daniel gave her a quick kiss and put the incident from his mind. Their lunch was out there swimming in that wide, icy expanse, and he was going to find it.
     

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
    On his way home from the wharf, Miguel whistled the tune to Sara’s favorite song, the one Sister Perrault had taught them about Jesus and the lamb lying down with the lion. He remembered vividly sitting on the packed earth outside one of the shacks, practising the phrases with the other children. It amazed him that the lion wouldn’t gobble up the lamb. What stopped him? Could it be Jesus? Miguel hoped he would be around to see it happen.
    The tune had little to do with the thoughts of revenge entering his head. Soon he would have to pass the group of boys who lived in the fancy new apartment buildings near his shack community. They were about his age, but seemed to have no other purpose in life except to make him miserable. Almost every day for the past month they’d hidden among the buildings, springing out on him just as he began to hope that this time they would leave him alone. He could outrun them all, so usually the mud and sticks they threw missed him completely, but several times in the last week he’d been carrying fruit and vegetables from Senhor Fitas’s store and they had caught up to him and destroyed the food, laughing as they did. Octávia hadn’t been at all understanding when he had arrived home empty-handed.
    “You’re gonna be a man someday,” she’d said brusquely, twitching her hooked nose. “You gotta learn to deal with them boys. Now stop complainin’ and get to bed.” There’d been anger and impatience in her face, and he’d obeyed, going without supper to the pile of worn blankets where he and Sara slept on the floor. He hadn’t cried, not even after Octávia’s drunken snores filled the one-room shack. He knew his aunt was right.
    Miguel frowned. He’d still not found a way to resolve his problems with the bullies. They were no doubt waiting for him even now. He could try to sneak past them after dark, but sometimes even that didn’t work. And he would also be carrying groceries tonight—if Senhor Fitas had any for him.
     “You’re a little early today, Miguel,” Senhor Fitas told him when he arrived at the back door of the vegetable store. He was thin and taller than most Portuguese men and his hair was nearly all white.
    “Guess I am,” Miguel said, having no real idea what time it might be. The sun sank so fast in the sky during the winter months that most of his guesses were off. “Got anythin’ for me today?”
    “Your aunt already came by with that sister of yours. Sara’s sure getting to be a cute little thing. How old is she now? Five?”
    “Six. She had her birthday when the kids went back to