Strings Attached Read Online Free Page B

Strings Attached
Book: Strings Attached Read Online Free
Author: Judy Blundell
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“I’ve lost my boy!”
    Da pushed him out the door and shut it. Then he sagged against it. He seemed to be gathering himself for the simple act of breathing. Eventually, he looked up and met my eyes.
    “What do you know about this?” he asked.
    “About what? I don’t understand.”
    “He’s saying that … your brother” — Da seemed to have to force the words out — “is unnatural.”
    “It’s stupid,” I said. “Jamie is Billy’s best friend. That’s all.”
    Muddie, pale and trembling, backed up against the wall. “It was a terrible thing to say. We should pray.”
    “Go ahead and pray — it won’t change anything,” I said. “Da, I don’t know what he meant. Billy and I had a fight last night. I sent Jamie after him to help him. They’re pals, they’re friends — you know that.”
    “So there’s nothing in it.”
    “Of course not. Billy’s in love with me! Mr. Benedict is just crazy, and he’s taking it out on Jamie. Did you hear what he said? They
enlisted.
You have to go and tell the army he’s only seventeen. You can get him out. Go to the enlistment office and tell them. You can fix this for Jamie.”
    Da didn’t nod, or say a word. It was like he didn’t hear me. He went off to sit at the kitchen table.
    “What are we going to do?” Muddie whispered.
    “It’ll come out all right in the end,” I said. “We’ll straighten it out, and Jamie will come home.”
    “Did you break up with Billy? Oh, Kit. And you were going to marry him!”
    I didn’t want to see Muddie’s tears. I went back to my room and dressed quickly, pulling clothes out of the closet without looking at them. When I returned, Da was sitting at the table, hands clasped around a mug of tea. I filled the kettle and put it back on the burner. My thoughts clattered and clanged inside my head, slamming against my worry for Jamie and my anguish over Billy.
    The front door opened and closed. I hurried out of the kitchen. Jamie leaned against the door, dressed in the same clothes as the night before. He looked exhausted and pale.His tie flapped from his pocket. When he saw me, he shrugged in a helpless way.
    “Nate was here and told us you enlisted,” I said. “Is it true?”
    He swallowed. “I couldn’t let him do it alone.”
    And there were the eyes of my brother, that same honest blue. I couldn’t imagine him in a uniform. I couldn’t imagine him with a gun.
    “We’ll get you out of this. You’re only seventeen.”
    He didn’t say he didn’t want to get out of it, and that gave me hope.
    “Why?” I asked. “Why did you do it?”
    “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” he said. “Get away from everything.”
    “What do you have to get away from? What, damn you? I’m the one with the broken heart!”
    We stood in the dim light, staring at each other. There was a red crease across Jamie’s cheek, as if he’d slept on something that had pressed against his skin. He rubbed it slowly. “And you’re the only one, aren’t you?” he said.
    “You mean Billy? It seems like he can take care of himself. How could you let him do that, Jamie? You could have stopped him!”
    “How?” Jamie asked. He smiled without any humor in his eyes. “Maybe I just don’t have your charms, Kit.”
    It was a nasty crack, even though I wasn’t sure what he meant. I nearly pounced on him, just like I would when we were kids, fighting over marbles.
    I don’t know what would have happened if Da hadn’t stamped out from the kitchen and barreled down on us.
    “How could you do this?” he bellowed.
    Jamie looked down at his feet.
    “From the time you were a boy, you were like a soft day — all mist,” Da went on. “Delia used to say, spend more time with the boy, he’s with his sisters too much. I guess I should have. Too busy with work and worry. And now I reap what I’ve sown. I never knew what to make of you. Well, now you’ll make something of yourself.”
    “What are you talking about, Da?” I

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