Thunder Read Online Free Page B

babysitter?”
    Raza set his jaw and stared at her, then leaned over Bodhi’s still form to check for a pulse. “Might teach you to do what you’re told.”
    Selah’s chest tightened. She’d never been close with Raza, but until today she’d never realized the depth of his ego. Or was the look on his face hatred? Was it directed at her? No, it couldn’t be. He was her brother.

    Selah trudged the worn path from the larger of their barns down to the house. She’d spent the better part of the daytrying to negotiate with her brothers to reclaim her catch. At least Cleon had let her ride to the barn on the back of his Sand Run. Raza carried the Lander on his, and would have left her to walk home. At the barn she’d argued over the unconscious Lander until Raza chased her out with the comment that Father would back him up. She knew he was right. All she could remember was how Father had defended Raza at the beach yesterday, and what she had seen happen there.
    She looked down the hill and shivered. She was too annoyed to enjoy the beauty of the view out over the ocean. Ultimately the sea had caused her angst yesterday and today, but there was nothing that couldn’t be fixed by going home. She hurried down the path and around the tree line to her right. The house came into view.
    She bolted toward the house, remembering the time when she was about ten that Father had planted a corn crop on this side of the tree line. As she rounded the path that late summer, tall corn had obscured her view of their rambling, single-story home. She couldn’t even see the slate-red color of the clay-tiled roof. She recalled her depth of panic, thinking home had disappeared. Charging through the sharp corn leaves willy-nilly cut up her arms and legs, but she had reached the house and safety. To this day she still possessed a long scar on her right forearm that she fingered when she was fearful.
    Today the field lay fallow. It would be planted with winter flax for Mother’s linen business.
    Stomping into the house, Selah slammed the kitchen door behind her. The soft thunk of the heavy wooden door was not the satisfying sound she craved. Wrenching a chair away from the table created a squealing scrape of wood on woodas the legs dragged. That sound gratified her, mimicking what she wanted to scream.
    Her mother, Pasha Rishon, looked up from the flour she was sifting. Her dark hair was piled on her head in unruly curls, and her olive skin, set against the backdrop of the pale yellow of her long linen jumper, radiated a beauty uncommon in other forty-one-year-old women in their community. “And what size pebble is stuck in your shoe? Or should I ask what have your brothers done to you now?” Her green eyes glowed with peace, creating a calming effect.
    Selah’s mood softened a tad. She found comfort in knowing her mother could read her so well. She knew lots of girls her age hated mothers snooping in their business, but Selah remained bonded to hers even as she reached the awkward age of accountability.
    â€œI’m never talking to either of them again. They are so mean.” Selah plopped onto the chair next to her mother and smacked her fist on the table. “It’s my turn! I should be able to claim my own catch without them horning in on the action.”
    Mother’s smile dissolved as she dropped the sifter, dislodging the last chalky remnants across the table. She grabbed Selah by the arm. “Catch? What catch? I told you to stay away from the beach today.”
    Selah froze. Should she lie or tell the truth? Mother hadn’t been this angry since she’d gotten mud on the clean laundry. “I . . . there was a Lander who came in on the beach today.”
    Mother’s face went pale. “Did you touch him?” Her grip increased.
    Selah grimaced. What was the problem? She needed to think of something to get out of this trouble.
    â€œAnswer me!”