foot.
The woman laughed lightly. âOf course youâll grow. Youâll grow to be big and strong.â
âHe doesnât talk,â Leah said impatiently.
The womanâs blue eyes widened in surprise. âHe doesnât talk?â She looked first at Leah, then at Luke. âHe doesnât talk?â
âNo, maâam,â Luke said.
âThen heâs a dimwit,â Alfred said, âand he wonât do at all.â
âHeâs not a dimwit,â Leah snapped. âHeâs cursed. Weâre all cursed.â
The woman gasped and stepped back.
âLeah!â Luke scolded. âDonât tell lies.â
âBut itâs true,â Leah said, her eyes widening. âLook at our name. Fier. If you rearrange the letters, it spells f-i-r-e. Fire! Fiery deaths have followed our family through the centuries. Our house was set on fire. Thatâs why we had to run away. Father told meââ
The woman grew pale and grabbed her husbandâs arm. âI donât think this child is for us.â
Luke watched the couple hurry away. He felt theanger rise within him. Anger at Leah because she was making this so difficult.
âDonât tell any more lies,â Luke ordered.
âI wasnât lying. Our house was set on fire,â she insisted. âDidnât Father ever tell you that our family is cursed?â
âNo,â Luke said. âBut if he had told me we were cursed, I wouldnât have told those people. You frightened them away.â
âI didnât like them.â She lifted her hands and wiggled her fingers. âOh, Alfred!â she squealed in a high-pitched voice, imitating the woman who had just walked away.
Luke fought back a smile. Then he gave a snort of laughter. He couldnât help himself.
Leah reached up, pinched his cheek, and wrinkled her nose. âArenât you a doll? Shall I put you on a shelf in the parlor? I promise to dust you once in a while.â
Luke laughed. âAll right. You made your point. They arenât exactly what we want.â
She pushed out her lower lip. âBesides, they wanted only Corey. Not you and me. We all have to stay together.â
Luke couldnât argue with that. He put his hand on Leahâs shoulder. âI wonât let anyone take just one of us. I promise you that.â
âYou promised you wouldnât put us on the orphan train, and here we are!â she reminded him.
Luke sighed in exasperation. He glanced around the train depot and platform. He watched as the childrenâs faces brightened whenever someone stopped to talk with them. As the people walked away, their faces would fall.
Luke saw a man lift a little girl into his arms. Hiswife tweaked the little girlâs nose as they walked away. At least she found a home, he thought.
His gaze fell on Mike. Mike was talking to a smiling woman in a fancy white dress. She seems to like him, Luke thought. I hope she adopts him. Then Iâll have one less thing to worry about.
The woman began to nod her head, and Mike gave her a wide grin.
Luke heard a low growl. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a large collie rush past. It sprang on Mike and knocked him to the ground.
Mike dug his fingers into the animalâs fur, but he couldnât move the dog off his chest. âHelp!â he shrieked.
Luke heard the snap of the dogâs powerful jaws as its large teeth sank into Mikeâs cheek. It jerked its head back and forthâand ripped a chunk of flesh from Mikeâs face.
Mike uttered a shrill squeal of agony. Blood spurted from the gaping wound, showering the hem of the womanâs white dress in red. She shrieked.
Mike screamed again, shoving at the dog. Snarling, it pulled its lips back and bared its bloodied teeth.
Luke heard cries of terror as people began to run for the safety of the nearby trees. Like a mother hen, he saw the matron began to gather up the smaller
Learning to Kill: Stories