Free Thomas by Kathi S. Barton

by one of them.”
    Hannah and Linyah sat and talked for
over two hours. She pulled out baby clothes to look over just as
the other two women came in to join them again. Jackson sent them
to the living room so he could start dinner, but brought them
snacks and tea throughout the afternoon. Hannah had never had a
friend before, not a female one, and thought she and Linyah would
be good together. They certainly seemed to have a great start to a
good friendship.

Chapter 5
     
    Thomas pulled the little girl from the
mud and laid her gently down on the sheet that had been brought for
her. He took care to make sure that her dress was pulled down
straight and that the mud, the mire that she’d been buried in, was
off her face as best he could. Thomas felt his heart tighten
painfully in his chest as he turned back to his work. He’d pulled
three children out in the last hour and it was taking its toll on
him. When a shadow fell across him, he looked up to see Misha
standing there, and took his hand when it was offered to pull him
out of the pit.
    “ There are only four more
to find. I think we can take a break.” Thomas nodded and let Misha
lead him away. He saw that Nic was pulling another child from the
dirt and turned his back on him when Misha spoke again. “I need you
to tell me this ends someday. I have to tell you, this is the
hardest part of what we do for me. The death of a child is
horrific, but when it is because of men who were greedy, I want to
tear throats out.”
    Thomas looked around at the disaster
they were working. A bus, a charter bus full of grade-school
children on a class trip that had been over filled, had slid off
the side of a mountain and ended in a ravine several hundred feet
below. They’d been on a trip to see the mountain top and the
butterflies that were coming out of their cocoons. The charter
company had wanted to pocket some of the money that had been paid
to them, he’d bet, by using fewer buses than they needed. It was a
story that they’d heard time and time again, but it had never been
something they’d had to work on. The result had been that when
another car, this one taking up too much of the narrow road, had
come around a bend in the road, the driver had moved to get out of
his way only to tip it over and flip the bus.
    “ I don’t know what to say
about this.” Misha nodded as if he had expected that answer. “It
must be harder on you with Hannah pregnant too. I can’t imagine
what the parents of these children are going through.”
    “ Me neither. My heart is
dying for them.” Misha looked away, toward the tree line that had
nothing to do with the scene, before speaking again. “She found
out. Apparently your mother-in-law told her. I thought she’d be
upset with me when she asked me about it, but she said she spent a
delightful afternoon getting to know Linyah and wasn’t upset any
longer. But she wants to make sure I never keep something like that
from her again.”
    Thomas nodded, not really knowing what
to say. He had his own set of problems when it came to a mate. “I’m
glad she knows. It was hard for me to not say something to her when
she asked me about being tired all the time. I felt badly for her
but happy for you both. She’s terrified, isn’t she?”
    “ She was, maybe still is a
little, but I think she’ll be great. I think she’s more worried
about what her grandparents will say or do when or if they arrive
before it’s born. They’re nuts.” They both laughed and Misha smiled
at him when he continued. “You’ve bonded and mated, you and Linyah
have, right?”
    “ We have. And no offense,
Misha, but I don’t want to talk about her right now.” Except he did
want to talk about her, and he was almost positive that his brother
knew it. “She said she wants me to move back to her part of the
country with her. I still don’t know where that might be other than
it’s beautiful. I’m not sure I want to leave my family right now,
if ever. I just