Free Whitefern by V.C. Andrews

Regardless of all I knew, despite how the deceptions were exposed, I couldn’t completely disregard the power of the rocking chair. There were too many emotional memories. It called to me, not just tonight but many nights, and in the beginning, after I had learned all the lies, I still wanted to feel its power.
    It took a great deal of self-control to push these feelings back, but I was in more of a daze than ever, and when I entered our bedroom, I just sat on the bed for a few moments thinking. Of course Sylvia couldn’t have gotten such an idea from the spirit of my father while she rocked in the chair. I tried to be logical and decided that Sylvia was more alert than either of us knew, than anyone knew. She might be sitting and looking at pictures or playing with a puzzle, but she wasn’t completely shut off from what people were saying nearby. It was wrong to underestimate her. If anyone should know that, I should.
    â€œWhat the hell is it?” I heard Arden demand. His shout made me jump. He must have turned, openedhis eyes, and saw me sitting up, or else he had heard me walk out and back in. “What did she do now?”
    My immediate thought was Don’t dare mention the rocking chair .
    â€œShe didn’t do anything terrible, Arden. She merely had a dream,” I said.
    â€œA dream? Did she scream?”
    â€œA little,” I lied.
    â€œWhy does that not surprise me? What was the dream?”
    â€œShe dreamed I had a baby,” I said.
    â€œOh, she did, huh? Well, that should do it. We don’t even have to make love. It will be an immaculate conception. We’ll call the baby Sylvia’s Wish. Go to sleep, or go back to her,” he ordered. “It’s the middle of the night. How I do as well as I do under these circumstances is a miracle. Thank goodness I’m dedicated.”
    I lay back and pulled the blanket over me.
    â€œBaby.” I heard him rustling about and then heard him whisper, “Okay.”
    â€œWhat?”
    He turned sharply and threw the covers off us as if they were on fire.
    â€œWhat are you doing?”
    â€œIt’s baby time. Sylvia has declared it.”
    â€œI don’t understand, Arden.”
    â€œNothing to understand,” he said. “Only to do.”
    He reached down and pulled my nightgown up and out of his way, practically tearing it off me. I cried out, but before I could say another word, he scoopedmy legs up and pressed his hardness into me, so roughly I lost my breath for a moment. I was shocked at how fast and easily he could be ready. He didn’t bother kissing me or touching me tenderly anywhere. Instead, he hovered above me like a hawk, pouncing.
    â€œBaby, baby, baby,” he chanted, as he pushed and prodded, twisting me this way and that so he could be more comfortable. His grunts made it sound like he was lifting a heavy weight. I couldn’t stand the sight of him like this and put my hands over my eyes. On he pushed and prodded. I felt like he was tearing me up. The bed sounded like it would crash to the floor. At one point, my head hit the headboard, but he was oblivious to everything but his own animal satisfaction. This wasn’t even sex to me; it was anger and revenge.
    As so often when we made love, he had his orgasm before I even began to enjoy one, not that I could tonight. It reminded me of our earlier years, even our honeymoon, when he practically raped me because of my fears and hesitation.
    â€œMen will always care more about satisfying themselves than you,” Aunt Ellsbeth had told me time after time. “You’ve got to train them like circus animals. The best way is to insult them.”
    â€œInsult them? How can you do that and still have them want to make love to you?” I’d asked her.
    â€œYou tell them they have too many premature ejaculations. You’ll see,” she’d said. “They’ll try to prove otherwise, and then you’ll