Free Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) by C.DEANNA VERHOFF Page B

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    “This house smells like booze and it’s barely morning, M r. Alley . I knew it was only a matter of time before I was called back here.”
    Dad ’s eyes narrowed. His face turned pink . Nana pressed the flat of her hand against his chest wordlessly warning him to keep his temper in check .
    “Where are the rest of the children? ” Miss Crenshaw demanded to know .
    Glory froze — i f Miss Crens h aw saw the fresh welts on h er back, they’d all be taken away, scattered across Tullah , maybe to never to be a family again.
    Glory whispered urgently to her siblings “Dad whipped me . I’m sure it left marks . ”
    The sound of the school bus rumbling down the road got their attention .
    “Hurry, Glory ,” Brandon whispered, urging her toward the back door . “ If Crenshaw sees the rest of us are fine maybe she won’t come looking for you at school.”
    “But my backpack .” she pointed to her bare feet. “And my shoes .”
    “There isn’t time,” Brandon said , handing Glory her backpack.
    “ Run , Glory ,” Danny said.
    “Don’t let them break us apart, ” Randy added.
    Glory looked to the grim faces of h er brothers. And there was George in his booster seat playing with his food. When he saw her look at him , he gave a big smile.
    Brandon placed a hand on h er shoulder, “ O ur fate is in your hands.”
    Glory understood . She grabbed a ratty cardigan off a hook on the way out the kitchen door and r an around the house through the soggy front yard . The gravel lane tore at her bare soles as s he sprinted toward the bus . She struggled to put on the sweater as she ran away from Miss Crenshaw .
    The bus driver, Mrs. Spud, hit the brakes when she saw h er and opened the doors . Panting hard, Glory climbed into the vehicle, flushed and closing the sweater shut with one hand.
    “My, my,” Mrs. Spud said, eying h er up and down , lingering on her bare feet . “Aren’t we eager to get to school today?”
    “ I was running late and didn’t want you drive off without me.”
    Mrs. Spud looked at her watch, then back to the Alley house, which sat far from the road . Her face became quizzical at the sight of a squad car parked in the driveway .
    “Don’t worry,” Glory reassured . “I have gym shoes in my locker .”
    Mrs. Spud studied h er a mom ent. “If you’re sure everything is okay … ”
    “I ’m sure, m a’am.”
    “All righty then, move on back.”
    Ma tthew Cloude with the dark hair and slate blue eyes looked directly at her and s mirked . A handsome kid a couple grades ahead of her , and captain of the Sling Team , he had a big ego. S chool gossip said he’d traveled all over the world before moving to Cloverdale because his father was some sort of diplomat. Why they had chosen to settle in a n uneventful little town like Cloverdale was anybody’s guess.
    All the sling players , including Matthew, wore their boards strapped across their backs . Glory thought s lingboards looked like dead fish floating on their sides. Guys who could afford top of the line boards like that didn’t smile at girls like Glory. Whatever he was up to, Glory wanted no part of it.
    His eyebrows arched when he noticed her feet. “ Primitive,” he said in a con descending, but flirty way. “Me like.”
    His friends all snickered.
    “Go jump in the creek,” she snarled .
    “Whoa,” one of his sling team budd ies said . “ It m ust be s omebody’s time of the month.”
    Glory ’s mouth puckered in indignation, but she ignored the comment and continued toward the middle of the bus to slide in beside Clash . His ever curious expression was even more so this morning as he noticed her lack of footwear. Mrs. Spud grinded the gears and sent the bus lurching forward down the road again . Glory sat there, catching a breath, glancing back at the house , but Clash was too preoccupied with her bare feet to notice the squad car. Good—at least she wouldn’t have to explain.
    He pushed h is glasses up t h e