|
|
|
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Father Dominic opened his office door just in time to see it falling forward,
where it surely would have crushed Bryce's skull. But because Father Dominic
shoved him to safety, it succeeded only in delivering a glancing blow that
crushed Bryce's collarbone.
Unfortunately, Father Dominic ended up taking the weight of the falling cross
himself. It pinned him to the office floor, smashing most of his ribs and
breaking one of his legs.
Mr. Walden and a bunch of the sisters tried to get us to go to class instead
of crowding the breezeway, watching for Father Dom and Bryce to emerge from
the principal's office. Some people went when Sister Ernestine threatened
everyone with detention, but not me. I didn't care if I got detention. I had
to make sure they were all right. Sister Ernestine said something very nasty
about how maybe Miss Simon didn't realize how unpleasant detention at the
Mission Academy could be. I assured Sister Ernestine that if she was
threatening corporal punishment, I would tell my mother, who was a local news
anchorwoman and would be over here with a TV camera so fast, nobody would have
time to say so much as a single Hail Mary.
Sister Ernestine was pretty quiet after that.
It was shortly after this that I found Doc pressed up pretty close to me. I
Page 71
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
looked down and said, "What areyou doing here?" since the little kids are
supposed to stay way on the other side of the school.
"I want to see if he's all right." Doc's freckles were standing out, he was
so pale.
"You're going to get in trouble," I warned him. Sister Ernestine was busily
writing people up.
"I don't care," Doc said. "I want to see."
I shrugged. He was a funny kid, that Doc. He wasn't anything like his big
brothers, and it wasn't because of his red hair, either. I remembered Dopey's
teasing comment about the car keys and "Dave's ghost," and wondered how much,
if anything, Doc knew about what had been going on lately at his school.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, they came out. Bryce was first,
strapped onto a stretcher and moaning, I'm sorry to say, like a bit of a baby.
I've had plenty of broken and dislocated bones, and believe me it hurts, but
not enough to lie there moaning. Usually when I get hurt, I don't even notice.
Like last night, for instance. When I'mreally hurt all I can do is laugh
because it hurts so much that it's actually funny.
Okay, I have to admit I sort of stopped liking Bryce so much when I saw him
acting like such a baby....
Especially when I saw Father Dom, who the paramedics wheeled out next. He was
unconscious, his white hair sort of flopped over in a sad way, a jagged cut,
partially covered by gauze, over his right eye. I hadn't eaten any breakfast
in my haste to get to school, and I have to admit the sight of poor Father
Dominic with his eyes closed and his glasses gone, made me feel a little
woozy. In fact, I might have swayed a little on my feet, and probably would
have fallen over if Doc hadn't grabbed my hand and said confidently, "I know.
The sight of blood makes me sick, too."
But it wasn't the sight of Father Dom's blood seeping through the bandage on
his head that had made me sick. It was the realization that I had failed. I
had failed miserably. It was only dumb blind luck that Heather hadn't
succeeded in killing them both. It was only because of Father Dom's quick
thinking that he and Bryce were alive. It was no thanks to me. No thanks to me
whatsoever.
Because if I had handled things better the night before it wouldn't have
happened. It wouldn't have happened at all.
That's when I got mad. I meanreally mad.
Suddenly, I knew what I had to do. I looked down at Doc. "Is there a computer
here at school? One with Internet access?"
"Sure," Doc said, looking surprised. "In the library. Why?"
I dropped his hand. "Never mind. Go back to class."
"Suze "
"Anyone who isn't in his or her classroom in one minute," Sister Ernestine
said, imperiously, "will be suspended indefinitely!"
Doc tugged on my sleeve.
Page 72
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"What's going on?" he wanted to know. "Why do you need a computer?"
"Nothing," I said. Behind the wrought iron gate that led to the parking lot,
the paramedics slammed the doors to the ambulances in which they'd loaded
Father Dom and Bryce. A second later, they were pulling away in a whine of
sirens and a flurry of flashing lights. "Just& it's stuff you wouldn't
understand, David. It isn't scientific."
Doc said, with no small amount of indignation, "I can understand lots of
stuff that isn't scientific. Music, for instance. I've taught myself to play
Chopin on my electronic keyboard back home. That isn't scientific. The
appreciation of music is purely emotional as is the appreciation of art. I can
understand art and music. So come on, Suze," he said. "You can tell me. Does
it have anything to do with & what we were talking about the other night?"
I turned to gaze down at him in surprise. He shrugged. "It was a logical
conclusion. I made a cursory examination of the statue cursory because I was
unable to approach it as closely as I would have liked thanks to the crime
scene tape and evidence team and was unable to discern any saw marks or
other indications of how the head was severed. There is no possible way bronze
can be cut that cleanly without the use of some sort of heavy machinery, but
such machinery would never fit through "
"Mr. Ackerman!" Sister Ernestine sounded like she meant business. "Would you
like to be written up?"
David looked irritated. "No," he said.
"No, what?"
"No, Sister." He looked back at me, apologetically. "I guess I better go. But
can we talk more about this tonight at home? I found out some stuff about
well, what you asked me. You know." He widened his eyes meaningfully. "About
the house."
"Oh," I said. "Great. Okay."
"Mr. Ackerman!"
David turned to look at the nun. "Hold on a minute, okay, Sister? I'm trying
to have a conversation here."
All of the blood left the middle-aged woman's face. It was incredible.
She reacted as childishly as if she were the twelve year old, and not David.
"Come with me, young man," she said, seizing hold of David's ear. "I can see
your new stepsister has put some pretty big city ideas into your head about
how a boy speaks to his elders "
David let out a noise like a wounded animal, but went along with the woman,
hunched up like a shrimp, he was in so much pain. I swear I wouldn't have done
anything anything at all if I hadn't suddenly noticed Heather standing
just inside the gate, laughing her head off.
"Oh, God," she cried, gasping a little, she was laughing so hard. "If you
could have seen your face when you heard Bryce was dead! I swear! It was the
funniest thing I've ever seen!" She stopped laughing long enough to toss her
long hair and say, "You know what? I think I'm going to clobber a few more
Page 73
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pldoc.pisz.plpdf.pisz.plkwiatpolny.htw.pl
|
|
| Cytat |
Dobre pomysły nie mają przeszłości, mają tylko przyszłość. Robert Mallet
De minimis - o najmniejszych rzeczach.
Dobroć jest ważniejsza niż mądrość, a uznanie tej prawdy to pierwszy krok do mądrości. Theodore Isaac Rubin
Dobro to tylko to, co szlachetne, zło to tylko to, co haniebne.
Dla człowieka nie tylko świat otaczający jest zagadką; jest on nią sam dla siebie. I z obu tajemnic bardziej dręczącą wydaje się ta druga. Antoni Kępiński (1918-1972)
|
|
