The Last Writer Adriane Leigh (story reading TXT) 📖

on the stone bench below it, huge round eyes on me.

“Hey there.” I cradled Nate’s jacket in my arms and walked closer to the small child.

He shook his head, lips clamped closed. His cheeks were round and rosy, despite the layer of dirt and soot that coated his skin.

“What’s your name?” His eyes flicked to the jacket in my hands, suspicion marring his features.

“I’m Jacob, what did you dig up?”

“This is my friend’s jacket.” I clutched it as I said the words, my last connection to Nate.

“Why was it buried in the garden?”

“I don’t know, Jacob, I was wondering that too.”

“Where’d your friend go?”

I frowned, eyes casting across the garden to the cliff where we’d last sat. “I don’t know that either. What are you doing out here by yourself?” He shrugged, then pushed away from the fountain and stood to his full height. He was younger than I’d first thought, by stature maybe just four or five. “How long have you been at Usher House?”

“A few days. Governess is mean, she makes the new kids sleep together on a mattress on the floor.”

His little voice was like a dagger in my heart.

Just then, the bellow of two large dogs came from somewhere near the house.

“Oh no, she did get the dogs.”

“The dogs? What dogs?”

“The governess said if we tried to run away, she would send the dogs after us.”

“Usher House doesn’t have dogs.” I knelt down at his side. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you, but I can’t protect you out here. You should find the other kids and get your work done so she doesn't get upset.”

“She already is. She came to the lily cellar with medicine shots for us, but I’m scared of needles so I tried to run away and that’s when she said she’d get the dogs.”

“Medicine shots? What are you talking about?”

“She said all kids that live here need a vitamin shot, she says it will keep us healthy and make us smarter.”

“A vitamin shot, hm?” I stood, wondering what exactly Mother was up to now. “You should get back to the lily cellar, Jacob, before anything bad happens.”

His watery blue eyes welled with fear and his chin quivered. “I’m scared.”

“You should be more scared if you don’t obey, Jacob. Everything will be fine if you just do what you’re told.”

“But I want to go back to St. Anthony’s. That’s where my mom dropped me off, how will she know to find me when she comes back?”

I paused, wondering if they ever came back. “I’m sure St. Anthony’s will tell her you’re right here.”

He nodded as he wiped at his eyes. “I don’t want to get a shot.”

I clamped down on my teeth, wishing he wouldn't have to get one. “Be brave, Jacob, you can do it.”

With that, I patted him on the back, encouraging him down the path that led out of the garden and back into the house.

I didn’t know how long Jacob would survive at Usher, but he didn’t have a chance if he ran, I knew that much for sure.

“Carnegie!” A giant Irish wolfhound barreled toward us, Mother chasing the leash behind him.

Jacob tucked himself behind my legs, digging his filthy fingernails into my skin and making me wince. I caught the dog’s leash when he attempted to run by, halting him in his tracks and forcing his big dog's eyes up on me.

“Hey, boy.”

Mother quietly took the leash from me and joined it with the loop in her other hand. “Meet Carnegie and Astor, our new guard dogs.”

“Guard dogs? Why?”

“To protect our assets, of course. Plus, my grandfather had two great wolfhounds when I was just a child, coming to Usher for the summers, they were one of my favorite reasons to come here. Carnegie is a little young, though, he needs more training. Maybe that’s something you’d like to work on Zara?”

I eagle-eyed the dog, long waves of wiry hair falling into his eyes as he held my gaze. His tail began to wag slowly, then he lunged for me, covering my face in his tongue.

“He likes you!” Mother’s face lit with delight. “You have a special touch with animals, I knew it.” She thrust both leashes into my hand. “Now for you, little mister.” She curled her index finger at Jacob. “Time for your vitamins, it will keep you healthy, don’t you want that?”

He shook his head.

“What are these vitamin shots, and why haven’t I had one?”

“Oh, please, it’s just vitamin B12 and some other things to give them more energy and supplement their little immune systems. These kids come from the orphanage exposed to all kinds of filthy things.”

“Have you heard from father? When can he come to visit?”

“Not soon, I’m afraid. Work keeps him away from us.” Mother turned to Jacob, grasping his little forearm firmly.

“I don’t like needles!” Jacob mustered every ounce of his bravery. “But if Zara is with me, I will.”

My heart twisted, the realization that this little one had latched onto me in some way made me uncomfortable. “You don’t need my help.”

He nodded fiercely, eyes tracing with worry when Mother looped his hand with hers and began to haul him back down to the basement with her.

A chorus of no’s followed them down the stairs.

“Well, what am I supposed to do with you two?” I looked at both dogs, one lying patiently at my feet while the other stared with devotion up at me. “A walk?”

They shot to attention, tails wagging as we walked down the path, pausing so Carnegie could sniff out every last scent on the way to the garden before we reached the iron gates and I let them off their leads. They took off through the rose bushes and turned the corner. I pushed through the rose thorns myself, coming around the hedge where the pathway opened up to the fountain, when I caught sight of Walton on the other side of the fountain.

I walked slowly, eyes on his hunched figure as he worked