Heaven (Casteel 1)

me again? If I tilted my head just a little to the right,

would that eliminate the problem of his nose bumping

against mine?

If I didn't know how to manage a kiss, he sure

did. It was sweet, thrilling. But the moment I was

home all my elation was lost in the tempestuous seas

of Sarah's miseries.

That Saturday dawned a bit brighter, a little

warmer, and, eager to escape the sour hatefulness of Sarah at her worst, Tom and I went to meet Logan, and behind us tagged Our Jane and Keith. We were all good friends, trying to make Keith and Our Jane as

happy as possible.

Hardly had we reached the river where we

intended to fish when over the hills came Sarah's

bellowing hog call, beckoning us back. "Good-bye,

Logan!" I cried anxiously. "I have to get back to

Sarah; she might need me! Tom, you stay and take

care of Our Jane and Keith."

I saw Logan's disappointment before I sped

away to respond to Sarah's demand that I wash the

clothes instead of wasting my time playing around

with a no-good village boy who'd only ruin my life.

No good to love playing games and having fun when

Sarah couldn't sit comfortably or stand for longer than

seconds, and the work never ended. Feeling guilty to

have escaped for a few minutes, I lifted the washtub

onto the bench, carried hot water there from the stove,

and began scrubbing on the old rippled board.

Through the open window that tried to let out the

stench from Ole Smokey, inside the cabin I could hear

Sarah talking to Granny.

"Used t'think it were good growin up in these