Meadowlarks by Thomas Holladay (chapter books to read to 5 year olds TXT) 📕

The flock of birds started singing, a very beautiful sound. “What kind of birds are these?”

“Meadowlarks, ma’am. The warmth of this rock keeps them here all year. That and the food, of course, the bloodworms.” Willis positioned the hind legs of the carcass, preparing to lift and carry it.

The song of the meadowlarks soothed and Carolyn’s mood softened. Still, Willis needed to be told. “You don’t know how much Jason has been through. He lost his father a few years ago and, more recently, he lost his best friend, both to violence. Had he seen all these . . .” She snapped her towel in the direction of the slaughtered calf and the birds rose into the air. They quickly resettled and resumed their dining and singing. “Well, I don’t know what I would have done.”

Barnabas bolted toward the waterfall, the birds flew into the air and Willis turned.

John Crow walked toward them, not more than ten feet away, always calm. Barnabas jumped up and down at his side, snapping playfully at his hand, saying hello to a friend. John said, “Morning, Ma'am. You ready to meet up with Dandy?”

“Good grief.” She had completely forgotten about her appointment with John, her first riding lesson. The panic attack made her dizzy.

BY 3:00PM, CAROLYN had suffered quite enough of John Crow and Dandy.

"Stand up in the stirrups," he'd kept saying.

Good grief.

The bones in her butt felt like they needed to be in a cast.

Lord.

Why didn’t they make saddles with butt cushions?

The throbbing complaints from the bones in her butt were interrupted only by the yelping pain from the inside of her thighs and knees, raw hamburger on a hot griddle. On top of all the other complaints and yelps from inside her thighs and her butt, her shaking thigh muscles couldn’t walk another inch. Not that she’d thought much about it since her husband’s murder, but she didn’t see how sex could ever be possible again.

Ever!

Whoever dreamed up horseback riding should be shot for cruelty to women.

What about men and their walnuts?

Good grief. 

She could only imagine.

Lord.

Ooh, this coffee tasted good.

Having made it into her kitchen with a soft pillow from the living room and sitting on that pillow over this cushioned bench filled her with gratitude.

Well . . .

No words seemed adequate to describe the new places on her body she'd never before met. If she didn’t move a muscle, she could almost forget the pain in all those different parts of her lower body. Then she’d only feel the stiffness in her lower back and tummy.

Oh, no. 

The school bus rounded the nearest curve on River Road and slowed near their driveway. She couldn't allow Jason see her like this. He’d never stop laughing about it. He’d be just like his father. John had a sick humor when women suffered trying to do things men were naturally good at.

The fiend.

At least she hadn’t been thrown off like Jason had.

Using both hands, she gingerly slid from the dining nook and slowly stood. Her stiff-legged walk to the sink not only hurt, it embarrassed her. She rinsed her cup and bent to put it into the dishwasher.

Not so bad.

Straightening up brought sharp pain to her lower back and she grabbed the edge of the countertop for support.

Barnabas scrambled from under the table and charged into the living room. His best friend had returned.

Jason had climbed down the three entry steps into the living room before she could waddle to the kitchen door.

“Hi, Barnabas.” Jason laughed the way he always did when being licked all over his face.

She stopped and crept back toward the kitchen table. If she could climb onto her pillow, maybe he wouldn’t notice. She didn't make it.

He carried an armload of new schoolbooks into the kitchen with Barnabas rubbing against his leg at every stride.

“What happened?”

His left eye had been bruised purple and his shirt collar had been torn.

“What do you mean?” He sounded so innocent, ready to tell her what he’d already decided to tell her and nothing more.

“You know very well, young man. What happened to your face? Why is your shirt torn?”

“Awe, it’s nothing, Mom.” Jason brushed past her, marched proudly across the kitchen and deposited his books on the dining table. “Me and those Embry twins made friends. That’s all.”

“Some friends.” She crossed her arms and tried to look stern. She wanted to turn him over her knee and remind him of what happened to him and Jimmy but she couldn’t, not today, maybe never again. Her body just couldn’t.

“Huh.” He agreed with her, pretending not to understand her sarcasm.

The little fiend.

“They want to come over and meet Barnabas.” He proudly rubbed his panting dog’s oversized head. “I said okay.” He waited for an answer.

She smiled, of course, and walked as normally as she could to the refrigerator, hoping he wouldn’t notice her stiffness or her uncontrollable winces of pain.

He noticed. “What happened? Dandy throw you off?”

“No!” She pulled out a bottle of fresh milk from the refrigerator, closed the door and crossed to the sink for a glass, suffering the pain of his discovery more than her physical pain. “What makes you think that?” She moved slowly, pulled a glass from the shelf, filled it with milk, crossed to the table and set it down.

“You’re walking all funny, like you fell down or something.” Jason slid onto the bench and took a drink of milk. He licked his upper lip and gulped down the rest. He held up his glass, asking for more.

She refilled his glass halfway. “Isn’t that fresh? Mr. Jacobsen brought it by this morning. He delivers groceries twice a week. All we need to do is make a list and give it to him when he comes, then he brings it the next time. Come on, let me show you something.” She led Jason into the pantry where Mr. Jacobsen had filled the lower shelves with large cans of Science Diet dog food. A 25