Read Bicycle Built for Two for Free Online Page B

drunkard.
    “I swear to you, Katie, that I didn’t know,”
she’d cried. “I swear on my mother’s Bible.”
    “I know it, Ma. I know it.”
    Kate had never been much good at being a
child, having spent her youth figuring out how to survive in an
uncertain and often brutal world, but it had been then that she’d
taken over the mothering of her family. Her siblings had left home
by then, driven away by the misery her father perpetrated.
    Since home had never offered any succor but
that which their mother could sneak them behind their father’s
back, Kate’s brothers had taken to visiting Kate when they needed a
good meal or a shoulder to cry on. They were all overjoyed when
Mrs. Finney joined Kate in the room over the butcher’s shop.
    Every time any one of the children ran into
Mr. Finney on the street, he threatened to kill them if they didn’t
tell him where his wife was. Fortunately, all the Finney children
were spryer than the old man. It was embarrassing, they all agreed,
to be cursed by their own father and threatened with death, but it
was better than living with the mean old son of a bitch.
    He’d meant the threats, as Kate had recently
discovered. If it hadn’t been for the unexpected arrival of Belle
Monroe into Madame’s booth, Kate would be dead right now, and her
mother would probably be back under her father’s thumb. The idea
made Kate shudder. She didn’t even consider that the police might
have arrested the old man for attempted murder. The police didn’t
pay much attention to what happened to people in Kate’s station in
life. They spent all their concern on the Alex Englishes of the
world.
    “Ma!” Kate’s relief at finding her mother
still breathing was only mitigated by the dismal surroundings and
her mother’s obvious distress. She fell to her knees beside the
cot. “Ma, what happened?”
    Her mother’s eyelids lifted, revealing
watery blue eyes that held a world of pain and disappointment. Yet
the woman managed to smile at her daughter. “Katie. I’m fine,
really. I told Billy not to bring me, but he insisted.”
    “Nuts. I ordered Billy to bring you whenever
he thought you needed help when I wasn’t around, Ma.” She wouldn’t
tell her mother so, but Kate understood why her brother had
insisted Mrs. Finney go to the hospital. She looked even worse than
usual. In truth, she looked like she was already dead and was only
still talking by pure chance.
    Her mother’s smile made Kate want to scream
imprecations against the fates or God or whoever was in charge of
things. That her mother, who was the gentlest, most loving human
being in the world, should have to suffer like this wasn’t fair,
and Kate resented it. Nevertheless, she smiled back, as cocky as
ever. “Tell me the truth, Ma. What happened?”
    Hazel Finney tried to sigh, which
precipitated a spasm of coughing. Kate held her breath and gritted
her teeth as she watched her mother’s affliction. “It’s okay, Ma.
Take your time.” Kate dug a clean handkerchief from her handbag and
wiped tears and perspiration from her mother’s withered cheeks.
Hazel Finney herself lifted the stained handkerchief she’d been
holding and discreetly mopped the blood and spittle from her mouth.
She still had her pride, Kate knew, for whatever good that had ever
done her.
    “I had a little coughing spell,” Mrs. Finney
told her daughter when she could.
    “I see.” Kate hated feeling helpless.
Unfortunately, no matter how much grit and determination she
had—and she had tons—she was helpless when pitted against the White
Plague. That didn’t stop her from fighting it tooth and nail.
    Hazel smiled through the tears that still
pooled in her eyes, left over from her coughing. The coughing
spasms took everything out of her. “And how about you, Katie? Did
you dance tonight?”
    Kate gave her the sauciest grin in her
repertoire. “You betcha, Ma. I gave ‘em a great performance.”
    Hazel patted Kate’s cheek with a hand