Read Never Never for Free Online Page B

Siobhan was in the back with four more children and two women.
    â€œIt’s a good time for everyone to hop out and stretch their legs,” he said, nodding to the back of the wagon where the children began to scramble out. “Not for long, mind,” he called to them.
    Sarah stared at the compound gate. She’d seen it more than a few times since Mac’s gang had lit it on fire but the feeling of loss was always the same. Archie had died in the gravel on the main compound pathway last spring. Every time she thought of him it hurt like a razor blade to her insides.
    Some things never get better with time.
    Sarah knew they couldn’t bring too much this trip. The four wagons were already stuffed to the limit with people and essentials. Once they were settled they would have to come back to retrieve everything else.
    â€œHow much are we bringing?” she asked.
    â€œWe’ll leave the baby chairs and encyclopedias for now.” Mike laughed but Sarah didn’t join in. It was true she’d brought many useless things back from America last year. And the raid by the Garda last winter had stripped the place of most of their armory except for a few hidden guns and ammunition. What was left—basic medicine, iron cookware, disposable diapers, several cases of wine and whisky and even Coca-Cola, along with water purification devices, seeds, sugar, and peanut butter—would all eventually come with them to the new place.
    Sophia handed Sarah the baby while she climbed down and stretched the kinks out of her back. Sarah used the distraction to focus on little Maggie until Mike moved to the back of the wagon. Someone handed Siobhan up to him and he rode away with her through the compound gates. As she watched him leave, she felt some of her tension leave too.
    From where she sat in the wagon, Sarah could see the winding road that led to the gate, flanked on one side by thick woods, and on the other by the rolling pasture where they used to keep their sheep and goats. Where the flock was now was anybody’s guess.
    The pasture was bordered on the road side by a low sloping knee wall. Beyond it a half mile by horseback was the little cottage where she and David and John had lived. She gazed in that direction. David was buried in the pasture near where he was killed. Mike and John had put up a marker. David Woodson Loving husband and father . Sarah’s eyes burned with unshed tears and Maggie began to cry.
    So much had happened in the five years since she’d come to Ireland. So much loss.
    â€œShall I take her, Sarah?” Sophia said as she walked over. She shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked up at Sarah.
    â€œYou might want to gather up the others,” Sarah said, shaking herself out of her mood. “I see Mike coming back with a load for our wagon. He’ll be wanting to leave soon.”
    Sophia held out her arms for the baby and Sarah handed her down.
    â€œI’ll get the rest of them,” Sophia called over her shoulder as she walked into the compound.
    Mike rode up with Siobhan and directed a crew of three men carrying a stack of crates to put them in the back of Sarah’s wagon. Siobhan’s face was lit up with glee, her pudgy little hands gripping Mike’s large hand that held her firmly on his lap and her hair shining in the sunlight.
    So she does know how to laugh , Sarah thought, a rueful smile tugging at her lips.
    â€œDid you eat something?” Mike asked Sarah as he transferred Siobhan to her. Immediately the baby began to squirm and reach for Mike.
    Kind of hard to compete with a horsey-back ride , Sarah thought. But she knew that wasn’t the whole problem.
    â€œWe did,” she said. “Are we about ready to leave?”
    â€œAye, nearly. If we can get twenty miles down the road, I’ll feel good about it. We’ll have a hot meal tonight when we stop.”
    Sarah nodded and Mike, after the briefest of hesitations,