Read Redemption Mountain for Free Online

feel good. It’s like, you know, the only thing I’m good at.” Emma spoke so softly that she always sounded sad.
    Natty understood how she felt. “Well, we both know it’s not the only thing you’re good at, but I know what you mean, it does feel good.” She gave Emma a long hug and told her the first soccer practice would be the last week in August and that she’d post a schedule on the bulletin board in Eve’s Restaurant. She watched as Emma loped off down the road with long, graceful strides.
    Natty saw so much of herself in Emma—the insecurity, shyness, and the need to withdraw into physical exertion. But Emma, Natty knew, was much different from her. Emma had a gift, an immense talent that would transport her out of McDowell County one day and make up for any shortcomings she might have in the way of looks or intelligence or personality. Unlike Natty, Emma would never be considered pretty or anything more than an average student. But, at thirteen, Emma Lowe was without argument the finest soccer player for her age that anyone in southern West Virginia had ever seen, boys included. Not just an excellent player, the best on the field at any one time, but an extraordinary player with near-magical ability in every facet of the game.
    Natty let out a giggle when she thought about how good Emma would be this year. She was noticeably taller and looked stronger, and she knew that Emma continued to practice her soccer skills year-round.
    As Natty came into Old Red Bone, she looked over at the soccer field off to her left. What grass there was on the field was at least a foot high, surrounding large bare patches of earth where not even weeds would grow. It was a mess, as always. The worst field in the league by far. Before the season started, Natty and Pie would come out and fill in some of the holes and ruts.
    At one end of the field was a small L-shaped building with a gray-shingled roof. A plain white sign said RED BONE CHILDREN’S LIBRARY . Natty saw that the sagging roof had gotten worse. She made a mental note that, before any serious rain came, she’d have to move the rest of the books into the storeroom at the dry end of the building.
    A voice above her interrupted her thoughts. “Morning, Mrs. Oakes. Little late this morning. Sleep in, did we?”
    Natty looked high up, toward the back porch on the fourth floor of the old brown stone building that stood on the corner of Main Street. She found P. J. Hankinson where he was most mornings, leaning over the porch railing, wearing only his boxer shorts and a wide-brimmed straw hat, his teacup resting on the wooden railing. “Hey, Hank. Just getting slow in my old age, is all.” Natty gave the old man a wave before she disappeared from view, going up past the building and turning right onto Main Street.
    On the first floor of the building was Barney’s General Store, which was actually a hardware, grocery, bakery, liquor store, and gift shop rolled into one. Natty looked through the big windows of the restaurant section and waved to Buck’s sister, Eve, who was sweeping the floor. The widow of the late Barney Brewster, Eve smiled as Natty ran by.
    A quarter of a mile down Main Street, Natty left the road and picked up the trail that ran along the long southern flank of Red Bone Mountain. The path ran through the dark woods and out into the sunlight, along rocky ledges where the view was spectacular.
    At around the midpoint of the trail, Natty came to a stop and began a laborious climb through the rocks and trees, up a steep, narrow goat path that few people would even notice. She hadn’t been to her spot in several weeks, and today she thought she deserved a few minutes on the rock.
    The trail ended in a thicket of pine trees on a high outcropping that dropped off precipitously on three sides. Natty walked through the trees, as she had done so many times in her youth, to a mammoth rock formation that