Read Shattered Lives (Flynn Family Saga Book 1) for Free Online Page A

as
wide as the doorway, and she looked as if she had never smiled in her life.
    Alexander Ridgeton took off his coonskin cap.  “Good
afternoon, Mrs. Josephson.  Colonel Henderson sends his regards.  And this boy.”
    Mrs. Josephson glared at Eagle Heart and wrinkled
her nose.  “He smells like an Indian.”
    “He was raised by the Lakota, ma’am.  But he’s
white.”  Ridgeton touched Eagle Heart’s shoulder.  “His name is Flynn, Robert
Sean Flynn.”
    Mrs. Josephson snorted.  “Irish.  That’s just as
bad.”  She grasped Eagle Heart by the ear.  “We’ll wash that stink off you and
teach you to pray the right way.  No papist mumbo-jumbo here.”
    Eagle Heart reached for his knife, but it was gone. 
The white soldiers had taken it from him.  For the first time in a long time,
he was glad that he could not cry.  He did not want to shame himself in front
of this horrible woman.
    Ridgeton grasped his arm.  “Remember what I said,
son.”  He spoke in Lakota.
    Eagle Heart nodded slowly.
    Alexander Ridgeton nodded back.  He turned and left
him alone with Mrs. Josephson. 
    Mrs. Josephson took Eagle Heart to the kitchen.  She
poured steaming water into a tin tub.  Then, she tried to strip Eagle Heart of
his clothes.  When he fought her, she called for help.  A tall, thin man came
into the kitchen.  He grabbed Eagle Heart’s arms and held him while the woman
pulled down his trousers.  The two of them lifted Eagle Heart into the scalding
water.
    Eagle Heart clamped his jaws together to keep from
crying out.  She scrubbed him until he bled.  The harsh lye soap stung the
cuts.  Then, she held out a towel, made from a flour sack.
    Eagle Heart stood slowly.  He wrapped the sack
around himself and met the woman’s gaze coolly, levelly.
    Her face reddened, and she looked away.
    *  *  *
    For one month, Eagle Heart endured the orphanage. 
The other boys laughed at him, and Mrs. Josephson singled him out for every
infraction of the rules.  He bore it in silence, like a warrior.  He pretended
not to understand English, even though the skinny man, who was Mrs. Josephson's
husband, beat him.  He refused to let either of them see his fear or sorrow. 
At night, he felt the loneliness the worst.  His heart ached, and he was both
glad and sorry that he could not cry.
    Then, one afternoon, a man in a black frock coat
brought in a small boy.  The boy’s hair was blond and his eyes were as blue as
the prairie sky.  He looked scared.  Mrs. Josephson swooped toward him, like a
fat vulture.
    Eagle Heart stepped between them.  He stared at her
with his hands curled into fists.
    “Mr. Josephson!”
    Her husband and sons came into the vestibule.  The
two boys held Eagle Heart while Mrs. Josephson dragged the new boy away.
    That night, in the dormitory, Eagle Heart heard the
boy crying.  He started to get up when he heard the voices of the older boys. 
The years fell away, and he was back at Lewisburg.  He ran to the new boy’s cot
and stood between him and the bullies.
    The oldest one, whose name was Edward, grinned.  “So. 
The Injun wants to protect the little crybaby.”
    Eagle Heart said nothing.  He merely stared at
Edward.
    Slowly, Edward’s grin faded.  He scowled.  “Come
on!  What are you waiting for?  There are six of us and only one of him?”
    Eagle Heart reached for the stillness.  It was
faint, but it was there, and strength flowed into him from the earth.
    Edward swung.
    Eagle Heart kicked his legs out from under him.  He
took the next boy with a blow to the gut.  He spun around and kicked the third
boy in the groin.  His cries woke the rest of the dormitory.  Twenty boys
hooted and cheered as they fought.
    Eagle Heart knocked out the last boy just as all
four Josephsons entered the dormitory.  The two boys held Eagle Heart while
Mrs. Josephson tended the wounded.
    Then, she wheeled on Eagle Heart.  “You savage!  I
knew it was a mistake to take you in!  If