Read The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker for Free Online Page B

scene very familiar to Lucas. Mr. and Mrs. Stukeley and a little boy Lucas guessed to be about three years old were gathered near the hearth. In the winter his family, too, had lived mostly in the central room, even bringing their beds in from the only other room in back. The fire had been their source of light and heat during the long, cold days and evenings.
    A kettle of water sat by the table. Hanging over the side was a ladle, which everyone in the family drank from. Another heavy kettle hung over the blazing fire, and a piece of meat sputtered on a spit.
    The girl was taken with another long coughing spell. The harsh sound of it, the pained way in which she clutched her chest, and the thinness of her wrist when she did so made Lucas wince. He looked at Lydia, and in her eyes he saw a reflection of the anguish he had felt during the long months of his family’s sickness.
    â€œI’ve tried everything I know, Doctor,” Mrs. Stukeley was saying. “I left the cow to graze in the moonlight, and made butter from the milk. I fed it to Sarah and gave her the cow’s dung to smoke. She’s had willow bark for the fever. But she’s getting worse. It’s just like—the others.” She stopped, her voice breaking.
    From the bed, Sarah looked up at Doc Beecher. She whispered weakly, “Thomas…came again…Doctor…last night…”
    â€œWhat’s that?” asked Doc.
    â€œThomas…” Sarah closed her eyes and fought for breath.
    Mr. Stukeley spoke, looking uncomfortably at the floor. “She’s been complaining of—visitations, I guess you could say. From Thomas.”
    â€œThomas is—was—your eldest son?” Doc inquired uncertainly.
    â€œThat’s right,” said Mr. Stukeley.
    Speaking carefully, Doc asked, “He passed on when?”
    â€œThis November past.”
    â€œYet Sarah says that Thomas came to her…” Doc’s voice trailed away.
    â€œComes to her, yes,” Mr. Stukeley said awkwardly. “That’s what she says.”
    â€œThe others, Martha and Timothy, who died after Thomas, they said the same thing,” said Mrs. Stukeley in a low voice. “They said Thomas came…in the night…and sat with them…” She paused, then finished quietly, “And caused them pain.” She looked anxiously at Doc Beecher. “What can it mean?”
    Lucas’s heart began to beat fast as he listened to Mrs. Stukeley’s words. He looked at Lydia, whose face wore the same worried, fearful expression as her mother’s. Mr. Stukeley was looking hard at Doc Beecher, waiting for an answer. Lucas held his breath, waiting to see how Doc would respond.
    Doc Beecher closed his eyes and appeared to be in pain himself. Opening his eyes, he said tiredly, “I cannot say what it means, though I’ve heard others speak of such things.”
    â€œWe’ve heard tell of it, too,” said Mrs. Stukeley cautiously.
    â€œWhat I’m asking is,” said Mr. Stukeley, “could it be Thomas who’s making the others sick?”
    Lucas leaned forward. Would Doc tell them about the cure?
    â€œThomas is dead, Mr. Stukeley,” Doc said. His voice was flat, but not unkind.
    â€œBut they’ve seen him!” said Mrs. Stukeley.
    â€œAnd if it isn’t him, what is it that’s taking my children, one after the other?” cried Mr. Stukeley. “Tell us, for mercy’s sake! It’s why you were sent for.”
    Sarah’s coughing was the only sound in the room, except for the echo of Mr. Stukeley’s desperate cry.
    Lucas waited, anxious to hear Doc’s answer. The Stukeleys’ story sounded very much like the one told by Mr. Rood. Thomas Stukeley, like Mercy Rood, still “lived” after death. He was coming to the others from out of the grave and making them sick. Was it possible that Doc Beecher didn’t know how to stop Thomas, the way