Chapter 23

They walked all the way home. Sam’s anger reached a state he hadn’t even known existed. Walking helped relieve some of that rage. Had it not, Harlan would still have stood a chance out in the open, where witnesses were plentiful and he had space to run.

They trudged home in tense silence. When they reached the house, Sam sat down on the stoop and dropped his head into his hands. “I’ll just stay here for a while,” he mumbled through splayed fingers.

Emma nodded understandingly, unlocked the door, and followed Harlan into the house.

Once inside, the boy scurried up to his bedroom without a word. Emma closed the parlor drapes, switched on a lamp, and slowly climbed the stairs. In her room, she opened the closet door, rested her chin on the back of her hand, and stood pondering Sam’s belts.

Harlan figured his parents’ smoldering, disapproving silence was the worst it was going to get. So it took him by surprise when a wild-eyed Emma burst into his room whipping a belt through the air.

Thwack!

The stinging lash sent him running for his life.

Emma beat Harlan around the room, up and down the hallways, into the parlor, and around the piano.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Outside, the crack of the belt and Harlan’s terrified squeals raised a satisfied smile to Sam’s lips. Later on, he’d feel sorry for his son, but for now, it was all he could do to keep from cheering.

Harlan managed to keep a length ahead of Emma, but he couldn’t escape the reach of the belt. Like a sprinter hurtling toward the finish line, Harlan summoned all of his speed and exploded down the hallway into the bathroom, where he shut and locked the door.

Emma pummeled the door with her fists and feet. She threatened and cussed and demanded, but Harlan refused to let her in.

And then, just as suddenly as the madness had seized her, it slipped away. Out of breath and drenched in sweat, Emma flung the belt down to the floor and collapsed backward into the wall.

Harlan’s wounded howls pierced her heart, nearly splitting it in half. Soon, she was bawling too.

That was the first and last time she ever beat that boy.