How to Rope a McCoy (Hell Yeah!) Read Free Page A

that
important fact eluded him. All he knew was that Arness seemed to have a hold on Amy and her mother, an influence Amy didn’t seem
willing to shake. He advised Camille Hollings, Al’s widow, on investments. And
for one reason or another, Arness made it clear he
was against Amy seeing Heath. But Heath didn’t let one man’s interference
dissuade him.  
    He
was in love.
     
    Cato – Learns About Heroes
     
    Cato
woke up. It was dark. She struggled to see. Inky blackness. Was she blind? For
a moment, uncontrollable panic rolled over her. If she lost her sight, as well
as her hearing, she would go crazy. “Mama! Mama!” As part of her punishment for
not losing weight, Edith had taken away Cato’s night light. Throwing the covers
back, Cato slid from the bed. “Mama!” Grabbing for the lamp, she knocked it off
in her confusion.
    All
of a sudden a bright light flooded the room. Cato was so relieved. Even though
she was twelve years old, sometimes she got scared. “Thank you,” she said. But
before she could turn around to speak to her mother, her arm was roughly jerked
and Cato tumbled backward into the bed. “ Ow !”
    Her
mother grasped her shoulders and shook her. Cato began to cry. “How many times
have I told you not to talk? Read lips and sign. No one wants to hear that
loud, garbled crap coming out of your mouth.”
    “I
need to talk to you sometimes, Mama,” she whispered. Or she thought she
whispered. Cato couldn’t tell.
    Slap!
Cato cringed. Her mother had hit her right on the mouth.
    “Sign,
don’t speak! You sound like a retarded freak.”  
    “I’m
sorry.” Cato rolled over, escaping another blow. She began signing “I’m sorry,
I’m sorry, Mama,” over and over again. How could she make her mother understand
how hard it was to stay completely silent? She didn’t understand how her speech
could be so bad. It hadn’t been that long ago she spoke just like anyone else.
    Pulling
her by the hair of the head, Edith Vincent snatched Cato’s head around. “Why
did you wake me up, you fat little pig?”
    “It
was dark. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t hear. I panicked.” Cato signed, biting her
lips to keep the words in. Cato wasn’t free to speak out loud unless she was
alone or with Tessa. Sometimes she felt like she’d been bound and gagged,
living in a strait jacket. And to make matters worse, the unhappier she became,
the more she ate. Frustration and depression just made matters worse. Food was
her friend.
    “You’re
deaf. You’ll never be able to hear again.” Her mother put a hand to her own
forehead as if in despair. “You will never sing and your voice was your only
redeeming quality.”
    “Could
you leave on a light?”
    “No,
don’t be stupid. There’s nothing to be afraid of in the dark. No one’s going to
break in and harm you.” Cato could tell her mother was laughing. “Who would
want to attack you? Look at you! No one wants you. No one will ever want you!”
    Cato’s
heart sank. She didn’t really understand. The only person she wanted to want
her was her mother, but Edith acted more like she hated her now than anything.
She was young, but Cato wasn’t dumb. She understood Edith had been using her to
fulfill a dream she hadn’t been able to fulfill herself. And Cato had failed.
    “Okay.”
She didn’t know what else to say. Anything she said to her mother didn’t seem
to matter much.
    “I’m
going back to bed. You shut up and go to sleep!”
    Cato
pulled up the covers as her mother turned out the light.
    It
was dark and silent once more.
     
    *  *  *
     
    “You’re
new in town, aren’t you?” the librarian asked as she checked the young man’s
books out to him.
    “Just
visiting my aunt for a few days.” He smiled.
    All
of a sudden a hoarse, desperate cry rang out in the library.
    “What
was that?” She gasped.
    “I
don’t know, but I’ll find out.” He grabbed his books and ran toward the noise.
    In
the back, down the long hall that led