Keeper vs. Reaper (Graveyard Guardians Book 1) Read Free Page B

caused a fair amount of ruckus over the years, but he did it all on his own and they are educated, mostly well-behaved.”
    She paused to glance at Daniel , who had decided that moment would be appropriate for another pull from his flask. “And above all, Greg gave these children a sense of loyalty. Anyone who knows these kids knows that if you mess with one, you get the whole bunch of them.”
    A few people giggled, even Lucy, knowing how true that statement really was.
    “This may not seem like a good thing in retrospect, but a family who stays together so closely is a rare thing these days. It is to be cherished. Greg gave them this sense of family and that is something to be proud of.” As she finished, she closed her eyes again and then looked to Pastor Brown.
    “Would anyone else like to speak?” Pastor Brown addressed the crowd of mourners.
    Unexpectedly, Ethan released Lucy’s hand and raised it up a little bit. “I need to say something.”
    Pastor Brown nodded and held his hand out beside him. Ethan moved over to the other side of Lucy beside the pastor. “There are very few people here who don’t know who I am ,” Ethan began. “Gregory Estmond took me under his wing a long time ago, when Lucy and I were both very little. My parents, who have moved away now…”
    He paused and took a breath, pondering if he should let out the deep , dark family secrets. Well, secrets that the whole town knew anyway. That was how small towns worked.
    “They were drug addicts and alcoholics who barely took care of me. Greg came by the house one day to see my parents for some reason, and what he found was a little boy locked in his room with no food or water, his parents passed out in their bedroom surrounded by drugs and trash. The story is a long one, a long sad story. But it ended with Greg and the rest of the Estmonds making sure I always had a place to go, that I always had food. Greg even went so far as to pay me for making good grades, just to give me incentive to do well in school.”
    Lucy grimaced as he told the story, hating Ethan’s parents for what they did to him. Ethan had conveniently left out the part about how her father had beat the ever living snot out of Ethan’s dad that day he found him locked up in his room half -starved. It was hard to believe Ethan’s parents came from a Keeper line, but sadly, not all Keepers were immune to addiction. Keepers were human, just like everyone else.
    Ethan scanned the crowd through his glasses. “No one, except for maybe the Estmond kids, owes more , or loves that man, more than I do. He saved me and I will never forget that. I hope that none of you ever forget that either.”
    Ethan lowered his head and hurried back to Lucy. She immediately took his hand again, knowing how hard it must have been for him to say all that in front of everyone. He never spoke about his parents. They moved away when he was fourteen and left him alone in the house. After that he came to live with the Estmonds for good. She and Ethan were friends long before the incident at Ethan’s house, but after he came to live with them, they were inseparable.
    Pastor Brown closed up the ceremony with a prayer and then the bagpipes started on Amazing Grace. Lucy stepped forward with Ethan’s hand firmly in her grasp and looked down into the dark, deep hole where her father’s body would spend eternity. Luckily, she knew better than most that his soul would not remain in that body.
    She held the white rose firmly over the grave. “I wish you peaceful passage.” She released the rose and it drifted down into the depths of the hole. “I love you, Daddy.”
    Ethan mimicked her actions, familiar with the meaning of the ceremony from the many deaths of Keepers past. Her siblings had moved into a line directly behind her and Ethan, tossing their roses in as well.
    The other mourners milled about, giving Lucy and the family some time before they headed over to her house for the wake. She caught