Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (98 page)

“I-I don’t know,” she replied
, mind grasping
for the answer
, but never catching hold of anything.

Mom kissed the top of her head about a thousand times, then moved to plant kisses on both her cheeks.

“Aw,
M
om
,”
Glory
protested. “I’m not a baby.”

“I almost lost you
.
Give a mother her due.”

She
accepted the affection with a belligerent frown, but enjoyed every minute of it. Hopefully, h
er siblings
wouldn’t walk in
,
Th
at’s wh
en
s
he noticed a big brown dog with one white ear, sitting in the doorway, taking it all in.

“I always wanted a house dog,”
Glory
said weakly
.
“What’s his name again?”

“
Uh,
Scooter.”

Sh
e patted the bed to encourage him to jump up
.
The dog whimpered, backed up a little, and
then disappeared with a pitter
-
patter down the hallway.

"That’s strange,”
Mom
said
.
“Oh, well
.
Scooter’s a silly creature, don’t worry about him.”

Mom finally let go, asking, “Are you glad to be home, honey?"

Talking was
becoming a
chore, so
s
he simply nodded yes
.
Her
eyes linger
ed
at the door
waiting for
an unknown
someone to enter. "Where is
...
"

A name was on the tip of h
er
tongue, but it wouldn’t come out
.

"Where is what, dear?
”

“I wish I knew.”

Mom
raised a spoon of broth
.
“Eat.”

Glory sipped and swallowed
.

“I want to help,”
Mom
said, “but I can’t if I don’t know what’s
wrong
.
Talk to me, sweetie.”

Glory
wanted to tell her, but didn’t know what to say
.
She
leaned back into the soft pillow with a doleful sigh.
Minus her memory, she seemed to have everything a girl could possibly want, but s
omething was missing.

The n
ext morning, on
Father Winter’s Day
, Glory
woke
to
join the family in front of the stoked fireplace
.
The twins
and everyone
tore through their presents.
The room looked
as if
a pack of rabid dogs had taken out their frustrations on a paper factory
.
Glory
learned
that
she already owned a purple Sliver
, had gotten one last year on her birthday, but she
was
still
grateful
to receive
Space Raiders, version four,
from Father Winter
.
She opened
a l
avender
Ross & Wesson coat,
but
she
was disappointed
to try it on.
The thing was a couple of sizes too small
and wouldn’t zip
.
Mom told her not to
worry;
she’d take her into town to exchange
it
next week
.

Everyone was getting along and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Glory wanted to be part of it, but mostly just watched, spending her
time on the floor near the tree
because the
Alley
s
felt like
strangers to h
er
.
Mom
sat on the sofa with scissors ready, while
Dad
sat down beside her with a mixed drink in hand,
getting an
eyeful
from his wife
.

"
I know things at work have been rough,” Mom said. “But y
ou promised to cut back
.
"

"It's the holidays.
”
Dad
brushed off her disapproval, tilting back the glass to finish the contents in one gulp
.
He
suddenly clutched at his throat.

“
W
hat’s wrong?
”
Mom
asked, but
Dad
couldn’t answer.

“
Brandon!
”
Mom
yelled
.
“He’s choking!”

Brandon dropped his presents to rush over
.
He wrapped his arms around his father's ribcage, giving a hard squeeze over his sternum. A
chunk of
bone thrust
out of his
mouth
to
skid across the
wooden
floor.

"Thank goodness!
”
Mom
pulled
Dad
into a tearful embrace.

The twins gawked for a
mom
ent, and when they knew everything was fine, quickly turned their attention back to their new loot.

"What the
…
"
Dad
said picking up the morsel that had dislodged from his throat
.
It was a bone
.

Mom
began to scold
.
“I told you not to pick at the turkey! It ha
s an hour to go
!
”

“I swear
I haven’t sampled a bite!”

Brandon’s favorite past
time
s
w
ere
sniffing glue and smoking cigarettes behind the barn
.
He often caused trouble, but
lacked
the skills to avert it, yet
he
had just saved
Dad
.
No one else seemed surprised by his actions, but
Glory
was astounded.

"Where did you learn how to do that?
”
Glory
marveled.

"CPR class, dummy."

Mom
seemed pleased to hear
her
speak
.
She patted
Glory
on the head and gave Brandon a pinch on the arm at his sarcastic comment.

Brandon’s tone lost its edge
.
"CPR is required for rescue training,
Glory
.
”

"You’re taking rescue training
when you can’t even pass your regular classes at school
?
”

“My grades are fine.”

She
gave an incredulous grunt.
“Yeah, maybe if you want to stay in high school another ten years.
”

Brandon’s eyes narrowed to slits
.

Mom
stepped between them and explained
.
“
Glory
,
your brother
’
s grades are excellent, not that it’s your concern
.
And the fire chief
personally
invited
Brandon
to
train with the department.”

“My goal is to be an on-flight paramedic,”
he
stated
.

“Your
goal?
”
Glory
scoffed
.
Brandon
normally
boasted about his ability not to worry about the future as if lack of planning was some kind of virtue
.
“
Since when have you had any goals
? I mean, besides
getting high
.
W
hy in the world would the rescue squad waste their time on you?
”

Brandon’s nostrils flared and he took a step toward
Glory
.
Glory
immediately
stood with both fists raised in the air, ready
to take a swipe at him.
“Bring it on, tough guy!
”

The rest of the family
seemed bewildered by Glory’s reaction, as if it were somehow unexpected or unusual. They froze in their spots, making Glory feel as if she’d done something wrong.