she'll break the skin.
“Where's my husband?” she asks.
“Please, just -”
“Where is he?” she screams. “What did you -”
Slipping away, I grab her arm and pull her away from the bed, quickly slamming her into the wall. She cries out and drops the knife, which I quickly grab before stepping back and then kicking her hard in the side of the face. Figuring I need to get little Alistair to safety, I pick him up from the bed and then step over the woman as groans on the floor.
“Wait,” she gasps, trying but failing to grab my foot.
Stopping outside the room, I turn and look back at her. She's trying to get to her feet, but the pain in her side is clearly too great and she's lost a lot of blood. Her belly is gross, all sagging flesh and blood smears. As she starts crawling across the floor, still screaming at me to give her the baby, she looks like some kind of monster. Pa always called the pigs his 'pretty little monsters', but I reckon that can apply to people too.
“Stay back!” I say finally, holding up the knife and turning it so she can see the blade, while balancing the baby in my other arm.
She cries out, but she looks too weak to do much. I reckon I can easily cut her down if necessary.
“You pushed Pa down the stairs,” I continue. I pause for a moment, surprised that I'm not more upset. I think Pa's death has been coming for a while, and in all honesty I'm kinda glad if he's been put out of his misery. In truth, I'm glad he's been put out of my misery too. While he was still around, I still felt like I wasn't completely in charge of the farm. Now that's changed. “Don't worry about Pa,” I tell the woman, “I'll bury him out back. I should feed him to the pigs, but that doesn't seem right somehow, so I guess -”
“Give me my baby!” she shouts, crawling a little closer. “I swear to God, you little bitch -”
“Keep back!” I swipe the knife toward her, just inches from her face, and she recoils slightly. “Don't you come near me,” I continue, “or bad things are gonna happen.”
“Please don't hurt my baby,” she sobs.
“He's not your baby,” I tell her, “and anyway, I'd never hurt him. I'm gonna raise him good, and I'm gonna make sure he fits in around here just fine, just like me!”
“No, please...”
“He's gonna have a good life,” I continue. “Much better than anything you can give him. I've seen flashes of the world out there, and I can't say I think much of it. I've watched cars going by on the road, and I've seen people from time to time. They never come here to the farmhouse, but once or twice I've gone to the edge of it all and I've watched for a little while. Looks like a cold, mean place to me. I like it a lot better here.”
“Give me my baby,” she whispers. As she reaches toward me, however, it's clear that she's close to losing consciousness. She mumbles something under her breath, but I can't make out any of the words.
“I'm sorry I tried to feed you to the pigs,” I tell her. “That was wrong of me, I admit. I panicked, but to be fair, you were trying to hurt me, so it was self-defense.”
She gasps, and it's clear she's in a lot of pain. I'm impressed that she made it this far, but I guess a mother can really find hidden strength if she's trying to look after her baby. I feel the same thing in me.
“You've got two choices,” I continue, hoping I might be able to make her see sense. “The first is you can come at me and try to force things, in which case I'll fight back and we both know how that's gonna go. I'm stronger and tougher than you, especially now you're in such a bad way, so -”
She lunges at me. Instinctively, I kick out, slamming my foot against her face and sending her slumping back against the door-frame.
“You're hurt,” I continue, “so you're not gonna get very far against me. Come on, be sensible. You know I'm telling the truth.”
She sits up and starts crawling toward me, but the impact against the wall has
“Where's my husband?” she asks.
“Please, just -”
“Where is he?” she screams. “What did you -”
Slipping away, I grab her arm and pull her away from the bed, quickly slamming her into the wall. She cries out and drops the knife, which I quickly grab before stepping back and then kicking her hard in the side of the face. Figuring I need to get little Alistair to safety, I pick him up from the bed and then step over the woman as groans on the floor.
“Wait,” she gasps, trying but failing to grab my foot.
Stopping outside the room, I turn and look back at her. She's trying to get to her feet, but the pain in her side is clearly too great and she's lost a lot of blood. Her belly is gross, all sagging flesh and blood smears. As she starts crawling across the floor, still screaming at me to give her the baby, she looks like some kind of monster. Pa always called the pigs his 'pretty little monsters', but I reckon that can apply to people too.
“Stay back!” I say finally, holding up the knife and turning it so she can see the blade, while balancing the baby in my other arm.
She cries out, but she looks too weak to do much. I reckon I can easily cut her down if necessary.
“You pushed Pa down the stairs,” I continue. I pause for a moment, surprised that I'm not more upset. I think Pa's death has been coming for a while, and in all honesty I'm kinda glad if he's been put out of his misery. In truth, I'm glad he's been put out of my misery too. While he was still around, I still felt like I wasn't completely in charge of the farm. Now that's changed. “Don't worry about Pa,” I tell the woman, “I'll bury him out back. I should feed him to the pigs, but that doesn't seem right somehow, so I guess -”
“Give me my baby!” she shouts, crawling a little closer. “I swear to God, you little bitch -”
“Keep back!” I swipe the knife toward her, just inches from her face, and she recoils slightly. “Don't you come near me,” I continue, “or bad things are gonna happen.”
“Please don't hurt my baby,” she sobs.
“He's not your baby,” I tell her, “and anyway, I'd never hurt him. I'm gonna raise him good, and I'm gonna make sure he fits in around here just fine, just like me!”
“No, please...”
“He's gonna have a good life,” I continue. “Much better than anything you can give him. I've seen flashes of the world out there, and I can't say I think much of it. I've watched cars going by on the road, and I've seen people from time to time. They never come here to the farmhouse, but once or twice I've gone to the edge of it all and I've watched for a little while. Looks like a cold, mean place to me. I like it a lot better here.”
“Give me my baby,” she whispers. As she reaches toward me, however, it's clear that she's close to losing consciousness. She mumbles something under her breath, but I can't make out any of the words.
“I'm sorry I tried to feed you to the pigs,” I tell her. “That was wrong of me, I admit. I panicked, but to be fair, you were trying to hurt me, so it was self-defense.”
She gasps, and it's clear she's in a lot of pain. I'm impressed that she made it this far, but I guess a mother can really find hidden strength if she's trying to look after her baby. I feel the same thing in me.
“You've got two choices,” I continue, hoping I might be able to make her see sense. “The first is you can come at me and try to force things, in which case I'll fight back and we both know how that's gonna go. I'm stronger and tougher than you, especially now you're in such a bad way, so -”
She lunges at me. Instinctively, I kick out, slamming my foot against her face and sending her slumping back against the door-frame.
“You're hurt,” I continue, “so you're not gonna get very far against me. Come on, be sensible. You know I'm telling the truth.”
She sits up and starts crawling toward me, but the impact against the wall has
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