Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 142916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Raik Bootsma made his living on the water, just as Evi’s father did. The two men had been friends most of their lives. Raik was well-liked and personable. He appeared to love his wife and daughter. He’d always wanted more children, but Imka, his wife, had problems carrying. It had been Raik who determined enough was enough when Imka had nearly died when she had miscarried their third baby. He had declared that he wanted his wife far more than any more children. Fenja, a midwife, had concurred with Raik that the risk was far too much to continue trying.
Silke had liked him for his love of Imka alone. And he’d been the kind of father who laughed often with his daughter, putting her on his shoulders and playing games with her. He’d wanted a son like Jelte to follow in his footsteps, to go out on the water and help with the family business, but once he knew he would never have another child, he’d seemed to accept it. He never appeared to resent Finn, and he always treated Jelte without a hint of resentment. It didn’t make sense that all of a sudden, Evi wouldn’t care to be around a man who had treated her with the same affection he did his daughter.
Silke was very careful not to react. She continued planting, indicating a small trowel so that Evi would hand it to her. She sent the child a small, encouraging smile. “Did you tell your parents your concerns?”
Evi frowned. “Nonsense,” she replied.
That wasn’t good. Her parents had evidently informed her that whatever she was feeling—or had told them—was nonsense. Dismissing what she’d said was not a good way to keep lines of communication open. Evi had shut down and didn’t trust her parents to talk about her concerns. Now she was carefully feeling Silke out to see if Silke felt the same way as her parents did.
Evi was a very sensitive child, more so than most in the village. Silke wasn’t about to dismiss her concerns. If Raik made her uneasy, there had to be a reason.
“Feelings are never nonsense,” she pointed out carefully. “Your parents have been friends with Raik and Imka since they were children. Your father works with Raik. They might not have been able to hear you because of that friendship. It’s possible something is wrong. Even a medical condition that might cause Raik to change his behavior. Tell me why you don’t like him now.”
Evi’s expression brightened. “I didn’t consider that he might be sick. Sometimes people act mean when they aren’t feeling good.”
Another piece of the puzzle. “Mean?” Silke prompted, making certain to keep her gaze fixed on the plants she was surrounding with rich soil.
Evi nodded her head vigorously. “The last two times I went to visit, he was mean to Imka. He made her cry with the way he was talking in a nasty voice. It wasn’t like a fight.” Her frown deepened. “It wasn’t an argument. Imka didn’t say or do anything bad to him, he just yelled at her about dinner and then told her she was lazy. Imka works very hard. I’ve seen her. When she cried, he told her to stop blubbering. He said she was trying to manipulate him. I had to look up ‘manipulate.’ And then he made Julia cry.”
Silke stayed silent, turning the information over and over in her mind, waiting for pieces to start clicking together. Raik wasn’t a man who yelled at his wife and daughter. At least Silke had never seen evidence of it.
“He yelled at Julia?”
Raik had always been a wonderful father. Silke couldn’t remember him raising his voice at Julia, even if he had to reprimand her for something.
Evi nodded solemnly. She looked close to tears. She was a child with a great deal of empathy for others. “He yelled in a loud, mean voice and said lots of bad words. He told Julia she didn’t follow the rules and she was to be punished. But we did follow the rules. We never break rules at Julia’s house. I sometimes break them at my house because I don’t always remember the time. Julia always remembers it.”
Evi hung her head. “I was afraid to tell her father that. He looked so cruel. His face was red, and he kept doing this…” She waited until Silke was looking at her and then she bared her teeth and clenched and unclenched her jaw. She put her hands up and made fists and opened her hands over and over. “He kept making fists with his hands like he wanted to hit Imka and Julia. Julia tried to tell him we’d come home on time and helped Imka with dinner, but when she started to say something, he took a step toward her, cursing, and he swung his hand at her face. Imka stepped between them, and he hit her so hard, she fell down.”