Trafika Europe 12 - French Bon-Bons

Breathing into Marble

suddenly. ‘What are you talking about?’ She heard Liudas enter the porch and stamp the mud from his feet. ‘I don’t understand – why did you bring him here?’ Liudas wasn’t in a hurry. There was no sound of his coat being unbuttoned. Just the hum of the thoughts he had brought home with him. ‘He’s like your spare child. You won’t have me for long.’ ‘A fox, did you say?’ Isabel touched her neck; it felt as if it were growing tight, so tight, as if there were somebody standing behind her pulling her gold chain around her throat. Liudas was standing in the doorway, very still. ‘My teacher is afraid of me. When I make a mistake, she explains what I’ve done wrong as if she felt guilty for having noticed it. She does it because she knows I will not solve problems for much longer.’ ‘Gailius . . . I’ll talk to her. Don’t be afraid of the fox. Dad will shoot it.’ Isabel didn’t notice when the boy put his spoon down on the table and walked out of the kitchen. Her legs, silent and light as feathers carried her across to the doorway. Liudas inched and leaned away from

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