Piper at the Gates of Dusk

Chapter 3

“You were the one who wanted me to keep it a secret,” Max says, hammering away.

I was trying to protect you! I sign. Because unfortunately, this is true. People mostly understand this stuff now, but the ones who won’t are loud as hell. What if Mom and Pop had been awful?

“I knew they wouldn’t be,” he says, bashing another piece of charcoal. “And it wasn’t your decision to make.”

And if you’d got beaten up in town? Or worse? You know how bad it can get here. If something happened to you . . .

I don’t finish the thought, but he finally turns around to me, mallet still in his hand. “I know. But I have to be me. I can’t be anybody else. I tried that.” He turns back to the chook coop. “It doesn’t work.”

Smash, smash, smash.