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Back The Ursulina Save as PDF
Chapters (45)
  1. I know you'll never forgive me...
  2. Part One - Your Father
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Part Two - Your Mother
  24. Chapter Twenty-One
  25. Chapter Twenty-Two
  26. Chapter Twenty-Three
  27. Chapter Twenty-Four
  28. Chapter Twenty-Five
  29. Chapter Twenty-Six
  30. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  31. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  32. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  33. Chapter Thirty
  34. Chapter Thirty-One
  35. Chapter Thirty-Two
  36. Chapter Thirty-Three
  37. Chapter Thirty-Four
  38. Chapter Thirty-Five
  39. Chapter Thirty-Six
  40. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  41. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  42. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  43. Chapter Forty
  44. Chapter Forty-One
  45. About the Author

“Jay wasn’t home on Sunday night, was he?” I said.

Without looking up, Will shook his head.

“Where was he?” I asked quietly.

“With me.”

“Where?”

“My dad’s trailer in the woods.”

“All night?”

“Yeah. All night.”

Ajax still didn’t get it. “What were you guys doing, some kind of Ursulina hunt?”

“No,” Will murmured. “I mean, yeah, I’d told Jay about the Ursulina. I even got him Ben’s book, because he thought the whole thing was wild, like maybe the beast was real or something. That’s why we picked my dad’s trailer. It was kind of a dare to see if we could stay there all night.”

“You could have just said that,” I suggested. “You didn’t have to admit what was really going on.”

“No. People would have guessed the truth. I already see the looks at school. I hear the talk.” He looked at me with a silent plea to say it for him.

“The two of you are . . . gay?” I said with a little hesitation, in case I’d guessed wrong. But I didn’t think I had.

“Yeah. That’s right.”

“Is that why Jay’s been protecting you? To keep the secret?”

“Yeah.”

Ajax’s face darkened, first with surprise and then disgust. If I’d given him a thousand guesses, he wouldn’t have gotten it himself. He got up, saying something I won’t repeat. Regardless, the slur hit Will like a blow to the face, and he knew perfectly well that more were coming. Every day of his life, wherever he went, people around here would know who he was. This wasn’t the kind of story that could be contained, not in Black Wolf County.

“Does your father know?” I asked.

“Not yet. I guess I have to tell him now.”

“I know Norm. He’ll be okay with it.”

Will shook his head. “Don’t be so sure.”

“Jay wanted to keep this hidden?” I asked.

“Yeah, but not for himself. He didn’t want to out me. I told him we should come forward and admit it, but he knew what it would be like for me if people knew. He could go back to Milwaukee, and I’d be stuck here. But I’m not going to let him get arrested when I know he’s innocent. He was with me Sunday night. All night. He has an alibi. He didn’t kill his father.”

“Were Gordon’s problems with Jay about him being gay?”

“Oh, yeah. Gordon couldn’t deal with it. His son being gay made him less of a man. He actually said that, you know? That’s why Gordon took him out of school in Milwaukee. He thought it was the school that had turned him gay. He figured, bring him here, he’ll meet a nice blond girl.” Will gave a sour laugh. “Instead, he met a nice blond boy.”