Run Away Home: Tempered

Run Away Home: Tempered (Run Away Home, Book I) Catherine Manett RhetAskew Publishing United States of America –––––––– Interior Design © 2023 — Flitterbow Productions Cover Design used by permission - getcovers.com All characters, settings, locations, and all other content contained within this book are fictional and are the intellectual property of the author; any likenesses are coincidental and unknown to author and publisher at the time of publication. This work and its components may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the author and Rhetoric Askew, LLC. © 2023 Catherine Manett ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Table of Contents Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Acknowledgments About the Author for my forever friend, cousin, and partner in imagination, Christine Lang Prologue Danny “ANOTHER NEW BOY? HOW many can we fit in here? There’s too many!” I say. “Should we go take a look at him?” Darren asks us. We’re standing in the living room, hiding behind the wall near the walk-in room. I want to know what the new boy looks like. “I think we should go see,” Andy responds. I slide closer to the door, getting as close as possible without being spotted. “HEY, DANNY, WAIT!” Darren whisper-yells. That’s when you yell in a whisper voice. I don’t listen to him. I do what I want. Chapter One Melissa “I NEVER HAD CHILDREN of my own, but I wouldn’t trade what I do have for the world. You kids—” A new coughing fit interrupts me. I push the oxygen tubes farther into my nostrils and wheeze. “Can you hand me that water bottle, Peter?” He lets go of my hand and turns to the side table. He picks up the bottle and untwists the cap. I take it from him. “I’m proud of you.” He looks back, wide-eyed. “Really?” “Yes, really. You’ve become a very responsible young man. Helping out around the