Margaret's Ark

After a short hesitation, Katie leaned forward and unzipped the pack. She reached in, her hand emerging with Margaret’s tattered Bible. She stared at it, not handing the book over.

Carl said, “It was your mother’s. She’d want you to have it now.”

Katie’s hand shook. She pulled the book against her chest, and the three sat without speaking. Robin and Carl waited. Keeping her gaze to the deck, Katie handed the book to Carl.

“We’ll share it,” she said.

To Carl, those three words were the most powerful sentence he’d ever heard. He bit his lip, wanting to cry but knowing instinctively he should not. Not now. This moment was Katie’s. He held the book in his good hand, flipped random pages with his thumb.

As he began to read, Katie Carboneau slowly turned her face against his shoulder and cried.

Carl kept on reading.

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About the Author

Dan Keohane’s debut novel, Solomon’s Grave, was a finalist for the 2009 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. His short fiction has been published in a variety of professional magazines including Cemetery Dance, Shroud Magazine, Apex Digest, Coach’s Midnight Diner and many more. Many of his stories have been collected in Christmas Trees & Monkeys, Collected Horror Stories Volume 1. Many have received Honorable Mention in the Year’s Best Horror anthologies. He’s an active member of the Horror Writers Association and founding member of the New England Horror Writers. You can learn more about his work at his website: http://www.dankeohane.com, and whatever social network happens to be the rage at the moment. He’s afraid of clowns, but pretends he’s not, because that would be weird.