The Robin Hood Thief
Page 24
New apprehension gripped her, and her stomach flipped over. Her heart rate went up.
She was about to die. To die. For real this time. A moment she had anticipated, either with dread or with longing, hundreds of times since she had become conscious of her own mortality.
The nurse gave Helen a glass of water. “It was an honor to have met you,” she said. Then she stepped back to give them privacy.
Mandy stepped up, and Helen smiled at her daughter and took her hand. “I’m so impressed by the young woman you’ve become,” she said. “Daddy would have been, too.”
Mandy just smiled while tears left tracks on her face.
“Take care of her,” Helen said to Egemon.
“I will,” he said.
Helen raised the water glass in a toast. “To doing all the good you can in the time you have.”
The others nodded.
Helen swallowed the pill, set down the glass of water, and lay down.
Mandy and Egemon each took one of her hands and held tight, and Helen gave them a last sad smile.
Then she looked up into the painted night sky and thought, Okay. I’m done now.
She let that thought fill her mind until there was nothing else and then nothing more.
Dear America
I have something to say to you.
You get to do this life your own way.
Maybe that didn’t hit you strongly enough, so let me just say it again.
You get to do this life your own way.
Find a way to make a choice that’s yours and yours alone.
And don’t be afraid—or be afraid, but do it anyway.
This was who I had to be—this is what I had to do. You don’t have to make the same choices. But if I could do so much in just forty-five days, then you can do even more in the time you have.
I’m not interested in your excuses. Do something. Something that takes a giant step toward a life you can believe in. Something brave and good.
Come on. Join me.
Be a hero.
Love, the Robin Hood Thief
THE END
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my amazing beta readers: Michele Leonard, Josef Molnar, George Wright Padgett, April Stewart, and my mom, Janet Henderson, who read at least three different drafts. And thank you to my marvelous critique group, Team Gargoyles: Wayne Basta, Ian Everett, Chris Lewis, Laura Rich, and Shannon Winton.
Thanks go also to the redditors of /r/Hacking for their help with the details. Thank you to Ryan "Iggy" Harrison for technical advice. Thank you to Chris Lewis for plot troubleshooting, technical advice, and legal information.
Thank you to Dan Ko for all your great advice at my Writers’ Salons—and for buying me lunch that day. (See, told ya.)
Thank you to Jason Aydelotte of Grey Gecko Press for dealing with all the fiddly bits.
Thank you to all my friends and family who listen to me ramble on about my writing life on a regular basis.
And thank you most of all to my wonderful husband, Benjamin, for supporting my writing. I am so lucky.
About the Author
H.C.H. Ritz has a degree in theatre from the University of Houston and directs community theatre in her spare time. Originally from rural Mississippi, she has lived in Houston, Texas long enough to have turned into a city person. She is married to a wonderful human being and has a young son and a tortoiseshell kitty named Roxie Underfoot.
Connect with H.C.H. Ritz
@hchritz
HCHRitz
www.hchritz.com
hilary@hchritz.com
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ritz, H. C. H.
The robin hood thief / H. C. H. Ritz
First Edition