Q: CHAPTER IX

Isobel was standing quite still in the middle of the room, her hands tightly clenched, a spot of colour aflame in her cheeks. Arthur, who had passed Lady Delahaye and me upon the stairs, had apparently just been told the object of her visit.

"Oh, I hate that woman!" Isobel exclaimed as I entered, "I hate her! I would rather die than go to her. I would rather go back to the convent. She looks at me as though I were something to be despised, something which should not be allowed to go alive upon the earth!"

Arthur would have spoken, but Mabane interrupted him. He laid his hand gently upon her shoulder.

"Isobel," he said gently, "you need have no fear. I know how Arnold feels about it, and I can speak for myself also. You shall not go to her. We will not give you up. I do not believe that she will go to the courts at all. I doubt if she has any claim."

"Why, we'd hide you, run away with you, anything," Arthur declared impetuously. "Don't you be scared, Isobel, I don't believe she can do a thing. The law's like a great fat animal. It takes a plaguey lot to move it, and then it moves as slowly as a steam-roller. We'll dodge it somehow."

She gave them a hand each. Her action was almost regal. It some way, it seemed that in according her our protection we were receiving rather than conferring a favour.

Answer the following questions:
1. Where was Isobel?
2. How did she clench her hands?
3. Who passed the narrator at the stairs?
4. Who else was there?
5. What Arthur told her?
6. Where was Isobel prior to this place?
7. Did she hate the woman?
8. What she would rather do than to go to her?
9. Did she give the narrator a nasty look?
10. Who interrupted Arthur?
11. Did Arthur try to reassure Isobel?
12. Did he tell her not be scared?
13. Did he and Arnold feel the same way about it?
A: 1. the middle of the room
2. tightly
3. Arthur
4. Lady Delahaye
5. the object of her visit
6. he convent
7. yes
8. die
9. yes
10. Mabane
11. yes
12. yes
13. yes
Q: My brother, Michael, was born one month before his due date and he also had cerebral palsy . He was _ . He never lost his baby teeth, never grew taller than about 30 inches and never weighed more than 28 pounds. They did estimate, however, that he would not live to see his 12th birthday.

As a boy I learned to feed and clothe Mike. As a teenager, I babysat for my "big brother" and learned use the proper medicine to prevent the seizures that caused him to tremble.

Many people said he would never walk or talk . He never did learn to walk, but he did learn to talk --not even in complete sentences, but he had the basics down. If he was hungry, thirsty, happy or sad, we knew. He knew names too. I was Kagun, not Kevin. But that changed with a beard I grew during the summer before college. Family members said it was ugly. Mike heard it.

"Look who's at home. Who's that?" they'd say to Mike. "Ugly," he would respond with delight.

All of which--to me--was normal, for he was the only brother I knew. The only time I thought of the differences between us was when others pointed them out.

My circle of friends widened when I entered high school. One day Mom asked if my new friends would have a problem seeing Mike for the first time. "If they don't accept Mike, they don't accept me and they aren't welcome," I said.

And if I didn't think of him as different, I never thought about him dying either. On a warm fall night in 1998, Mike had a seizure. With this first seizure, Mike's life was beginning to fade.

On March 15, 1999, Mike died. Michael Patrick Harter--just 26 years old-- died in Mom's arms.

We never had those great talks other brothers have about women, work and parents. We never played catch or talked about our dreams. But Mike taught me compassion and strength. He taught me respect for those less fortunate than myself. And he taught me an appreciation of the beauty in the simplest things.

Physically and mentally, I was my brother's keeper. Spiritually, Mike was and is my keeper--a nearly silent guardian angel.

Answer the following questions:
1. Who was Michael?
2. What age did the not expect him to live to?
3. What age did he die?
4. How did he say Kevin's name?
5. What did he do to help Michael as a boy?
6. Did he learn to walk?
7. What about talk?
8. What did he call Kevin after hearing other family members sayit?
9. What did Kevin say about his friends accepting him?
10. What happened in the fall of 1998?
11. Was this his first?
12. What began because if it?
13. What was the date of his death?
14. What did he teach Kevin?
15. Anything else?
16. What else?
17. What did he teach him to appreciate?
18. What was he to kevin spiritually?
19. What kind of keeper was Kevin to his brother?
20. Who was with Mike when he passed?
A:
1. Kevin's brother
2. Age 12
3. 26
4. Kagun
5. Learned to feed and clothe him
6. No
7. Yes
8. Ugly
9. "If they don't accept Mike, they don't accept me and they aren't welcome"
10. Mike had a seizure.
11. Yes
12. His life was beginning to fade
13. 1999
14. Compassion and strength.
15. Yes
16. Respect for those less fortunate than himself
17. Beauty in the simplest things
18. His keeper
19. Guardian angel
20. His mom