Angel Sister

by Ann Gabhart

  Kate didn’t feel sure of anything right now. Where was Lorena? She always had to go to the outhouse first thing when she got up at Kate’s house, but perhaps she’d used the chamber pot. Or she was sleeping late. Or Mr. and Mrs. Baxter had decided they didn’t want the little girl and had given her away to someone else.

  That thought, as far-fetched as it was, made Kate’s heart bound up into her throat. She was getting up to go to the door when the back door opened again and Lorena came out. She kept her head down as she walked slowly to the outhouse. She would never go to the outhouse alone at Kate’s house. She was terrified that rats would come out of the corners to chew on her toes while she did her business. Even though Kate kept telling Lorena she’d never once seen a rat in the outhouse, she or Mama always went with Lorena to stand in the door to be sure no stray rats sneaked in to scare her.

  Lorena hesitated halfway up the path and looked back over her shoulder toward the house. The back door stayed closed, and Kate couldn’t see anybody peeking out the windows watching Lorena. In fact, in front of the house Mr. Baxter was starting his car to head off to work at his shoe store in Edgeville. Aunt Gertie said he was a different person when he was trying to sell a person a pair of shoes. All smiles and full of talk about this or that leather. Kate didn’t know. She’d never been in his store there. They bought all their shoes at Grandfather Merritt’s store.

  But she was pretty sure that Mrs. Baxter would be at the front door waving goodbye to him, so she edged around the bush and peeked out. “Lorena,” she said softly. “Over here.”

  Lorena jumped and then her eyes flew open, and the next second she was throwing herself at Kate behind the bush. “Oh, Kate. I knew you’d come. I knew it.”

  “I told you I would.” Kate kissed Lorena’s forehead and then smoothed her curly hair back from her face. “How are things going? They’re being good to you, aren’t they? I mean, it must be nice having your own room with pink walls and everything.”

  “I like your house better.” Lorena looked down at her hands and then back up at Kate. “Can I come home with you now? Please. I’ll be very good. I promise.”

  Kate pulled her close and hugged her for a long moment before she pushed her back to say, “I want you to. You know I want you to, but you’ll have to stay here for a little while. Till I figure out what to do.”

  “Did you ask Jesus to help you?”

  “Not today,” Kate said.

  “Why not? Mommy told me Jesus would always help me. That’s how come you’re here, because I was afraid to go to the toilet by myself. Miss Ella said I couldn’t use the pot inside during the daytime and that I’d better not mess my new underwear. It’s real white.” Lorena lifted the edge of her skirt to show Kate her bloomers with lace around the legs.

  “They’re pretty,” Kate said.

  “I don’t like them. They’re scratchy. I wanted to take them off last night, but Miss Ella said only bomians did things like that.”

  “Bohemians?”

  “I don’t know. Some kind of bad people. I told her I wanted to be a bo- whatever you said.” Lorena’s lips trembled as she looked down at the ground. “She got all mad and hit me with her flyswatter.”

  “Oh, sweetie.” Kate pulled her close in a hug again.

  “It’s okay. It didn’t hurt much. But Miss Ella gets mad real easy. She got mad awhile ago when I told her rats might live in outhouses. She said if she had to go with me, she’d take the flyswatter too. So I shut my eyes and told Jesus I was scared, and then you were here.” Lorena pulled away from Kate. She grabbed between her legs and hopped up and down as she said, “Now come on. I really got to go.”

  Kate peeked around the bush at the house. She didn’t see any sign of Ella Baxter, so she ran to the outhouse and slipped inside with Lorena. Light sifted in through the cracks between the boards of the outhouse. There were spiderwebs up in the corners and it was stinky, but then all outhouses had spiders and were a little stinky. The seat with the two holes in it was too high for Lorena to get up on by herself.

  “You need a stool,” Kate said as she lifted Lorena up to sit on the hole.

  Lorena kept a tight hold on Kate’s arms. “Don’t let go of me. I might fall in.”

  “No, sweetie. The hole’s not that big.”

  Lorena clung even tighter to Kate. “It feels big to me.”

  “Just do what you have to do so we can get out of here.”

  “You’re scared there are rats too.” Lorena stared up at her with big eyes.

  “No. No rats. I promise.”

  The little girl didn’t look convinced. “Cross your heart?”

  “Cross my heart.” Kate didn’t blame Lorena for looking doubtful. Too many promises to her had been broken already. But Kate was pretty sure no rats would pop out of the corners of the Baxters’ outhouse, so a no-rats promise was probably safe to make.

  “I don’t like rats.”

  “I know. Tell you what. Before I leave, I’ll sprinkle some rat-proof powder all around the door so if you have to go to the toilet when I’m not here, you’ll be fine.” Kate looked around as she helped Lorena down. “And look, there’s an old bucket you can turn upside down and stand on to get up on the toilet. You’ll be able to do it by yourself, Lorena.”

  “I’ll still be scared.” She reached down to pull up her underwear.

  “I know, sweetie. I know, but even scared, you can do it.”

  “And you’re sure about the rats?”

  “I’m sure. No rats.” Kate touched Lorena’s cheek. “Remember rat-proof powder.”

  “And Jesus,” Lorena added. “He can help me be brave.”

  A door slammed. Kate peeked out the cracks. Ella Baxter was on the back step looking toward the outhouse. “Polly! Where are you, Polly?” she called.

  “Polly? Does Miss Ella have a cat named Polly?”

  “No.” Lorena sniffed a little and leaned against Kate. “She says I have to be Polly. I told her my name, but she said that wasn’t a good name, that Polly was better and from now on I’d be Polly, but I won’t. I don’t care how much she hits me with her flyswatter. My name is Lorena Birdsong.”

  “Yes. Yes, it is. But maybe right now, you should yell back at her that you’re coming.”

  Ella Baxter had started up the path to the outhouse. Kate had no idea what she might do if she caught Kate there with Lorena, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t be anything Kate or Lorena wanted to happen.

  “Coming!” Lorena yelled as loud as she could.

  “What in the world are you doing in there?” Ella stopped on the path and stared at the outhouse.

  Kate whispered, “Go on out. I’ll come back after breakfast. I’ll knock on the front door.” She gave Lorena a quick kiss and then scooted back as far as she could into the corner when Lorena opened the door and hurried out. She slammed the door closed behind her.

  “Well, it’s about time. And make sure you fasten that door good and tight. We don’t want any possums taking up residence in there, do we?”

  “No, ma’am.” Lorena turned the wooden button to hold the door shut. She peeked through the cracks toward Kate.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Looking for possums. Are they like rats?”

  “Bigger and meaner. Now quit poking along. I’ve got work to do.” Mrs. Baxter grabbed hold of Lorena’s arm and yanked her along the path toward the house.

  “Can’t I stay outside and play?”

  “Not now. I told you. Chores first, then playtime. You’ve got to straighten your room.”

  “I haven’t messed it up yet,” Lorena said.

  “Don’t back talk me, young lady. You’ve been around that Kate Merritt too long. You need to learn how to behave, and I’m the one that can teach you.” She kept fussing as she pulled Lorena through the back door and shut it behind them.

  Kate waited a few minutes longer before she pushed against the outhouse door. The wooden button held tight. She softly bounced the door back
and forth against the wood fastener in hopes that it might make the button slide around on its nail. No such luck. She was stuck inside there until somebody came up the path, and then what?

  Her heart started beating a little faster. She wasn’t exactly scared. She didn’t think rats were going to start crawling out of the corners toward her. Spiders maybe, but not rats. She peered up toward the spiderwebs above her head and wished she hadn’t thought about the spiders. She felt all crawly as she brushed through her hair with her hands and shook her arms and legs. She didn’t see a spider anywhere, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. The light was dim in the outhouse and some spiders were really small.

  She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed in and out slowly to keep from screaming. The spiders would stay in their webs. They wouldn’t hurt her. But who knew what might happen if Mrs. Baxter caught her there? She’d tell Grandfather Merritt and he’d say she couldn’t come see Lorena ever. It had to be just a matter of time until Mrs. Baxter needed to use the toilet and then Kate would be caught for sure.

  You could ask Jesus to help you. Lorena’s words echoed in Kate’s head, but the Lord hadn’t helped her the day before. Even if she said the words, Please, Jesus, help me, out loud there wasn’t anybody to hear them. Nobody. But the words seemed to rise inside her in spite of herself. It was as if she couldn’t stop the prayer even though she knew nobody was listening.

  All of a sudden the button on the outside of the door turned. Kate hadn’t heard anybody come up the path. She hadn’t heard anything at all. Her heart jumped up in her throat as her eyes flew open. She peeked out of the cracks between the planks on the door. No one was there. Gingerly she pushed open the door and peered out. No sign of anybody there. Not Mrs. Baxter. No one.

  Kate stepped out of the outhouse, pushed the door shut, and locked it. She looked toward the house before she slipped around behind the outhouse where she could walk away without being seen.

  And there was her rescuer, already climbing the fence behind the house to head toward the trees in the distance. Kate called out to her, but Fern didn’t look back. She just kept walking.

  33

  ______

  You can’t go bothering people before breakfast, Kate,” her mother said while Kate poured water out of the teakettle into the dishpan. She was trying to sound stern, but Kate thought she really wanted to skip the lecture and just ask about Lorena.

  They were alone in the kitchen. Tori had tagged along with Kate’s father to the shop, and Evie had gone to the store to get some salt.

  “Mrs. Baxter didn’t see me.” Kate set the teakettle back on the stove.

  “Yes, but you still should have waited.” Mama paused a moment before she asked, “Was Lorena all right?”

  “I guess, but she’d been crying.” Kate didn’t look at her mother as she concentrated on washing her father’s coffee cup just so. A couple of tears slid out of the corners of her eyes when she thought about leaving Lorena there with Mrs. Baxter, but her mother didn’t notice. The tears rolled down to join the beads of sweat on Kate’s face. The kitchen was hot.

  “Well, that might be expected. Poor child’s had some upheavals.” Her mother dropped a handful of the lima beans she was shelling into a pan.

  “She said Mrs. Baxter wanted to change her name to Polly, and when Lorena said she wouldn’t, she hit her with a flyswatter.”

  “Polly.” Mama mashed her mouth together and shook her head. “I don’t know what Ella’s thinking.” She sounded almost like she was talking to herself, before she blew out a breath and looked up at Kate. “But I suppose there’s nothing wrong with the name Polly.”

  “I’m not calling her Polly,” Kate said as she attacked the dried egg and ketchup on Tori’s plate.

  “No. Not unless Lorena decides she likes the name.”

  “She won’t.” Kate propped the clean plate in the draining pan and started scrubbing on the skillet.

  Her mother sighed and picked up a new bean to shell. “You’re no doubt right about that. Her name is important to her. It’s her last connection with her mother.”

  “Do you think her parents will ever come back to get her?”

  “I don’t know. Who knows what might have happened to them after they drove away from Rosey Corner? It’s awful to be so poor.”

  Kate wiped the skillet dry with a tea towel and looked around for any dishes she might have missed as she said, “But we’re poor too, aren’t we? We don’t have money.”

  “We may not have a lot of money, but we get by. We don’t go hungry.” Mama’s voice sounded stiff.

  Kate wrung out the dishrag and draped it over the edge of the cabinet. “But what if Grandfather Merritt quits letting us run a tab at his store?”

  “He won’t.”

  Kate carried the dishpan out the back door and threw the water out in the yard. Some hens came running to frantically peck at the bits of food in the dishwater. Kate went back in the kitchen and sat down at the table beside her mother. She picked up a handful of the lima beans and began hulling them. “Is that why Grandfather Merritt can tell people what to do in Rosey Corner? Because people owe him money for the stuff they buy?”

  Mama was quiet for so long that Kate didn’t think she was going to answer her, but at last she said, “No, I don’t think that’s it. I think it has more to do with your grandfather’s strength of character and how he feels about Rosey Corner. While he may seem harsh at times, I believe he really does want what’s best for the community. The same as Father always wanted what was best for the church.”

  “He doesn’t want what’s best for Lorena.” Kate stared at the beans in her hand. “Neither did Grandfather Reece. He wanted Mrs. Baxter to have her.”

  “Not now. With all that happened, I forgot to tell you what Father said yesterday. He told me to tell you he was wrong and you were right.” Mama put her hand on Kate’s arm and looked straight into her face. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard him say he was wrong before.”

  Kate stared at her. “Can’t we just go get Lorena back? She wants to come, and we want her to be here. Mrs. Baxter doesn’t even act like she likes her.”

  Kate’s mother reached across the beans in her lap to give Kate a hug. “I wish I could make all this better, but I can’t. All I can do is pray that an answer will come. An answer that will be best for Lorena. And for you.”

  Kate shifted uneasily in her chair. She couldn’t tell her mother she didn’t believe in prayer anymore. Mama thought prayer could solve everything, but Kate knew that wasn’t true. So what if Fern had let her out of the outhouse right after a prayer had sort of sprung up inside of Kate’s head all on its own. That didn’t mean a thing.

  Evie came in the back door and set the salt down on the table. She looked at Kate. “Grandfather Merritt told me to tell you not to go see Lorena. He didn’t know you’d already been over there and I didn’t tell him, but he said you had to stay away from Lorena so she could get used to being with the Baxters.”

  “But I promised Lorena I’d come back after breakfast. I can go, can’t I?” Kate begged her mother. “I have to. I promised.”

  Mama studied the lima bean in her hand for a long moment before she finally looked up and said, “You can go, but you have to be respectful of Mrs. Baxter.”

  “But she’s been hitting Lorena with a flyswatter.”

  “I’ve waved a flyswatter your way a few times myself when you needed it.”

  “That’s different,” Kate said.

  “How so?” Mama looked at her with raised eyebrows.

  “You love us. Mrs. Baxter doesn’t love Lorena.”

  “Now, Kate, you can’t be sure of that.”

  “Mama, she can’t love her. Not and try to change her name to Polly. She just wouldn’t do that if she loved her.”

  Before Kate could go back to see Lorena, she had to help finish up the lima beans and then carry some food and a raisin pie to Grandfather Reece’s house. When she got there, Grandfather Reece ha
d his Bible marked at Luke 11 for her to read to him. That was the chapter with the Lord’s Prayer in it.

  Grandfather Reece had to know those verses by heart, but he shut his eyes and seemed to absorb the words as Kate read them. Then when she got to the ninth and tenth verses about asking and receiving, seeking and finding, knocking and it opening up, he reached over and poked the Bible with his finger, then poked her. She knew he was preaching at her even though she was the one reading the Scripture and he wasn’t saying a word. What she didn’t know was how he knew she felt all prayed out and empty.

  So it was already the middle of the afternoon before Kate finally walked up to the Baxters’ front door and knocked on the screen door. She wanted to just yell for Lorena, but she’d promised her mother to be respectful of Mrs. Baxter. Kate peered through the screen door in hopes of seeing Lorena running to the door. The living room looked like something out of a magazine, with a cream-colored couch and books perfectly arranged on a coffee table in front of it.

  The room was not a thing like her sister’s house. The only time Miss Carla’s house got any kind of cleaning was when Kate’s mother took pity on Grandfather Reece and straightened up the mess. Mama said cleaning wasn’t Miss Carla’s talent. Kate didn’t think cleaning took talent, but if it did, then from the looks of Mrs. Baxter’s living room, she had loads of that talent.

  And it was quiet. Too quiet. Like nobody was home. Kate knocked again. She was about to turn away and go see if Lorena was out in the backyard when Mrs. Baxter came out of a side room into the living room. From the way she fluffed her hair as she came toward the door, Kate guessed she must have been lying down.

  “Kate.” Mrs. Baxter made no move to open the screen door. She looked surprised and not at all happy to see Kate. “Didn’t your grandfather talk to you?”