The store manager ran over. “Why don’t I help you check out?” he said. He did not seem eager to have Sister Krumbles stay in his store any longer than she needed to.
“Oh, thank you! But I can’t yet,” Sister Krumbles said. “I have to wait for our postulant Kathy. She’s still shopping.”
The manager seemed to have a hard time smiling. “I’ll have your cart ready for checkout while you go look for your friend. How does that sound?”
“Wonderful,” answered the grateful sister, and she started her search for Kathy.
Up and down the aisles, Sister Krumbles walked. She walked past wood and plumbing supplies. She walked past paint and floor tiles. She walked past tools and carpeting samples. But Kathy was nowhere to be seen.
Sister Krumbles walked across the store again, but still no Kathy. “Kathy! Kathy! Where are you?” she called.
Another shopper said, “Why don’t you ask the front desk to make an announcement? They can ask Kathy to meet you up front.”
“Why, that’s a wonderful idea!” the sister said as she hurried up to the front desk.
“KATHY, KATHY! PLEASE COME TO THE FRONT DESK!” blared the store speakers over and over. But Kathy did not come.
Sister Krumbles was tired and confused. “Where could she be? I’ll never find her in a store this big!” she said to the manager.
“Come along,” answered the manager, “I’ll start on this end of the store. You start on the other, and we’ll search every aisle until we see her.”
Sister Krumbles walked and walked. Once more, she searched every aisle. But when she met the manager in the middle of the store, she was upset.
“Where could she be?” cried Sister Krumbles. She could feel the tears welling up. “How could she not hear those announcements?”
Suddenly the manager’s eyes widened. “The only department that can’t hear the store announcements is the gardening section outside.”
They hurried to the gardening department. And there was Kathy wandering around the flower bulb aisle! She did not seem to know that anyone had been looking for her.
“Where have you been? And why are you out here?” asked Sister Krumbles.
“Oh! I am so sorry! I got everything on the list very quickly. So I decided to look around. I guess I just lost track of the time,” said Kathy.
Sister Krumbles wanted to be angry. But she was so glad that she had found Kathy that she gave her a big hug.
“I will be happy to help you check out and load your car,” said the manager.
“Oh, thank you,” said Sister Krumbles. “I was wondering how we would get all the wood onto the truck by ourselves.”
The manager was very helpful. He helped them check out. He helped them load up the truck with the wood, the shingles, the hammers, and the nails.
When Sister Krumbles and Kathy had gotten into the truck and were starting to drive away, the manager waved after them. “Thank you for shopping here!” he said.
But he seemed even happier that the Sisters had finally left his store!
Chapter 3
Whistles and Goats
It was too late to start building the dog house that day, so Sister Krumbles went to bed thinking about it. She spent half the night dreaming of fancy dog houses—a red dog house with a black roof, a blue dog house with a brown roof. She dreamed of dog houses with little windows and flower boxes. In her dreams, Gracie was drinking tea out of a china cup and inviting other puppies in for a piece of cake.
Sister Krumbles woke up in the middle of the night and laughed when she realized she had been dreaming. She fluffed her pillow and settled down to sleep again. “I will try to dream more sensible dreams,” she said.
Next, she dreamed of Gracie guarding the goats. Little Gracie was fearless. She herded the goats into the pen at night. She herded them into the goat house when it rained. Then she chased away a pack of hungry wolves. When Sister Krumbles awoke, she was very excited about training the puppy.
“Kathy and I will start training Gracie right after breakfast!” she announced to the Sisters.
Mother Mercy looked annoyed. “Today we are making the rosary beads to sell for our charity work. You promised you would help. Besides, what do you two know about training dogs?”
“Yesterday I bought a book on dog training,” said Sister Krumbles. “And a whistle. We will have Gracie trained in no time!”
“Humph!” Mother Mercy said. “We might as well start looking for a new home for Gracie.”
Kathy hung her head sadly. Seeing her, Mother Mercy changed her mind. “I suppose the rest of us can make the rosaries. I did say Gracie could have another chance.”
So after breakfast, Sister Krumbles and Kathy went outside with Gracie. “First we will build the doghouse,” Sister Krumbles said. “Next, we will train Gracie!”
BUZZ! WHIRL! Kathy held one side of the plywood while Sister Krumbles cut large pieces of wood into even rectangles.
“BANG! WHAM…!” Sister Krumbles hammered the wood she had cut into the shape she had dreamed of the night before.
After she had placed the roof on top, she stapled the tarpaper on with an electric staple gun—POP! POP…!
“We’re almost done,” Sister Krumbles said with glee. She hammered black shingles on the roof—BAM! BAM! BAM!
“It’s looking good!” shouted Kathy as Sister hammered in the last of the nails.
They gave the new doghouse a coat of green paint. It looked beautiful with its black roof. Sister Krumbles was very proud.
As the two sisters finished, little Anna and Michael came home from school. Their parents, Mary and Joseph, worked for the sisters, doing housecleaning and yard work.
“What’s going on?” Anna asked, “Can we help?”
“Sure!” said Kathy. “We are going to train Gracie to herd the goats!” Anna and Michael ran inside to change out of their school uniforms. By the time the sisters had put away their tools, the children had come out to help. Gracie barked in excitement as they all went into the pen.
Sister Krumbles blew the whistle on a cord around her neck. “Last night I read a book on training dogs to herd goats. Gracie needs to stop when she hears the whistle. One tweet means stop. Two tweets means she should run to the left and three tweets means she should run to right. When she learns all the signals, she’ll be able to herd the goats.”
“Wow!” said little Anna. “You know everything about training dogs!”
Sister Krumbles was so proud! She said, “First, Gracie and the goats need to be friends. But Gracie has to show that she is boss.”
They watched as the little puppy ran up to the goats. Barking, Gracie chased the goats around the pen. Afraid, the goats ran away.
“They don’t seem to like Gracie,” said Michael. Sister Krumbles tooted the whistle once, but Gracie didn’t stop.
Sister Krumbles ran after Gracie and the goats, and the children and Kathy followed her. She ran to the left and gave the whistle two loud tweets. Gracie didn’t listen. She kept running around the pen. Sister Krumbles chased the dog. Kathy and the children ran after her.
Around the pen they ran, first the goats, then the dog, then Sister Krumbles, followed by Kathy and the children. The goats ran so fast that they were soon right behind the children. Everyone ran in a circle around the pen. Sister Krumbles whistled three loud toots, as she ran to the right.
She was so busy tweeting that she didn’t see where she was going. She ran right into the wire fencing. “Oh no!” she yelled. Bouncing off the fence, Sister Krumbles landed right on her rear!
Everyone ran past her. She tooted on the whistle, but no one stopped, except the largest goat, Midnight.
“Baaa…aaa!” said Midnight. She beat her front hoof in the dirt of the pen. Then she started running toward the puppy.
Gracie turned and ran the other way with Midnight right behind! The other goats turned and followed Midnight. Kathy and the children turned and ran after the goats. Now everyone was chasing
Gracie! Sitting on the ground, Sister Krumbles blew her whistle, but still no one stopped.
Lowering her head, Midnight came up right behind Gracie. She gave the puppy a good butt on the behind. “Wow wow!” yelped Gracie. She went flying through the air, over the fence, just as Sister Lacey came up to the pen.
“Son of a flying fur ball!” shouted Sister Lacey as she caught the little pup. Gracie clung to Sister Lacey. She did not want to chase the goats any more.
“See how God works?” Sister Lacey said. “He put me in just the right place to catch Gracie. It is time for supper.”
“Our lesson is over for today,” said Sister Krumbles. “But Gracie has to stay outside tonight. She needs to start sleeping near the goats. After all, she must learn to guard them.”
“Oh!” said Kathy. She did not look happy. But she put on Gracie’s leash. She tied Gracie’s leash to the new doghouse. She brought Gracie fresh food and water. Then she walked away.
Gracie strained at the leash trying to follow. She began to bark. Kathy could hear the puppy crying and a tear ran down her cheek.
Gracie barked and barked. She barked all night long.
Chapter 4
A Trip to Town
The morning sun rose on a cheerful day in Spring Creek. The Sisters were excited. They packed the car full of things for their sale.
There were bright silver rosary beads and glowing gold beads. There were rosaries with silver chains and ones with knotted ropes. There were beads of every color—blue, green, and red. There were even beads that glowed in the sun with rainbow colors. All the rosaries had been placed in black velvet boxes. The Sisters were sure that people would buy them.
“Then we will have enough money to buy food for the poor,” Mother Mercy said.
In another box were the jars of jam that the Sisters had made. There was Holy Spirit Strawberry Jam and St. Albert Apple Butter. Tied with bright ribbons were jars of St. Helena Huckleberry and Mother Mary Mint. On top of the box there were rows of Poor Clare Peach and Blessed Boysenberry. The pretty jars had checked cloths in different colors around the cap. The labels had little pictures of angels printed on the corners.
“We will drive to early Mass at Fr. McNulty’s parish,” Mother Mercy said. “After each Mass, we can sell our rosaries and jams.”
The sisters were enjoying their breakfast when the doorbell rang. Sister Shiny hurried to answer it. When she came back, she cried, “Mother Mercy! The police are at the door!”
All the Sisters followed the Mother Superior out to the front door. A tall policeman stood on their porch. He had dark skin and a crisply ironed blue suit. His shirt sported a shiny silver badge. He was not smiling, but his eyes were warm and kind.
“My name is Officer Mallon. Sisters, we have had a noise complaint about your dog,” said the policeman in a stern voice. “It seems that the barking kept your neighbors awake all night.”
All the Sisters looked at each other. “This was the puppy’s first night outside in her new house,” said Mother Mercy. “And none of the neighbors said anything to us.”
Then she saw someone standing behind the policeman. It was their next door neighbor, Mr. Lemon! “Oh!” she exclaimed. “I might have known the complaint came from you!”
Mr. Lemon looked mad. “You bet it was me! I’m sick of you nuns. Everyone else in the neighborhood is, too. First goats, now dogs!” His face tightened as he said, “That dog barks and barks! If this continues, I will have animal control take it away!” Kathy started to cry.
The officer did not look happy, but he said, “I’m afraid he is right. If you get another complaint, Animal Control will have to come. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t think you should be sorry about enforcing the law!” shouted Mr. Lemon, “I bet your boss would like to hear about how you treat lawbreakers!”
Officer Mallon did not seem to like Mr. Lemon very much. “Go right ahead. I know how to do my job.”
“Really?” Mr. Lemon said. “Well, we’ll just see about that, won’t we?” He walked off in a huff.
Kathy was weeping. “Poor Gracie! She can’t come in the house or stay outside. What will we do?”
Sister Lacey put her arm around Kathy. “Don’t worry. I’m sure the police won’t take Gracie away.”
Officer Mallon said, “Well, we may have to, Sister. We have strict noise laws in this township.”
“Well, thank you, Officer Mallon,” said Mother Mercy. “We will figure something out.”
As she closed the door, Mother Mercy’s eyes sparked with anger. “That Mr. Lemon! Who does he think he is? Why, I’d like to…..”
“Pray for him?” Sister Lovely finished. “Isn’t that what Jesus said we should do? Pray for our enemies?”
Mother Mercy took a deep breath. “You are right, Sister. Mr. Lemon makes it very hard sometimes.” Kindly she turned to Kathy, “Yes, we will pray for Mr. Lemon, and for Gracie that she learns to be a good dog.”
The Sisters finished their breakfast in silence. They were sad to think that everyone in the neighborhood was mad at them.
“There is no reason to let one person ruin our whole day,” said Sister Lovely at last.
“You’re right. We have a busy day in front of us. We can talk about the dog problem tonight,” said Mother Mercy.
The Sisters piled into their old station wagon and drove to the church. Anna and Michael had come along to help. The Sisters loved the old church in Spring Creek Township and enjoyed going to Mass there.
The church was built of old gray stone and marble. Angels with gold wings flew across the blue painted ceiling, giving everyone who came into the church the sense that they were being watched over by Heaven.
The Sisters spread blue linen tablecloths on tables in the entry and set out their jams and rosaries. Then they hurried into Mass with the children.
After Mass was over, Father McNulty asked the congregation to support the Sisters and their good works by buying the rosaries and jams. The Sisters were so proud as they went out to the tables to sell their wares. “What a success!” Sister Shiny said as the jars of jam started to disappear.
“The rosaries are selling like hotcakes!” agreed Sister Krumbles. After three Masses, the Sisters had sold all of their goods.
“I’m so pleased!” Mother Mercy said. “Now we have plenty of money to buy food for the needy families on our list.”
She said, “Let’s drive to the supermarket. We can buy the food and deliver it right away.”
When they reached the store, the Sisters split up to buy all the different kinds of food they needed. In the parking lot, Anna and Michael helped them separate the groceries into different bags for each of the families on the Sisters’ lists.
“We have enough for all ten of the families” announced Mother Mercy. “No one in town will go hungry this week.” The other Sisters could see the pride in her eyes.
Sister Krumbles had an idea. “The families all live close by. We can each take a cart from the supermarket and bring the food right to their doors. I asked the manager and he said we could use the carts as long as we return them when we are done.”
Mother Mercy said, “We should go in pairs just as the apostles did in the Bible. Then we can go home for a late lunch.” So each of the pairs filled a grocery cart with bags and set off.
Sister Krumbles and Sister Shiny went to visit the Brown family, who lived on the top floor of an apartment building. They invited the Sisters in for a cup of tea. After tea, the Sisters played hide and seek with the Brown children.
Then they went to visit the Wong family. There, they gave the family their bags of food, and enjoyed holding their newborn baby twins.
Sister Lacey and Mother Mercy took Anna and Michael to help. They had the most bags to carry. First they went to see the Hernandez family. They had an elderly mother living with them, with costly medical bills. They were glad for the extra food.
Next, they headed down the block to see Mrs. Kowalski, a widow with three ch
ildren. Without her husband to help, she struggled to keep up with the bills. She was delighted with the food, and asked the Sisters to pray a rosary with her in thanks. The Sisters were happy to do so.
Kathy and Sister Lovely headed into the poorest part of town to visit an elderly couple, the O’Neills.
The O’Neills lived on a small pension. Once they paid their bills, they did not have much money left for food. Since they were alone most of the time, the O’Neills were happy to have guests. The Sisters gladly visited for a while before they made their last delivery.
After saying goodbye, Sister Lovely and Kathy walked to the Nelsons. They lived in an apartment building with two handicapped children they had adopted. Last year, Mr. Nelson had lost his job. The Sisters had two bags of groceries for them.
When they reached the Nelson’s apartment, Sister Lovely said, “Why don’t you just go ahead and deliver the groceries? I’ll meet you by the front door when you are done.”
“Okay,” said Kathy. She knew the Nelson family and had helped out with their children before she had joined the Sisters.
Sister Lovely waited until the door was shut. Then she hurried down the alley.
Chapter 5
Missing Kathy!
In the alley, Sister Lovely hid behind a large garbage bin. She took something out of her pocket that she had bought at the grocery store. It was a pack of cigarettes.
Sister Lovely had never been able to quit smoking, and that was why she had been asked to leave her last order. She tried as hard as she could, praying and asking Jesus for help with her problem. But whenever she became worried, she started wanting to smoke.
Sister Lovely lit a cigarette. She felt very guilty about hiding from Kathy. Taking a puff, she thought, I will have just one smoke and then go up and find Kathy.
Meanwhile, the other Sisters and the children had finished their visits and met at the car. They waited for Sister Lovely and Kathy, but neither came.
The Case of the Vanishing Novice (Sisters of the Last Straw Book 2) Page 2
