Keeping Secrets (7 page)

“Of course,” Ma answered.

Peg placed forks and knives at each plate, then plopped down onto the hard wooden chair. “Miss Hennessey was out when I got to Mrs. Kling’s boardinghouse, so I waited for her. When she came in she was with Mr. Crandon.” Peg made a face. “He kissed her hand. Ugh! Frog lips!”

Ma’s eyes widened in surprise. “She was with Mr. Crandon? Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I
saw
him, Ma. So when Miss Hennessey and I were talking I told her what a hornswoggling …”

“Watch your language, miss,” Ma warned.

“I told her why I didn’t like him. She said then she didn’t like him either, but she’s going to see him again because he’s getting a letter for her.”

“What kind of letter?” Ma sat across from Peg, leaning toward her.

Delighted to have Ma’s full attention, Peg explained about Miss Hennessey’s sister and the letter of safe passage she needed to get from the provost marshal.

When Peg had finished Ma leaned back and nodded. “So Violet has a sister nearby. My, my. All this time I mistakenly thought she had no family left. Well, of course she’d want to see her sister.”

She reached out and brushed the tangled curly fringe from Peg’s forehead. “Sometimes, love, we have to deal with officials who are so self-important they are not interested in helping people who ask them for help. I’ve heard of a few others’ unfortunate attempts to see the provost marshal—like John’s friend, Julian Cassidy, who was wrongly suspected of being a southern sympathizer and his barn burned to the ground. It makes me doubt that Miss Hennessey could get past all the officials in the military district headquarters standing between her and the provost marshal without some help.”

“Even if it’s Mr. Crandon who’s helping her?”

“Even if it’s Mr. Crandon.”

It was comforting talking to Ma, Peg decided. Ma had the answers to all the questions that had been bothering her. “Ma,” she said, “Miss Hennessey’s going to come to see you.”

“That’s nice,” Ma said. “Did she say when?”

“No. Just that she’s coming.” Peg nearly bit her tongue trying to keep from saying any more about the visit. If she said aloud her wish to see Danny, then it might not come true. After all, it was nothing but a wish. Miss Hennessey hadn’t said one word about Ma and Peg going with her. That had been Peg’s idea.

At that moment John Murphy clomped into the house with a bear hug for Ma and a big smile for Peg, and the conversation changed to the latest news about the war.

“It’s not the best of news,” John told them. “Our Federal boys lost a major battle to the Rebs in Chickamauga, Georgia. I heard there were over thirty-four thousand dead, counting both sides.”

Ma shuddered and made the Sign of the Cross.

Peg tried to imagine how many people would make
up thirty-four thousand, but it was such an enormous amount that she couldn’t.

“So Major General William Rosecrans retreated, taking what was left of his army into Chattanooga,” Mr. Murphy said. “The Rebs have the city and our army under siege by cutting off any supplies that might come by way of the river.”

“When will all this horror end?” Ma murmured.

“When we beat the Rebs, Noreen my girl. It’s as simple as that.”

“Soon, I hope and pray.”

“I’m afraid it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

Ma’s voice quavered. “So many wounded, so many dead.”

“Miss Thomas’s brother came back from fighting the war because he was wounded,” Peg said. “He lost an eye and wears a big black patch over the hole where his eye used to be.”

Ma thumped a chair against the table. “Stop! That’s enough of this talk! I can’t bear it! It could have been Mike who was injured or killed!”

Peg’s memory of Mike was strong. When he passed through St. Joe after his days as a drummer in the Union Army, he’d been sunburned, thinner, and more muscular than before, and his eyes had been dark with horrors he’d never forget.

“Tell me about the battles. Tell me what happened to you,” Peg had asked, eager to know what Mike had been through, the better to share his problems.

But Mike’s eyes had closed, and he’d turned away. “You wouldn’t want to know,” he’d replied so firmly that Peg hadn’t dared to ask again; but after she’d gone to bed she’d heard, from down the stairway, the sound
of voices and Ma’s occasional murmuring and weeping.

Ma closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened her eyes again. Calmly she said, “Supper’s ready, and it’s time for both of you to wash up.”

Later, after supper, the warm fragrance of the kitchen, Ma’s soft humming over her mending, and John’s deep, rumbling voice now and then reading aloud an interesting bit from his newspaper, wove a cocoon of contentment that shut out all thoughts of war from Peg’s mind.

Sleepily, Peg remembered that the next day would be Saturday. She’d help Ma with the laundry and the ironing to follow, and she wouldn’t have to go to school. May would probably come to visit when her family chores were over. Maybe they could make cornhusk dolls for May’s little sister. Or lie in wait for Marcus and Willie and throw weed clumps at them. It might be fun to plot how to get Marcus’s lucky arrowhead away from him. It was the most precious thing he owned, and he always carried it with him.

Peg jumped when she heard a loud knock at the front door.

“Who in the world could that be?” Ma asked.

John strode to open the door, Ma and Peg right behind him.

A boy tipped his hat and handed John an envelope.

John fished in his pocket for a coin and gave it to the boy. As he shut the door he said, “It’s a letter for you, Noreen. It has your name on it.”

Ma tore open the envelope and pulled out a creamy sheet of paper. “For goodness sakes,” she said. “It’s a note from Miss Hennessey. She’s coming to see us bright and early tomorrow morning.”

“A strange time to come calling,” Mr. Murphy said.

“Especially when she’s aware that Saturday’s the day I do the washing.” Ma shrugged. “Why did she have to pick Saturday morning?”

Peg knew why. She had to be right! She clasped her hands together tightly, hoping with all her strength that her wish was going to come true, that Miss Hennessey was going to ask Ma and Peg to come with her to visit her sister—and Danny! Ma would agree.

Or would she?

Peg was tempted to beg and plead with Ma right now, just to make sure, but she couldn’t. Miss Hennessey hadn’t even asked yet.

7
 

A
LL DURING THE
night Peg’s sleep was fitful. She crept downstairs the next morning while it was still dark, lit the oil lamps, and started a fire in the stove. By the time Ma came down to begin cooking breakfast, Peg had set the table, filled the tea kettle, and melted a little pork fat in a skillet, ready to fry flapjacks.

“I made the batter,” Peg said proudly.

Ma measured tea into a pot and poured in the boiling water. “You’re my morning sleepyhead. What pulled you out of bed so early?” She put the pot in the center of the table, paused as though she’d suddenly remembered something, and smiled teasingly. “Does your early rising have anything to do with Miss Hennessey’s visit?”

“I couldn’t sleep, Ma,” Peg mumbled. She gave an
extra stir to the batter and dropped spoonfuls into the sizzling pan.

“She surely won’t be coming this early.”

“I know.”

Ma put a hand on Peg’s shoulder and turned her so that Peg was looking into her eyes. “And what else do you know, love?”

“Nothing real, Ma. Just guesses,” Peg answered honestly.

Ma picked up a broad spatula and reached across Peg to flip over the flapjacks. “You said Miss Hennessey’s sister lives nearby. Exactly where is
nearby?
”

With effort Peg kept herself from groaning aloud. Could Ma read minds? Unable to meet Ma’s gaze, Peg shrugged and said, “When Miss Hennessey gets here you can ask her.”

Ma set a heaping plate of flapjacks on the table. “Sit down and eat, love.” She nodded toward the stairs, which creaked under John’s heavy footsteps. “I’ll make the next batch for John.”

John didn’t like to talk before breakfast, and Ma said nothing more about Miss Hennessey, to Peg’s relief.

After John had left for his blacksmith’s shop Ma pinned up her sleeves and laid a fire on the cement block in the back yard. She placed the large, heavy boiler pan on a support over the fire, and she and Peg carried buckets of water to half-fill the boiler. Ma poured lumps of soft lye soap into the water and stirred the mixture with a long, thick stick until the soap had melted. Peg helped carry out armsful of soiled clothing, sheets, and towels, some of which were dropped into the simmering water, which Ma stirred endlessly, back and forth.

Peg, on the other hand, listened for the sound of
horses’ hooves and buggy’s wheels. Where was Miss Hennessey? It was already close to eight o’clock. Why hadn’t she come?

Peg jumped as a voice spoke from the open kitchen door. “Noreen! Peg! No one answered my knock, so I just walked in.”

Ma put down the stirring stick and smiled, as she wiped her hands on her apron. “You’re always welcome in our house, Violet. You know that.”

Miss Hennessey sailed down the steps of the back porch stoop in a trim brown traveling costume.

“My, aren’t you looking grand!” Ma said. “Would you like a cup of tea? We can leave the wash for a while.”

As she glanced at the boiler and the pile of clothing on the ground, Miss Hennessey frowned. “Oh, dear! In my excitement, I didn’t stop to think.”

“Excitement?” Ma asked.

“My sister Nellie! Did Peg tell you? I heard from Nellie, and discovered that she and my brother-in-law, Louis Parker, are now living on a farm right here in Buchanan County, south of St. Joseph!”

“That’s lovely for you,” Ma said. “You said
south
of St. Joseph?”

“Yes! Very near to the Swensons’ farm where your son Danny lives.” Miss Hennessey ducked her head, almost as shy and apologetic as she had been when she first came to St. Joseph. “In my foolishness I rented a horse and buggy. I was so sure that you and Peg would ride with me. It would give you the opportunity to visit with Danny.”

Ma held out an arm toward the washing. “As you see, I can’t get away, Violet. Not today.”

Miss Hennessey took Ma’s hand and squeezed it between her own. “Of course,” she said apologetically.
“I was so thoughtless not to have invited you ahead of time.”

Embarrassed, Ma began, “Violet, you were not thoughtless.”

But Miss Hennessey interrupted, her eyes dark with misery as she pleaded, “Oh, Noreen, will you please allow Peg to come with me, even though you can’t?”

Peg gasped as she heard Miss Hennessey add, “Maybe some women are brave enough to travel alone, but I’m not. Peg and I will be good company for each other, and I assure you she’ll be perfectly safe. I even have a letter of safe passage signed by the provost marshal himself, in case we meet up with any patrols.”

“Patrols,” Ma repeated and frowned.

“We have no reason to fear the patrols.” Miss Hennessey’s eyes met Peg’s as she said, “Peg is not afraid.”

Whatever qualms Peg felt about leaving Ma and traveling alone with Miss Hennessey vanished immediately. “Ma!” she cried, “The patrols are Union! They’re on
our
side!”

Miss Hennessey took a deep breath and spoke rapidly, not giving Ma a chance to object. “It’s the southern counties that have had so much conflict between patrols and bushwhackers. During the last few months there has been little trouble in Buchanan County. We’ll be safe. I promise! I assure you I wouldn’t make the trip myself if I thought otherwise.”

Twice Ma had opened her mouth to speak, but was unable to break into Miss Hennessey’s plea Now, however, she spoke up firmly. “My mind wouldn’t be easy if Peg were away from home.”

“Ma!” Peg wailed. “I’m not afraid of patrols! The army’s there to protect us! And if I go with Miss Hennessey, I could visit Danny!”

To Peg’s surprise Miss Hennessey let go of Ma’s hand, pulled a handkerchief from her reticule, and dabbed at her eyes. “You’re right, Noreen,” she said. “You’re right to feel that even though Peg would be under my constant, loving protection, I could never be able to take care of her as well as you could.”

Ma’s face turned pink and she fumbled for words. “That’s not what I meant, Violet.”

“I was so foolish to hope,” Violet murmured into her handkerchief. “I haven’t seen my sister for at least five years, and all I’ve been able to think of has been Nellie with her dear smile and happy ways. I should have asked you first. I shouldn’t have depleted my much needed funds to rent the horse and buggy.” She gave a loud sniffle.

“Oh, dear. Come inside and sit down,” Ma murmured. “We’ll have that cup of tea while you tell me about your sister.”

A rush of excitement warmed Peg’s chest. Was Ma weakening?

Peg filled the kettle and listened quietly as Miss Hennessey said, “Nellie is two years younger than I am. She married just before our parents died—a good match with a fine man. Louis Parker is one of the Virginia Parkers.”

“I thought you said your family lived in Boston.”

“They did, but very briefly. My grandmother on my father’s side was becoming frail, so my parents moved to Boston to care for her. Then one day on the street … a runaway horse …” Miss Hennessey broke down and sobbed into her handkerchief.