Love Finds You in Daisy, Oklahoma (11 page)

Rena spent the first few days in Daisy acquainting herself with the children. In spite of their previous antics, most were adorable, on the outside. Deceptively adorable. What was it the Bible said about wolves in sheep’s clothing? Oh well. She would conquer her fear of wolves soon enough. What these youngsters needed was a good old-fashioned church service to get them walking the straight and narrow. Though she couldn’t imagine getting seventeen children dressed and ready for a Sunday morning walk to church, she would give it her best shot.

On Saturday morning she arose and dressed then went to wake the boys. They fought one another to get to the water closet just outside their room. Next Rena headed to the girls’ room. The little darlings had somehow managed to sleep through all the noise coming from the rowdy boys next door. As she gazed down at Lilly, her heart began to flutter. The child—just a wisp of a thing—was so innocent. When sleeping, anyway.

Rena wrinkled her nose as a pungent odor greeted her. The room had a—what was that? musty? moldy?—smell. Everything would need a thorough cleaning, and the sooner the better.

She called Lilly by name and then rested her hand on the little girl’s shoulder.

Lilly awoke abruptly, let out a cry, and pulled the covers over her head as soon as she saw Rena. Then she began to cry.

“What is it, honey?” Rena asked.

Callie yawned and stretched in the next bed. The youngster’s eyes grew wide as Rena started to sit on the edge of Lilly’s bed. “No, Miss Rena, don’t sit down!”

“Why?” Rena rose to a standing position.

“Because.” Callie lowered her voice to a whisper as she scrambled out from under the covers. “Lilly, um…she probably wet the bed again.”

“Ah.” Rena took a little step back. She gestured toward the hall and Callie followed her.

“Has this been going on long?” Rena whispered.

Callie nodded and continued to speak in a lowered voice. “She don’t want anyone to know, but she pees the bed most every night. Sometimes I wake her up really early and take her to the water closet, but sometimes even then…” Her words faded.

“Ah.” Rena pursed her lips and thought through her response.

“She takes her nightgown and wads it up under the bed, but it smells real bad,” Callie said. “And her sheets stink too.” An innocent shrug followed. “We got used to it after a while. Hardly even notice it anymore.”

“Still…” Rena paused and tried to think of what to do. She didn’t want to humiliate Lilly, but how could she handle it otherwise? She thought for a moment longer. “I’ll tell you what,” she said at last. “This will be our little secret. If you’re willing to pull off the wet sheets whenever Lilly has an accident, you can put them under the bed with the wet nightie. I’ll come along and fetch all the wet things after you children go to school, and I’ll make over the bed with clean linens. In the meantime, I’ll switch out the mattress with a spare one from the extra bed and figure out some way to protect it underneath the sheets.”

Callie smiled and reached out to squeeze Rena’s hand. “Thank you for not yelling at her.”

“Yelling at her?”

“Yes.” Tears brimmed the youngster’s lashes. “When Mrs. Wabash would catch her, she would say horrible things to Lilly. She called her a pee-pot and made her cry. It was awful…for all of us.”

Rena shook her head. “I never understood such behavior from adults. To demean a child is…” She shook her head, unwilling to finish her thoughts aloud. “At any rate, please tell Lilly that she needn’t worry, should an accident occur again. But also please tell her not to drink water just before bed. That will help a lot.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Callie gave her a wink. “It’s our little secret.”

“And we will think of what else we can do to get this under control,” Rena said, still deep in thought about the situation. “Perhaps a visit to the doctor is in order to make sure she is in good health.”

“Lilly don’t like Doc Moseley,” Callie said. “The last time Mrs. Wabash took her, she bit him right on the arm.”

“Not a pleasant scenario for patient or doctor, then.” Rena paused. “Well, go on back in your room and help Lilly. Make sure Josephine wakes up too. She’s still sleeping. We have a lot of work to do around here today.”

“Josephine is spoiled rotten.” Callie rolled her eyes. “She ain’t never had to get up early or work or nuthin’. Says her mama made the servants do all the work.”

“Ah.” Rena hardly knew what to say in response. Still, her heart went out to Josephine. Living in an orphanage would be quite a shock to a youngster from a well-to-do family.

The rest of the morning was spent in getting the laundry situation under control. Mr. Kovach arrived promptly at eight that morning to take away the dirties and leave them with the clean clothes from the week prior. Sorting through everything almost proved to be Rena’s undoing. Thank goodness Carolina arrived just in time to help. Together, they managed to get the job done.

The schoolteacher, a pretty young woman named Jenny Jamison, stopped by with the noon meal. She’d prepared sandwiches, lemonade, and potato salad. Somehow she managed to keep the children from fighting while they ate—not a minor feat. She promised to come by again later in the week to check on everyone. Rena had a feeling Jenny would be a great friend.

Late that afternoon, the reverend stopped by. He was kind enough, even offering to tutor her in what the Bible had to say about child-rearing. She found herself growing uncomfortable with the length, width, and breadth of his dissertation and prayed that tomorrow morning’s sermon wouldn’t be quite as dull as this speech.

His words were cut short by an act of fate—or, rather, the act of a small boy throwing a rock at the dining room window and shattering it into tiny shards all over the room. This was, thank goodness, enough to send the reverend packing. The incident left Rena shaken, however. As she swept up the glass, she thought about her own fragile emotions. They weren’t in much better shape right now than this window, were they? If only someone would sweep in and piece her shattered thoughts and emotions together again. Then, perhaps, she could handle everything.

By the time the day wound down, Rena was exhausted. She was also extremely confused about the children’s names. Determined to find a solution to that dilemma, she pulled out her notebook and made a list:

Lilly: The youngest girl. Six? Seven? Black hair. Precious smile. Speaks with a lisp. Shows a lot of emotion, both good and bad. Cries, kisses, and hugs a lot. Wets the bed. Like so many of the children, was left homeless after a tornado swept through Atoka County two years ago.

Callie: Lilly’s older sister. Maybe nine or so? Matted dark brown hair. Not as precocious. Stares at her reflection in the mirror a lot but doesn’t appear to like what she sees. Very protective of her younger sister.

Josephine: Blond. Approximately eleven years old. Comes from money and doesn’t seem to be adjusting well to having none. According to Carolina, both parents died in a house fire last year. No living relatives.

Rena’s thought shifted to the boys. What a handful they were! Why hadn’t the sheriff warned her in his letter that the new director would be walking into the equivalent of a barroom brawl, only with younger participants?

She paused to think about each boy and then began writing.

Wesley: Stringy blond hair. Needs a haircut. Ten years old. Likes to talk about his grandfather, who was a (supposed) hero in the War between the States.

Oliver: Light brown hair, a bit too long. About eight years old. Repeats everything everyone says. Will have to figure out a way to stop this annoying habit. Another parentless victim of the tornado.

Mochni: Atoka boy. Beautiful dark skin. Claims to be a distant relative of Choctaw warrior Captain Atoka. His name means “Talking Bird.” That would account for the nonstop chatter.

Kenny and Kieren: Twin boys from Ireland. Came by ship with their mother, who died en route to Tulsa two and a half years ago. The boys talk at length about the big ship that brought them here, and both hope to be captains. Or pirates. I’m not sure which.

Mikey, Bubba, and Tree: Three sandy-haired boys with dirty faces who all hail from the same family. Ages range from six to ten. Maybe. Tree, the little one, could be a bit younger. (Note: I have no idea why any well-meaning parent would name a child Tree. A nickname, perhaps? ) Parents dropped off the boys at the orphanage after the tornado destroyed their home because they couldn’t afford to feed them. Promised to be back in a few weeks to pick them up but moved on to another state and never returned.

Henry: Oldest of the pack. Maybe fourteen or fifteen? Threatens to run away. Disgruntled. Says the last director worked him like a slave. I’m inclined to believe him. He’s strong and aggressive and plays the role of instigator with ease. No one is quite sure how he came to be orphaned. Rumor has it that his father is still alive.

Several other faces came into view, but Rena couldn’t remember the boys’ names. Hopefully she would keep them all straight before too long. In the meantime, she needed her rest. Tomorrow would be a busy day.

She fell into a fitful sleep, the list at her side. Her dreams were complicated and filled with fearful images of children, ragged and thin. When she awoke the next morning, Rena could hardly collect her thoughts. She had no choice, however. The boys and girls needed supervision…and from the sound of things, sooner, rather than later. As she dressed, several of the names she’d forgotten came to mind: David, Timmy, Joseph, Nate, and Evan. She would have to remember to add them to her list. When things settled down, of course.

She made her way downstairs, helped Carolina prepare breakfast, then rang the bell. The children arrived at the table, dressed and raring to go. She could hardly believe her luck. Every last one of them was clean, pressed, and smiling.

Lilly wore a heavy coat over her clothes. For that matter, all the boys and girls wore sweaters or coats.

“Are you cold?” she asked.

Callie gave a little shiver. “Yes, ma’am. I’m always cold in the mornings. I’ll be fine in my sweater, though.”

“It’s chilly out this morning,” Henry said. “If’n we’re gonna walk to church, we need to stay warm.”

“Well, this oatmeal will warm you up.” Carolina appeared from the kitchen. “So take a seat, all of you. Eat up.”

Rena joined the children at the table for a quick breakfast. About halfway into the meal, Oliver rose to grab the sugar bowl, only to discover that one of the boys—likely Henry, judging from the laughter—had tied his shoelaces to the table leg. Oliver appeared to take it in stride but spent the rest of the meal repeating every word Henry spoke.

After breakfast, Rena instructed the children to make their beds. Out of the corners of her eyes, she gave Callie a “remember what we talked about yesterday?” look, and the little girl nodded. There would be wet sheets waiting for her under Lilly’s bed, no doubt.

The children scurried around the house more obediently than usual. Afterward, Rena gathered them together, gave a few instructions, and—with her heart in her throat—led them down the road to the church. She had to wonder about two things: how the children would behave in church, and why they were all suspiciously good this morning.

They arrived at the church and the children scurried off to their classroom. She followed behind them, introduced herself to their teacher, a Mrs. O’Shea, and then headed to the sanctuary to locate Jenny Jamison, who had offered to sit with her.

As she rounded the corner, she ran headfirst into Gene Wyatt, dressed in his Sunday best.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I…” She felt her cheeks grow warm as she glanced up into his handsome face. Then she took in his attire. If he’d looked good in his work clothes, he impressed her even more in the striped jacket and cuffed trousers he wore. The white dress shirt with its winged collar was impressive too, as well as the dark tie.
My goodness, if he doesn’t clean up nice….
Why, he could give any of the fellows back in Gulfport a run for their money, no doubt about it.

“No problem.” His blue eyes twinkled with a hint of mischief. “Good to see you again, Miss Jewel.”

“Rena.” She couldn’t help the smile that nearly gave away her embarrassment at being so close to him. “Please call me Rena.”

He gave her a little nod. “Rena it is. You settling in all right?”

“As well as can be expected.”

He placed his hand on her arm, the look on his face growing more serious. “If you’re ever
not
fine, please let me know. I know you’ll have questions and concerns, and we’re here for you. You don’t have to handle the children on your own, I promise.”

“That helps a lot,” she whispered.

The reverend walked by and glanced over at them, and Gene removed his hand from her arm. Rena’s cheeks heated up right away. She muttered a few words and then slipped into the back of the little chapel to search for Jenny Jamison. She’d just settled into the pew next to her when the children’s Sunday school teacher appeared, looking frazzled.

“Miss Jewel, could you come with me?”

Oh no. Not so soon. We just got here.
Rena followed behind her to the classroom. Once inside, she glanced at the children. They all sat in their chairs, still and silent. Why in the world had their teacher found the need to fetch her?

On second glance, something about the children seemed…off. Amiss.

Rena gave them another look. “For heaven’s sake.” Lilly’s dress was inside out. For that matter, so were Oliver’s slacks. And his shirt. And Callie’s dress. Rena scanned the group, stunned to find that every single one of them had shown up with clothing inside out.

The snickers filled the room, and before long all the children in the place erupted into laughter. In fact, they made so much noise that Rena wondered if the folks in church could hear them.

She gestured for the girls to join her. Lilly, Callie, and Josephine followed on her heels. Rena located a small water closet and instructed the girls to go inside and dress properly. Once they were situated back inside the classroom, she went in search of the sheriff. Hopefully he could help her with the boys.