The Children of Fear (12 page)

“Oh, my goodness,” Mrs. Green exclaimed as she rose to her feet. “You poor children.”

Luke spotted Mr. Green leaving the hog pen. “What's going on over here?” he asked as he neared the house.

Mr. Green's gray eyes appeared concerned as he stopped beside his wife. Mrs. Green placed her hand on her husband's arm. “These are orphans. They are looking for a home. Isn't this little boy darling? We've always wanted a little boy.”

Luke decided it was best to be honest up front. “He hasn't talked since our parents died.”

“Of course he hasn't,” Mrs. Green replied sympathetically as she knelt in front of Corey. “He's grieving. He probably misses his mother very much.”

“It's quite understandable, poor boy,” Mr. Green added.

Mrs. Green rose and took Leah's hand. Luke watched as she leaned close to Leah. “And it's always nice to have another woman around to talk with,” she told Leah. “My, what lovely eyes you have, my dear. And such pretty dark hair.”

Leah smiled, the first genuine smile Luke had seen on her face in ages.

“Of course, we'd be pleased to have you too,” Mrs. Green told Luke.

Mr. Green grabbed Luke's hand and pumped it vigorously. “Yes, yes, we'd be pleased to have you all. I can use the help of a strong young man around here. What do you know about hogs?”

“They make good bacon,” Luke said.

Mr. Green laughed. Mrs. Green began to usher them into the house.

“Come along,” she told them. “Let's get you settled.”

That evening at dinner, Luke decided Mrs. Green was the happiest woman he'd ever seen.

She had smiled constantly as she fussed over Corey, combing his hair and scrubbing his face before she plopped him down into a chair at the table.

She fluttered around, heaping mashed potatoes and ham and biscuits onto everyone's plates. “Tomorrow we'll get you all some new clothes,” she said as she
poured thick brown gravy over the potatoes. “And I'll trim everyone's hair.”

She sat down and began to cut the slice of ham on Corey's plate.

Luke's mouth watered as he brought his first piece of ham to his mouth. No more lumpy porridge, he thought with glee.

No more rattling trains.

No more itchy straw.

No more hard floors.

We'll have a soft bed to sleep in. Good meals to eat. New clothes.

He glanced at Mrs. Green. Then down to the other end of the table at Mr. Green.

They're happy people, Luke thought.

We'll be happy too.

At least he hoped they would.

The Dark Cellar

I
f only I had known what would happen at the Green farm.

If only I had told the Greens everything that I knew.

If only I had not held my silence… .

The young man knelt beside the flickering flame. His fingers felt stiff and aching from the cold. He held them over the quivering flame.

The candle is so much smaller now, he realized. It will burn for only a little while longer.

Then it will go out.

And they'll come for me.

He gazed into the darkness around him. He knew the snakes were there, but he could not see them.

The candle flickered.

Not yet, he pleaded in silence. Please don't go out yet.

The candle continued to burn. He slowly released his breath. He flexed his fingers.

It is time to finish the story. It is time to tell everything.

Crouching, he turned to face the wall.

The crimson letters danced before his eyes.

I have almost run out of room on the wall, and I still have so much more to tell.

He clutched the nail and began to write, determined to fit the rest of his tale into the empty space that remained on the wall. Someone, someday had to know the truth.

The truth about the evil he'd seen.

Time passed quickly. I no longer counted the days. My brother and I were happy.

Happier than we had been since our parents died.

But Leah remained sullen and distant from us all. Every day I watched her, waiting for some sign that her unhappiness had lifted.

But I only saw her grow even more cheerless.

And angrier.

I realize now that I should have spoken to the Greens about Leah. I should have told them everything, everything that I knew at the time.

I don't know if it would have made a difference.

I know only that my silence doomed us all.

L
uke hauled an armload of wood toward the back of the house. He glanced over his shoulder at Corey happily tagging along behind him, carrying one log.

Luke's new overalls and boots felt stiff. But he felt proud to be wearing new clothes instead of the tattered rags he'd arrived in. Mrs. Green had bought all of them piles of new clothes at the general store. And new shoes.

Luke listened to the birds twittering in the trees that shaded the house. I'm happy, he thought as he glanced over his shoulder at Corey. Corey met his gaze with a smile. We're both happy.

He set the logs down and began to stack them so they would not rot. Corey helped him.

He saw the breeze whip the curtains out of the open
kitchen window and smelled one of Mrs. Green's delicious apple pies. “Smells like we're going to have pie for supper tonight,” Luke told Corey.

Corey bobbed his head enthusiastically.

Luke smiled. His brother still hadn't spoken, but Luke could tell that Corey was happy with the Greens.

“No, no, no.” Mrs. Green's voice escaped through the window. “You must pinch the crust, not squeeze it.”

“I don't see what difference it makes,” Luke heard Leah reply sourly.

Luke heard the frustration in Leah's voice. He finished stacking the wood as fast as he could and knocked on the back door.

Mrs. Green pulled the door open. She smiled brightly. “Luke, you don't have to knock. This is your home.”

“I'm still not used to it,” he said as he stepped inside, Corey close on his heels. “I was wondering if we could have some lemonade.”

“Certainly. Leah, will you please pour your brothers some lemonade?”

“Certainly,” Leah said, cocking her head and imitating Mrs. Green's voice. But she didn't smile like Mrs. Green did.

Leah wore a yellow dress with ribbons and bows sewn over it. Luke knew she hated the frilly dresses that Mrs. Green chose for her.

Leah took two glasses out of a cabinet and set them on the counter. Then she lifted the pitcher of fresh lemonade and began to pour.

The pitcher slipped through her fingers and crashed to the floor. The lemonade spilled over the waxed hardwood.

“Oh, no!” Mrs. Green said as she fell to her knees and began to pick up the shards of glass. “That was my favorite crystal pitcher.”

“I'm sorry, Mrs. Green,” Leah apologized. “It was an accident.”

“I know,” Mrs. Green replied wearily. Then she cried out. She opened her hand and Luke could see a jagged piece of glass embedded in her palm. Blood dripped onto the floor.

“Please take Corey outside,” Mrs. Green said. “I don't want him to get hurt.”

Leah smiled, took Corey's hand, and led him outside. Luke watched helplessly as Mrs. Green pulled the glass from her palm. “I'll clean this up, Mrs. Green,” he offered.

She sighed heavily. “No, you go help Mr. Green. I can take care of this.” She smiled and patted his knee. “It's such a joy to have you here. Now, get about your chores.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

Luke stepped onto the porch. He was certain Leah had dropped the pitcher on purpose. He knew she wasn't happy living with the Greens. He needed to talk with her. He walked around the side of the house. He couldn't see Leah or Corey anywhere.

He ambled into the barn. He saw Mr. Green standing beside the first stall. “Mr. Green, have you seen Leah?” he asked.

Mr. Green turned around and smiled. “She's right in here.”

Luke approached the stall and peered over the slats. Leah sat inside the stall beside a large hog. Corey held two tiny piglets in his lap. Luke watched in amazement
as Leah rubbed her hand over the hog's belly while another piglet was born.

Luke felt a knot of apprehension in his stomach when he spotted the dirt all over Leah's pretty yellow dress. He knew Mrs. Green would be displeased and scold Leah. But Mr. Green didn't seem to mind.

“Never seen anything like it,” Mr. Green exclaimed. “Matilda was having a hard time of it. I could see that she was frightened, but I couldn't get her to relax enough to bring those babies into the world. Leah just sat down beside her and talked to her. Matilda calmed right down.”

“Leah's always had a way with animals,” Luke told him as Matilda gave birth to her fourth piglet.

“A gift is what she has,” Mr. Green replied. He shook his head in amazement. “A natural gift.”

♦ ♦ ♦

That night Luke stayed awake in bed and listened. When he was sure everyone else in the house had fallen asleep, he crept down the hallway until he reached Leah's room. He tapped lightly on her door and waited.

She opened the door and rubbed her eyes.

“I need to talk to you,” Luke whispered. “Come sit on the porch with me.”

Together they tiptoed through the house. Quietly, Luke opened the front door. Leah slipped through. Luke followed and closed the door behind him.

Leah sat on the steps, drew up her knees, and wrapped her arms around her legs. Luke dropped down on the step beside her. He listened to the night sounds—the crickets chirping, the hogs snorting sleepily in the distant pen, and the newborn piglets squealing for their milk.

How should he begin? He felt his pulse quicken. Once, he felt able to speak freely to Leah, to tell her anything on his mind. His deepest worries, his brightest dreams. Now he felt different.

He feared her. He feared making her angry. Feared what she might do to him.

He gazed up at the stars. “Remember when we were little, and Ma used to make us wish on the first star every night?” Luke asked Leah finally.

“Yes,” Leah hesitantly replied.

“I wished on a star tonight,” Luke told her. “I wished that you would be happy, and that Corey would talk again.”

“If I'm happy, you'll leave,” Leah answered.

“No, I won't,” Luke assured her. “What makes you say that?”

“You said you would,” she reminded him. “You said you'd stay with us and make sure we were happy.”

Luke sighed. “But I'm happy here, Leah. I don't want to leave. I want you to be happy.”

She rested her chin on her knees. “I felt happy today, working with Matilda. I'd be happy if I could be with the animals, but Mrs. Green wants me to be a lady. I don't want to be a lady. It's boring.”

“Maybe if you tried—”

“I am trying,” she snapped.

He heard the shrill note in her voice. The sure sign of her anger rising.

“I'm sorry,” Luke told her. “I know you're trying. I know the past few months have been hard on all of us. Hardest on Corey. Leah, we need to find a way to get Corey to talk again.”

She picked at a loose thread on her gown. “I've
talked with him, but I think his voice is just trapped inside him.”

“But he laughed. On the train, he laughed. Do you remember?”

“Yes, I do. That seems so long ago now,” Leah added. She looked up at the sky. “Which star did you wish on?”

“All of them,” Luke told her.

She squeezed his hand. “Let's close our eyes and wish again.”

Luke closed his eyes. Together, he and Leah said, “I wish Corey would talk again.”

Luke opened his eyes and stared at the night sky.

“I miss the way things were,” Leah said with a sigh.

“Me too,” Luke confessed.