“Watch Mother,” Lydia whispered back. “Then you will know what to do.”
All through supper Laurie watched Mary Gaines. When Mary took a bite of food Laurie handling her cutlery awkwardly did likewise. When Mary drank from her glass of water Laurie took a drink too. After supper Mary wiped her lips and fingers on her napkin before placing it on top of her dinner plate. Laurie looked at her fingers for a moment then followed Mary’s example. Breathing a sigh of relief Laurie stood when Mary did. Eating sure was complicated the child thought.
At bedtime it was decided Laurie would sleep with Lydia. “I have to wash again,” Laurie whined as Lydia poured warm water into the washbowl. “I’ve washed and washed again already today.”
“We always wash before going to bed,” Lydia explained.
“I ain’t never washed so much in my whole life,” Laurie acknowledged. Wondering why Lydia wanted to wash again. They had washed before supper.
“I am afraid so,” Lydia replied. “If you don’t Faith will just make you get out of bed and wash. Big sisters are that way. Forever telling you what to do so you might as well do it before they tell you.”
“I never had a big sister,” Laurie said as she lathered soap on a cloth. She washed her face the way Faith had showed her earlier.
“Most of the time it’s not so bad,” Lydia replied. “Just sometimes they can get bossy. Then you wish you were an only child,” she admitted.
“I am an only child,” Laurie stated. “I wished to have someone besides Pa. He was always gone doing this or that. He left me alone.”
“Tough,” Lydia acknowledged. She could never remember being left alone.
Laurie crawled under the covers and looked up at the ceiling. She could not remember living in a house. She had never sit down to supper at a table or had a bed to sleep in. No one had ever told her to wash her hands and face.
She missed Pa!
Faith sat on the edge of the bed and tucked the blankets around Laurie. The child seemed overwhelmed by her surroundings. “Do you want me to tell you a bedtime story,” Faith asked.
Laurie sniffed back tears. “Do you know the one about the grizzly bear and the skunk,” Laurie asked.
“No. I am afraid I don’t,” Faith replied tenderly.
“Pa would tell me,” Laurie stated snuggling into the feather mattress. “The old grizzly bear lived in the woods at the foot of the mountains. He was mean and cranky because he had a thorn in his paw,” Laurie growled and made claws with of her fingers. “The skunk lived in the hollow of an old pine tree. He was lonely because no one came near him. He stinks,” Laurie explained placing her fingers over her nose. “No one likes you when you stink,” the child added.
“What happens next,” Faith asked intrigued by the child’s story.
“The grizzly bear comes lumping through the woods. Growling as he steps on his sore paw. Skunk looks out of his burrow and ask grizzly bear what is wrong. Grizzly bear growls what can you do about my sore paw,” Laurie added growls to her story and clawed at the blanket on the bed.
“What does the skunk do,” Faith asked.
“Skunk takes hold of the thorn with his teeth and pulls it out,” Laurie replied. “Grizzly bear stops growling and says to the skunk come live in my cave and he does. Whenever grizzly bear gets a thorn in his paw skunk pulls it out. Skunk is not lonely anymore because he lives with grizzly bear.”
“That is a very nice story,” Faith said. Leaning over she kissed Laurie on the forehead. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” Laurie replied before pulling the blanket up to her chin. The child closed her eyes and snuggled into the mattress her head leaning against Lydia’s shoulder.
Faith woke to the sound of crying. Pushing back the covers she hurried to Lydia’s bed. “It is alright,” she whispered before lighting the lamp. Laurie stood up in bed and reached for Faith.
“I want Pa,” the child wailed.
“I know you do,” Faith said gathering the child into her arms. She placed one hand on back of the child’s head as she hugged her close. “Shush,” she whispered rocking Laurie in her arms. “We don’t want to wake Lydia and Elizabeth.”
Laurie wrapped her arms around Faith’s neck and sobbed onto her shoulder. “I want Pa,” Laurie repeated.
“I know,” Faith said. “You love your Pa and he loved you very much.” Faith walked across the floor to her bed and sat down with the tearful child on her lap. “Tell me the story of the grizzly bear and the skunk,” she asked.
“Alright,” Laurie said sniffing back tears. Faith lay on her bed with her arm around Laurie while the child told the story of the grizzly bear and the skunk. Laurie yawned between growls. “Skunk went to live in grizzly bear’s cave and was never lonesome again,” Laurie finished. She closed her eyes and leaning against Faith was soon asleep.
Chapter Thirteen
Royce disliked telling lies. This was his strongest objection to undercover work. He was never good at deception and knew his short comings in this area. Royce credited his feelings to his father bringing him up to respect honesty and the rule of law.
Closing and locking the school’s front door Royce walked across the road stepping onto the boardwalk in front of the large warehouse. The sign over the door read Pillsdale’s Freight Company. The building was locked when Royce tried the front door. The weeks he had spent in Junction City teaching school not once had Royce seen activity in or around the warehouse. How did a man make a living on inactivity. This was one more reason for him to distrust Mayor Pillsdale.
Walking pass the
