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“Can we go see the kittens now?” Isaiah asked.
Sarah Beth and Isaiah crawled under the porch so Isaiah could cuddle Mopsy and the others. He liked the feel of their fuzzy heads brushing against his cheek. He kissed Mopsy and put her back with her mother.
“They’ll be weaned soon,” Sarah Beth said.
“What’s that mean again?” Isaiah asked.
“They won’t be going to their mama for food. They’ll have to find it themselves.”
“Won’t you feed ’em?”
“Not much to feed ’em with. Daddy said they gotta go. We can’t afford ’em.”
It crushed Isaiah to think of the farm without the kittens. Maybe he could convince Mr. Olson to let him keep Mopsy. Of course, first he’d have to convince Memphis.
“Come on,” Sarah Beth said. “Let’s go play in the corn.”
Isaiah had come to like the old, dried cornfield. It was their private shelter, like a secret kingdom right outside the farmhouse. Deep in the corn, there was a bed of brittle, yellowed husks ready for the spring burning. Isaiah and Sarah Beth lay on top of them and looked up through the swaying stalks at the blue sky, talking about all the places they’d like to see someday.
“Tell me about New York City!” Sarah Beth said.
“It’s pretty nice,” Isaiah said, thankful to be talking about something he knew.
“I want to see it. I want to see London and Paris and the Nile. All the places that only exist on my little globe.”
“Me, too.”
“But I want to go with my husband one day,” Sarah Beth said and giggled. She cupped her hands around her mouth to protect her secret as she whispered, “One day I will.”
Isaiah blushed. He didn’t know if she was trying to tell him that she liked him the way Memphis liked Theta. Isaiah didn’t feel that way about Sarah Beth, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings or make her mad, so he just said, “The Nile’s in Egypt. That’s where the Pharaohs lived. I read about them in the Bible.”
Sarah turned on her side and rested her head on her elbow. “Do you have a special sweetheart?”
Isaiah glanced sideways very quickly but did not turn to meet her face, which was too close for his comfort. “Nah,” Isaiah said, embarrassed. He’d thought Alma was the prettiest girl he knew. Sometimes, he wondered what it would be like to kiss her. He wondered how you kissed. At the picture show, fellas like Rudolph Valentino mashed their mouths against the girl’s mouth, but Isaiah couldn’t really figure out what they did once their lips were pressed up against each other’s like that. It didn’t look particularly romantic, but people sure did get hot under the collar watching it.
Sarah Beth was looking at him peekaboo from under her curtain of hair. She smiled her tiny smile. “I could show you how to kiss proper. My gentleman won’t mind.”
Isaiah’s heartbeat quickened. Most fellas he knew minded when you kissed their sweethearts. They minded quite a bit. “I don’t believe I better,” he said and felt the heat rise in his cheeks.
“Oh, Isaiah,” she giggled. “It’s like sharing moon glow. That’s all.”
Sarah Beth pressed her lips to his and held them there. It felt like kissing something with no give, a rock or a tree. Isaiah sat up and pulled away. Sarah Beth’s face was hard to read. Had she liked the kiss? (He had not.) Did she want another one? (He hoped not.)
“How was that?” she asked and bit her bottom lip.
“Fine, I suppose.”
“You suppose?”
“I ain’t got nothing to judge it by. That was my first time.”
Sarah Beth lay back on the corn silk again. “When my gentleman makes me his queen and we are in Paris or Egypt, I shall kiss him all the time.” Sarah Beth wrapped her arms around herself and made kissing noises.
“How did you know about the King of Crows and how to stop him?” Isaiah blurted. He wanted to know, but he also wanted her to stop making those embarrassing noises.
“Hmm, should I tell you?” Sarah Beth said coquettishly and giggled. “Seeing as you are my very best friend, I reckon I can. It was during one of my bad fits. My heart stopped beating for a full hour!”
Isaiah didn’t think that could be true, but he said only, “Golly, Moses! That’s a long time!”
