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Sarah Beth writhed on the ground, her body contorting with a violent seizure.
“She told you!” Isaiah shouted. “She told you!”
“How is she?” Evie asked Mrs. Olson once she’d emerged from Sarah Beth’s too-quiet room.
“Resting. She’ll be all right,” Mrs. Olson said tersely. “You promised to look after her. I reckon your promises don’t count for much.”
“I’m sorry,” Evie said, but Mrs. Olson didn’t want to hear.
LIFE AIN’T ALWAYS FAIR
The next morning, everybody was acting awfully glum because of Sarah Beth, and so Isaiah took it upon himself to see to the kittens. Then he would have something to tell her when he went to visit. But when Isaiah got to the kittens’ sleeping spot under the porch, there was nothing there. He called and called for Mopsy.
Theta and Evie were gathering eggs in Theta’s apron and talking quietly about something serious, it looked like. “You seen the kittens?” he asked them.
“No, honey,” Theta said.
He asked Memphis and Bill and Sam and Jericho, but nobody had seen the kittens. Mr. Olson came through the field. Isaiah thought he’d ask him. Surely Mr. Olson would know.
“Mr. Olson, I can’t find the kittens,” Isaiah said, and some terrible feeling perched inside him, like when he thought he was going to throw up but hoped he wouldn’t.
Mr. Olson looked down at the ground
. “They’re gone.”
“Gone where?” Isaiah asked.
“I drowned ’em in the river.”
Isaiah felt as if somebody had clean punched him in the chest. He could scarcely breathe. “Why?” he asked, careful not to sound rude, but it cost him to do it.
“Son, I’ve got nothing to feed a bunch of kittens. I can barely keep this farm together. It’s better this way. They won’t suffer,” the farmer said and went into the house, letting the screen door snap behind him.
The mother cat crawled back under the porch. Isaiah could hear her mewling for her missing babies. Bill reached out and put a hand on Isaiah’s shoulder. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“He killed ’em, Bill. They were living things, and he just coldhearted killed ’em.”
“Sometimes folks think they’re doing a kindness picking the lesser evil. Reckon he thought it was better to do it quick rather than let ’em starve slow.”
“I would’ve fed ’em. I would’ve found a way,” Isaiah said, inconsolable.
“You not gonna stay here to tend ’em. They wadn’t yours.” Bill crouched before Isaiah so he could look him in the eyes. Tears streamed down the boy’s cheeks. “Life ain’t always fair, and the choices we gotta make sometime ain’t always clean, Little Man.”
“I would’ve fed ’em! I would have!” Isaiah blubbered and fell into a full cry. He wiped an arm across his wet eyes and ran off toward the shelter of the cornfields.
“If I’d known, I’d’ve put those kittens down gentle,” Bill said to Memphis as they worked side by side tilling the hard earth and planting more seed. It had gotten to him, seeing Isaiah all broken up like that. “You oughta go to the boy. He needs you.”
“I need to see to the planting.”
“Go on. I’ll do this.”
Memphis found Isaiah in the corn with his face buried against his arms, which were resting on his knees. Memphis sat down beside Isaiah. Every chance Memphis got, he was coming up with words. But now words failed him.
“I’m sorry, Ice Man.” It was the best he had.
All Isaiah could do was cry “Why?” over and over until Memphis thought his heart would break. No matter how hard you tried to keep the unfairness of life from kids, it found them sooner or later.
“You did right by those kittens, Ice. I was real proud of you the way you took care of ’em.”
