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Mr. Olson was a decent man. Or he’d always tried to be. What was a decent man supposed to do when times were so hard? The muscles along his jaw tightened. He said nothing. The shopkeeper took it as consent. “Just leave it to us. We’ll take care of it. Go on, take the feed, Jim. Seems your credit’s good after all.”
“No, thank you. I don’t believe I will.” Mr. Olson left the goods on the counter and pushed out of the store.
“Best be getting back,” he announced as he emerged from the store empty-handed.
“Oh, but Mr. Olson, didn’t Mrs. Olson need sugar?” Evie asked.
“They was out,” he growled.
The Diviners hoisted themselves into the back of the truck. Evie sat down gingerly and waved away the dust with a sigh. “I will be so happy never to ride in a chicken truck again.”
Isaiah passed by Mr. Olson. The farmer was just sitting there behind the wheel with his hands in his lap, staring out through the glass at the dry-goods store. Isaiah hadn’t forgiven Mr. Olson for the kittens. He wasn’t sure he ever could. But he could tell Mr. Olson was sadder than usual. He was worried it had something to do with Sarah Beth.
“Everything all right, Mr. Olson?” Isaiah asked.
Mr. Olson didn’t answer for what felt like a very long time. “Fine. Go on and get in the back, son,” he said at last and started the engine.
When they got back to the farm, it was afternoon. The sun was strong and high. The outdoor thermometer affixed to the back porch of the farmhouse read nearly eighty-five degrees. The day had bloomed into a true late-spring beauty.
The phone rang in the parlor. Mr. Olson answered. “Uh-huh. All right. About three o’clock. Right,” he said and hung up. “Ada and I got to go to town again. Forgot something,” he announced.
“Lands’ sakes, Jim. I’m not decent.”
“You look fine, Ada.”
“Sarah Beth? You want to go to town, honey?”
“No. I’m feeling poorly,” Sarah Beth said in such a perfect sigh that Evie had to admire the craft of it. Hadn’t Evie used that same sighing voice to get out of going to school when she was bored?
“Well. All right, then.” Mrs. Olson fixed Evie with a stare. “Can I trust you to look after my daughter?”
“Yes. Of course,” Evie said, feeling guilty.
Mrs. Olson smiled at her daughter and gave her cheek a kiss. “Now, don’t be any trouble.”
“Don’t be any trouble,” Sarah Beth singsonged in reply, too low for her mother to hear her.
Mrs. Olson grabbed her hat and joined her husband. In a moment, the truck was backing down the dirt drive toward the road into town.
Sarah Beth tossed off her blanket and crossed the room, helping herself to some of the bridge mix Mrs. Olson kept in a bowl on an end table.
Nicely done, Evie thought.
“You want to practice our powers again?” Sarah Beth asked.
“I don’t believe we should. You heard your mother—you should rest,” Evie said.
Sarah Beth’s lips tightened like she might spit or bite. It was a frightening transformation.
“You practiced without me, didn’t you?” Sarah Beth demanded.
“I… I don’t know what you mean.” Evie felt quite off
balance suddenly.
Sarah Beth narrowed her eyes. They were such an unnerving shade of gray. “You said I was one of you. And then you went and did that. You don’t care about me at all!”
“That isn’t true, Sarah Beth. We didn’t want to hurt you. That’s all.”
