AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She repeated what Timmy had said. “It doesn’t sound good. Please hurry.”
Papa gave her a quick kiss on the temple. “Stay with your mama. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He ran up the hallway and left through the connecting door.
Ava found Mama in the parlor, sitting in her favorite chair with her Bible open in her lap. When Ava told her about Timmy’s unexpected arrival, Mama set her Book aside and immediately began to pray. Ava couldn’t find words, so she simply paced the room while petting the kitten, begging,Please, please,and trusted the Lord to understand.
By the time the mantle clock chimed nine, Mama was drooping in her chair. Ava convinced her to go to bed, chiding, “Staying awake won’t change the outcome.”
Mama offered a weary smile. “I seem to recall a wise woman giving similar advice to you not long ago.”
“Jo, and she was smart enough to take it to heart.”
Mama looked at Prince sleeping in the curve of Ava’s arm. “If that one is staying the night, he needs to go to the barn.”
Ava ran her fingers down the kitten’s silky spine. She found comfort in his warm presence, and she hated to give him up. But Mr. Willems’s query about whether she’d take a cat all the way to New York made her ponder the wisdom of growing attached to the little creature. “While you ready yourself for bed, I’ll return him to his mama.”
“A wise choice.”
Ava crossed the wide, grassy patch separating their house from Mr. Willems’s place. Although the evening was warm, she experienced a shiver as she walked through deep shadows beneath a star-sprinkled sky. She couldn’t help thinking about Timmy running across town all by himself without even a kitten providing company. What a brave boy. And now, if what she suspected was true, a very alone boy. Her heart ached for him.
She located the mama cat and other kittens in a box lined with an old, mouse-chewed blanket and placed Prince with them. Then she hurried home and continued her pacing. Had the hands on the clock ever moved so slowly? Finally, at a little before eleven, Papa scuffed through the door.
Ava ran to him. “Was she…”
Papa nodded. “She was.” He opened his arms, and she stepped into his embrace. Then he escorted her to the parlor. He sat in his chair, and Ava took Mama’s.
“How is Timmy?” she asked.
“Inconsolable.” Anguish tinged Papa’s expression and tone. “The Edigers offered to let him stay the night with them, but he wanted to be with Mr. Willems. Gil and I made a pallet at the foot of Roald’s bed. Roald said he’s welcome to remain with him until the End of Harvest celebration.”
“And after the celebration? Then what?”
Papa hung his head. “If someone doesn’t take him in, he’ll likely go the orphans’ asylum in Topeka.”
Ava gasped. “Oh, Papa, no! He’ll wither and die there.”
Papa sank deeper into his chair and hung his head. “It gives me no pleasure to think of taking him there. But the boy doesn’t have any other family. This is why the asylums exist, to provide a place for children like Timmy.”
Ava wouldn’t argue. Not tonight, with Papa so exhaustedand heartsore. But if they tried to take Timmy to Topeka, she would argue with every bit of breath she possessed.
“Miss Dirks is laid out in her bed, and she is at peace.” Papa struggled to his feet. “After we alerted Reverend Ediger, we went by the Batys’. Hosea and Joseph will ready a casket, and we’ll have a service as soon as it’s done, probably Tuesday morning. For now, there’s nothing left to do but turn in. I’m sure the situation will be addressed in tomorrow’s service.” As he passed her, he patted her hands. “I’m sorry, my Leefste. This isn’t the way I hoped this evening would end for you.”
Nor the way she’d hoped. But her worries seemed petty in light of Timmy’s great loss. She rose and slipped her hand through Papa’s elbow. “Don’t worry about me, Papa. There’s time for Gil and me to talk.”
But as she closed herself in her room, she couldn’t help looking ahead. In only two more weeks the boys’ band would compete at the End of Harvest celebration. The outcome would determine whether Gil accepted the teaching position in New York or not. Only two weeks. Was it enough time?
Gil
Whatever sermon ReverendEdiger had planned for that sunny Sunday morning in August was pushed aside to tend to one of their own. Gil remembered similar meetings after the fever swept through Falke. During the weeks of the illness’s rampage, so many families were devastated—parents left without children and children left without parents. He’d been one of the lucky orphans, with a family member willing to take him in. But there was no one left for Timmy.
Roald had stayed home from the service with the distraught boy. Gil almost stayed, too, after missing a ride with theFlamings. But Roald asked Gil to speak on his behalf concerning Timmy, and Gil agreed to go. In Gil’s mind, the two should remain together. Roald needed a family as much as Timmy did, but Roald insisted he couldn’t be responsible for the boy forever.
“I’ll keep him here until the competition. Then, if nobody offers to give him a home, I’ll take him to the orphans’ asylum myself. They’ll find a good family for him,” he’d told Gil with tears swimming in his eyes. “A boy should have a mother and a father. He never knew his mother, then lost his pa at such a young age. He should have a chance to have two parents.”
Gil understood the man’s reasoning and applauded him for wanting to do what was best for Timmy. But at the same time he wondered whether anyone would care about Timmy as much as Roald already did.
Reverend Ediger stepped down from the podium and stood in front of the congregation. “As we all know, Miss Dirks was guardian to her great-nephew, Timmy, who is now without a family member to look after him. Since there’s no guardian to make plans for him, we, as his church family, must decide what’s best for him.”
Gil stood. Ava and her parents sat across the aisle. He sent them a brief look he hoped conveyed his need for prayer support, then pulled in a fortifying breath. “Reverend Ediger, I’m sure everyone here knows that Timmy and Roald Willems have established a friendship.”
