Morning Star (7 page)

CHAPTER 18

Felicia

IT WAS LUNCHTIME
in the cafeteria, and the four girls were in a huddle. Felicia nibbled a carrot stick and peered over Sophie's shoulder to glimpse the open pages of a gossip magazine.

“Do you think they'll stay married?”

“She's so gorgeous.”

“He's so gorgeous!”

Josh interrupted. “Excuse me, ladies. Can we get this drama club meeting started?”

“Ladies?” Renate giggled.

“Whatever. We've only got this lunch hour before we get together with Mr. Butler. It's time to get serious.”

“What about?”

“I've written a play.”

“You have? What's it called?”

Josh shuffled some papers in his hands, looked around at the faces that now focused on him. “I haven't got a title for it yet. I'm still organizing a few ideas.”

“Can you tell us about it? Like, what's the story?” Dodie asked.

“I've been reading some myths for inspiration, so it's set in ancient Greece. There are gods and goddesses, then these two main characters. I haven't decided on their names yet, maybe Zeus and Diana, I'm not sure. They fall in love but their families don't like each other. There's lots of action and then a big mix-up at the end. They wind up dead in each other's arms.”

Sophie laughed. “Someone has already written a play like that. Ever heard of Romeo and Juliet?”

“This is totally different! It's about Greek gods, and there are battles!”

“So let's hear it.”

Josh held the sheaf of papers against his chest. “It's not quite ready. It's a work in progress.”

“I think we should do some stand-up comedy,” said Matt.

“Easy for you. You're funny, but the rest of us aren't,” said Dodie.

“I'll provide jokes. Coach you. Like, here's one: if a cat could talk…it wouldn't. See? Come on everybody. It'll be fun!”

“Excuse me. We were talking about my play.”

“Boring,” said Matt.

“We can make it interesting. I thought it could be interactive. Everybody can contribute. The dialogue would be really realistic.”

The students looked at each other and shrugged shoulders.

“I dunno.”

“Maybe…”

A buzzer signaled the return to class. They started their migration down the hall. Josh walked beside Felicia. “I was thinking of you, Felicia, for a part in my play.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. You could be Diana.”

Felicia turned to Josh, open-mouthed with surprise. Josh's face immediately flamed red. He ducked his head and fled to the classroom.

Miss Peabody waited for them impatiently. “Come quickly and find your seats. The principal is going to make an important announcement to the whole school.”

Mrs. Mackie's voice crackled through the speaker high in the corner of the classroom.

“Students, this year marks the one hundred and fiftieth birthday of the school, and we are going to celebrate this special occasion with the production of a play.”

Felicia turned to look at Josh as Mrs. Mackie continued. “Mr. Butler has kindly offered to contribute his very own creation. I pass the microphone to Mr. Butler.”

Mr. Butler's voice boomed into the room. “Hello, students! What a pleasure it is for me to share my play with you all. I've called it Happy Valley in honor of our community, as well as the school. It's about our forebearers, the pioneers who came before us. Tryouts and casting will be next Monday in the cafeteria, then rehearsals start the following week. See you then!”

Josh's expression remained unchanged. Felicia admired his self-control. There wasn't a glimmer of the disappointment he had to be feeling. She started to write him a note.

Miss Peabody addressed her class. “Doesn't that sound exciting? I know I can hardly wait. In keeping with this pioneer theme, I am giving you an assignment.” The collective groans did not dampen the teacher's enthusiasm. “I want you all to research your family history. Talk to your parents and all of your relatives. Find out what you can about those people in your past. Then, I want you to write a speech and create a visual display to present your findings to the class. The format may vary. I would like to see objects and hear stories from your family's past that can tell the class something about what life used to be like.”

“How long does it have to be?” asked Renate.

“What if we find out something bad about our family, like we have a vampire uncle or something?” asked Matt.

“That is highly unlikely, Matthew.”

“I dunno, my Uncle Bert has these weird teeth…”

There was a ripple of laughter. “Anyone else?” asked Miss Peabody.

Ashley's hand shot up. “My family, they were United Empire Loyalists!”

“Really? I'm sure we'll all be interested to hear about them.”

Ashley continued, “I think there might have been some relative a long time ago that was from the royal family.”

“We'll look forward to hearing your story.”

Felicia sensed that Miss Peabody didn't believe Ashley. She watched as Ashley lowered her hand.

On the way home from school, the bus began to make grinding sounds. The driver pulled over to the side of the road and turned to the remaining riders.

“I don't like the sound of that—better not go any farther. I've got my cell phone if you want to call your parents to come and pick you up.”

Some students went forward to call home, but the four girls decided to walk the rest of the way.

Felicia turned up her jacket collar to protect her neck and jammed her hands into her pockets. “Wow! It's cold!”

“We sometimes get these real cold spells even though it's not winter yet,” said Renate.

“Not like the big city, eh?” added Sophie.

They began jogging to keep warm. Sophie's house was the closest. She invited her friends to come in, but they decided to keep going. Renate's house was next. After Dodie and Felicia said good-bye to her, they put their heads down and walked quickly. The wind blew icy sleet against their faces.

“Maybe we should have stopped at Renate's and phoned home.”

“Just a few more minutes.”

Another gust of wind stopped them in their tracks, almost blowing their breath away.

“I'm freezing!”

“Let's go stand over there for a minute, beside those trees and out of the wind.”

The two girls ran to the grove of trees. The large evergreens swayed and creaked, but they provided some protection from the early blast of winter.

“We'll stay here for a couple of minutes.” Dodie jumped up and down on the spot. “This helps to keep the circulation going. Wiggle your toes. That helps.”

“Look! We can see our breath!” They puffed and laughed at the clouds of moisture coming out of their mouths. “Your cheeks are all red,” said Felicia.

“So's your nose!”

They stood shivering together, preparing to go out again into the storm.

“Did you hear that?”

“What?”

“Listen!”

It was barely audible, the softest cry.

“Yeah! Where's it coming from?” They looked around them, and then Felicia pointed to a large tree. There was an opening at the base, and something was huddled inside it. They knelt down to get a better view. Felicia hesitated, but then reached in and extracted a tiny sodden bundle.

“Oh my gosh! It's a baby kitten!”

“Hiding in there, trying to keep warm.”

“The poor thing!”

“I wonder where its mother is.”

“I don't think it has a mother right now.”

“What'll we do? Can you take it home, Dodie?”

“No, I can't. My brother has asthma—and a jillion allergies. Better put it back.”

Felicia started to return the animal to its hiding place. It felt like a bundle of twigs in her hands. “I can feel its ribs.”

“It's probably starving.”

“Maybe we can take it to the Humane Society.”

“You'll have to take it home first. Can you do that?”

“My mom will freak.”

“Does she hate cats?”

“No.”

“Take it home then, and give it something to eat. A vet should see it. You can call the animal protection people tomorrow.”

Felicia hesitated, then placed the kitten inside her jacket. It didn't scratch, just settled in. The girls walked out from of the shelter of the trees and put their heads down, against the wind. As she struggled home, Felicia felt the warmth of the kitten, damp against her chest, and wondered if a cat was able to understand the concept of gratitude.

CHAPTER 19

Flower

GENTLE HANDS
palpated
Gabriel's chest and neck. “Poor wee babe, too young to be swimming in a cold
river.” The doctor laid his ear against the rapidly moving chest and listened.
“What care has he been given?”

Sarah Pemberton described the poultice. Dr. Simon
placed two fingers on Gabriel's neck. “Is he drinking?”

“His sister has been giving him water.”

Doctor Simon looked at Flower, noticing her for the
first time.

“You've been giving water to your brother?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“And how did you do that?”

“Mrs. Pemberton showed me how to drop water from a
spoon into Gabriel's mouth, just the tiniest bit.”

“Did he swallow or choke?”

“Most spilled from his mouth, no choking.”

“You did well, a good help to your sick brother.
Now, who else ails in this household?” Noah Pemberton led Dr. Simon up the
stairs.

After Samuel had been examined, the two men
returned to the kitchen, their faces grim. They sat at the table with Eldon as
Mrs. Pemberton and the doctor's wife served tea and biscuits. Flower and her
mother stayed by the warmth of the hearth. Cleo held her baby close as Flower
aimed at his mouth with a spoon, tipping in drops of water.

“Has this other person been badly treated?” asked
Mrs. Simon, as she and her hostess settled in chairs.

“His right ear was severed from his head, and the
wound is now festering.”

Mrs. Simon brought her hand to her mouth. She
turned to Sarah Pemberton. The women shook their heads and looked down into
their teacups.

“The institution of slavery is an abomination,” Dr.
Simon said. “Men forget how to be human.” He turned to Eldon. “Are you in good
health, at least?”

“Yes, I'm strong, and my tiredness is lifting.”

Mrs. Pemberton passed the plate of biscuits to
Eldon. “Take. Eat. I know you're hungry.” She stood up from the table and
carried the biscuits to Cleo and Flower.

“We must make plans,” said Noah.

“Samuel should stay with us,” said Dr. Simon. I'll
be able to look after him until his wound has started to heal and he's well
enough to travel.” He looked toward his wife, who nodded in agreement.

“We have, at the most, two days' grace. Then the
jackals will be howling.”

“When the babe can nurse again, he will be healthy
enough to move.”

“The family would be well suited at the Jensons'.
Jeremiah Jenson is unwell. Eldon would be most helpful there.”

“What is your plan?” Dr. Simon asked Eldon.

“I led my family through the hills and across the
river. Now we must make our way to a place called Ripley.”

Noah said, “Tell us about this pastor who visited
you, the man who wrote the letter to introduce you.”

“He started coming to see us on Sunday afternoons,”
Eldon began. “We sang hymns. He told stories from the Bible, stories about brave
people: Daniel in the lion's den, David and Goliath, Jonah in the whale.”

“Was your master happy with that?”

“I don't know. I'm not sure. The Reverend stopped
coming for a bit, and then one Sunday he showed up again. He talked about
heaven. Someone told him we didn't know about heaven but we sure knew about
hell.”

Everyone's eyes fell on Eldon's clasped hands. He
continued, “One afternoon he spoke to three of us after the service. He told us
about a real promised land, a place where we could be free. He told us a bit
about how to get there, said we would have a friend in Ripley who would tell us
how to get to Canada.”

Dr. Simon turned to Noah Pemberton. “He'll need
time to memorize more information.”

Flower listened to the hum of talk on the other
side of the room. Her mother was asleep, her head slanted toward her shoulder.
Flower concentrated on the drops of water pooling inside Gabriel's open mouth.
She set the spoon down and rubbed his downy cheek with her knuckle. He frowned
and swallowed.

“Gabriel?”