RR05 - Tender Mercies by Lauraine Snelling Page A

two women exchanged smiles as Mary Martha got to her feet. “You say your numbers and letters now for your ma, and I’ll go help in the kitchen. Tell her what all went on today at school too.” She patted Deborah’s head gently and headed for the door, pausing before going through it. “You need anything else?”
    “Just permission to get up,” Katy said.
    “Since that’s not likely to happen, lie back and enjoy the rest.”
    “She’s going to die, ain’t she?” Manda slammed the last lid back in place.
    Mary Martha shook her head. “You and Deborah. Why, no. Sometimes mamas just need a little extra help in the early months.”
    “My ma was just like this, and she died.”
    Mary Martha wanted to wrap her arms around Manda and hold her close, but the rigid shoulders and squared jaw told her that wouldn’t be appreciated, nor even tolerated. She sighed. “Let’s just pray for her and make her take it easy around here, and she’ll be fine.”
    “God don’t much care one way or t’other.” Manda filled a kettle with water and set it on the hot part of the stove.
    “Why, yes, He most certainly does. Whatever gave you that idea?”
    “We prayed, but Ma died anyway, and I prayed lots when Pa didn’t come home, and it never did any good at all. So why spend all that time prayin’ when you could be doing something instead?”
    “I pray while I’m doing.”
    “You don’t close your eyes and fold your hands like the preacher says?” Manda looked at Mary Martha as if a heretic had wandered in.
    “Sometimes, but not always. The Bible says to pray unceasingly, but if you kept your hands folded and eyes closed all the time, your family would starve to death. I think God means us to live our lives like He would have us and keep on talking with Him, just like you and I are talking now.” She could tell by the look on Manda’s face that she had a long way to go to get any convincing done. “You just think about it. If Jesus is right in our hearts, He knows our thoughts.”
    “Durn.”
    Mary Martha couldn’t resist. She laughed and grabbed Manda’s arm, pulling her into a hug. “Ah, child, He loves you so much, and so do I.”
    Manda relaxed into the embrace for a moment before pulling away. “I got to get to peeling some spuds.”
    Letting her go, Mary Martha caught a sheen in Manda’s eyes. She’s really frightened. Dear God, what all did these two lambs go through before Zeb found them? While her brother had given her snips and bits of his two years on the run, they’d never sat down and talked about how he ended up with a ready-made family. One of his comments stuck in her mind. “ Mother wouldn’t let me do anything else but bring them along.” She knew for a fact her mother had been living in Missouri on the homeplace, for that’s where she’d been too.
    And here the girls were facing again the fear of losing a mother. God, please take care of Katy, for the sake of these two girls, if not for Zeb and the rest of us . Mary Martha took the knife from Manda. “I’ll do this. You go on and work with the horses, like you usually do. I thought to fry up some steaks cut off that pork shoulder. What do you think?”
    “Uh-huh. I’ll go dig some carrots then.” Manda left without looking her aunt in the eye.
    If she’s embarrassed about a near tear or two . . . Mary Martha shook her head. Katy had a lot to deal with here—new husband, a baby on the way, and two girls who needed help making up for the years the locusts ate. God, you promised to do that for us, and I sure do hope you plan to take care of this little problem here. To me, these are big problems, but to you, they’re nothing at all .
    As she peeled the potatoes and sliced the meat, she kept sending up the petitions, grateful she didn’t have to close her eyes and fold her hands, as Manda thought.
    Katy joined them for supper, and with her presence and laughter, the big cloud that had been smothering the house picked up and