Shades of Gray by Tim O’Brien Page B

ungrateful—orthat he couldn’t take the hard work. Meg would miss him most, but Aunt Ella, too, would be sorry to see him go. And Uncle Jed? He wondered if his uncle would miss his help or would simply be relieved to have one less mouth to feed this winter.
    â€œDoc Martin said to take my time and think it over carefully,” Will said aloud. “I don’t have to tell them anything yet.” Stuffing the letter in his pocket, he picked up his fishing pole and started toward home, seeing broad streets lined with homes and shops instead of the narrow, tree-shaded dirt road under his feet. It would be wonderful to be back in Winchester again!
    He wondered if Doc Martin’s sister would be as nice as Aunt Ella. Probably not, since she wasn’t family. Family! Why, Aunt Ella was his closest relative now. When he went to live with Doc, he’d be leaving behind all the family he had left. Could a bachelor doctor, his widowed sister, and a boy be a family? he wondered. He knew how lonely it was to be the only young person in a house.
    Suddenly Will realized how much he was going to miss Meg. She wasn’t silly and helpless like other girls he’d known—or like his sisters, he thought with a pang. Was it because she was a country girl, or because she’d always been expected to do her share in a family with no slaves—a family that actually took pride in working hard?
    Working hard. Will made a fist and flexed his muscles. He was proud of his body’s new strength and toughness, even of the calluses the garden tools had worn on his hands. Yes, he’d learned to work hard, but not as hard as his uncle. That man could really work! And he knew how to do almost everything.Hadn’t he been the one to fix the millworks when the miller himself couldn’t do it?
    With a jolt, Will realized that he was proud of Uncle Jed! That during the weeks they’d worked together he’d come to respect his uncle! He hadn’t meant for that to happen. How could Will Page, son of a fallen Confederate patriot, respect a man who’d refused to fight?
    Before Will could sort out his feelings, he was wading across the little stream that crossed the road at the edge of his uncle’s property. From the lane, he saw Aunt Ella going toward the house with a serving bowl. He was even later than he’d thought! He put the fishing pole in the barn and ran to the porch to wash. The family was already at the table when he came inside.
    â€œI’m sorry I’m late, Aunt Ella.”
    â€œWe were beginning to worry about you, Will,” she said.
    He passed his plate, and his uncle filled it with a large serving of squirrel stew and dumplings.
    â€œI’m glad you had good luck hunting,” Will said. “The bugs were biting down at the pond, but the fish sure weren’t.”
    â€œWell, at least you got the butter,” said Meg.
    Will’s heart sank. The butter! How could he have forgotten the butter?
    â€œYou did get the butter, didn’t you?”
    â€œNow, Meg, Will can’t help it if Mrs. Brown hasn’t done her churning yet,” said Aunt Ella.
    â€œI—I forgot,” Will said lamely.
    â€œYou mean you left it down where you were fishing?” Meg’s voice rose.
    Will shook his head. “I was supposed to go back to thehouse for it when I finished,” he said miserably. “And I forgot to.” Why, oh, why couldn’t he have kept his mouth shut and let them think Mrs. Brown hadn’t churned yet?
    â€œWell, no harm’s done,” Aunt Ella said. “Meg can walk over tomorrow and pick it up.”
    â€œOh, good!” Meg cried. Then, turning to Will, she said, “But I still don’t see how you could just walk off and forget it.”
    â€œLeave me alone, Meg!” Will shouted. “Just you leave me alone!” His breath came in ragged gasps. There was no other sound in the suddenly quiet