Whisper Town by Patricia Hickman Page A

we’re about to go back to the house,” said Florence. She kept wiping her eyes. Her husband had left her without a
     trace, years back. She had not mentioned him at all on this trip, yet it seemed the thought of him might be running through
     her mind.
    Angel wiped her own eyes, once for Fern and Mrs. Coulter, and once for Florence. “I made a good chocolate meringue pie,” she
     said to Florence. “I’ll cut you a slice when we get back.”
    Florence took her hand and they followed the Coulters back to their automobiles. Fern invited Angel and Florence to join her
     in the family car while the boys joined their wives.
    They all made small talk about the beautiful service. The older women conversed about how well laid-out Mr. Coulter had been.
     Angel refrained from talk about the dead. It didn’t seem right.
    “I wonder how Jeb is making out with Myrtle,” she said. “I can’t imagine him washing out diapers.”
    “I’m fretting about the same thing,” said Fern. “Ladies, what say we join my family for a big lunch and then head back to
     Nazareth?”
    “Fern, you can’t leave,” said her mother. “Besides, I want you to think about talking to the school here in Ardmore. They’ve
     a teacher leaving to have a baby in the fall.” Fern’s mother did not miss a beat.
    “I wish I could be both places, Mother,” said Fern. She handed her mother a fresh handkerchief. “But Stanton School is stretched
     thin this year. They’ve got a student’s mother taking my place while I’m gone and I’ve got my students in the middle of a
     term paper.”
    “And then there’s Jeb,” Angel said.
    “Most of all, there’s Jeb.” Fern’s brows lifted in surprise.
    Belinda scarcely looked at Lucky before leaving. Lucky had taken it upon herself to give Belinda a piece of her mind for her
     late timekeeping. Then they went round two over Belinda smoking while she nursed Myrtle.
    “She’s all we got, Lucky. You can’t run her off.” Jeb had come in from seeing a sick family and found them arguing.
    “What kind of wet nurse hauls off feeding a baby with her smokes anyway? I seen girls having they kids younger than me that
     can take care of a child better than her.” Lucky washed Myrtle’s mouth with a damp cloth as though she had been contaminated
     by Belinda’s feeding.
    “She’ll be back for the evening feeding, so you better get used to seeing her. I’m glad you’re taking such an interest, though.
     You’re better company for her than me.”
    “What you feed her in between times?”
    “Angel put together some formula. You’ll find it in the icebox. We warm the bottles in a pan of hot water over the stove.”
     Jeb noticed a scar on her arm.
    “Folks around here mind you having coloreds living with you?”
    “I’m more concerned about where you’ll sleep when Angel comes home.”
    “How you come by all these youngens?”
    “Fate.”
    “We heard you was the preacher that took in stray children.”
    “Apparently so did someone else. How did you come to hear about me?”
    “Church people talk about everything.”
    “You nailed that right. I’m worried about you not attending school, Lucky.”
    “I got pulled out of school long time ago to help my auntie. Ever since, I been working to help bring up her babies. All I
     know is bringing up babies.”
    “What’s your auntie’s name?”
    Lucky gazed to the right. “We call her Auntie.”
    “She must miss having you around.”
    “Too many mouths to feed.”
    “Willie and Ida May will be home soon. Get to know them. I’ve got a load of wood to deliver. You think you’ll be all right
     here by yourself?”
    “I do well by myself, Reverend. I can take care of myself fine.”
    “I believe it.” Her name suited her.
    The sky darkened and Fern’s oldest brother told her they should wait until morning to leave. Fern agreed but kept gathering
     up her belongings until they were nearly packed and waiting at the front door. “Ladies, we