Chapter 25 #2
“Well, they should.” His eyes twinkled. “I’m not getting any younger. I look forward to becoming a grandfather and passing along my knowledge to the next generation.”
“Are you having a baby?” Hazel asked me.
My cheeks warmed at the question, so I pointed at the slate. “Let’s begin, shall we?”
“Will the baby be my sister?”
Johnnie also watched me closely, questions in his eyes.
“No.”
“Perhaps that’s the lesson we should teach today,” Father chuckled. “I’m always in favor of teaching children what they want to know when they’re curious. We can talk about family trees.”
I took a seat at the table and sighed. “If I had a baby, he or she would be your nephew or niece.”
Hazel frowned. “Why?”
“Because I am your sister, not your mother.”
“And what would the baby be to Johnnie?” she asked.
“Johnnie is Sam’s nephew, so if we had a baby, it would be Johnnie’s cousin.” I took his slate and drew a family tree. I lifted it for them. “Do you see?”
Johnnie nodded, but I could see that there were more questions in his eyes.
“And what is Johnnie to me?” Hazel asked with a frown. “Are we on the same family tree?”
“Well . . .” I wasn’t sure how to explain, since I knew how much they cared about each other.
But honesty was the best course of action, so I said, “You and Johnnie aren’t related by blood, so you don’t share a family tree.
But not all families are biologically related.
Some families are chosen, whether through marriage or adoption or simply through love. ”
Hazel grinned at Johnnie and took his hand in hers. “I choose you through love. You can be my brother. Would you like that?”
He blinked at her for a moment and opened his mouth, but then closed it again.
“You can talk, Johnnie,” Hazel said. “Whatever you want to say. Just say it.”
It was as if something shifted inside him. Hazel had given him permission to speak again.
“Yes,” he said, his raspy little voice breaking the silence that had enveloped him for years.
“Yes?” Hazel asked, jumping off her chair to stand in front of him. “You want to be my brother?”
“Yes!” Johnnie said, this time laughing as she bounced on her toes.
Hazel almost pushed him off his stool with the force of her hug. “You talked, Johnnie! You talked!”
Johnnie’s giggle sounded like music, bringing tears to my eyes.
“Well, boy oh boy,” Father said with a chuckle. “Would you look at that.”
When Hazel pulled back, it was my turn. I lifted Johnnie off his stool and held him. He wrapped his arms around my neck and pressed his face close to mine.
“I love you,” he whispered to me.
Tears fell freely from my eyes as I squeezed him back. “I love you, too, sweetheart.”
The back door opened, and Sam appeared.
Relief made me weak at the sight of him, healthy and whole.
“What’s going on here?” Sam asked, confusion on his brow.
“Johnnie has a surprise.” I set the boy down, and he grinned up at Sam.
“Hazel is my sister,” he said, his voice hoarse but beautiful.
Sam stared at Johnnie as if he hadn’t understood, but then a smile broke out on his face, and he scooped the boy into his arms. “Johnnie!”
Johnnie giggled again as Sam hugged him.
When Sam looked at me, tears swam in his eyes. “How did this happen?”
“He just needed permission to speak again.” I looked at Hazel, whose face was glowing.
Sam pressed his eyes closed and buried his face into Johnnie’s shoulder.
“Sam is crying,” Hazel whispered to me, her smile falling. “Is he sad?”
“I’ve never been happier,” Sam said to Hazel as he finally set Johnnie down and wiped at his eyes with his shoulders. “I’ve been praying for years that Johnnie would talk.”
“You should have just told him to.” Hazel shrugged. “That’s what I did.”
The kitchen filled with laughter as we marveled at the change. We peppered Johnnie with questions, and he answered them with joy.
Finally, Father told the children it was time to get back to their studies.
“And this time,” Father said to Johnnie with a wink, “you get to answer my questions.”
“I’m going to steal Ally away for a minute,” Sam said as he took my hand and led me to the door.
“Go on,” Father said. “I can manage without her for a bit.”
I stepped outside with Sam, surprised at how chilly it had become. The sky was gray, promising rain, and the wind had picked up.
“I didn’t know if I would ever hear Johnnie’s voice again,” he said, shaking his head in wonder.
I smiled, thankful for this bit of sunshine in our dark world.
But Sam’s countenance shifted, and he asked in a low voice, “Did anyone come about Lulu?”
“No.”
“Is Paddy still here?”
“Yes. At least he was. I haven’t seen him since breakfast ended.” I glanced around the yard and then leaned closer to Sam. “Did you get her there safely?”
Sam nodded and sighed. “I don’t know if she’ll survive, though. She didn’t look good. But I’ll probably never know. That’s the only way we can keep people safe, by not talking about them once they leave our care.”
“How long have you been doing this?”
“She’s the third woman I’ve helped.”
I put my hand on his arm. “I admire you, Sam.”
“It puts us all in danger.” He laid his hand over mine. “Jim has already burnt down one of my buildings, and he’ll do it again if we don’t stop him.”
“How will you do that?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to try.”
I wanted to tell him to be careful, but there was no point. The history book said Sam would die in a fire in four days. Would Jim be the one to set it again? Because of Lulu? And, if he was, how was I going to stop him a day before he planned to do it?
I needed to see what the book said. There had to be another clue to help me. I just didn’t know what it was yet.