Chapter XXVI #2
Mae saw the understanding dawn on the matron.
Gossip was never a good thing. If a review was triggered, the institution could not accept new children.
When the children stopped, the payments would stop.
Mae thought about the beautiful paintings in the hall and wondered how many children were needed to pay for just one.
After what seemed an age, the matron hedged again. “Well, we would need time to get the children together, of course. It would be against their best interests to rip them from their activities midday. It would be best for you both to come back tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow is not an option. If the children cannot be brought into our custody today, then I will telegraph Judge Matthews and have the law alerted to the unusual placement of the children in this institution, and all receipt of children will come to a halt pending investigation.” Mae's counterargument was all bluster. She knew that Judge Matthews would do no such thing, but she hoped that the matron couldn’t see through her. The matron eyed her suspiciously.
“These children…” The matron paused while an expression of consideration flitted across her features, “What are their names again?”
Mae kept her expression neutral as she spoke. “Lily Kerr and Simon Turner.”
The matron’s eyebrows rose. “I believe Lily Kerr has been placed.”
Winona’s body jerked at this tidbit of information.
“No…” Winona’s voice was barely audible.
Her body began to shake with small tremors, and she breathed, “No… Please…” Her hand instinctively reached out toward the desk.
Her fingers strained to make contact, as if the desk would fulfill her need to hold Lily.
Simon’s face came unbidden to her mind. Winona’s body went rigid at her hesitation.
“It must be both.” Her heart skipped a beat.
As the silence of the room extended, Mae’s heartbeat pounded in her ears.
“Yes, well,” the matron finally responded, “I’m sure we can find an appropriate solution.
” Her hand floated over to the brass bell located on her desk without glancing in its direction.
A distinct ring sliced through the silence of the room. Instantly, Sister Margaret appeared.
“Yes, Mother Superior.” The sister looked expectantly at the matron.
“Please have Simon Turner and Lily Kerr brought to the front parlor. They have been returned to their mothers pending inquiry.” The command rolled off her tongue with expediency. She pulled out a leather-bound ledger labeled ‘Placements’ and looked up. “Your names? For the ledger, of course.”
The junior nun immediately backed out of the room to perform the request. A faint affirmation was barely audible.
“Mae Turner.” Mae stated as the matron reached for a pen. As the pen touched the paper, Mae recoiled into herself. There was no going back now. Winona’s voice sounded distant as she recited her name to the matron.
Upon closing the book, the matron’s focus returned to Mae. “Now, if that is all… I have more business to see to.” The dismissal felt like a relief.
Mae ushered Winona out of the office. She tried to do so casually, but the movement was jerky and brash.
They were so close. She just had to hold it together a little while longer.
As they crossed the threshold, a man’s booming voice echoed from behind a closed door.
Mae glanced back over her shoulder to see the matron shuffling paperwork still at her desk, her lips twisting into a sinuous smile.
The door opened abruptly just as Mae and Winona approached. Sister Margaret looked frazzled as she scurried out of the room, gripping Lily’s hand and pulling her behind.
“You can’t just take her!” The man’s anger suffused the hallway as he tramped out after the sister. Lily’s eyes were wide as she was dragged behind the nun. Her other thumb lay tucked in her mouth as her feet stumbled one after the other in a sideways motion.
“Lily!” Winona’s voice cracked into the hallway at a decibel not much lower than the man’s.
As she rushed toward the small girl, Mae knew there was no way to hold her back this time.
Lily’s head snapped around at the familiar voice and a small ‘Mama!’ escaped her mouth.
Before the word could be finished, Winona scooped up her tiny frame, ripping her hand out of Sister Margaret’s, and hugged her with a maternal ferocity palpable to all in the hallway.
Sister Margaret’s eyes vacillated between the heartwarming scene and the livid man closing in on her. A white pallor descended on her features as her cheeks took on a reddish hue.
“We’ve already signed the paperwork,” the man bellowed. His thin, wiry frame stiffened as his eyes grew incensed at the scene of love in front of him. “My wife needs a little one, and we already chose this one. You can’t go back on it now!”
At his reference to his wife, Mae glanced around for the proposed new mother for Lily. A small, mousy woman of thirty years or so cowered behind the man’s shaking fist. Her eyes deftly studied the floorboards as the scene unfolded, and a flush spread across her face.
Winona set Lily back on her feet and tucked her behind her body.
Facing the man, she roared back at him. “This is me girl and she ain’t goin’ home wit ye ever!
” Lily clutched at her mother’s skirt and hid behind its fullness to escape the view of the man.
Winona’s chest heaved with malice as her eyes zeroed in on the impending altercation, almost welcoming it.
“Excuse me,” a calm, cadenced voice resounded through the hallway, bringing everyone’s attention to the matron’s authoritative stance.
“I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused everyone, but this matter is out of our hands.” Directing her words to the simmering man, she continued, “Sir, if you would like to file a formal complaint, I’m sure the matter can be addressed within the legal system.
” Her eyes fell on Mae. “Complaints have a way of triggering reviews in a more expedient fashion.”
Mae knew that this pretense was created just for her to point out the vulnerability of her position. The matron was reminding her that she may have won this skirmish, but the battle wasn’t close to its end.
“You bet I will,” he vowed, his words laced with hostility.
The matron’s serpentine smile lifted at the corners as her eyes remained on Mae.
“Mama!” Mae ripped her focus from the matron’s face as she heard Simon's voice cry out.
Before she could open her arms, Simon was there, clutching her and burying his face in her neck.
“Simon.” Her body convulsed as relief and love crashed over her.
Her legs weakened momentarily as she closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of him.
When she opened her eyes, she became aware of the audience still surrounding them.
Looking down into his face, she could still see the faint yellowing of the bruise on his cheek, a cruel reminder of the injustice that had started it all.
She stiffened and wrapped a protective arm around Simon's shoulder. “Let’s go, Winona.”
Winona swept Lily up onto her hip and led the way to the entrance. The door cracked open with a relenting groan. Mae stepped back out into the daylight just as the mid-afternoon sun slipped behind the clouds.