Chapter 5

 

“Frankie. Frankie, can you hear me?” Charlie’s whisper drifted from the hallway.

Frankie glanced at Mrs. Hamilton, her snores interrupted only by an occasional cough. Silently, Frankie slipped out of bed, stopping to pull on her wool stockings. For late spring, it was a cold night.

Out the door, she turned and flopped on Charlie’s bed, pushed up against the wall. “Hey there sweetie. What’s wrong?” She kept her voice low. Waking Mrs. Hamilton would only cause trouble. The last thing she needed was for the woman to complain to Uncle Wally that she was keeping her awake at night.

“Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted you to come and look,” he pointed to the small window, high on the opposite wall. The full moon shone bright and silver.

Frankie rolled over on her back and scooted up next to Charlie, pulling him close. He was getting bigger and wasn’t much on snuggling anymore, except when he was sleepy. “It’s real pretty, isn’t it?”

He nodded, his eyes bright in the moonlight. “It makes me think about when we used to go up on Wolf Ridge when it was so bright. We didn’t even need a lantern to find our way up there. Do you miss doing that?”

Frankie paused. Charlie hadn’t talked much about Jasper Creek since they’d left a few weeks ago. She missed a lot of things about home. The mist on the mountains in the early morning, the sound of the crows talking and arguing up on Caw Caw Mountain. And by now, the wild cherry trees would be in bloom and new baby rabbits would be hopping everywhere. Just thinking about it made her throat tighten.

She forced herself to hold her voice steady. “Of course I miss it. But I think we’ve got a nice home here. Don’t you?” She held her breath and stroked his hair as she waited for his answer.

Charlie pulled the blanket up closer to his chin. “I guess.”

Frankie set her eyes on the moon and willed herself not to cry. If only she could change things, make their life like it used to be. But you couldn’t ever go back. That’s what Mamma always said when she talked about her old home in the Carolinas. But there was always a bit of wishing in Mamma’s voice when she talked about her past. For the first time, Frankie understood how her mother had felt.

“Frankie?”

“What is it, sweetie?”

“What do you think Mamma’s doing right now?”

Frankie took a deep breath. She couldn’t guess what he wanted to hear. “Well, I’m not sure. What do you think she’s doing?”

Charlie was slow to answer. “It’s night time, so I guess maybe she’s rocking the baby to sleep. I guess even babies in heaven have to sleep.”

Frankie nodded, not trusting herself to speak. If her voice trembled only a moment, Charlie would burst into tears.

“Do you think she misses us, Frankie?”

She swallowed hard. Explaining heaven to a six year old wasn’t easy, especially when she didn’t half understand it herself. “I think Mamma’s glad that God is taking care of us. She knows we’re safe with Him. Just like she and the baby are. And she’s probably really happy that we’ve come to live with Uncle Wally. He’s her brother and she loves him a lot.” Would that satisfy him?

He sighed. “I guess. But if she looks down on our cabin, we won’t be there for her to see. She won’t know what happened to us.”

Frankie hugged him tighter and patted his back. “Mamma knows, Charlie. She knows.”

 

 

***

 

 

“Frankie!”

Frankie stood to her feet at once. Uncle Wally didn’t call her to help him very often, but when he did, he usually had something important. Yesterday he’d sent her on several deliveries. One had been to Violet’s house. She’d never seen such fancy things in a person’s house; velvet curtains, and pretty carpets on the floor. The kitchen itself had been a wonder with the big cooking stove and lots of pantry doors.

She hoped this wouldn’t mean another errand to that place. “Yes, Uncle.”

“Over here, girl.” He motioned her to the long front counter, pointing her around behind the cash register. “It’s about time you learned more about the business.”

Frankie swallowed hard and forced her feet in his direction. She was good at what she was already doing, stocking shelves, dusting, and sweeping the floors. Wasn’t Uncle Wally satisfied with her work?

“Seth, I need you over here, too,” Wally called across the store.

Frankie watched Seth hurry as he refolded a shirt on display that a customer had disarranged. He picked up a box of shoes someone had left on the floor and deposited it on a shelf as he came forward.

With Seth beside her, Frankie felt her heart beginning the strange galloping it seemed to do in his presence. What was wrong with her? She shook away her thoughts and listened to her uncle.

“When they have their purchases, if they want to charge, you find their name in the ledger and look at their account. Then–”

Frankie stared at the book Uncle Wally had opened. Pencil scribbles ran on top of the lines, with other scribbles out to the side.

She watched his finger as he further explained. “Beside their last purchase, you add the number of what they charge today. Do you understand?”

Frankie blinked and wiped her sweating palms on her trousers. She nodded. She understood, all right. She understood that there were some truths she was about to face up to.

“And if there’s a little blue mark, it means they can’t charge anything else until they’ve made a payment. Are you listening, Frances?”

Frances? The name jolted her from the panic racing through her limbs. “Y-yes, sir. Yes, I’m listening.”

Wally Stoner paused for a second, his eyes on her face. Frankie squirmed under his stern expression. “Seth here,” he indicated, “knows the system already. He’ll be right beside you to help if you need it.” He set the book on the counter and turned. “I’ll be down at the barber shop if you need me.” With that, he turned and left through the front door.

Thankful he was leaving, she nodded and chewed the inside of her cheek. Small beads of perspiration broke over her lips. Maybe she could pretend to feel ill, or. . .faint. But that would be lying. Please, please God. Help me!

What if Uncle Wally fired her when he knew the truth? What would happen to her and Charlie? How would they get back to Jasper Creek? The thought of being thrown out, hungry and penniless, of Charlie begging people for food managed stilled her voice. There must be–

“Frankie, Mrs. Miller is ready for you to check her items,” Seth interrupted her thoughts.

Frankie stared at the red yarn and packet of needles the woman had put on the counter. A tiny throb began in her head, like a hammer beating on an empty wooden barrel.

“Will that be cash or charge, ma’am?” That part was easy. It was what Seth always asked the customers when they paid.

“Cash,” Mrs. Miller smiled, indicating the coins in her hand.

Seth leaned in beside Frankie and pulled a large sheet of paper from behind the register. The warmth from his arm sent her heart racing ahead. She barely noticed as his finger pointed to lines on the paper. “Right here are the prices of the items. You just punch the numbers to match on the cash register. See?”

He demonstrated by picking up the yarn and pointing to the price. Frankie watched as he punched it on the cash register. It was easy. Or would be, if–

“Now you do the needles. They’ll be on the Sundries side, not the grocery,” he added.

Frankie stared at the paper in front of her. Needles. N. She had to find the words beginning with ‘N’. She pressed her finger to the heavy paper and slowly made her way to the ‘N’ words. She was close. N-e-e-

“Frankie? Look it’s right here,” he pointed. “That’ll be fifty cents, ma’am.”

Mrs. Miller held her hand toward Frankie.

Cold metal touched Frankie’s palm as the coins dropped from Mrs. Miller’s hand. She stared at the two pieces. What did they mean? What was she supposed to do?

“Give her change, Frankie.”

Seth’s voice echoed and vibrated as she stared at the round pieces of metal. The throbbing in her head turned into the kind of pounding the blacksmith made in his shop. She blinked away the tears that threatened to fall.

“Are you all right, dear?” the customer asked.

Fingers curled around her elbow. Seth pulled her aside and pried the coins from her hand. “She’s just not feeling well today, Mrs. Miller. I’ll be getting this for you.”

 

 

***

 

 

Seth waited on two more customers before the store emptied. He nodded to Mrs. Hamilton, busy in the clothing section, arranging a new shipment of hats.

He looked around the store. No Frankie. Probably in the storeroom. What was he going to tell Wally Stoner? He was sure the man would ask how she had done. And why hadn’t Frankie told him she didn’t know how to handle the money? That was basic to working in a store.

But she was a hard worker, he had to give her that. Maybe Wally could work something out for her.