Steam rose up off the lamb’s scored flesh, the blistered skin largely hidden beneath sprigs of rosemary. “Hungry?”
Samuel was thinking about his mother again. Catching Ruth going through that drawer had cracked open everything he had fixed back together. Was she after his mother’s letters? Was there something in them that she wanted to find? Or to hide? Ruth said she was looking for her pin, that it might have fallen in there when she put the letters back, but Ruth had that pin yesterday and she wore it every day. So she couldn’t have lost it in his mother’s bedroom two days ago.
“Samuel, I asked if you were hungry.”
“Yes.” Then he said, “Not really.”
This caused Ruth to look down at him and scowl. “But you love my lamb roast.”
Samuel nodded and had the good sense to say, “It looks delicious.”
“Well, then, I suggest you rediscover your appetite because it’s the last piece of good meat we’re likely to get for some time. Mr. Oldfield has closed our account at the butcher.” She huffed. “Waving the bill about in front of half the village like I was a common criminal.” Her nostrils flared and her lips faded to a faint line. “He won’t let me buy so much as a rabbit until the account is paid in full. Hateful man.”
The boy’s mind was too crowded to make room for a butcher, even a hateful one. When he had surprised Ruth, she had jumped, and when she turned around she looked pale and scared. Ruth never looked scared. Samuel had caught her doing something she wasn’t supposed to, and that could only mean one thing.
“Did you tidy your room like I asked?”
He hadn’t. “Yes, Ruth.”
“You haven’t touched that Bible in two days. Reverend Pryce will be at school on Monday and you know he’s awarding a prize for the best writing and another for the best drawing. When are you planning on finishing it?”
“Soon.”
“Tomorrow before school and no complaints.” Ruth picked up a large carving knife from the table. “One piece or two?”
Samuel asked for two, knowing it would please her. He watched as she pushed the fork into the lamb, the animal’s pale blood rushing up around it, and then sliced through the meat, the flesh parting with ease.
Grown-ups can do rotten things sometimes. That’s what Joseph had told him. Even the good ones. Samuel didn’t understand everything, but he was sure bad things were happening around him. His mother had been gone much too long. When she had told him that his father was dead, hadn’t she said that it was just the two of them now? That they only had each other, and when two people have just each other, why would one of them sail across the world without so much as a goodbye?
“I have gravy on the stove.” Ruth pointed with the tip of the knife. “Fetch it for me.”
“Yes, Ruth.”
Samuel got up and walked over to the stove, picking up the pot. Ruth said that his mother was in America but he didn’t believe that was true. Not anymore.
“Mind you don’t burn your hand on that,” Ruth said.
“It’s not that hot.”
Ruth sniffed and let the knife go limp in her hand. “I thought we might go to the park and feed the ducks on Saturday, once I’m finished at the market. Would you like that?”
Samuel nodded.
She was giving him a look now. “You’re not out of sorts about that business upstairs, I hope?”
“No.”
“From the frown on your face, it’s clear that something’s got you in a mood.” Ruth pierced a slice of lamb and laid it on Samuel’s plate. The sound of the knife sliding down the fork to release the meat sparked a shiver that raced right through the boy. “You’d think it was you who’d lost a precious family pin and not me.”
“Perhaps it’s in your bedroom,” said Samuel, sitting down. “I could help you look for it.”
“You think I haven’t looked there myself? I’ve turned the whole room upside down.”
“Maybe it’s not lost at all.”
Ruth glared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Mother says that just because you can’t find a thing doesn’t mean it’s lost.”
Samuel watched the knife moving about in Ruth’s hands. “Sounds like nonsense to me.”
He wanted to tell her that he wasn’t going to let her keep pretending this was her house for very much longer. He didn’t, though, because he could see the nasty glint in Ruth’s eye and, even lost in the wilderness of his troubles, he knew when to shut up. Besides, he had a plan now. All he needed was help.