East of Everywhere by Susan Pogorzelski

Author:Susan Pogorzelski [Pogorzelski, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-14T14:05:32+00:00

She didn’t see Maggie at Christmas, and the letters that she sent became few and far between. The last mailing she received was a postcard from Niagara Falls with news of Maggie and Eric’s elopement. By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, Brayden had stopped asking when she was going to visit, and when Christmas came and went, Janie knew she wouldn’t see her neighbor again.

Christmas at Anthers Hall was an experience. Fresh Christmas trees decorated the entryway and recreation rooms, and garland was strung across the bannisters. On Christmas morning, forty children rushed into the dining hall where Christmas presents were distributed. Clothes, shoes, new toothbrushes—need came before want. Janie was glad she had hidden Brayden’s train from him when she unpacked their things Maggie had brought them. She’d wrapped it in some old newspaper comic and placed it on his pillow, then woke him with a gentle shake.

“What’s this?” he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Merry Christmas.”

He ripped open the paper, his eyes growing wide at the sight of his toy. “My train!” he shouted, then threw his arms around Janie. She had blinked back tears and instructed him to get dressed, stepping away to compose herself before he could see her cry.

Now, with most of the younger children already in bed, tired out on pudding and play, she’d retreated to the library where the flames in the fireplace were low and the Christmas lights on the tree cast a warm glow around the room.

“It was a nice Christmas, wasn’t it?”

Janie glanced over her shoulder. The voice was so clear, she could have sworn someone was there in the library with her.

“It was a nice Christmas, wasn’t it, baby girl?”

“Yes, Mom. It was a nice Christmas.”

Suddenly, Janie was back in their apartment on Harker Street where across the way, couples walked arm-in-arm out of the pub and somewhere in their building, a chorus of voices were singing carols faintly in tune with a piano. Janie crossed the bedroom and opened the window a crack, ushering in the holiday cheer. Beside her, Brayden stirred at the sudden chill and sleepily lifted his blanket over his head. Janie tucked another blanket around him, then slipped beneath the patchwork quilt and watched her mother undress. Rose looked even thinner than she had months ago. Waiflike, her clothes hung off her frame, and her cheekbones were even more pronounced.

“Dinner was nice, wasn’t it?” Janie asked, some part of her hoping her mother would agree, hoping that a hot meal and good company was all she needed to find herself again and return to them.

Her mother stared at her own reflection in the mirror.

“Mom?” Janie tried again. “It was a nice dinner. Right?”

“She shouldn’t have gotten me these stockings,” Rose murmured, gently rolling them into a ball. “And Brayden’s pajamas and your—” She stopped herself, stared at the stockings in her hand, then tossed them in the dresser and shut the drawer.

“Maggie was just being—”

“She was being for you what I couldn’t.” Rose’s voice cracked, and she kept her head bowed.

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