Nowhere Better Than Here by Sarah Guillory

Author:Sarah Guillory
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

* * *

After Mass, Father Pierre stood in the hallway and chatted with everyone as they left the sanctuary. The rain had finally slowed to a drizzle, but people were still taking a long time getting outside.

“Nice to see you this morning, Jillian,” Father Pierre said when it was my turn to shake his hand. “You’re looking very determined.”

“Oh, good!” I smiled. “Because I would like you to sign my petition.” I explained again what I was hoping to accomplish at the school board meeting.

“Of course.” He took the paper and pen from me and signed his name on an open line. “This is quite a big thing you’re doing here.”

It felt very big. And sometimes I felt very small. I glanced around at the church, almost as familiar to me as my own house. I imagined it emptying out as people moved away. We just had to get this school reopened. Maybe it would convince the state we were worth saving.

“I’m also collecting Boutin stories. Oral histories. For a project. Would you tell yours?”

“Petitions, projects—you are busy.”

“I can’t just sit around and do nothing.”

“Me neither. I’d be happy to.”

A line had formed behind me, so I moved away to let other people talk to Father Pierre. Nonnie and Uncle Pete were standing just outside the front door underneath the overhang.

“Uncle Pete, you’ll tell a story on camera, won’t you?”

“I’ve got a great one about a prank your nonnie pulled on Elmer David.”

Nonnie stared him down. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll pick a different story to tell.”

Now I really was dying to hear the story.

“We’re leaving church,” she said. “You’d think you could behave.”

He laughed. “I don’t know why you’d think that. You sure can’t. Don’t worry, I’ll come up with my own story.”

“Thanks! Mrs. Pitre and Father Pierre agreed to tell one as well,” I told him, more for Nonnie’s benefit than his. Maybe that would finally convince her.

“Which one are you telling, Wanda?” Uncle Pete asked, as if he could read my mind.

“I’d better go get the car before the rain starts up again.” Nonnie stomped off.

“She doesn’t want to talk on camera,” I told him.

He watched her go, his face thoughtful. “She takes things hard. Always has.”

Maybe that’s what I’d inherited from her. “You’ll sign the petition to get the school reopened, won’t you?”

“Maddie already sent it to me. Aunt Diane and I both signed it.”

I squeezed him around the middle. He was squishy and comfortable. “Thanks, Uncle Pete.”

I went off to find Maddie. I was hoping she’d gotten even more signatures than I had. I found her talking to Mrs. Anderson.

“You can apply for grants,” Maddie was saying. “To help you move.”

“I’m too old to move,” Mrs. Anderson said.

“But if they’ll give you money—”

Maddie was supposed to be helping save our school, not encouraging people to flee. I felt the mad in my face first, but soon it was stomping its way over every square inch of me.

“Not everyone wants to leave as much as you do,” I said.

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