The Shrouding Woman by Loretta Ellsworth

Author:Loretta Ellsworth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Published: 2011-06-05T16:00:00+00:00

Over the next two weeks I didn’t complain much about anything, even when Aunt Flo made me rework my stitches in the mourning picture I had embroidered for Mama. I had started it the week after Mama died but kept putting it down. Finally it was finished: a garden of white lilies accented with a yellow monarch butterfly. I set Mama’s tombstone in the back with her full name across it. But Aunt Flo took one look at the back, where threads hung down and crossed over large spaces, and made me redo the butterfly. She said the back ought to be as neat as the front and suggested that if I wanted to hang it in the parlor, I should show my best work.

I tore out the stitches even though I didn’t think Mama would mind a few loose ends.

That same day Aunt Flo made good on her word and had us turn Lucky loose.

“It’s been fourteen days,” she reminded me. Mae and I reluctantly took Lucky to the edge of the prairie and fed him the last meal we would be able to watch him eat. Mae whimpered that she’d miss Lucky even though he still bit at her fingers when she reached for him. I shuddered at the thought of what might become of a small fox alone on the prairie.

Finally we ran home. Lucky followed at first but couldn’t keep up, and that was the last we saw of him.

For two more weeks we left food at the same spot each night, and by early morning it had disappeared. Several days later I thought I caught a glimpse of Lucky. I snuck to the spot and left food scraps, but Aunt Flo saw me.

She reminded me of our agreement.

“That fox will never make it through the winter if you don’t let him survive on his own.” She added, “He has to learn to hunt for his food.”

I knew Aunt Flo was right about Lucky, but her hard lessons didn’t endear her to me.

On Sunday before the church meeting, Reverend Johanson and the whole community paid Aunt Flo a special honor. They’d heard about her laying out Mr. Severson, and everyone complimented her on doing such a fine job. Aunt Flo was bewildered by all the attention but acted polite enough.

“Back on the homestead I wasn’t used to talking to more than two people a week,” she said. “I’m a bit flustered.” I didn’t understand why, but that seemed to make everyone like her even more.

Reverend Johanson looked right at me as he filled the church with his booming voice. “Summer is a time to move ahead and reap new life and leave our burdens behind,” he said with divine inspiration.

I wanted to believe him, but the thought of Mama still turned my heart upside down.

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