The Way of Women by Lauraine Snelling

Author:Lauraine Snelling [Snelling, Lauraine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary
ISBN: 9780307552075
Google: LG1pIwLoV5UC
Amazon: B003DYGOSW
Goodreads: 8043962
Publisher: WaterBrook Press
Published: 2004-06-22T05:00:00+00:00

She wore a gaping wound, her blood flowing out in rivers of gray. Her breath rose in streams of smoke. Down in her bowels, the tremors continued, and she could not rest. She had buried many friends and drowned her own kindred. Who would forgive her for such cataclysm? Who would blame her Creator?

MAY 19, 1980, EVENING

Mommy, I want to go home.”

“I know. Me too. But we need to stay here tonight.”

“Will Mr. Johnson be better tomorrow?”

Mellie exchanged a look of commiseration with Katheryn. “Yes, but not enough to drive.”

“But what if Daddy is looking for us?” Lissa laid her head on her mother’s shoulder. “I want my daddy.”

“Me too, baby, me too.” Mellie stared around the gymnasium of the Cascade Middle School. She saw people of every age, kids playing, some people looking into nowhere, the weight of sorrow or fear pressing them into their chairs. Off in the corner two men were setting up more cots, in line with the others, where blankets and pillows were stacked in the middle. One family had taken over a corner group, the mother instructing her children in making up the beds.

Fragrances of cooking food floated from the cafeteria, overlaying that of floor wax, sour gym clothes, and pine-scented cleaning products.

A baby wailed in one corner, and Katheryn’s attention followed the sound. Sure enough, the same young woman she’d seen at the center.

“For Pete’s sake.” Her mutter carried to Mellie.

“What?”

“That baby that’s crying—I hope you’ll all be able to get some rest.” She hoisted her purse strap farther up on her shoulder. “If there’s nothing more I can do for you tonight, I’d better get going.”

“Thank you so much for the ride.”

Katheryn paused. “Are you sure Lissa will be all right here tonight? I mean, if she needs to see a doctor, I could take you back to the emergency room.”

Mellie tried to sound sure of herself, but inside … “I’ll call her doctor in the morning.” She wiped a tear from her daughter’s cheek.

“Don’t want to stay here,” Lissa whispered, another tear following the first.

“There’s nowhere else to go. All the hotels and places are full. Besides, we don’t have any money for that.” She ignored the money in Mr. Johnson’s billfold. That was to be for emergencies only.

A woman with gray hair in a slipping bun stopped in front of them. “Will all of you be staying?”

“No.” Katheryn shook her head. “I have a motel room.” She patted Lissa on the back. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“ ’Kay.”

“Thank you again.”

“I need you to sign this paper. Please print your names in the first box, then your address and signature.” The woman whose badge read HI, I’M CAROL, held out the clipboard.

“I need to set you down.”

Lissa shook her head and buried her face in her mother’s neck.

“Here, I’ll hold the clipboard. Is she injured?”

“No, just very ill.”

“Flu?”

“No, leukemia.” Mellie scribbled in the information while Carol tried to hold the clipboard steady.

“Poor lamb. Is there anything we can do to help?”

Find my husband? Turn back the clock? Mellie signed her name.

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