The Nash Sisters by Leatha Marie

Author:Leatha Marie [Marie, Leatha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781946425522
Publisher: Write Way Publishing Company
Published: 2019-11-05T22:00:00+00:00

Before the end of the song, Marie slumped down onto the back seat and was fast asleep. The next 30 miles were quiet. Marie slept soundly, lulled by the road noise. We had covered most of the things we needed to discuss earlier in the ride, but we hadn’t talked about what Caroline should know about Momma’s passing. I broached the subject quietly. I thought we should be honest with Caroline. I knew if it was me and my sisters kept this from me, I would never forgive them. My friend Jane says they tell a patient as much as the patient can handle. It seemed to me Caroline was doing well there. She had a job and everything.

Dianne agreed. She said, “Yes. If we cover this up it will come out at some time in our letters or just future time together. I am worried, though. If we tell her and then leave this afternoon, we might do more harm than good. Remember that Caroline always takes a while to understand things. Her anger or sadness usually doesn’t come out when something happens. It comes hours or days after. Maybe we should stay over one night in Raleigh and visit with her again tomorrow.”

With Marie fast asleep Ethel knew it was okay to tell me more details about the episode with the Murphy children and Philip Walker. She described how long it took Caroline to get over that. Ethel said Caroline stayed in her room for more than a week. She and Momma took her meals to her there. Although Momma didn’t know what happened to Caroline, she wasn’t really worried. Momma told Ethel, “Caroline has a tender heart. It gets broken easily, and it takes a while to mend.” Ethel said she let it be because she didn’t want Momma to know this was something more than a broken heart.

Dianne asked Ethel to tell me about the breakdown that really did scare Momma. Ethel told the story with details I had not heard before.

“It was so terrible, Annie. It was the time we all found out that Caroline was breakable. I was glad you were already in Washington. Marie was just a toddler when it happened. She cried most days for weeks. I think she knew our world was shaken.

“Every morning as the sun was rising, Caroline went to the barn to see Sadie and to make sure all the barn animals were fed. That day was no different. Being with the animals seemed to calm her. When something made her mad, she would go to the barn.

“I was helping Momma get dressed for the day. She had trouble with buttons.

“We heard a frightened whinny from Sadie. The pigs were squealing and then there was the crackling sound of wood burning. When Momma and I got around to the back of the house and could see where the noise was coming from, we both screamed. Caroline was holding tight to Sadie’s bridle inside the burning barn. Caroline’s shirt was pulled down from her shoulders.

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