Winnie's War by Jenny Moss

Author:Jenny Moss
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Walker Books
Published: 2009-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

15

“Is your behind sore?” asked Miranda.

“Put your mask back on,” I told her as I fixed my own. “And go to sleep.”

I shifted to my side in my narrow bed. I might’ve deserved the switching. Still, I held on tight to being mad at Clara.

I was mostly worried about another matter: Nolan sneaking out to the Cravens’ at midnight. The thought of it filled me with a restless feeling.

“Mary won’t stop snoring,” Miranda whined.

“Be quiet!”

“Well, can’t you hear her?” she asked. “Gosh!”

“Go. To. Sleep.”

“I’m hot!”

“Get out from under those heavy blankets, then!”

I wished I had a room to myself just like Tillie did. Of course, Tillie’s baby sister died when Tillie was three. I shivered. That wasn’t anything to wish for. I wondered if you had to have something bad happen to you to have something good happen to you. Like, did you have to have your baby sister die to get a room all to yourself?

“Why’d you close the window?” asked Miranda. “I think somebody’s afraid of ghosts.” She giggled.

I threw back my covers and ran across the wood-planked floor.

Miranda hid.

From under Mama’s hand sewn crazy quilts, a muffled voice said, “I’m going to sleep now.”

“You’d better,” I said, trying to sound mean like Clara and sending Britches scurrying in his cage. At least he was still alive. No flu germs in this house.

Looking down at my sisters, I felt a heavy burden on my shoulders. What if they got the influenza like Miss Livingston? What if blood clogged up their lungs and they drowned?

Mary’s mask covered one of her ears. Her hands were flung over her head. Out of her nose came old-man snorts. I didn’t know how she could make such awful noises at night.

I put my head to her chest, listening. It sounded clear. I rolled her to her side and straightened her mask. It wasn’t fair that Jimmy got Vicks and Mary didn’t.

Miranda peeked at me with one eye. She would never be quiet until she got her way.

I cracked the window open, feeling the damp air creep in. I wished I could see flu germs, like pieces of dust in the air. That way I could tell if they floated in right now.

The thin trees separating us from the cemetery shivered. Just beyond them, tombstones rose out of the earth. Who ever thought of decorating a grave with a tombstone? So hard and cold. I’d like one of those crosses made out of sticks before I wanted an ugly piece of granite.

A body couldn’t have any peace in eternity with a tombstone planted above it. Being put in a box and lowered into the earth was bad enough. I figured that’s why there were ghosts. They didn’t want to stay in the cold ground with an ugly piece of rock for a pillow.

I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be dead. Reverend Patch said our souls flew to heaven, but all I could think of was being in a casket under shovelfuls of dirt.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.