Read Online A Tiny Piece of Sky by Shawn K. Stout - Free Book Online Page A

wheel, and Frankie thought for sure the cartwould upset and she and Joan would spill out on somebody’s doorstep. The worst part being that there would be no keeping something like that from Mother.
    So, when Dixie hit a straightaway on East Avenue, Frankie wriggled out of Joan’s grip and made a grab for the reins. She missed and nearly slipped off her seat, and she would have—would’ve fallen on her head and been run over by the cart—if Joan hadn’t grabbed her by the dress sleeve in time. “Close one,” said Frankie. “Now hold on and don’t let go.” She stretched her arm and reached for the reins once more while Joan anchored her to the cart. Frankie hooked the reins with her fingertips, even as Dixie flicked her tail in Frankie’s face, and she managed to grab enough of them to slow Dixie a little. Once Frankie had a better grip, she yelled for Joan to pull her back to the seat. Joan did, but she pulled on Frankie at the same time that Dixie, having felt the pull on her bridle, came to the conclusion that her fun was over. And as Dixie abruptly halted, right in front of Barnard’s Pharmacy, Frankie flew out of the cart and landed on her backside in the street, scraping the skin clear off her elbow.
    The scab that formed a week or two later was in the shape of a Hercules beetle, and it was the pride of Frankie’s collection.
    Anyway, back under the dining room table, Frankie had just gotten her fingernail under the edge of her newest scab, which was quite small by comparison, when Mother called for her. “Where has that child gone now?”
    Frankie remained hidden and still. If you didn’t know Mother, you’d have thought she had a special talent for knowing when any of the girls were up to something they shouldn’t be. But the truth was, she always thought they were up to something, because oftenenough she was up to many somethings when she was their age. The worry switch in her brain, or her heart, wherever it was housed, was permanently set to the on position.
    â€œKatie,” said Mother, “have you seen Frances?”
    â€œNo, ma’am,” said Katie from the kitchen. “But I just come in from the side porch. You the first person I seen.” She took out a handkerchief from the pocketbook slung over her forearm and wiped the sweat from her neck. “Hot as all get-out today.” Katie Resden was employed by Mother as a housekeeper, and had been for a few years’ time. She came every Thursday to help with the laundry and the ironing and the other household chores, while Mother helped Daddy with his business affairs and tended to her social obligations in town.
    â€œDon’t I know it,” said Mother, pulling at the waist of her cotton dress to give her skin a chance to breathe.
    â€œHeaded to your Eagles meetin’, Mrs. Baum?” asked Katie. “Ain’t you supposed to be gone already?”
    â€œNot today, Katie,” said Mother. Then she said under her breath, “And thank the good Lord for that.”
    Mildred Baum was a member of the Women’s Club of Hagerstown and the Ladies’ Auxiliary, as well as the Lioness Club and Eagle Club. She didn’t particularly enjoy the obligatory monthly meetings and social events sponsored by these women’s organizations, although she believed in their causes for the most part. Mildred only joined them at the request of Hermann. “When you’re a part of a community, it’s important to act as part of the community,” he had told her.
    Although Mildred liked many of the women in these clubs,some—like Ann Margaret Price, wife of Sullen Waterford Price, Esquire, and mother to those Price boys—she could do without. But still, she would do anything for Hermann. Even if it meant luncheons with well-to-do women with a penchant for gossip.
    â€œMiss Elizabeth done gone to her riding lessons?” said