the ground. She dug down a little and found that the root was a massive clump not far under the soil.
She felt a thrill of discovery. In her experience, weeds partied with friends, and they invited everybody they knew to join them. This plant had been set here many years ago to form a mat to repel gate-crashers.
She dug up a small clump to take back to the house with her. It took a few minutes to get it out of the ground with nothing more than fingernails and determination. Mentally she added good gardening tools to her growing shopping list.
Halfway back to the house, clutching her fuzzy-leafed prize against the linen shirt that had never been made for gardening, she realized that although she still felt weak, she no longer felt as discouraged. She hadn’t done much, but she had done something. Surely this was the way true healing began. This was the way people moved forward.
With such beautiful weather, lunch on the porch seemed like a good idea. Kendra borrowed one of the two ladder-back chairs from her kitchen table and set it against the front wall. She planned to have another of Cissy’s featherweight biscuits with deli ham she’d brought from the city and cold green bean casserole. She still had to force herself to eat every day, but with less effort. Now, though, by the time she dragged the chair through the door and went back for a glass of cold tea, she was too tired to fix a meal.
Instead she rested and sipped, listening for more birds to name.
The sound that greeted her several minutes later was a car engine. She supposed she was getting used to living alone in the country. This time she was only mildly rattled.
The car was an SUV with a number of miles behind it. With pleasure she recognized Sam and Elisa, and got to her feet to greet them. She knew that after delivering her car, they had gone out of town. Elisa’s brother Ramon was a freshman at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, farther south, and they had gone to visit him, returning home late last night. Elisa had called once to check on her, and she had been delighted to hear that Helen and Cissy had Kendra in their crosshairs.
Kendra held her hands high. “I repent. I’ll come to church just as soon as I’m able. You can count on me.”
“You’d better,” Sam said. He waited for Elisa and slung his arm around her shoulders as they headed up the path. “Don’t think you’ve disappeared from sight out here.”
Elisa was carrying a grocery bag. When they got to the porch, Kendra embraced them both clumsily. “You look great. A few days off agrees with you.”
“And you look pale.” Elisa put the back of her hand against Kendra’s cheek. “Are you overdoing it?”
“I’ve only dog-paddled from bank to bank of the river a couple of times since I arrived.”
“You sit.”
“There’s only one chair. Let’s go inside. Tell me about Ramon.” Elisa’s brother was a handsome, charismatic young man who, like his sister, had experienced too many hard times. Despite a formal education with substantial gaps, he had received such a high score on the SATs that he had been offered admission to several important universities. He had chosen James Madison, not only for its excellent reputation but for its proximity to Elisa and Sam. They were helping him make up the deficits in his education.
They followed her inside, and Sam made himself at home on the sofa, while Elisa carried her groceries into the kitchen. Although she had been born Alicia, she had called herself Elisa for so long that she had decided to go by it permanently. She was slender, with straight black hair that fell to her shoulders. Her English was perfect and only lightly accented. An obstetrician trained in Guatemala, she was now in the process of jumping through hoops so she could be licensed to practice in Virginia. She had to complete a two-year residency and a three-part exam, but she was under consideration at the University of Virginia and at several
She felt a thrill of discovery. In her experience, weeds partied with friends, and they invited everybody they knew to join them. This plant had been set here many years ago to form a mat to repel gate-crashers.
She dug up a small clump to take back to the house with her. It took a few minutes to get it out of the ground with nothing more than fingernails and determination. Mentally she added good gardening tools to her growing shopping list.
Halfway back to the house, clutching her fuzzy-leafed prize against the linen shirt that had never been made for gardening, she realized that although she still felt weak, she no longer felt as discouraged. She hadn’t done much, but she had done something. Surely this was the way true healing began. This was the way people moved forward.
With such beautiful weather, lunch on the porch seemed like a good idea. Kendra borrowed one of the two ladder-back chairs from her kitchen table and set it against the front wall. She planned to have another of Cissy’s featherweight biscuits with deli ham she’d brought from the city and cold green bean casserole. She still had to force herself to eat every day, but with less effort. Now, though, by the time she dragged the chair through the door and went back for a glass of cold tea, she was too tired to fix a meal.
Instead she rested and sipped, listening for more birds to name.
The sound that greeted her several minutes later was a car engine. She supposed she was getting used to living alone in the country. This time she was only mildly rattled.
The car was an SUV with a number of miles behind it. With pleasure she recognized Sam and Elisa, and got to her feet to greet them. She knew that after delivering her car, they had gone out of town. Elisa’s brother Ramon was a freshman at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, farther south, and they had gone to visit him, returning home late last night. Elisa had called once to check on her, and she had been delighted to hear that Helen and Cissy had Kendra in their crosshairs.
Kendra held her hands high. “I repent. I’ll come to church just as soon as I’m able. You can count on me.”
“You’d better,” Sam said. He waited for Elisa and slung his arm around her shoulders as they headed up the path. “Don’t think you’ve disappeared from sight out here.”
Elisa was carrying a grocery bag. When they got to the porch, Kendra embraced them both clumsily. “You look great. A few days off agrees with you.”
“And you look pale.” Elisa put the back of her hand against Kendra’s cheek. “Are you overdoing it?”
“I’ve only dog-paddled from bank to bank of the river a couple of times since I arrived.”
“You sit.”
“There’s only one chair. Let’s go inside. Tell me about Ramon.” Elisa’s brother was a handsome, charismatic young man who, like his sister, had experienced too many hard times. Despite a formal education with substantial gaps, he had received such a high score on the SATs that he had been offered admission to several important universities. He had chosen James Madison, not only for its excellent reputation but for its proximity to Elisa and Sam. They were helping him make up the deficits in his education.
They followed her inside, and Sam made himself at home on the sofa, while Elisa carried her groceries into the kitchen. Although she had been born Alicia, she had called herself Elisa for so long that she had decided to go by it permanently. She was slender, with straight black hair that fell to her shoulders. Her English was perfect and only lightly accented. An obstetrician trained in Guatemala, she was now in the process of jumping through hoops so she could be licensed to practice in Virginia. She had to complete a two-year residency and a three-part exam, but she was under consideration at the University of Virginia and at several
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