Read Online Prayers of Agnes Sparrow by Joyce Magnin - Free Book Online Page B

Nebbish from the café. Zeb had told me she went to see Doc Flaherty, but she said it was just a checkup—nothing serious. That morning, though, she looked a little thinner.
    “Everything all right, Cora?” I asked.
    “Oh, it is now,” she said. “I saw the doctor the other day, and well, he was a little concerned.” Cora smiled in that way that people did when a smile was the last thing they wanted to muster.
    “More than concerned,” Agnes said. She popped some M&Ms. “Tell them, Cora. It's all right.”
    Cora looked at Agnes and sighed. She placed her palms on her knees and leaned a trifle forward in the rocking chair. “Ah, it's nothing, really. That old curmudgeon had the nerve to tell me my heart is giving out. He said that's why I’ve been getting out of breath and feeling so dogged tired of late.”
    “Oh, Cora. I am sorry.”
    “Nothing to be sorry about, Griselda,” Cora said. She took a breath.
    Studebaker touched her shoulder. “You come to the right doctor now.”
    I watched him and Agnes exchange a glance that tightened my stomach.
    Hezekiah stood uncharacteristically quiet.
    “That's right.” Cora's voice was tinged with excitement and nervousness. “Agnes prayed for me.”
    I took a breath and looked at Agnes's expression. “The good Lord will make your heart like new,” she said.
    “Agnes.”
    She put her finger to her lips and shushed me.
    Stu helped Cora with her coat. She slipped a red scarf around her neck. “I best be getting to the café.” She puffed a little.
    “Maybe it would be a good idea to take the day off. Zeb can handle things.”
    “Oh, no, he can’t, he’ll get the decaf mixed up with the regular and all sorts of things will go wrong.” Cora said. “Inever missed a day of work, and I am not about to start now. I can’t give in to what the doctor told me.”
    Stu followed her to the door as Hezekiah plopped on the sofa. He stared at Agnes for a moment, and I thought I could read his mind. I knew he was wondering why Cora believed she got her miracle and he was still waiting on his.
    “It will come,” Agnes said. She knew too. “I told you that some miracles take longer. Remember I showed you in the Scriptures where Jesus said that some demons require much prayer and fasting.”
    “I remember, but it's been going on three weeks.”
    “Three weeks is but a blink of an eye in heaven.”
    “You think I ought to start fasting?”
    “Maybe. But ask the good Lord about it first.”
    Agnes grabbed her breakfast plate from the bedside table. There was still a slice of toast and half an orange left.
    “I don’t know,” Hezekiah said, “that's why I come to you. The good Lord and I ain’t been on speaking terms for a dog's age now.”
    “Then that's why you got to start talking to him,” Agnes said. “Maybe he's just waiting until you do. Maybe God's waiting to hear the words come out of your mouth, not mine.”
    “Maybe you should just get about your chores, Hezekiah,” I said.
    “I guess that would be the sensible thing to do.”
    Agnes rubbed her knee.
    “I’ll get some liniment for you,” I said, “and I thought Hezekiah might start in the basement this week. It really needs some cleaning out.”
    “The attic might be the better place,” said Agnes. “I’d love for him to go through all those Christmas decorations and Mama's old things.”
    “Nah, the basement,” I said. I patted Agnes's knee. “He can get to the attic next.”
    I turned my attention to Hezekiah. “There are some boxes in the garage. You’ll need to pack things away—books and such. But make sure you mark the boxes clearly, please. You’ll find a marker in the junk drawer in the kitchen.”
    “You might come across some of our father's equipment that never got sold, and there's stacks of papers and magazines down there,” said Agnes.
    “You mean like funeral stuff?”
    “Sure, embalming tools and what not,” I said. “We got rid of a lot of it over the years, but