7

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At the breakfast table, Kate broke a little piece off her biscuit and played with it a minute before she put it in her mouth. She was never hungry at breakfast time and especially not on mornings like this when her mother and father seemed to be separated from one another by a wall only they could see.

Beside Kate, Tori poured a big puddle of ketchup on her fried egg. Kate averted her eyes and tried not to think about how much it looked like the blood that pooled under the chickens after her mother tied their feet to the clothesline and cut off their heads. Mama said if they wanted fried chicken, they couldnt afford to be squeamish. It was a fact of life that somebody had to cut the chickens head off, pluck the feathers, and clean the innards out of it. Kate didnt think she was squeamish. She helped pluck and clean frying chickens all the time. Still, watching Tori dip her egg into that pile of ketchup did make Kates stomach flip over. So maybe she was squeamish.

But that was the only way Tori would eat her eggs, and Tori needed to eat her eggs. She was too skinny, and the doctor said that was why she caught everything that went around. Kate had always been healthy as a horse, so it didnt matter whether she ate breakfast or not. She chewed her piece of biscuit ten times before she swallowed it.

On the other side of Kate, Evie was cutting up her bacon to eat it with a fork. She was the only person Kate had ever seen eat bacon with a fork. Evie said that ladies never picked up any piece of meat with their fingers. Not even chicken legs. Shed read a book that said so.

Sometimes Kate thought eating breakfast was going to drive her crazy. She took a sip of water as Tori chattered on about digging worms to go fishing. Kate didnt want to go fishing. Shed rather pick beans.

But theyd done that yesterday. The beans wouldnt need picking again until the next day and maybe not then if some rain didnt come. It had been dry. Theyd been carrying water from the well to water some of the tomato plants, but they couldnt water the whole row of beans. Out west it was so dry they were having dust storms. Kate had read about it in the newspaper last week. It sounded awful. The air thick with dirt. Dirt in your eyes and ears and nose. Dirt flying around when it ought to be on the ground letting people plant stuff in it.

At church Grandfather Reece had been praying for rain even as he warned them about the signs of the time. Kate hated sitting on the pew at Rosey Corner Baptist Church listening to Grandfather Reece shout about how the dust storms and all the wars and rumors of wars from over in Europe were signs right out of the Bible. Punishment for a society gone astray. And all they deserved after the states had repealed Prohibition.

Every week it was the same, and every week Kate wanted to put her hands over her ears and block out his sermon. She didnt want to think about the end of the world, even if that did mean going to heaven. She just couldnt get as excited about that idea as Grandfather Reece. Hed raise his hands in the air and get a look of rapture on his face as he talked about the Lord coming back to take them home. He was ready to go and all the rest of them needed to be ready too.

Kate wasnt all that ready. Oh, shed walked down the aisle and been baptized. She believed in the Lord, but at the same time Kate liked it here on earth even if it was dusty and dry. She had a lot of living still to do. So she was always glad when her mother let her go to church with Aunt Gertie. The preacher at Rosey Corner Christian Church was young. He and his wife had two little kids, and he didnt preach about the end of time. At least not every Sunday. He sounded as if he might like to delay going on up to heaven a little longer the same as Kate.

Aunt Gertie told Kate not to fret too much about the end of time. The Bible says straight out that nobody knows when the Lord is going to come back. And that includes your Granddaddy Reece, she said one day when they were walking home from church. This or that preacher has been studying the signs and calling for the end of time ever since I can remember, but the plain truth of it is they dont know. And thats the best way, else the good Lord wouldnt have decided on it. His ways always best. Even your Granddaddy Reece cant argue the truth of that.

Kate didnt know about that. She wasnt about to try to argue anything with Grandfather Reece or Grandfather Merritt. Not only would it be disrespectful to disagree with her elders, it would be useless. Her father said tying a piece of cold iron in a bowknot would be easier than changing the mind of either one of her grandfathers. They knew what was true whether it was or not.

She looked over at her father, who was advising Tori that the best worms might be found in the soft ground just outside the barn. Kate shuddered a little. Worms were the last thing she wanted to think about at the breakfast table. She gave up on eating her biscuit and bacon and pushed her plate away from her.

Dont waste food, Kate, her mother said as she picked up her teacup and took a sip. She had already finished off her bowl of oats before Kates father got to the table. Oats. Another stomach turner for Kate. Gooey gray glop.

Ill save it and eat it later, Kate said. Im not hungry this morning.

Youre not hungry any morning, Evie said as she attempted to fork another piece of bacon. It broke and scooted away from her fork. Undeterred, she slid her fork under the bacon and carefully lifted it. The bacon piece fell off before she got it to her mouth.

For heavens sakes, just pick it up and eat it, Evie, Kate said.

Evie sent her a mean look. You eat the way you want to and Ill eat the way I want to.

Girls, their mother said. Dont start. Not today.

Kate stared down at the table in front of her and muttered, Sorry. After a moment she looked up and asked, Do you have chores for me this morning?

I thought you might go with your father. See if his shop needs sweeping out or anything. Her mother kept her eyes on her teacup.

But somebody has to go fishing with me, Tori said. Then she brightened. Or I could go by myself.

Not yet, Victoria, their mother said. Maybe next summer.

But Im already ten, Tori started.