For the Least of These

by Charlotte Carter

  “Kate, I need a cup of tea.” She whirled to face Kate, who had dutifully followed her into the living room.

  “Is something wrong?” Kate asked.

  “Wrong?” In practically a swoon, Renee collapsed onto the love seat. “Besides the fact that my mother accused me of spoiling Little Umpkins—which is preposterous—everything’s fine.” She held the dog up to her face and made little kissing noises. “What a mean thing to say about you, Snuggle Umpkins.”

  Kate valiantly tried not to roll her eyes. “I’ll put on some water.”

  “Loose-leaf Earl Grey, as always, dear. Three sugar cubes, please. And a little half-and-half, warmed, if you don’t mind.”

  Kate knew the routine all too well. “It’ll just take a minute.”

  In the kitchen, she pulled out one of her decorative teapots and two matching cups from the cupboard. Renee was sometimes difficult to deal with, but the woman had a good heart and Kate had become fond of her in spite of her flair for the melodramatic.

  Kate preheated the teapot with hot tap water and found the tin of Earl Grey, which she kept on hand for just such an occasion.

  When everything was ready, she carried a tray into the living room and set it on an end table beside Renee.

  Kisses yipped a friendly greeting from his tote.

  “Hello, Kisses,” Kate said. “How are you today?”

  “Upset, the poor itty-bitty thing. Mother hurt my Little Umpkins’ feelings.” Renee’s mother, Caroline Beauregard Johnston, lived with her, and confrontation between the two strong-willed women occurred with some frequency.

  Kate poured the tea and let Renee add her own cream and sugar.

  Renee exhaled loudly. “Mother isn’t always the easiest person to live with, you know...and anyway, I was hoping...” Renee sipped her tea, then sighed in satisfaction. “Of course, I hate to impose...”

  Kate knew very well that Renee was about to impose, reluctant or not.

  “Would you mind terribly driving my mother to Green Acres in Pine Ridge? I simply haven’t the time or patience to take her to visit her friends today. Besides, Mother insists on riding in the front seat of my car, and you know that’s where Kisses likes to sit.”

  Kate closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Of course...I completely understand.” She took a sip of her own tea. At the moment, she would have preferred a strong cup of coffee.

  “You are my dearest friend, Kate. Isn’t she, Umpkins?” Renee gazed into the tote and made more kissing noises.

  Paul stepped out of the bedroom dressed in his running shorts, a T-shirt stenciled with a logo from a 5K run, and his warm-up jacket.

  “Good morning, Renee. I thought I heard you out here.”

  Renee fluttered her French-manicured fingers at him. “I was just asking your dear wife if she’d take Mother to Green Acres for a visit today.”

  Kate forced a smile. “Renee and her mother need a little time-out.”

  Paul shot Kate a surprised look. He knew Kate had a full schedule.

  “Sometimes Mother gets lonely for her friends,” Renee added.

  And sometimes Renee took advantage of her friendships, Kate thought. “I have to check in with the volunteers at Faith Freezer today.” She suppressed a sigh of defeat.

  The Faith Freezer Program had been her special church project to provide food for those who were homebound or in need. She’d planned to spend the whole morning there taking an inventory of what was on hand and then return to her gardening.

  “After that,” Kate went on, “I’ll pick up your mother and drive her to Green Acres. She can have lunch there.”

  “Perfect!” Renee popped to her feet. Kisses’ tote took a wild swing, and he dropped down out of sight inside the bag. “I’ll let Mother know you’re coming. You’ll bring her back before dinner, won’t you?”

  “I can do that,” Paul offered. “I have to see John Sharpe about the church’s insurance coverage this afternoon. I can run on down to Green Acres after that.”

  Kate met her husband’s gaze, sending him a quick thank-you.

  “Then it’s all arranged.” High heels clicking, Renee bustled to the front door. “Thanks for the tea. I do love a good pick-me-up in the morning.”

  Kate took Paul’s hand, and they followed Renee to the door, then closed it behind her.

  “I’m guessing you weren’t eager to volunteer to take Caroline to Green Acres,” Paul said after Renee left.

  “That would be a good guess.”

  He kissed her lightly. “That’s why I love you, Katie. You don’t let a little thing like being imposed upon bother you.”

  She leaned her forehead against his shoulder and chuckled. “Go for your run, dear. I’ll just quietly stand here banging my head against the wall till it stops hurting.”

  Laughing, he kissed her again before heading out the door for his morning jog.

  ON A PARTIALLY WOODED LOT between the parsonage and Faith Briar Church, the Faith Freezer Program occupied a small white clapboard house with black shutters.

  Kate found Dot Bagley and Martha Sinclair working in the kitchen. While certainly not spacious, it was large enough to cook hot meals.

  “Something smells good,” Kate said, smiling at the two regular Faith Freezer volunteers.

  Dot looked up from spreading mayonnaise on slices of bread. “Martha’s making her creamed chicken-and-noodle casserole. It’s tasty enough to make an old lady want to dance again.”

  “Oh, hush.” A faint blush colored Martha’s cheeks.

  Kate chuckled. “Do either of you know the Maddock family that lives in the hollows?”

  Dot and Martha had both lived in the community so long, she imagined they knew everyone for miles in all directions. They also happened to be fruit-bearing branches on the Copper Mill grapevine.

  Dot shook her head. “Most of the hollow folks stick to themselves.”

  She watched as Martha served up individual portions of the casserole in aluminum dishes. “How’s our inventory doing?”

  “We’ve got plenty of bread,” Martha said. “The bakery in Pine Ridge gave us a bunch of day-old loaves and some rolls too. I put them in the freezer till we need them.”

  “That’s good.”

  Kate jotted down a list of supplies they needed—canned tomatoes, butter, olive oil, basil, and noodles—and tucked it in her pocket. The congregation at Faith Briar Church contributed to the Faith Freezer budget, but the money was still tight. She’d have to spend it very carefully if they were going to make it to the end of the month.

  The proceeds from a bake sale would be most welcome.

  BY THE TIME Kate dropped off Caroline Johnston at Green Acres, picked up supplies for the Faith Freezer, stopped to pick up her dry cleaning, and fixed herself a bite to eat, it was almost midafternoon.

  She changed into her old grubbies and went out to the garden. The weeds that she and Megan hadn’t gotten to the day before appeared to have spread again overnight.

  With a groan, she sank to her knees and got to work. It wasn’t long before Megan appeared, giving Kate a shy smile.

  “Afternoon, MizHanlon.”

  “Good afternoon to you too, Megan. Ready to get to work?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” The girl quickly picked up the weeding knife and a short claw tool, then knelt a few feet from Kate.

  “How was school today?” Kate asked.

  “Fine, I guess.”

  “You’re in seventh grade, right?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Megan grunted as she pulled on a particularly tenacious clump of Indian grass.

  “I remember my seventh-grade English teacher, Miss Marsh. She was wonderful. What’s your favorite class?”

  “Art. I’m real good at that.”

  “Is your mother artistic too?”

  “Some, I guess.”

  Again, Kate caught a hint of evasiveness. “Does your mother work in town?”

  For several moments, Megan continued to dig up the root she was after b
efore she answered. “Ma’s been sick lately.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” Kate sensed that Megan didn’t want to talk about her mother. Perhaps she considered Kate’s questions as prying. A lot of families insisted on maintaining their privacy. Kate could respect that, despite her curiosity about the girl and the mystery about her family.

  The conversation went a little better when Kate switched to the topic of music, although she had to admit she hadn’t heard of most of the groups that Megan enjoyed listening to.

  Clearly, with her own children grown and off on their own, Kate was out of touch with teenage preferences in musical styles that constantly evolved.

  But later, when Kate paid Megan the few dollars she’d earned for her hard work, Kate was confident the girl wouldn’t be spending any of the money on music CDs or iPod downloads. Somehow she knew that the cash would go straight toward helping provide for her family.

  The next morning, Saturday, Kate borrowed Paul’s pickup truck to drive to Jenkins Nursery near Pine Ridge. She wanted to work some soil supplement into the flower beds and buy the first of the plants she needed. Paul could use her Honda Accord to get to his Old Timer’s Day planning meeting with Sam.

  The two-lane highway to Pine Ridge cut through wooded areas of hemlock, ash, sugar maple, and beech, all bright with new growth. Through the branches, Kate caught an occasional glimpse of a log cabin or a more modern two-story house with a wisp of smoke coming out its chimney. Along the grassy shoulder of the road, wildflowers waved in the breeze created by passing vehicles.

  The good Lord had outdone himself when it came to springtime in Tennessee.

  Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one who had decided today was a good day to spruce up the garden. The parking lot at the nursery was crowded. Inside, people milled about, and the line at the cash register was a mile long.

  The Help Wanted signs on the door and behind the counter made it all the more evident that Floyd Jenkins, the owner, needed to hire more employees.

  After paying at the cash register, Kate wrestled two bags of soil amendment, a pair of pink azaleas, and two large rhododendron bushes into the rear of the truck.

  Eager to get back to her gardening, Kate hurried home. When she arrived, she discovered that Megan was already hard at work. Only this time the girl had brought along two younger versions of herself.

  Chapter Three

  Megan quickly rose to her feet when she saw Kate. “Your husband said it’d be okay if my brother and sister helped me.”

  Kate glanced at the younger children, who looked worried that they’d be sent away. The boy’s shaggy blond hair kept falling in front of his eyes, and the girl had used a rubber band to tie hers back in a ponytail. Megan had done the same, except her ponytail was sticking out through the back of a baseball cap.

  “Of course they can help,” Kate said. “God blesses all who work with their hands.”

  “He does?” Megan asked.

  “Absolutely. It pretty much says so in the Bible.”

  Megan’s forehead furrowed into a frown. “We don’t know much about God or the Bible or anything like that.”

  Lord, you really knew what you were doing when you sent these youngsters to me.

  Squatting down next to Megan’s younger sister, Kate asked, “What’s your name?”

  “I’m Gwen. This is my brother, Becker. Everybody calls him Beck.”

  “Well, I’m glad to meet you, Gwen.” Kate shook the young girl’s hand, then turned to her brother and did the same. “And Beck too. My only problem is I don’t think I can afford to pay all of you what I’m paying your sister.”

  “That’s okay,” Gwen said. “We just didn’t want to stay home alone all day.”

  With a mental jolt, Kate registered the alone part of Gwen’s response and wondered if her mother’s health had improved...or taken a turn for the worse. And where was their father?

  “You could pay us in cookies,” Beck said solemnly, his blue eyes squinting in the bright sunlight.

  “Hush, Beck!” his big sister admonished him. “MizHanlon doesn’t have to pay you at all.”

  Suppressing a smile, Kate said, “You know, Beck, I think I could afford some cookies. If you work really, really hard.”

  The boy’s eyes widened with excitement. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll work my hardest ever. I promise.”

  “Then we have a deal.” Kate stood up. “Who wants to help me carry the plants I bought at the nursery? They’re in the back of the truck.”

  With obvious enthusiasm, the two younger children raced to the front of the house where the truck was parked.

  Megan seemed less excited about the prospect of fetching and carrying. “You don’t have to give us cookies, ma’am. Whatever you want to pay me is plenty.”

  Because she sensed the gesture wouldn’t be welcomed, Kate resisted the urge to wrap her arms around Megan’s slender shoulders and hug her.

  “I know. But I love to bake, and the truth is, both my husband and I have been gaining some weight lately. If you three eat up some of the cookies I’ve made, you’ll save us from the temptation of eating them ourselves.”

  Looking skeptical, Megan lifted her shoulders in a shrug.

  “Come with me,” Kate said. “I’ve got a couple of bags of soil amendment in the truck that are too heavy for me or your brother and sister to carry. I’ll need your help.”

  Gwen and Beck had climbed into the bed of the truck. Kate lowered the tailgate.

  “Think you can each handle one of the potted plants? They’re pretty heavy,” Kate warned.

  “I’m real strong,” Beck insisted.

  “So am I,” Gwen argued. “That’s ’cuz I’m older than you.”

  “Doesn’t matter, ’cuz I’m a boy, and boys are the strongest.”

  “Quit bickering,” Megan ordered her siblings. “MizHanlon doesn’t want to hear you two fussin’ all the time.”

  Helping the two younger children from the truck, Kate made sure they had a firm grip on their assigned plants before they headed for the backyard. Then she and Megan each hefted a rhododendron and followed them.

  “We’ve got a lot of these bushes growing around our place,” Megan said.

  “Do you help your mother with her gardening?”

  Megan didn’t answer the question directly. “Nobody planted ’em. They just grow natural all on their own.”

  “This is great country for wild rhododendrons. A little later in the year, the hills will be covered with their colors. A regular painter’s pallet of pink and white.”

  For the moment, Kate had the youngsters set the plants aside to resume their weed pulling while she and Megan hauled the soil amendment to the backyard.

  The younger children weren’t quite as careful about getting all the roots as Megan, but their determination made up for what they lacked in skill.

  Working next to Beck, Kate asked, “How’s your mother been feeling, Beck?”

  The boy angled a surreptitious look toward his older sister. “Ma’s been sick.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. I hope she gets to feeling better soon.”

  “Me too,” the boy mumbled.

  Something wasn’t quite right about the way the children talked about their mother. Was she ill? Or was something else the matter?

  “Does your father help take care of her?” Kate asked.

  “Nope.” The boy yanked extra hard on a handful of grass. “He’s in jail.”

  That news took a moment to settle in. “What for?”

  “He kilt somebody.”

  “Becker!” Megan said. “You talk too much. She doesn’t want to hear about our business. Keep your mouth zipped, okay?”

  Beck ducked his head, averting his eyes from Kate. “Ma says we’re not s’posed to talk about it ’cuz we might get kilt too,” he said under his breath.

  Nerves tingling, Kate asked, “Are you in danger?”

  “Beck! What’d I just tell you?” Grabbing Beck by the arm, Megan h
alf hauled him to a spot on the other side of where she was working. “Don’t mind him, MizHanlon. Beck likes to make up stuff.”

  The boy had said his father had killed someone so casually, it didn’t sound like make-believe to Kate. What a terrible burden for these children to carry, if it was true.

  That was something she’d have to investigate for the safety of the children. Who were the Maddocks, and where did they come from?

  By noon, one flower bed had been stripped of weeds. Kate put the children to work mixing in the soil amendment while she went inside to fix sandwiches and lemonade for their lunch.

  When she had everything ready, she invited the children inside to wash up and carried the tray outside to the patio table. A warbler was singing from the trees beyond the back fence, and somewhere a gray squirrel chattered to its friends.

  The children returned from their trip inside. Though their hands couldn’t be described as clean, they had made an effort to wash them. Sitting at the table, Beck eyed the tray of sandwiches, cookies, and grapes as if he hadn’t had a bite to eat in weeks. Kate was sure it was all he could do not to grab a sandwich and gobble it down in one mouthful.

  Kate suspected that Megan had told him to behave himself.

  “Now can we eat?” Beck asked before Kate had a chance to sit down.

  She laughed. “Go ahead. Help yourselves.”

  It had been a good many years since she’d had three children sitting around her table at mealtime. She recalled how Melissa, her middle child, had been the bossy one, telling Andrew and Rebecca how they should behave. But never before had any children been more appreciative of a sandwich and a few cookies than these three Maddock youngsters.

  AFTER THE OLD TIMER’S DAY planning meeting, Paul and Sam Gorman went to the Country Diner for lunch. The diner was a popular gathering place for locals, especially at noon, but somehow they managed to snag the one remaining booth along the wall.

  Paul slid across the blue-vinyl seat and plucked a menu from the holder.

  “I think Loretta has meatball sandwiches as this week’s special,” Sam commented. “That’s one of my favorites.”