The Spirit of Cattail County

by Victoria Piontek

  Sparrow knocked on the front door. She heard a TV blaring and lots of people talking, but no one answered.

  She knocked harder.

  When nobody came, she hammered on the door with her fist.

  Finally, she heard footsteps and then the door opened. Clara Casto answered the door.

  Clara looked Sparrow up and down. “You look right nice. Is that your Easter dress?” Everyone in Beulah went to church on Easter Sunday dressed in their finest.

  “Yep, I’m here for the party.”

  Clara turned to look at the clock on the wall. “You’re a bit early, but I expect Maeve and Johnny will be happy to see you just the same. They’ve been trying to find a way to get out of chores all morning. How did it go with the fortune-teller?”

  “Good. How about you? Are you going to Vanderbilt?” Sparrow asked.

  “The fortune-teller was pretty vague, but I decided my chances are good. I’ve got the grades, so I’m putting my faith in that. I’ll get Maeve and Johnny for you.” She turned and called, “Maeve! Johnny! Someone here to see y’all!”

  “Who is it?” Maeve asked suspiciously from somewhere near the back of the house. “It better not be any Monroes.”

  Clara rolled her eyes. “Maeve, come to the door. It’s Sparrow Dalton here for the party.”

  Maeve ran to the front door. “Why didn’t you say so?” She grabbed Sparrow by the arm and ran into the yard, tugging Sparrow behind her. “Come on. Johnny’s back here.”

  Sparrow laughed as Maeve sprinted around the house, pulling Sparrow along. When they got to a small shed, Maeve burst through the door.

  “Look who’s here!”

  Inside the shed, Johnny sat on an old lawn chair pulled close to the back wall. A large space between the boards let the light through, and Johnny was using beams of sunlight to read by. Johnny looked up. He stuck a bookmark into what looked near to the end of a huge book and stood up. “Great! You’re early.”

  Sparrow surveyed the book Johnny put down, taking in the hundreds upon hundreds of tissue-thin pages, and a deep respect for his reading ability emerged. He was way smarter than anyone knew. The book had to be five hundred pages at least. Sparrow hadn’t cracked a book all summer, and here he sat reading that tome on a Saturday afternoon.

  “You look great, Sparrow,” Johnny said. “Is that your Easter dress?”

  Sparrow’s cheeks got hot. “I think I might have overdressed. Y’all are wearing your normal clothes.”

  “We’ll fancy up in a bit, but forget that for now. We’ve got something to give you.” Maeve danced around delightedly.

  Sparrow’s heart skipped a happy beat. “Okay, but I have to show you something first. I got into the Monroes’ archives.”

  “Archives.” Maeve looked disappointed until Sparrow pulled out the newspaper articles and started to read. Then she showed them the Boy’s picture from Orphan Trains: Small Towns, Big Hearts.

  “That’s him?” Maeve said. “He doesn’t look creepy at all.” She sounded disappointed.

  “I told you he was a kid like us.”

  Johnny whistled. “So, that orphan train rider is your ghost? He looks like a nice fellow.”

  “He is. But that’s not even the best part. I know what he wants.” Sparrow told them about the watch and pointed to it in the picture. “That’s the same watch Eli took to research.”

  “That’s great news!” Maeve said.

  “Eli said he’d have my watch back today. After the party, let’s go to the flea market. We can pick it up and tell Elena what I discovered.”

  “It’s a plan,” Maeve said.

  “Now we have something to show you.” Johnny got up and went over to a bin filled with old rags. He dug down to the bottom and pulled out a manila envelope, stuffed full. “This is for you.”

  “What is it?” Sparrow asked, feeling the weight of the packet.

  Johnny smiled proudly like he’d just discovered the secrets of the universe. “Your custody papers.”

  “What’s that?” Sparrow asked.

  “Legal papers that say who gets to raise you. We found them in our uncle’s trailer.”

  “Does this mean what I think it means?”

  “Yep. That’s the proof you need,” Maeve said.

  “Are you sure?” Sparrow stroked the thick packet.

  “Absolutely, positively,” Johnny said. “We’ve been keeping tabs on Uncle—”

  Maeve interrupted. “We’ve been following him, actually.”

  “Anyway, he keeps going over to Wesley Monroe’s and your aunt is going over there all the time too.”

  “They’ve been fighting about you, deciding who’s goin’ to get you. And Uncle Mason’s finally won,” Johnny said.

  Sparrow felt certain Auntie Geraldine wasn’t fighting for her, but she liked the part about Mason winning.

  “Johnny wants to be a lawyer when he grows up, so he knows a lot about this kind of thing,” Maeve said. “He’s been reading up on it since we found that photo of your mama.”

  Sparrow looked over at the book. Florida Family Law was etched into the spine with gold lettering. She counted her lucky stars to have Maeve and Johnny on her side. “Did you open this?” Sparrow asked.

  “No, we thought you should be the first. He’s your daddy, after all,” Johnny said gently.

  “And now you’re officially our cousin.” Maeve put her arm around Sparrow. “Which means we’re pretty much Daltons. I can’t wait for those stuck-up Monroes to find out. Everything’s falling into place perfectly.”

  “I know.” By the end of the day, Sparrow would have Mason, Mama, the Boy, and Dalton House.

  Maeve grinned and squeezed Sparrow’s shoulder. “Aren’t you excited?”

  Sparrow was so excited her soul felt like dancing. She hugged the envelope tight and twirled.

  Maeve laughed and Sparrow’s heart rode that happy sound like a wave. This was going to be the best day of her life.

  In the end, Sparrow decided she wanted to open the papers with Mason. She felt it would be more memorable that way. She imagined the two of them sitting down after the Casto family party to read the official documents together. He’d smile proudly, knowing she was his daughter, and Sparrow would be so happy to finally have a father.

  She put the packet back under the pile of rags and followed Maeve and Johnny to the house so they could put on their party clothes.

  Sparrow waited for them in the Casto living room. At first, she struggled to find a place to sit. Grown-ups bustled around the kitchen, making food, while a bunch of little Castos sat in front of the television watching a show turned up way too loud. She finally spied a spot on the couch between two baby Castos sharing a box of Cheerios. Sparrow sat down and put the box on her lap. The baby Castos didn’t seem to mind. They just kept digging into the box, grabbing huge handfuls of cereal that barely made it into their mouths.

  The whole room burst with Casto cousins, but Sparrow didn’t know who belonged to who. Now that she belonged to this huge clan, Maeve and Johnny needed to tutor her on the family tree.

  After a while, Maeve came into the living room. She looked nicer than normal, wearing a shorts romper in a floral pattern, but Sparrow had definitely overdressed.

  One of the baby Castos threw a Cheerio at Maeve and she stuck her tongue out at him.

  In response, both babies stuck their tongues out at Maeve. Sparrow watched the exchange with fascination. She had a lot to learn about being part of a large family.

  Maeve pulled Sparrow off the couch. “Let’s get the good food before it’s all gone.”

  “What about Johnny?”

  “He’s coming.” Maeve walked outside and Sparrow followed her.

  Somehow, the Castos had managed to transform the yard in the time it’d taken Maeve to change her clothes. All the toys had been put away and a long table had been set up. It held platters upon platters of food. Buckets filled with ice and drinks sat next to the table.

  Everywhere Sp
arrow looked, there were redheaded Castos—young ones, old ones, and every age in between ones. The little ones ran around, while the oldest Castos sat in folding chairs in the shade. Many of the guests were already eating.

  “Darn it,” Maeve said. “They’ve already started. Load up now. If you wait, there’ll be nothing left. This family is like a plague of locusts.” Maeve grabbed a paper plate and filled it so high with food, Sparrow marveled that it didn’t topple off onto the ground.

  Sparrow followed Maeve’s lead, taking a plate and some food, but she didn’t take as much as Maeve. Her stomach was too full of butterflies to have space for food.

  The girls found a spot of shade and sat in the grass. Maeve dug into her food while Sparrow watched her new family with interest. She tried to figure out their number by counting them, but the Castos wouldn’t cooperate. They kept moving from place to place. Sparrow was in the middle of her second attempt at a head count when she spied Wesley Monroe and the twins.

  She nudged Maeve in the ribs to get her attention. “Look over there.”

  Maeve was partway through a second ear of corn. She looked up, saw the Monroes, and groaned. “Ignore them.”

  Sparrow thought that was good advice. She was still annoyed about the lemonade.

  Johnny found them and sat down. He had a plate piled high with food. “I love family parties.”

  The three kids sat on the grass eating and talking about nothing and everything at the same time, and Sparrow felt she could spend the rest of her life there with them. Being with Maeve and Johnny didn’t make Sparrow miss Mama less, though it did feel more bearable, like the relief of an unexpected lending hand when lugging a heavy load.

  Music started to play and they moved closer to the band. A pack of scruffy, redheaded Castos strummed and plucked a hodgepodge collection of instruments. Fiddles, banjos, guitars, and even a washboard responded melodiously to their deft fingers. Sparrow tapped her foot and clapped her hands along with everyone else as warmth filled her belly. She loved everything about her new family.

  When the band paused briefly between songs to tune their instruments, Sparrow heard a sarcastic snort behind her. “It’s like a hillbilly fest out here.”

  All three kids turned.

  Ansley Monroe stood behind them, sneering.

  Maeve’s broad smile fell away and her hands turned into fists.

  Johnny put a hand on his sister’s arm. “Remember what Uncle Mason said?”

  “I think they’re really good,” Sparrow offered, trying to dispel the tension.

  “What are you even doing here, swamp rat?”

  “She’s our friend,” Maeve said.

  Ansley snorted. “The weird just get weirder.”

  Maeve’s face flushed and her eyes flashed with anger. “Don’t you dare talk about her like that. She’s not just our friend. She’s family.”

  “Maeve,” Johnny said. “Don’t. It isn’t your news.”

  “It’s okay,” Sparrow said.

  “What are y’all going on about?” Ansley asked.

  Sparrow felt nerves and other things twist in her stomach. She wasn’t sure she was ready to say it out loud yet, but if she was going to be a Casto, she had to be loyal like one. Maeve and Johnny had thrown their lot in with her and now it was her turn. “Mason Casto’s my father.”

  At first, Ansley laughed. “You’re joking.”

  United, Sparrow, Maeve, and Johnny held their ground, faces stern, arms crossed.

  “Prove it,” Ansley said.

  Andrew joined them. “What’s going on over here?”

  Ansley smirked. “Sparrow Dalton thinks she’s a Casto.”

  “Huh?”

  “She says Mason Casto’s her father and now she’s going to prove it. Aren’t you, Sparrow?”

  Sparrow hated the way Ansley taunted her and she intended to wipe that smirk right off Ansley’s face. “Johnny, do you mind getting those papers?”

  “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Sparrow nodded. “A hundred percent.”

  Johnny dashed off. In a flash, he came back with the envelope. He really did run fast. He handed the papers to Sparrow.

  Sparrow showed them to Ansley and Andrew. “These are my custody papers. Your own daddy wrote them. That’s why Mason’s been at your house so much this summer.”

  Ansley’s eyes narrowed as a smile played at her lips.

  Andrew looked confused. “They’ve been …”

  Ansley stopped her brother in midsentence. “Does Mason Casto know you have those?”

  “Not yet. We’re talking after the party,” Sparrow said.

  “I’ll believe you, if you tell him now,” Ansley countered, forcing Sparrow’s hand. Ansley sought her revenge for the baseball game, Long’s, and the archives, but Sparrow held all the cards. Ansley was going to lose.

  “Sparrow,” Johnny said. “It’s okay. You don’t need to prove anything to them.”

  Sparrow looked at Maeve. It might be all right for Johnny, but it wouldn’t be okay for Maeve. Maeve had done so much for Sparrow and it was Sparrow’s turn to prove her loyalty.

  “What do I have to lose?” she asked, smiling. “The proof is right here.” She hugged the papers confidently.

  Sparrow stepped away from the kids and searched the crowd for Mason. She spotted him standing in a small crowd of folks. He slapped another Casto on the back and then laughed. He seemed really happy. She walked over to him, clutching the thick envelope like a treasure.

  She cleared her throat. “Mason?”

  He didn’t hear her, so she put her hand on his arm and said again, “Mason?”

  He turned. All of a sudden he seemed to be standing in a huge crowd rather than a small one and everyone watched as he said, “Having a good time, Sparrow?”

  “Yes, great … um.” Sparrow looked over at Maeve and Johnny standing next to a laughing Ansley, and her resolve strengthened. “I know,” she said.

  Mason cocked his head to the side. “Know what?”

  “About this,” she said, pointing to the papers.

  Mason took the papers from her. “Where’d you find these?”

  “It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that I know.”

  “I planned to tell everyone today. That’s what this party is for.”

  Sparrow beamed. “I was going to talk to you today too. To let you know …” Sparrow paused, savoring the moment, and then continued, “I know you’re my father.”

  Mason’s eyes grew wide.

  A Casto standing near Mason whistled in surprise and the group turned away to give them privacy. Though they didn’t go too far. Instead, they lingered within earshot to make sure they heard everything being said.

  Mason’s forehead furrowed. “What do you think these papers are?”

  “My custody papers.”

  Mason ran his hand through his hair. He seemed upset.

  Sparrow bit her lip. This wasn’t the reaction she’d hoped for. She’d expected to be swept up in a fatherly hug or treated to a special handshake at least. She’d never expected to see shock and worry overwhelm Mason’s kind features.

  “Sparrow, I’m really sorry. These aren’t custody papers. These are ownership papers. They say I own the 76 station.”

  “Then do you have the other ones? The ones you’ve been working on with Wesley Monroe and Auntie Geraldine?”

  Mason gently pulled Sparrow farther away from the crowd. “I’ve not been there with your aunt, Sparrow. She just happened to be there too sometimes. Where’d you get all this information?”

  Sparrow looked over at Maeve and Johnny.

  Maeve smiled and gave her the thumbs-up sign.

  Johnny looked worried.

  Ansley hugged her side. She shook so hard with laughter that she’d doubled over to keep from falling on the ground. And just like that, Sparrow knew. She was no one’s daughter.

  Shame and embarrassme
nt washed over Sparrow like a tidal wave, and she did the only thing she could think of—run. She ran away from the Castos as far and as fast as she could. She thought she heard Maeve and Johnny calling her name, but she kept going. Maeve had befriended Sparrow because she believed Sparrow was a Casto and because Maeve wanted to be related to a Dalton. Now that it had proved false, so had their friendship.

  No, there wasn’t anything for her at the Castos, and she was too humiliated to look back anyway. Too many people heard her claim Mason Casto was her father, and news of her disgrace would spread like wildfire. By nightfall, all of Beulah would know.

  She ran until she reached the old country road and her legs and lungs finally betrayed her. Reluctantly, she slowed to a walk. Her slower pace let her mind race and she struggled to keep her thoughts from tumbling over each other like waves.

  She heard the rumble of a truck coming up the road behind her, and she moved to the shoulder to give it plenty of room to pass. Instead of driving by, it drove up beside her and slowed.

  Mason Casto rolled down his window. “Mind if we talk for a sec?”

  Maeve and Johnny were in the back, but neither said anything, and Sparrow avoided looking at them. The sight of them reminded her of everything she’d almost had.

  Sparrow shrugged.

  Mason pulled over and got out of his truck. They were near the little roadside cemetery, and he walked in that direction. He went through the gate and sat on a stone bench under an oak tree.

  Sparrow joined him.

  “You left this,” Mason said. He cradled her small black purse in his large hands.

  “Thanks.” Sparrow took her bag, grateful to have it back. Inside was her picture of Mama and the information about the Boy.

  “I’m sorry about Maeve and Johnny. They mean well. They’re just a bit misguided sometimes.”

  “It’s not their fault. We all thought it,” Sparrow said. She opened her purse and gave Mason the photograph of Mama. She leaned against an old pickup truck at the flea market, and the words Love never says goodbye were inscribed on the back. “You had this.”