Free Hope Rising by Stacy Henrie Page B

“Who are you hiding from?”
    Louis put a finger to his lips, then pointed upward. “I’m stalking a bird,” he whispered.
    Arching her neck, Evelyn peered above him. Sure enough, a gray bird hopped along a branch overhead.
    “What will you do with him?” She kept her voice low as he’d done. Did he plan to snatch the tiny bird and eat it? She cringed at the thought.
    “I like to watch them. Maybe I will fly one day. Like those aeroplanes I see.” The bird forgotten, Louis spread his arms and pretended to soar around Evelyn, snapping branches with his hands.
    Evelyn shook her head in amusement. “You will have to watch out for trees, Louis, if you want to be a good pilot.”
    He grinned.
    “Did you sell any vegetables today?”
    “ Non. Did you forget it is Sunday, Nurse Gray?”
    “So it is.” She had forgotten. A flicker of shame ignited inside her. Her grandparents would be at church services today, despite their bad health. Surely they expected their only granddaughter to be doing the same.
    “Are you hungry?” she asked next.
    He glanced down at his dirt-stained, bare feet. “A little.”
    “Then come with me.” Evelyn held out her hand. She may not feel comfortable attending services at the old church nearby, but she wasn’t so selfish as to ignore the needs of this precocious child.
    He slipped his small hand inside her palm. The feel of it reminded Evelyn that one day soon she would hold her own child’s hand.
    “What food does that cabbage-head cook have today?” Louis asked as he followed her up the path.
    A soft laugh escaped Evelyn’s mouth. The sound surprised her. She hadn’t laughed since finding out Ralph had been killed. “Whatever it is, we will both accept it gratefully. That’s what my grandmother always taught me.”
    “I remember ma grand-mère .” Louis pulled back on Evelyn’s arm so he could scoop up a pebble with his free hand. “She smiled and told stories while she sewed. I miss her. Ma mère does not smile anymore or tell stories.”
    Sadness filled Evelyn as she thought of Louis’s mother, trying to make do without her husband. Evelyn now knew what it meant to have the person one loved and counted on suddenly taken away. Though she’d never met this other woman, she felt bonded to her by grief.
    Evelyn cleared her throat, willing back fresh tears. There’d been enough of those today. “Why don’t you tell me one of your grand-mère ’s stories?”
    Louis glanced at her, a smile on his upturned face. “My favorite is about a fox and a bird, but I do not know it in English.”
    “Then tell it to me in French.” She wouldn’t understand, but that didn’t matter. He only needed someone to listen.
    Evelyn led Louis out of the woods and across the lawn as he shared the story in his native language. She couldn’t help laughing again when he changed the tone of his voice or made different faces to represent the various characters. By the time they reached the back door of the kitchen, she felt almost happy. Of course her problems still lurked at the edges of her mind, waiting to pounce in a quiet moment, but she allowed the short time with Louis to fill her up with some measure of sunshine.
    “Wait here and I will go get us some lunch.”
    Thankfully the hospital cook was occupied with talking to one of the sisters. Evelyn asked one of the kitchen staff for something to share with Louis. She was given a loaf of bread and some cheese wrapped in a napkin. The meal wouldn’t be large, but she planned to give most of it to Louis anyway. Her appetite still hadn’t returned to normal.
    “We’re going to have a picnic,” she declared. She steered Louis past the few soldiers who rested on lawn chairs in the sun.
    His forehead scrunched in confusion. “What is a pick-nick?”
    Another smile tugged at Evelyn’s lips. “A picnic is a meal you eat outdoors.” She sat in the shade of one of the beech trees and patted the grass beside her. “You typically put your