Free Tied to the Tracks by Rosina Lippi

into a frenzy.”
     
    A woman sat down in the empty chair next to Angie. She had the kind of blinding white smile usually found on movie screens, a mass of too-red hair, and her nails and lipstick were the alarming orange of traffic cones. Like all the women Angie had seen thus far, she was as carefully dressed as she was groomed. She wore a dress of deep blue silk with a wide lace collar, bone white leather shoes and matching purse, and heavy gold jewelry on her wrists and fingers and ears. She might have stepped out of a Talbot’s catalog. Not for the first time Angie wished she had dug something better than a shapeless yellow sundress out of her closet.
     
    “I’m Patty-Cake Walker. Miss Junie’s husband, Bob Lee, was my half brother? I’ll bet your head is just spinning trying to keep us all straight.”
     
    “It is a little confusing,” Angie agreed. “Father Callahan is Miss Junie’s brother?”
     
    “He is. You don’t see the resemblance now, but when they were younger, lots of folks took them for twins. Or so I’m told.”
     
    Angie said, “I didn’t think there were many Catholics in this part of the country.”
     
    “Mostly you’re right,” she said, smoothing out her skirt. “But I believe Ogilvie must have the biggest Catholic congregation in all of Georgia.” She put a hand on her chest, fingers spread wide. “Not my people and not my husband’s, either, you understand—the Roses and the Walkers have been worshipping at Ogilvie Methodist since it opened its doors way back before the War Between the States.”
     
    “Is that the little church on Decatur Road?”
     
    “No, you’re thinking of Turn Around Circle. They’re Presbyterians, but Low Church, if you know what I mean. I’ve got cousins who worship there.”
     
    The first rule of effective field research was letting people talk without interrupting them unless the conversation lagged. Now there was nothing to do but settle down and let the monologue runs its course.
     
    “The closest I personally come to the Church of Rome is my half brother Bob Lee?” Patty-Cake was saying. “He was supposed to marry one of the Stillwater girls, but then Miss Junie caught his eye, and that was that. It was a big deal back then, let me tell you, marrying outside your faith.” She pursed her mouth as if to stop herself from saying any more.
     
    “Look there, that’s Connie Yaeger. Now, in’t that dress just the prettiest thing? And those bright colors draw attention away from her less fortunate features. Connie’s been teaching eighth grade at Our Lady of Divine Mercy for just about ever. “ She pushed out an irritated sigh. “I guess you could say that Bob Lee running off to marry an Irish Catholic girl made us the first truly integrated family in this part of Georgia. And Junie brought her girls up proper Catholics, too. Naturally having a priest for a brother made that a lot easier.”
     
    Patty-Cake leaned forward and Angie got a blast of flowery scent that billowed up out of her powdered cleavage.
     
    “You and I are going to be working together. I’m the senior secretary in the English department? You probably don’t realize this, but there’s a lot to running a big department like that. I’ve got a staff of one full-time secretary and two part-time girls, plus work-study students. But in the summer I handle it all on my own. The faculty never show their faces, which just between you and me is just fine. They are a pesky lot during the school year, always needing something. I’m the keeper of the keys, to use an old-fashioned phrase. Why, a body can’t get hold of a paper clip unless I say so, and I’m careful with the resources that are put in my care. There’s a lot of responsibility on my shoulders.”
     
    “I’m sure there is,” Angie said solemnly.
     
    “You come and see me tomorrow and I’ll get you all set up,” Patty-Cake finished. “We’re going to get to know each other real well. And bring the