Free Whisper Town by Patricia Hickman Page A

yelled down the hallway again for Willie and Ida May.
    “Maybe Florence Bernard and Josie could ride with her. That wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
    “Josie’s husband couldn’t do without her.” Angel served up the eggs and set a canister of salt on the table. “Maybe I could
     go,” she said.
    Jeb tried to imagine caring for Myrtle without Angel. The baby flailed and let out a yelp. “Maybe you should,” he said.

8
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OU HAVE TO WATCH CAREFULLY. IT’S NOT LIKE it’s a big deal. You have to take care of the whole diaper business like you’re cleaning out the stove. Just hold your nose
     and get it done.” Angel lectured Jeb, Willie, and Ida May while she showed all three of them how to change Myrtle’s diaper,
     a task she labored over, shaking her head and sighing.
    “I’m not standing for this,” said Willie. “Me and the boys got ball games to think about. They’d never let me hear the end
     of it if they saw me taking diaper duty.”
    “Willie, you’ll listen to your sister. Now the three of us together can handle this baby until Angel returns from Oklahoma.”
     Jeb squared his shoulders and studied the matter like he would figure out the engine of a truck.
    “I don’t want you to go, Angel.” Ida May teared up. “I’ll be the only girl.”
    “Always use a warm, damp rag, and a clean one. You see all those towels and rags drying out on the clothesline? I do those
     up at least twice a day. If you pitch them in the can out back, you won’t smell up the house so bad. That’s bleach water I
     keep them soaking in. Boil the water before you wash them.” She brushed drool away from Myrtle’s mouth.
    “Why don’t I go to Ardmore and you stay and bleach baby butt rags?” Willie cupped his hands to his face.
    “You’d get too behind in school. Miss Coulter will oversee my studies and I won’t miss out on a thing,” said Angel. She wrapped
     the diaper expertly around Myrtle’s bottom. “Clean as a whistle.”
    Someone rapped against the new glass of the door window.
    “It’s Miss Coulter,” said Willie.
    Ida May ran to the door. She hugged Fern around the waist. “I’m sorry you’re sad, Miss Coulter. I wish I could go with you.”
    “My daddy’s with God, Ida May.” Fern did not carry the conversation any further, as though to do so would unleash too much.
    “Fern.” Jeb took her in his arms and held her next to him. “I want to go with you too.”
    “I wish you could. It’s unbelievable you’re sending Angel. I know how badly you need her. Florence Bernard should be here
     shortly. Josie’s dropping her off.”
    “Mrs. Hipps said she was jealous of me being your escort and all,” said Angel.
    “She was downright green. But her husband is too reliant on her on account of his bad leg,” said Fern. She counted the bags
     of clothing Angel had placed by the door. “We can fit these in fine, Angel.”
    “You’ll be gone for months,” said Ida May.
    “Only two weeks, Littlest.” Fern took Ida May by the shoulders and spun her around to refashion her braids. “The thing of
     it is, I haven’t been home in two years. This will give me some time with my brothers and our aunts and uncles. It’s a shame
     that funerals are the only reunions we have anymore.”
    Jeb said, “Ida May and Angel made you ladies a basket of food and I have something else to give you.” He led Fern away from
     the Welbys and into the kitchen. He pulled a pistol out of his pocket. “I think you should carry a firearm. That road to Oklahoma
     is known for attracting bad seed.”
    Fern sighed and stared at the pistol. “Big difference between hunting deer and shooting a man.”
    “Come out back and I’ll give you a lesson. I’ll not send off a bunch of women unarmed.”
    “I can’t drive and shoot, now can I?”
    “Please, Fern. I won’t worry so much.” He placed it back into her hands and closed her fingers over it.
    She examined it.
    “It’s locked.” He showed her how the device