Free Tracie Peterson by Tidings of Peace

plants. He’d tried to take hold of one, but she’d insisted he eat first. With the last crumbs brushed from the front of his coat, Ruth handed him one of the plants without saying a word. They all seemed to just take his injury into consideration and it never was made to be a big issue. They simply accepted him as he was and worked with him.
    “We put up Kenny’s marker next to his grandma Bennett’s grave,” she explained. “I thought we could decorate both graves.”
    Overhead, the gunmetal gray skies threatened snow or rain. Kenny had said they couldn’t ever predict whether they’d get snowor not. It was a funny climate, he had told David. Most folks thought just because they were quite a ways up north that they’d automatically have white Christmases, but David remembered Kenny saying that snow often missed them altogether.
    Ruth smiled. “We have quite a beautiful park here. A nice lake and lots of grass and trees. Makes for a pleasant enough time when we aren’t being deluged with rain.” As if on cue, a light sprinkling began to fall. Mrs. Bennett laughed pleasantly. “See what I mean?”
    “Ruth!” a woman called out. David looked up to find the woman advancing on them with two young girls at her side. The girls couldn’t have been more than three or four years of age, and they clung to their mother and peered out from behind her coat as they hurried to keep up.
    “Have you heard the news? The Rolands are quarantined. Measles.”
    Ruth nodded. “I heard that at church. We’ll have to cook up something and take it over.”
    “Poor Margaret. That woman has had so much to endure. First her oldest daughter, Mary Ann, goes off to Seattle like she did, and now this. She’s probably beside herself. I’ll bet every one of those six kids comes down with measles before it’s over. She probably won’t see herself out in public until well after the new year.”
    “Could be,” Ruth replied. “I’ll have the sewing circle figure out how we can best help.”
    The woman nodded, then looked David over as if to ascertain his identity. David tipped his hat awkwardly. He’d never had much in the way of manners, but he desperately wanted to be polite for Ruth’s sake.
    “Is this Kenny’s friend?” the woman asked. “The hero of the Arizona? ” Her animated voice wasn’t in the least muffled by the heaviness of the air. “Oh, I read all about him in the paper. You must be so proud.”
    Ruth smiled. “Natalie Bishop, this is David Cohen. David was indeed Kenny’s friend from the Arizona .”
    The woman’s expression changed from curiosity to horror as she noticed his left arm hanging rather useless at his side. “Oh, I’m so sorry for what you had to go through. Terrible thing! Just terrible. Oh my.” She fidgeted with her coat and stammered on. “Well. . . Ithink it’s . . . well, just fine that you can be here for the holidays. Kenny was so well liked. He . . . well . . .” her voice trailed off.
    David could see the woman’s discomfort growing by the minute. He had no idea why she should suddenly be so upset, but Ruth appeared to understand.
    “It’s all right, Natalie. David and I have been catching up on Kenny and old times. You needn’t worry that you’ve opened a can of worms.” This appeared to calm the younger woman, who at this point merely nodded.
    “Oh,” Ruth continued, “I’ve been meaning to thank you and your mother for that wonderful grape jam you sent over. I don’t know when we’ve enjoyed anything more. Did you manage to get the rest of your apples put into sauce?”
    “Yes,” Natalie said with a smile. “Mother has always had a way with putting up fruit. I was worried with the rationing and all, but she managed to convince the Ration Board to allow her enough sugar for home canning. It ought to help a great deal to see us through the winter, rationing or no rationing.”
    “We were blessed as well,” Ruth replied. “The walls of the basement are lined and