"Where ya goin', Peggy?" Johnny asked.
The girl pointed to the curtains. "Hide."
"You don't need to hide no more. I'm here."
Peggy turned around and with Johnny's help climbed back into her chair. He tried to encourage Peggy to use her fork but he wasn't doing a whole lot better himself. He seemed as overwhelmed by the amount of food as Peggy had her first time.
"You always eat like this?" he asked Jane as the others were finishing up.
"No," she said, smiling. "I fixed a little extra because I thought you might be hungry."
The boy seemed taken aback by this news.
"Do you still want to keep Peggy. today?" Adam asked when the others had left the table.
"Sure. She can play in the yard while I garden, and help me bake a cake for dinner. I'm sure Peggy wants you to stay, too, Johnny."
Adam guessed the boy misinterpreted that to mean Jane didn't want him. Maybe he'd be on his best behavior if he thought she would send him away. Though exactly what Johnny's best behavior might be, he didn't know.
"You can stay," he said, "if you help with the garden."
"Gonna have me farmin' one way or another, ain't ya?"
Adam ignored him. "But first, we're going to help with dishes."
Jane wanted to laugh at the way Adam and Johnny squared off. Adam was sure the boy was going to cause her trouble. She was just as sure he wasn't.
He was bound to cause Adam trouble, however. Adam watched him so closely while they dried the dishes that she was surprised either one of them got anything done.
Peggy wanted to help, too. Jane moved a chair for the little girl to stand on so she could wash. Peggy poured water from one cup to another until all the rest of the dishes were done. All in all, the chore took longer than it might have, but it was fun having her kitchen full of voices.
Especially Adam's. She didn't know what to think about him, what to trust, what to believe. But this morning, with the children around her and his warm voice instructing Johnny, she decided not to think, just enjoy.
After he left, giving Peggy a hug and Johnny a pat on the back, Jane tied an old coat button to a string and gave it to Peggy to tempt her kitten with. Johnny helped Jane dig potatoes and weed the garden. These were not skills he had any experience with, but he caught on quickly enough.
He watched Peggy, too, she noticed. When she followed the kitten around to the front of the house, he called her back.
"Nonny lost," she said, pointing in the direction the kitten had gone. "Nonny find."
"You ain't callin' me the same name as that cat," he said, putting aside his hoe and going to her. "You gotta learn to say Johnny. J-J-Johnny."
"J-J-Nonny," she said.
Jane could see him shake his head, but he must have been smiling because Peggy giggled. The kitten scampered into the yard, and Peggy was after him again.
Johnny came reluctantly back to the garden. "Ain't we killed enough weeds yet?"
"Do you want to help me wash some sheets?"
"What do you think?"
Jane laughed. "Poor Johnny. This must seem awfully strange to you. How would you like to go shopping? We might find clothes that fit you better and order some shoes."
"You don't need to do that," he said, giving her a wicked grin. "I can lift anything I want"
"I'm sure you can, but I'd rather you didn't. Folks around here are liable to recognize their clothes if they see you wearing them."
He cocked his head to one side and gave her a quizzical look. "How come you ain't shocked?"
She smiled as she gathered the hoe and bucket of potatoes and walked back toward the house. "Maybe because you're trying so hard to shock me. I suppose if I had to live the way you have, I'd steal, too. But you're not on your own anymore. There are people who want to help you."
He called his sister, then followed Jane into the house. "You think that Dr. Hart wants to help me?"
"Yes, I do."
"I think he wants to send me to jail."
Jane laughed. "What makes you think that?" She poured water into a basin and washed Peggy's face and hands.
"I think it 'cause he said it."
"That's called a threat," Jane said. "He wants you to behave and stay out of trouble." She washed her own face, then motioned Johnny to take his turn.
"You mean he won't really do it?"
"He'd rather you heed his threat and be good," she said, "But he might do it, all right."
He tossed her a grin. "Is that a threat, too?"
"Don't push your luck," she said, tousling his hair.
Jane counted out some of her small hoard of money. She could buy a few things for Johnny without running short on the payment to the bank. Though it would mean skimping on a few things for herself, she was happy to do it.
Their first stop was Chinnock's, where Johnny's feet were measured for shoes. They visited several other stores, but Jane couldn't interest Johnny in any of the clothes.
"I'll get my own back," he assured her.
The fact that his own were practically rags evidently hadn't occurred to him. "I plan to feed you
so well that they'll be too small," she said instead.
His response was a shrug.
Peggy, with the kitten in her arms, seemed fascinated by all the merchandise in the stores and was content to simply gaze around her at each stop.
Jane bought what she needed for dinner and let Johnny carry part of it home. While Jane put things away, Johnny went outside to watch Peggy. When Jane joined them she found them on her porch eating smashed versions of the bread she had served at breakfast. Evidently they hadn't expected to be fed again anytime soon.
"How about another slice of bread," Jane suggested, "with some ham on it this time?"
Johnny tried to hide his surprise. "That'd be all right"
Peggy was already used to being fed on a regular basis and dropped the crumbling bread for her kitten. "More," she said, coming to her feet and following Jane into the kitchen. She climbed into a chair to watch Jane make the sandwiches.
"Do you like mustard?" Jane asked.
Peggy stared.
Jane took Peggy's hand and put a drop of mustard on one of her fingers. Peggy licked her finger and made a terrible face. "Like," she said.
Jane laughed. "You like it?"
"Nonny, too," Peggy said.
"Which Nonny? Nonny Kitty or Nonny Johnny?"
"Nonny Nonny," she said.
Jane put a little mustard on four sandwiches. She wrapped them in a cloth and put them in a basket along with three cups and a jar of milk. She helped Peggy out of the chair. "Let's have a picnic," she said.
Peggy ran to her brother. "Picnic," she announced.
Adam tried to ignore the noise coming from next door. It was a little early to go to dinner. Still, the children were his responsibility and perhaps he should see what the ruckus was about.
As he crossed from his backyard to Jane's, he could see sheets flapping on the line, along with several dresses that looked suspiciously like the Cartlands'. Running under and around the sheets and dangerously close to the garden were at least a dozen children. Maybe not quite a dozen. It was hard to get a reliable count, since they were all moving.
The kitten snoozed, well out of harm's way, beside the back door. Adam sat down on the back step and murmured, "How can you sleep through that?"
"That ain't fair!" Johnny called. "You always catch Peggy 'cause she's little."
"Nonny it!" squealed Peggy, trotting up to him and smacking him on the back.
"Yeah, all right. I'll be it. Now, you run away."
It was pretty clear Johnny had picked out whom he planned to tag. The boy was probably close to the same age but nearly twice Johnny's size. "You ain't been it yet, Riley," he said as he stalked more than chased the other boy.
"You ain't been it 'til now, neither."
"That's 'cause I'm good, not 'cause I hide behind my sister."
"I don't hide behind my sister," Riley protested, circling around a tall girl Adam now recognized as Rosemary Finley.
"You're gonna get me caught again, Riley," Rosemary shouted, trying to avoid both boys.
"Save me, Rosemary," Riley cried, laughing, "or I'll tell Ma you were playing tag with the boys."
A couple of girls left the pack of shouting participants. Suzy Gibbons and Peggy walked hand in hand toward the house. "I think she's tired," Suzy said, collapsing in the grass at Adam's feet. Peggy climbed up on his lap, sighing heavily.
"Does your mother know you're here?" Adam asked Suzy.