Miz Kroeger bumped Billy Fort aside and spoke into the camera, “Pointed words from a young activist. When will we stop treating hunger like a game?”
There were other questions, and I must have given other answers, but they were little more than a blur and a muddle. Then, just as quickly as she’d come, Kathleen Kroeger was “signing off, Blake.”
I sighed in relief as she drove away, but I couldn’t help getting mad all over again when I saw that her gas-guzzler had torn up our yard with its big chunky tires.
From atop his apple crate, Pa gave a raucous snort of a snore. I put my head in my hands and moaned.
When I looked up again, Darnell, Miz Kroeger’s cameraman, was standing in front of me.
“Sorry about . . .” He jutted his chin in the newswoman’s direction.
“She always like that?” I asked him.
“Always.” He hefted a camera bag over his shoulder. “And always this early.”
Just then, Jura reappeared. “You handled Kroeger really well! That was great righteous rage!” She shuffled some papers, dropping a few on the ground. As she picked them up, she said, “Now, uh, don’t panic, now, Genuine, but with the whole ‘going viral’ thing, wish requests have kind of . . . tripled.”
“What!”
She set a stack of Cornucopio messages in my arms. “Try not to worry. Travis and I are taking today’s batch of biscuits to the post office as soon as they open. Did you know he helps his mom with her business? He’s really good at this stuff! Anyway, once we get to school, the three of us can put our heads together and try to figure out . . . something.”
I nodded dumbly. Jura dashed off.
It took me a second to realize the cameraman was still standing there.
“I hate to bother you, but is there a good breakfast place in town?” he asked. “The crew is starving.”
I told him there was, and if he could wait while I got dressed, I’d walk him down to Ham’s. He said he’d be glad to.
I went back in to tell Gram I was leaving early.
Her door was still closed.
“How did Miz Kroeger find out about me, anyway?” I asked Darnell as I pushed open the door to Ham’s.
Overhead, the bell jangled, though I don’t know how anyone could have heard it over the din of conversation and silverware on plates. The place was packed.
“She gets her leads from all over,” Darnell replied loudly. “Social media. Anonymous tips. She’s not picky.”
There didn’t seem to be much to say to that, so I showed Darnell to the counter, wished him a pleasant day, and headed into the kitchen to order up a breakfast burrito. Both me and Jura had a few free meals coming our way—Ham’s way of thanking us for arranging a barter that finally got him his new freezer.
“It’ll be a few minutes,” Ham told me. “We’ve been bustin’ at the seams all morning. Who’s that you brung in?” He nodded his head toward Darnell.
“Cameraman,” I replied, taking a cup of milk the waitress handed me. “Thanks, Sue.”
“Cameraman for what?” Ham slung a little hash with his spatula.
“Ardenville News in the Morning, I think,” I replied.
“This about your wish fetching?”
I made a face. “How’d you guess?”
“A thing like that just draws attention,” Ham said. “No fault of yours. The town spotlight even turned on your mama, back when.”
“Yeah. I heard.”
Ham’s eyebrows rose. “So, your granny finally told you about Loreen Walton, did she?”
All at once, I had a thought.
“Ham, you don’t know what happened there, do you? With Loreen’s dying in spite of Penny’s wish?”
Ham frowned. He looked over at Inez, the short-order cook. “Could you take over for a few?”
“Sure.” Inez reached for a spatula and gave it a fancy flip.
“Come talk to me, Genuine, while your burrito’s grilling.” He hitched a thumb toward the back door.
Outside, Ham offered me an upturned bucket to sit on, then dragged over another one for himself.
Hunkering down, he began, “I believe you know your mama and I were good friends.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ham wiped his sweaty brow with a rag. “You resemble Crista in a lot of ways. You take things hard to heart, just like she did. You try to fix stuff, even when it wasn’t you who broke it. Just plain old good-spirited girls, both of you.”
He looked at the pavement and sighed. I got the feeling he was deciding how much he should say.
“You do know what happened!” I realized.
He nodded. “I’m probably the only one she did tell.”
“Ham, you gotta tell me.”
“There ain’t much to it, really.” He shrugged. “Crista goes into Loreen’s sickroom, tells the girl, I’m here because Penny asked me to help you.
“Help me how? says Loreen. And Crista tells her how she could fetch a wish to take the sickness away. Loreen listens real careful and gets quiet for a long time. Finally, she says, Thank you kindly, but I’d rather walk the path the Maker laid out for me.
“Crista was bowled over! A girl, not even twenty years old, dying, what didn’t want to be saved? But they talked for a while, and Loreen explained how she’d rather go with her head held high, instead of grubbing and filching for time that wasn’t hers. So what was Crista gonna do? Force a wish on the girl? Course not.”
I saw it clear as crystal. Ma had been torn between Penny’s good-hearted wish and Loreen Walton’s final wish to finish things in the manner that felt right for her.
“So, she never even tried to fetch it.” Distressing as it would be, I couldn’t help thinking I would have made the same choice.
“Nope,” Ham said. “Though she couldn’t tell Penny that. I mean, how would it sound? Hey, Penny, your sister would rather die than stay here with you?”
When my jaw dropped, Ham added, “I don’t mean to be that way. It’s just, there weren’t no good way for Crista to tell Penny the truth. Not when Penny was already so heartbroken.”
“So Ma let the Waltons think it was her own failing that Loreen died.”
Ham sighed. “And Penny never forgave her.”
I peered down at my shoes. They were dirty to the tops of the soles.