How It Happened in Peach Hill by Marthe Jocelyn Read Free Book Online

one. Perhaps only her great love for me and her years of prayer have made this happen.”
    The woman clutched at me with fingers like wintry twigs.
    “I’ll take the chance,” she said. “I know that yesterday you were a babbling, cockeyed fool, falling down like a drunkard and making a scene. I’m a believer, hearing you now.” She patted her handbag. “I’ve brought my savings,” she said. “I’ll give you whatever it takes.”
    Just what Mama wants to hear, I thought. Another sucker. And another brick in our dream house.
    I pulled my sleeve from the old woman’s talons and put my palms flat against her silky cheeks. “I’ll add my touch to hers,” I said. “May you be restored.”
    “She touched me!” cried the woman, lifting her hands toward the sky. Uh-oh. I imagined her neighbors on line pressing forward in a herd.
    “I have to go!” I slipped back inside and leaned againstthe door, breathing slowly. The sound of cracking china rang out from the kitchen.
    “Oh, Peg!” Mama’s voice was as sharp as a slap. “First the teapot and now the creamer!”
    “It’s not broken, ma’am, only a chip.”
    I could hear Mama’s tongue clicking all the way down the hallway.
    “Mama!” I called. “There is such a line outside you won’t believe!” I bounded into the kitchen.
    “What did you say, Annie, dear?”
    That “dear” prickles my neck, the way it comes in handy in front of people but hides away when we’re alone.
    “There are people out front, Mama, lined up for Madame Caterina. Word of my—of your—healing is all over town. Did you tell anyone, Peg?” I gave her a poke.
    “Well, I might have mentioned a time or two to a person or two last night that I’d seen a miracle before my very own eyes on the kitchen floor amongst the tea leaves I’d stirred with my very own hands.”
    Mama got the glinty eye that came along with any of her new ideas. “Good for you, Peg,” she said. “Spread the word.”
    Peg smirked, pleased to have pleased Mama. “My father said my tea has sent him into fits for years,” she said. “But anyone else I mentioned it to, they’re all as thrilled as little children with the circus coming. Everybody wants to see you for themselves.”
    “Annie!” said Mama. “Peg is absolutely right!” She clasped her hands. “And what happens when the circus is coming?”
    We stared blankly.
    “A parade!” she cried.
    “A parade,” agreed Peg.
    “A parade?” I was not thinking at Mama’s pace today.
    “You, darling!” said Mama. “You must spend the day on parade!”
    I squinted at her.
    “Walk around the square, have a sundae at the café, shop at the shops, show Peach Hill how you’ve changed. Show them all how clever and healthy you are. Here, take a few dollars.” She stuffed money into my hand, showing me how seriously she meant this. “It’s an investment,” she added. “Go on, get out there.” She nudged me out the door: a walking advertisement for Madame Caterina.
    Peach Hill seemed like a different place now that I was allowed to have my wits with me. I liked the buzz of tittle-tattle following my every step. I pretended I was somebody famous, Mary Pickford or Buster Keaton. I could hear the ladies whispering, felt them rub up against me as if I were a good-luck amulet. They used to cringe if I came too close, and avert their eyes from the dribble on my lip, but today they made excuses to talk to me.
    “Hello, dearie. What a joy to see you all fixed up!”
    Old Miss Simmons:
    More chins than born with .
    Real pearls in that choker .
    “Thank you, ma’am.”
    “Fine day, isn’t it? You tell your mother I’ll be around tomorrow with my sister, who gets hives.”
    Adelaide Goss:
    Likes to wear husband’s boots, by the look of it .
    Son crossed over in the Great War .
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Whatever next? A miracle in Peach Hill. I always knew you were a special child.”
    “Hello, Mrs. Ford.” You never had a good thing to say about