Mud Creek Read Online Free

mortifying subject. “Very well then. If I may be of service to you in the future, please contact me.”
    It took her a second to realize she was being dismissed. “I will and thank you. I appreciate your candor.”
    “I’ve found it best not to sugarcoat things. It’s best to get the details out in the open.”
    “Yes, it is,” Helen agreed, but she didn’t mean it.
    She wouldn’t have been averse to his hedging and fibbing a few more days. If he had, she could have continued to hide in her cocoon, where she’d only had to deal with the reality of two deceased parents and the fact that she and her sister were orphaned. Instead, she had to devise a way to maneuver as the world disintegrated around her.
    Wainwright stood and went to the door, which left her no alternative but to do the same. She pushed herself to her feet and staggered out of his office, down the long hall, the flights of stairs, and out to the sidewalk.
    For a lengthy interval, she morosely dawdled, watching people hustle by. Everyone was busy but her. She felt invisible and insubstantial, as if she was connected to the ground by a thin tether. If it was cut, she would simply float off into the sky.
    Up ahead, an old school friend and the girl’s mother were coming directly toward her, and she cringed. She couldn’t avoid them, and she wasn’t in the mood to chat or suffer their pitying expressions.
    However, she needn’t have worried. The mother peeked up, nudged her daughter, and they scurried across the street, pretending not to have seen Helen. It was the most infuriating, degrading episode of her life.
    After her father’s funeral, she and Violet had been besieged by acquaintances, delivering food, delivering condolences, extending offers of assistance. But recently, the visits had stopped. Neighbors didn’t wave or call hello, and Helen had been perplexed by the change.
    Their maid, Jane, had bluntly explained it: the spring fair out on the outskirts of town; Violet and a handsome carnival barker; a wild and inappropriate evening complete with drinking of alcohol and too many witnesses.
    Helen had confronted Violet, but Violet had sworn the story wasn’t true, and Helen wasn’t sure what she believed. Violet had been so earnest in her denials, and the fire of gossip had spread so rapidly. Had Violet been unfairly smeared? How could Helen find out? She could hardly rush out and quiz passersby.
    Suddenly, Helen wanted to weep, and she was so distraught that she barely made it home. She stood in the yard, gazing up at their fine house, her mother’s rose garden along the fence, her rocking chair on the porch. In three short weeks, they would have to leave it all behind. The appalling prospect didn’t seem real.
    As she forced herself inside, their maid, Jane, emerged from the kitchen. There was an awkward moment, where they silently stared, but then, the last few times they’d spoken had been awkward. Jane had been employed by the Pendletons for eight years, hired when Helen was eleven. She was practically a member of the family.
    She hadn’t been paid in months.
    “What did the lawyer have to say, Miss Helen?” Jane asked.
    “Nothing good.”
    “Lawyers never do.”
    Helen snorted at that. “Were you aware that my father was bankrupt?”
    Jane shrugged and glanced away. “There’s been talk.”
    “Does the entire town know?”
    “Could be.” Jane shrugged again. “You shouldn’t be shamed by it. Lots of men were caught in the crash. He wasn’t the only one.”
    “We’ve lost the house,” Helen stated, merely to hear the words come out of her mouth.
    “I’ve been afraid that you might have.”
    “Three weeks.” Helen sighed. “Three weeks, then we have to be out. We can’t even take the furniture.”
    “I’m awfully sorry.”
    “So am I.”
    Another embarrassing silence ensued, as Jane fiddled with her apron, and Helen wished the floor would open and swallow her whole.
    Finally Jane said, “I was wondering if