Scarecrow Read Online Free Page A

at some dust. “I’m real sorry about your car.”
    But you never want to get stranded there, Brad had said. How many times had I heard him say that, how many times…
    “May I use your telephone?” I whispered.
    Rachel glanced back over her shoulder, her concern deepening. “Oh, dear, I’m afraid we don’t have one.”
    My hands clenched together in my lap, squeezing back growing panic. “But what…what do you do in emergencies? How do you get help?”
    “We have Girlie.” Rachel’s kind eyes rested wearily on mine. “We don’t need to call anybody else.”
    “Yes…well…but surely you have a car?”
    Rachel shook her head slowly. “No, just the wagon.”
    “Then there’s no problem, is there?” I said hopefully. “You can take me into town, can’t you? And I can use a telephone there?”
    As I anxiously watched Rachel’s face, the scar twisted along the length of her cheek, her mouth tightening into a half smile. She’s so pretty when she smiles, I realized again with a start, but it hurts her… it’s painful for her to show happiness…like it’s painful for me to feel it.
    “Oh, now, don’t you even worry. We’ll work all that out when you’re better. But right now till you’re well enough to do anything, there’s no safer place you can be. I’ll take good care of you.” She glanced down as Girlie pulled out of the firelight and laid a tiny hand on her knee.
    “Rachel, please?” I whispered.
    “We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” she smiled. “There’ll be lots of time for talk tomorrow.”
    “But…I can’t stay here…”
    “You probably have a real bathroom at home, don’t you?” She cast me a sidelong glance, patting Girlie’s fingers absently with her own. “With a fancy tub and hot water that runs out when you turn a handle…” Her voice sounded almost wistful as she stood and began collecting the dirty dishes. Girlie reached up and hung silently onto one long tie of her apron. “All we’ve got’s the privy, and that’ll be a real change for you, I reckon. Too bad it’s so late in the fall, the nights get frosty and dark as all get out. But I’ll send Franny with you so you won’t lose your way.”
    I bit back another plea, knowing it was useless. Franny reappeared a second later, wiping her wet hands on her skirt, and I followed her out through the kitchen and onto a porch, down some sagging steps, and across a dark, ragged stretch of ground.
    “Don’t we need a light?” I asked timidly, stumbling along as I trailed my blanket underfoot. I still felt unsteady, but my head wasn’t aching nearly as much as when I’d first woken up.
    Franny put an arm around me and forged confidently ahead. “Course not. Been this way a million times. No—a hundred million’s more likely. Just watch yourself. Never know where those pigs have been.”
    Just as she said it, soft mud oozed up between my toes, and I bit back a groan. We went past several squat buildings, then up a short incline and along a well-worn path to a wooden outhouse.
    “You’ll get used to it,” Franny promised, as I inched my way fearfully into the drafty old structure and stared in disbelief at the catalog I was obviously expected to use. “Why, after a while you’ll be able to find it in your sleep.”
    “Well,” I said, hurrying to rejoin her after I’d finished, “I’ll be going tomorrow, you know. You’ll be taking me into town.” I shoved on the door and nearly fell out onto the path as Franny caught me.
    “Whoa! Take it easy now!”
    “I’m afraid I still feel a little lopsided.” Trying to wipe my feet on the cold ground, I added, “Is there somewhere I could wash off? Maybe take a bath? If I’m leaving tomorrow, I’d feel a lot better if—”
    “A bath?” She looked slightly incredulous, then quickly remembered her manners. “Oh, sure—right back there off the kitchen.”
    “You mean that porch? Outside in the cold? But…but there’s no privacy!”
    Franny’s