A Simple Shaker Murder Read Online Free PDF

quick, impatient sound in her throat.
    â€œNay, child, the pan will burn your fingers,” Gertrude said, but gently. It was clear Mairin was showing the effects of chronic starvation. Her desire for food was urgent They would have to be careful she didn’t gorge herself and become ill, Rose thought.
    â€œPolly, cut the child a piece of bread,” Gertrude said. “And put a bit of butter on it.”
    Mairin’s eyes never left the loaf as Polly popped it upside-down out of the pan, righted it, and cut off a thick, steaming slice. The butter melted and sank into the orange-tinted bread. Polly slid the slice onto a white plate and put it on the large nicked work table in the middle of the kitchen. Mairin pulled toward it, leaning her weight away from Rose’s restraining hand.
    When Mairin reached the table, only the top of her head showed. Not to be daunted, she flung up her arm and grabbed at the plate. Sensing disaster, Rose held the girl around the waist with one arm and reached for a cushioned foot bench with the other. Some of the smaller girls were in the habit of using the foot bench to give themselves more leverage when working at the table. She plunked Mairin on top of it.
    Instantly, the girl grabbed the bread and stuffed a corner in her mouth. She bit off nearly a quarter of the slice. Her cheeks puffed out, so filled with bread that she couldn’t chew. With a cry of frustration, she spit the bread back on the plate. All the kitchen sisters watched, horrified and fascinated. None of them had ever truly been hungry, and they had never seen such sad greed. Rose was also surprised that in the week and a half or so that the New-Owenites had been in North Homage, none of the sisters had seen Mairin eat before.
    Tears streamed down the child’s face. It was the first show of genuine emotion Rose had seen in her.
    â€œIt’s all right, Mairin,” she said, stroking the girl’s fuzzy hair. “Just take it a bit more slowly, and you’ll do fine. I promise you can have all the food you need. That’s it, just a small bite.”
    Mairin adjusted her mouth on another corner of the slice, until the bite was a reasonable size. Her tears dried and her eyes closed in ecstasy as she chewed and swallowed.
    â€œNay, slower now,” Rose said, as Mairin tried to stuff more into her next bite. “That’s right. See how delicious it is whenyou take it slowly? Now, just put the bread down and take a break, so your stomach can enjoy it, too.”
    Mairin paused a few seconds but could not let go of the bread, nor could she shift her gaze anywhere else.
    â€˜Time to put your hands to work, now, Sisters,” Gertrude said, breaking the spell. “The bell will be ringing any minute, and we aren’t nearly ready.” The kitchen sisters scattered.
    Rose talked Mairin through the remainder of her slice of bread. By the time the straggle had ended, it was clear that the girl would need firm coaching to learn to eat properly. She still ate as if she’d just been brought in off the streets. How could she possibly have been with the New-Owenites for two full years and still be so controlled by the memory of starvation? Had Celia spent any time with her at all? Or had she quickly written the girl off as incorrigible? Celia had mentioned keeping her “out of civilized company.” Did she ever eat meals with other people? Rose felt the stirrings of a fierce protectiveness that before now had been reserved for Gennie Malone, a girl she had befriended at about this same age. But Gennie was grown up and planning to marry soon, and the mothering corner of Rose’s heart had gone dormant. Until now.
    â€œI’ll tell you what, Mairin. There’s someone I want you to meet. She’s a very good friend of mine, but she is too frail to come to the dining room, so why don’t the two of us join her for lunch in her retiring room?”
    Mairin’s face went