Baby Kisses Read Online Free PDF Page B

poked. No hidden boxes jumped out. Rats! She turned it over and poked at the backing. It looked solid. She tapped a little harder and the wood shifted. Blood rushed to her head in a wave of excitement. Running to the kitchen, she came back with a steak knife and poked at a corner. After a few jiggles the backing fell off and a small book tumbled out.
    Tooty gasped and held her heart. Was this the treasure? Gently, she lifted the book and read the neatly printed, but faded inked words on the cover, Annabelle's Diary Beginning in The Year of Our Lord, 1865.
    Her hands shook as she carried the diary to her room. Sitting on the side of her bed, she gently laid it in the center and then reached into her nightstand for Beatrice's letter. She reread it, especially the mysterious part about reconciliation.
     
    There is a treasure within that I discovered, but too late to make reconciliation with the love of my life. Sadly, he died before I could make things right. If only I had found this treasure even two years sooner, it would have made a difference in my decisions. But it is what it is.
     
    Gently lifting the book, she kicked back on her bed and opened it. Inside the cover was a folded paper. She slipped it out and read:
     
    Tooty,
    I hope it is you reading this note. If not, then so be it. To whomever is reading this, I caution you not to read the entire diary in one sitting. It is best savored over time so that the trueness of it can settle into the mind and heart of the reader to be pondered, savored, and enjoyed. May Annabelle's words fill your heart with both sadness and joy, emotions contrary to one another, but so necessary for the human heart to find fulfillment.
    —Beatrice Shipley
     
    Tooty swallowed the lump in her throat. How she wished she'd met Beatrice sooner. They could have shared precious hours together. She had a feeling they would have been soul sisters; the gap in their ages making nary a difference.
    She read the heading on the first page in the diary written in the same neat print. The Year my Life Truly Began. Since Harris was still asleep, she turned the fragile page to the first entry and began a journey.
     
    Sunday, March 5, 1865
     
    I write this entry late at night by candlelight in the tiny room I share with my two sisters. Lorrie wants me to blow out the candle, but I must write these words so I do not forget anything. I have had this diary since Pa gave it to me last Christmas, but I have not felt the need to write until now. This has been a most memorable day. It started out like any other. We went to church, me, Lorrie, Maddie, and Pa. I sure miss Ma. It's been a year since she died of consumption and my sister Lorrie has taken her place as school teacher.
    The preacher talked about all the casualties in the war and it made me sad. He said there was a young man in a bad way that had been left at the makeshift shelter in town. He asked for a volunteer to take him in. He said the soldier would probably die because he'd lost both his legs and they'd festered. He wanted us to imagine dying alone without the love of a family. He had me crying. I knew Pa would volunteer because he was in the war and has a good heart. His blue coat still hangs on a peg in his room.
    After Pa dropped us off at home, he went to town to get the ailing man. Me, Lorrie, and Maddie moved our best bed, the rag one, to the main room by the fire so the man could be warm in his last days and enjoy a cheery hearth. He was wrapped in a dirty blanket and groaning when Pa carried him in. He was a pitiful sight.
     
    Tooty sighed and turned the page.
    Harris opened her door. "Mommy, I'm hungry." Quickly, she slipped the diary in her drawer.
    "I got some sandwiches already made, honey pie."

Chapter 8:  New York, New York
     
    Miles' mood didn't improve the next day. He couldn't even stand being around himself. He rolled his chair to his bedroom window and watched Tooty playing with Harris in the plastic blow-up pool she'd bought.