Cradle to Grave Read Online Free PDF Page A

above the hand that shielded her mouth from view. Dark circles ringed her eyes and her skin was pale and tired.
    â€œDid the Elder tell you…?” Mouse looked at Elder Herman.
    â€œHe told us a little,” Rees said. “We know you took the children.”
    â€œI rescued the children,” she declared. “I tried to tell the constable and the town council but they wouldn’t listen. Maggie Whitney was born in Dover Springs, after all. And she’s a property owner. She owns that little farm. But those men wouldn’t listen.”
    â€œTell us about the night you stayed with the children,” Lydia said. “How many children are there?”
    â€œFive. Four are that woman’s, but the baby, Joseph, was put to nurse with her. He’s a foundling.” She clutched at Lydia’s hand. “He was so sick. Coughing and struggling for breath. And that woman passed out in the other room.” Rage twisted her features and for a moment she did not resemble the gentle girl Rees knew.
    â€œSo you stayed to care for the children,” Lydia said.
    â€œYes. There was almost no food in the house, other than what we’d brought in the basket. So I made mush. Simon helps out at the dairy next door and he brought some milk.”
    â€œSimon?” Rees asked.
    â€œMrs. Whitney’s oldest boy. He … I don’t know what the arrangement is but he goes to the dairy every day. Like an apprentice. Fortunate for that family, else those children would starve. Anyway, after I fed them and washed up, they went to bed. And I walked with Joseph around and around. Every now and then I put a little rag on the end of a splint and swabbed out his nose so he could breathe. He hated that. But when I boiled water for tea, it seemed to help him; the steam seemed to help him. By morning he was better.”
    â€œBut a child that young must still be nursing,” Lydia objected. “How did you feed him?”
    â€œYes, Joseph is still nursing. Next morning I made more mush for the children. I thinned it with milk for Joseph and fed it to him with a pap spoon. His breathing was better so I put him in the cradle and he went to sleep. Then that woman finally left her bed.” Her voice went shrill with fury.
    â€œThen what happened?” Lydia asked, her voice low and calm. “Did the Deaconess return for you?”
    Mouse nodded, angry tears exploding from her eyes. “Yes. And that woman, Maggie Whitney”—she spit out the name—“said she didn’t need me anymore, unless I wanted to bring some more food.”
    â€œSo you came home?” Rees asked.
    â€œNo, not directly. I went to the Ram’s Head to look for the constable. I found him, too. He said he would speak to the town fathers. But a week later I heard they’d decided to do nothing. Mrs. Whitney was not a charge upon the town’s Poor Relief, you see. Her aunt left her the little farm and Simon brought in some money and she seemed to be able to support the children on her earnings as a wet nurse, so they left her alone.”
    â€œSo you took matters into your own hands,” Lydia said.
    Mouse nodded, sniffling. “I had to. I took one of the buggies and I drove to the Whitney farm. She was nowhere to be found, of course. So I packed up the four children at home—Simon was at the dairy, I believe—and drove them here.”
    Rees and Lydia exchanged a horrified glance. Rees could just imagine the mother’s reaction to finding an empty house. “She must have been terrified,” Lydia murmured.
    â€œShe went to the constable, I’ll wager,” Rees said. Mouse nodded. “And a few hours later the constable arrived here to recover the children?”
    â€œYes,” Mouse said. “But why?” Raising her head, she stared at Lydia and Rees defiantly. “She can’t possibly love them. Why would she want them returned to