Ellen Foster Read Online Free PDF Page B

not know them good.
    If Dolphin had a mind he would be glad to go back too. I put the blanket and the saddle back on him and tell him to go.
    When we get back he gets a good rubbing with the wide brush. That is bound to feel good.
    They are making a terrarium. She said last week she planned to bring some springtime in this house. Who would have thought of this?
    I can do this. Just let me get my coat off.
    Oh yes. A terrarium. I have seen them in the stores. And we are going to make one.
    Let Ellen put in some dirt.
    OK. You have to keep the dirt off the sides of the glass so people can peek in and see how nice it all looks.
    Have you done this before? my new mama wonders.
    No. But it makes sense to do it like this.
    That’s good. Now let the others try. Everybody gets to put something in.
    The last thing we all made was a fish tank. She got the tank, the fish and the accessories from town and told us all how to keep the fish living. Everybody was in charge of a fish. If they eat too much they will bust. Mine was blue and had lips bigger than the rest. I named him John but said I would change the name as soon as I thought of something extra ordinary.
    Let me put in one more plant. A fern.
    And that just about does it. Let’s put it by the window so everyone can enjoy it.
    The light hits it right and it will get some sunshine all afternoon. We all stand and look at it.
    Are you OK? Ellen? Are you all right? Don’t you like the terrarium? You did a nice job.
    I’m fine. I’m just hungry is all I told her.
    Well I would like to get your hair washed before I start supper. Go get yourself a towel and the soap and meet me at the kitchen sink.
    It is the best when she washes my hair. Not that I could not do it myself but it has got so long that it is just easier for her to manage.
    When it was warm she would sit with me on the back steps and comb out the knots for me. Where did you get this pretty hair? You have such pretty hair she would say to me.
    I need a stool for my head to reach the water. She lets me feel the water with my hand and when it is perfect I tell her. I put my head into the water and it is warm over my whole body even on the places the water does not flow. She rubs and I feel her long fingers on my head and pray that it takes a long time for me to be clean.
    Does that feel good?
    Oh yes that feels very good.
    I lay on my bed where the sun has come in the window and made it bright and warm. My hair hangs off the side so I do not leave a damp place.
    I see the mirror from the bed. No matter how I turn my head when I look I still seem like a stranger in my own self.
    My daddy showed up at my house less and less. I never put it together where he was staying. I do know he did not have the nerve to go out and take up with a hussy.
    He did show up on New Year’s Eve. Of course I went and hid when I heard him and a whole pack of colored men come in the door.
    They came in my house and went through my refrigerator laughing at my froze food and fruit juices. They got my bread and jelly and made sandwiches and you could hear their jaws smacking all through the house.
    I hope they choke. I hope they choke and die and I will set the house on fire and burn them all yes even my own daddy up and that will be all.
    They call him Missa Bill.
    Missa Bill. Ha.
    I want them to leave because my window is froze shut.
    Looking all in my cabinets. I hear them open and slam the doors looking for something to eat that is not froze.
    Who said they could come in my house and have a free-for-all? Who said they could be here?
    My daddy has got his guitar out now and thinks he can play like a star. He will hang his head and sing the Tennessee Waltz but his favorite is On Top of Old Smokey.
    He says he will play a tune for old times sake.
    Oh Lord they all know the words and how many are in there I cannot say but I know it must be five or six drinking whiskey out of my glasses and singing On Top of Old Smokey.
    One tells my daddy this sure