Little Red Lies Read Online Free PDF

it,” he says. But he turns back. “Gee, thanks, Granny. Didn’t think I’d need it.”
    “If you weren’t my own grandson, I’d say you were an idiot.”
    “Maybe I am.”
    “No maybe about it.”
    Mother plunges her hands back into the cold earth. “I could have gone in and grabbed his jacket,” she says to Granny, “but I don’t want to be one of those overbearing mothers.”
    “I’m only here to be helpful,” Granny says.
    We raise our eyebrows at each other and hurry down the street.

    Mrs. Cooper’s at home when we get there, also Coop’s two sisters. Nancy, the younger one, opens the door and yells into the kitchen, “Jamie’s here!”
    I give Nancy a tiny wave with the tips of my fingers.
    “And Rachel!” she screeches, and has a coughing fit.
    “I’m in the kitchen, lad. Come on out, the two of you.”
    Mrs. Cooper seems to be trying to camouflage herself with flour. This doesn’t prevent her from squashing first Jamie and then me into her, as they say, ample bosom, leaving us lightly dusted.
    “Both girls have bad colds,” she says.
    If they lived under the same roof as Mother or Granny, they sure wouldn’t be walking around spreading germs. They’d be tucked into bed, with mustard plasters on their chests, Vicks VapoRub under their noses, and glasses of ginger ale beside them.
    “How are things?” Jamie asks, clenching and unclenching his fists. I’m sure he doesn’t have a clue what to say. I lean against the fridge, ready to be helpful if needed.
    Ellie washes dishes in a basin in the sink while young Nancy dries. Ellie keeps turning to look at Jamie. When he smiles at her, she nearly drops the slippery bowl she’s putting in the drainer.
    “Oh, you know,” Mrs. Cooper sighs, “not so good sometimes, not so bad other times. Still no news.”
    Ellie and Nancy finish their task and hover closer to Jamie, not wanting to miss a word.
    Mrs. Cooper says, “Back away, girls. Don’t be spreading your germs. It’s a bad time of year for colds. Will’s gone out, but he’ll be back soon.” Will is Coop’s younger brother. “How are you?”
    “Fine,” Jamie says. He coughs nervously. “Really, I’m fine.”
    “And you, Rachel, dear?”
    “Fine, too.” The yeasty smell of the bread dough is making me hungry.
    “Jamie, you’re looking thin. Have you lost weight?”
    “A little bit, maybe.”
    Mrs. Cooper frowns as if she doesn’t approve of people losing weight. She’s a rotund little woman herself and has been as long as I’ve known her. She’s still kneading the dough, roughing it up pretty badly.
    “Mr. Cooper all right?” Jamie asks.
    Mrs. Cooper looks up and shakes her head. “He’s not over it. He’s trying to find someone who will say they saw him alive, or … he needs to know for certain. He tried the Red Cross, but the best they could say was that his plane went down behind enemy lines during the bombing of Dresden. After that, who knows?”
    “But he hasn’t lost hope?”
    “Who can say? He’s up and down about it.”
    Jamie swallows hard and tries not to look at the girls. He’s never been much of a talker.
    Sounding half-strangled, I say, “It’s good to keep hoping.”
    “It wears you down,” Mrs. Cooper says. There’s a long pause while she covers the dough with a tea towel and places it on the radiator to rise.
    Jamie gives me a slight nod, indicating we should go. But we can’t just
go
. He should be saying something comforting, not standing there in a self-induced coma.
    “Go up and see his room,” Mrs. Cooper says. “It’s much as he left it. I made the bed up with fresh sheets so it’s all ready for him, if … that boy never did learn the simple art of pulling the covers up and straightening them.”
    The Cooper girls follow us up the stairs, and Mrs. Cooper calls, “Let Jamie and his sister go on their own, girls. He doesn’t want you shadowing his every move.” We both see their eagerness change to