The Librarian of Boone's Hollow - Kim Vogel Sawyer Page 0,5
behavior. If thinking before speaking was a sport, Felicity would always be at the bottom of the heap. Even so, Addie had grown to love her roommate as a sister, and she didn’t doubt Felicity felt the same way about her. Could she trust her with this recent, unsettling news?
She looked up and started to speak, but Felicity was bent over the desk again, apparently studying. Knowing how difficult it was for the girl to stay focused for any length of time, she chose not to disturb her. She slid the latest letter from beneath the sheets and carefully opened the flap. After stretching out on her side with her back to Felicity, she removed the sheets of Mother’s flowered stationery from the envelope and unfolded them.
Our dearest Adeladybug…
The childhood nickname took her back to rosy days of love and laughter. How writing this letter must have pained Mother, whose kindness was such that she couldn’t even swat a fly without feeling guilty for ending its life. Tears filled Addie’s eyes, and she blinked to clear them.
I’m sorry to send so many dismal missives. We are sure you are reeling and uncertain how to respond. Yet your daddy and I believe you are old enough to accept these realities and need to be aware of how our lives have so rapidly changed. Or perhaps not so rapidly, as we have been on a slow descent for quite some time.
You likely noticed the new address on the envelope. We no longer have our house on Briar Drive. The bank foreclosed on it. We are sad, but we aren’t bitter. After all, we had many happy years there, and the bank is only doing what it must to recover its money. If we’d more prudently used our reserve when Daddy lost his job in ’30, perhaps things would be different, but one cannot go back in time. So we choose to move forward and look for the blessings.
Addie smiled. So many times she’d heard Mother say, “Look for the blessings, Addie.” Mother believed the promise in Romans 8:28 that all things—even the hard things of life—worked for the good of the believer. Mother was the most steadfast believer Addie knew. She’d taught Addie to pray and instilled in her the habit of reading from God’s Word at the start of the day. Maybe when Addie grew up all the way, she would be as strong in faith as her mother.
Her smile faded, though, when she reread, “If we’d more prudently used our reserve when Daddy lost his job in ’30…” During those two years, when the bank’s doors remained locked and Daddy was without a job, they had continued to pay for her ballet and piano lessons, allowed her sweets from the candy shop every Saturday, bought her new dresses each season. Had they not indulged her, would they have had the funds to save the house? Guilt nibbled at her, and she lifted the letter again.
Our biggest concern now is for you. Our room here at the boardinghouse is spacious enough to accommodate our bedroom furniture and our favorite chairs from the parlor, so we have a sitting area in which to relax. With photographs and a few favorite pieces of bric-a-brac surrounding us, we’ve made it a cheerful place, but it is only one room. If you were a little girl, we could tuck a cot in the corner for you; however, you’re far too grown up to share a room with your parents. The boardinghouse is full—we were fortunate to secure this room. My tears flow as I write, but I don’t know where you will stay when you return to Georgetown.
Daddy is searching for employment, and you know how determined he is. As soon as he is working and we’ve been able to save a little money, we will move into a house with a second bedroom for our sweet little ladybug. You haven’t been cast out forever. (Daddy says to assure you that the books from his study, all your belongings, and the furniture from your room are safely stored in the loft of Preacher Finley’s barn. We sold many items from the house, but Daddy adamantly refused to sell your beloved books or anything else of importance to you, and I agreed with him.)
An image formed in her head of her parents—gentle Mother, proud Daddy—carefully saving the things that mattered to her but selling their furniture and personal effects to strangers