Five Smooth Stones (145 page)

"Not forever, Sara. It's not the evil and grief that's forever. Try—"

She had gone away again, and he could see only the small, fine-featured profile on the pillow, but this was not sedation; there were no signs of sedation in eyes or voice.

"Sara."

When she faced him again her eyes were closed; there was no flicker of the lids. "Chuck."

"Yes, Sara. I'm here."

"Chuck. You were at Gramp's funeral."

He checked the start of surprise. "Yes."

"You remember it? All of it?"

"Most of it, my dear."

Her eyes opened, looked into his directly, burning his with their intensity.

"I've been trying to think." Her fingers tightened on his. "To remember. The minister said something, Chuck, that upset David." She spoke the name firmly, as though only by firmness could the pain of it be vanquished. "It was a quotation from the Bible, from the Old Testament. Do you remember, Chuck? Do you? I know it—but—but not just right—"

"I think I know, Sara." He waited a moment, steadying himself. "It was from Samuel: 'And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep.'"

Sara lay quietly, her eyes distant. The hungry wail from the baby sounded loud in the room.

"Yes," Sara whispered. "Yes. "There remaineth yet the youngest. And he keepeth the sheep.' That was David, Chuck—"

The wail grew stronger, and her eyes sought the crib where David Champlin lay, waking noisily. "David—"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ann Fairbairn was born in Cambridge, Mass. but spent several of her childhood years in the deep South. She has worked as a newspaper reporter and feature director of a television station. For more than ten years she handled the tours of George Lewis, the New Orleans clarinetist, and his band throughout the United States, Great Britain and Europe. Her first book, a biography of Lewis entitled
Call Him George,
was published in London in 1962. Miss Fairbairn, a widow with no children, now lives in the Monterey Peninsula in California.