Sarah's Orphans (28 page)

She was sniffling into his shirt, making a mess of it, and he didn't care one bit.

“I never expected to have a family, not like this.”

“Oh, you didn't? No hidden beaus I should know about?”

She laughed and hiccupped at the same time. Then her voice grew somber so that he had to lean his head down close to hers to make out her words.

“When I first saw them, I felt sorry for them. Then after they were in my home, I was sure that it was my duty to help them. But now?” She raised her eyes to his, and Paul knew in that moment that he would never be able to resist loving her. He understood that he already did.

“Now, it feels as if my heart is walking around outside my body. As if I would do anything to be in their place, and have them here—safely at home.”

He smiled, kissed her softly, and said, “You know what you sound like?”

She shook her head, but she didn't pull away from his embrace.

“You sound like a
mamm
.”

CHAPTER 51

W
hen they left the café, they drove away from the casino. That should have made Mateo feel better, but it didn't. His mother was drinking steadily from the new bottle. Even Orlynn noticed. “Take it easy, honey. You won't do me any good passed out in the car.”

His
mamá
laughed as if Orlynn had just told the best joke ever. Orlynn glanced in the rearview mirror and winked at Mateo. There was much of his childhood Mateo didn't remember, and there were a few special moments that stood out as happy times. But the bulk of his memories were of nights just like this. When his
mamá
had a plan to make a better life for them. Always a man was involved, and always it ended with
Mamá
, Mia, and Mateo standing on the side of the road watching someone's taillights as they drove away.

Orlynn turned left and then right into a large downtown area—the signs said
Tulsa
. Then they wound their way through a maze of lights, streets, and junky-looking stores. Mateo was sure he would never be able to find his way out. Finally, Orlynn pulled up in front of a small house with no yard at all and several cars parked haphazardly.

His
mamá
nearly fell out of the car when she opened the door. That produced another round of laughter. She shut the door, walked toward the house, and then stopped as if she'd suddenly remembered something. She stumbled back to the car, tapped on the window beside Mia, and pointed her finger at Mateo.

“Stay here and watch your sister. This won't take long.”

He thought about running then, but the neighborhood they were in was not a good one. Two kids walking down the road would be noticed in a minute, but he wasn't sure he could count on anyone to help them. A lot of the houses they had passed actually had bars on the windows. Why would someone want bars on their windows?

Mia began to whimper. “I'm cold, Mateo.”

Oh, how he wished he had worn his jacket to school that day.
Mammi
had told him to, but he'd laughed and said he didn't need it. If he had it now, he could put it around his sister. But he didn't have it. He closed his eyes, thought of
Mammi
lacing her fingers together and saying,
Maybe there haven't been a lot of adults in your life that you could count on, but you can trust me.

He brushed the tears away, grateful for the darkness and glad Mia couldn't see. She'd crawled into the circle of his arm.

He couldn't trust his mother, but he could trust
Mammi
. He could trust all of Sarah's family, and the bishop and Paul too. They were all people who cared about them. What he had to do was find a way back home.

“Tell me a story, Mateo.”

“A story, huh?” He stared out the car window. The words found their way out of his heart slowly—about planting seeds in the ground, watching the corn grow tall, spying rabbits on an early summer morning.

By the time his
mamá
came out of the house, looking cleaner and more sober and wearing different clothes, Mia was asleep.

And Mateo? He had figured out exactly what they were going to do.

They drove back the way they had come, past the houses with bars on the windows, through the downtown streets, and onto the freeway. After twenty minutes—Mateo was now watching the clock on the radio—Orlynn exited the freeway. Mateo looked out his window and saw the diner they'd eaten at earlier. They passed it and drove slowly around the tall building next door.

Orlynn circled the casino three times before he settled on a parking space as far away from the bright lights as he could get.

“Won't be any cameras out here. The last thing we need is to get in trouble for leaving your kids in the car.”

“They're my kids, and what's wrong with leaving them in a car? They're dry and they're safe. Aren't you, baby?”

Mateo nodded. Mia snored softly.

His mother opened the car door and stood up. She was definitely more sober now. She managed to stand on bright red high heel shoes. Adjusting the silky black top over her sparkly blue jeans, she paused to check her lipstick in the reflection of the glass. Then she leaned into the car and said, “Back in a flash, kids.”

She slammed the door and walked away, Orlynn's arm around her shoulders.

CHAPTER 52

M
ateo forced himself to count to a hundred once, then again, and finally a third time. He knew his mother. More often than not, she forgot something and came back. He couldn't risk that she might catch them as they tried to run away.

Mia was curled up against his side. The late hour and the motion of the car had lured her to sleep. He was thankful that she hadn't seen their mother walk away. Perhaps this would all seem like a dream to her once they were back at Sarah's—and he didn't doubt for a minute that they would find a way back.

The bishop had told him that everyone, in every situation, had something to be grateful for. The bishop said that God was always on their side and always looking out for them. Mateo didn't understand why their mother couldn't be normal, but he did believe the bishop. After all, Sarah had found them, and she had taken them into her home and loved them.

He was grateful for that even as he huddled in the back of Orlynn's car with the rain tapping against the windows. He started over at one, counting to a hundred one last time and thinking about all the other things they had to be thankful for.

Sarah was probably looking for them right this minute.

Next week, he and Isaac would design the rows of vegetables and flowers for the spring garden.

Brian had recently asked him to look after a new kid in their school who was one year younger.

Paul was going to have pigs that he and Isaac would help with.

It was his responsibility to help look after the new chickens.

Mia was learning how to cook—to stir things and pat out biscuits and decorate cookies.

Mateo thought of all the wonderful things in their life, and he vowed that they would not give them up now. When he'd finished with his counting, he nudged Mia awake. She squirmed and moaned and finally sat up and rubbed at her eyes.

“I need the bathroom.” She didn't seem to realize they were in a car.

“Okay. But you have to wake up. We have to walk a little ways.”

The light rain had turned into a steady downpour. Mateo found the prayer
kapp
that Mia had been wearing, the one that his mother had thrown onto the floorboard. He brushed it off and placed it back on her head. She smiled, and said, “All ready.”

“Yup. We're all ready.”

Her good mood didn't last long.

“Bathroom, Mateo.”

“I know. We're almost there.”

“Bathroom
now
.”

“In a minute, Mia.”

In truth, he wasn't sure exactly where they were going. He didn't want to head back to the diner. He couldn't go into the casino. But there were other businesses out toward the road. He led her down the edge of the parking lot, walking as fast as she could. The first place they stopped at, a Starbucks, was closed. He peered in the window at the small tables and chairs and displays full of wrapped baked goods. But no one was there. The place was closed up tight.

Mia began hopping from foot to foot. “I need to go.”

“Okay.”

“Now!”

“Don't worry. We'll find something.”

Next door was a nail salon and after that an auto parts store. Both were closed.

Mateo could see the lights of a large gas station, but it was farther down the road. The rain continued, and they were both soaked to the skin. Mia seemed to have forgotten about going to the bathroom. She had also started to cry.

They made it out to the main road. No one was following them, but cars were whizzing by, splashing water in their wake. At one point, Mia sat down on the curb and refused to go any farther.

He squatted in front of her.

“We have to keep going, Mia.”

“I'm tired.”

“I know you are. See those lights over there?”

She squinted past him and nodded her head.

“We need to get over there, and then we're going to call Sarah.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Okay.”

When she stood up, he noticed a puddle under where she'd sat. “It's okay, Mia.
Mammi
will clean you up.”

Her mood seemed to improve, and they made quick time to the gas station. They were nearly to the door when Mateo saw a white car drive up. He pulled her into the shadow of a vending machine, but it was only an old man stopping to fill up his car.

A small bell rang when they pushed into the store.

Behind the counter was a Hispanic man with long hair and an earring in one ear. He peered down at them. “
Cómo estás, amigos
?”

“We're okay, but we need to make a phone call.”

“Did you drive here?” The man—his name tag said
Javier
—was smiling at them. “Bet your driver's license is pretty new because you're kind of
poquito
.”

Mateo shook his head.

The man's teasing smile turned to a frown as he glanced past him. “Are you two alone?”

“Yes.”

“I'm tired,” Mia declared.

“No parents or anything?”

“We need to call someone.”

A woman waiting at the cash register cleared her throat impatiently. Javier glanced her way, and then he said to Mateo, “Hang on just a second. Don't go anywhere.”

He rang up the woman's purchases and gave her some change. Glancing again at the children, he pulled out his phone and checked something on the small screen.

“What's going on?” This from a young black woman who was working the other register.

Javier showed her his phone.

“You think that's them?”

“It is. It has to be.”

“We'd better call someone, then.”

They both glanced at Mateo. He didn't know what was on the phone, what they could be looking at, but he knew who they should call.

“Sarah Yoder is our foster mom. She lives in Cody's Creek, and she'll come to get us.”

CHAPTER 53

B
ishop Levi had come by and prayed with them. He'd wanted to stay, but Paul insisted they would be fine. “Perhaps tomorrow, if—”

He didn't dare to voice the rest of that thought.

Levi had run his fingers through his beard, nodded, and made them promise to send someone if they needed anything at all.

Sheriff Bynum occasionally left the room to make a call or check something on his phone. He had apparently gone off shift, but he refused to leave them. “The first twenty-four hours are the most important.”

The minutes ticked slowly by, the hands on the clock relentlessly ushering in another day. Rain splattered against the roof. No one spoke. There was nothing left to say. It was only a matter of waiting together, of being there to support one another whatever happened.

Sarah was sitting across from Sheriff Bynum when his phone vibrated. She could tell by the look on his face that it was about the children.

He jumped to his feet, listened for a moment, and then began firing questions. “Where? You're sure it's Mateo and Mia? No signs of injury?”

Sarah's throat closed on that last question. She hadn't allowed herself to think about what might have happened to them while they were gone. But as fast as the dreadful thought appeared, it fled. Bynum was smiling and nodding his head.

“Get an officer to the site and don't let the clerk go off duty. We'll want to ask him some questions.”