Sophie's Heart (28 page)

He told himself that he was not acting logically, but he moved after her when class was over and caught her in the hall.

“Hello, Sophie.”

“Hello, Mr. Marshall.”

“Brad—please call me Brad. How are you?”

“I am well. I drive now,” Sophie told him, glad that she must have imagined his reserved behavior the week before.

“Great. Have you been out much?”

“No, not really at all.”

“Well, you’ll have to get some time in. What service do you attend, Sophie?” Brad asked, trying to sound casual, and all the while hoping with all his heart that she would agree to sit with him in church.

“Today I came to early.”

“Do you always come to the early service?” He rarely did, and worked at hiding his great disappointment.

“It depends on my ride, or if I walk.”

“You sometimes walk to church?” His heart was pounding again, since this would explain the pants he had seen her wear.

“I have, but is cold now, so I have ride.”

“Good, good,” he said absently and wondered how to move the subject along. He shifted his gaze to the floor so he could think and finally said, “Will you have dinner with me Friday night?”

Sophie blinked. She had assumed he was married.

“Out to dinner, on date?”

“Yes. I mean, if you’re free.” He finally looked at her.

Sophie thought a minute.
It might be very nice
, she concluded.

“I would like that. What time shall I come?”

Brad’s smile nearly stretched off his face. “I’ll come for you at 7:00. Is that all right?”

“Is fine. I will be ready.”

“Great. Well, I best get upstairs and find a seat. I’ll see you Friday night.”

“Good-bye,” Sophie said and watched him walk away. She was fairly sure she had done the right thing. Only Friday night would tell.

“Sophie! Where did you get that blouse?” Rita asked the moment she saw Sophie on Monday morning.

“Do you like it?”

“Yeah.”

Sophie smiled. She had been playing with her new clothes since Friday and decided to come to work in her new jeans and a dark purple cotton blouse Gladys had given her.

“The color is wonderful on you, and you look so—” Rita cut off, hand to her mouth, looking horrified.

Sophie said gently, “You can say, Rita, whatever it is.”

“I was just going to say that you look so American,” she admitted softly, “but I thought that might be offensive.”

“I like looking American.”

The playfully smug expression on Sophie’s face was so cute that Rita laughed. Tory’s reaction was just as satisfying, only she noticed Sophie’s shoes.

“I didn’t know you had cool tennis shoes, Sophie.”

“Friend gave them to me,” Sophie told her. “Blouse, too.”

“You look great!”

Sophie beamed. “I look American.”

This brought the same laughter from Tory, and then it was time to rush since the kids had all come to breakfast a little late. But it was still a great start to the day. It got even better when Sophie saw that Mr. Riley had left the Sunday paper for her from the day before. She had read some of it at Gladys’ house after church, but she now sat down and finished. When she was done, she took time to pray for her grandmother. Never had God asked for her trust in this way. Not knowing was the most painful thing of all.

Craig needed shoes. The ones on his feet were in horrid shape as well as too small. He didn’t need them for basketball since he had decided not to join the team, but Alec had said he needed shoes, anyway. When Tory learned of it, she climbed on the bandwagon as well. Suddenly her Sunday shoes were in horrible shape and pinching her toes. This was the very reason that, on the last day of November, the Rileys were headed in their van out of Middleton to the small town of Black Earth in search of shoes. Sophie had taken the van out once, but today Rita was driving with Tory and Sophie in the back. Craig had taken the front seat, and he looked rather excited about new shoes.

“You know what you want, Craig?” Sophie asked.

“Yeah, but I have a price limit, so I may not get those. The Shoe Box has good prices, but the best athletic shoes are always high.”

“And you, Tory—you have shoes in your head?”

“Not really. I just need something in black. I can’t spend as much as Craig because I have a lot of other shoes.”

“How about you, Rita?”

“Mine are in such good shape that I would have to spend my own money.” She chuckled softly. “What I have in the closet at home doesn’t look bad at all.”

Sophie understood the joke and laughed as well. The shoe store was quite large for a small town and right off the main highway, so they were parking almost before Sophie had time to see they had arrived. They moved into the store as a group but were swiftly separated. Sophie and Tory stayed together, but both Craig and Rita went off on their own.

Tory led Sophie into the bargain room at the back and began to look through boxes. She found one pair that fit, but they weren’t quite what she had in mind. However, the girl tucked them under her arm as she continued to look. When it seemed that she could find no others she tried them on again.

“How are they, my Tory?”

“I think they’re all right, but Dad said not to buy something I didn’t
really
like, so I’m still not sure.”

“Should we look out front?”

Sophie was referring to leaving the bargain room. Tory agreed but kept the shoes with her, telling Sophie she had to watch the price. Sophie realized for the first time that Mr. Riley and his wife had done a fine job of making their children aware of the costs of living. She wondered whether this might be a rare thing in this day and age, and counted this as an added blessing to working for this family.

When Tory and Sophie moved from the back room, they found Craig with new shoes on his feet. A salesman was talking to him, and Craig was moving around as he studied his feet before going to look at the new shoes in the mirror. Sophie heard Rita say something about getting black shoes because white get so dirty, and then Tory was pulling her toward the girls’ dress shoes. She found the perfect pair, but they were over twice what she could spend.

“Maybe they will go to sale, Tory.”

“I don’t know. I mean, I can wear my good white tennis shoes with two of my dresses, and I know I can’t spend this much.”

“How about these?” Sophie referred to the pair from the bargain room.

“I don’t know. The red doesn’t really match my clothes.”

Sophie smiled tenderly at her. “You are so grown up, Tory. I am proud of you.”

The little girl beamed and then marched back into the bargain room to replace the shoes. She explained to Sophie when she came out.

“I’m going to shop some more and talk with my dad. I think I’d feel better about that.”

“Well, be sure to look at everything,” Sophie gestured to the dozens of shoes on the shelves. “Then you can tell him all you saw.”

Tory did as she was told, and Sophie moved toward the older children. To her great surprise, Craig spoke to her as soon as she neared.

“What do you think?”

“They look good, Craig. How are they feeling?”

“Good. They’re a little big, but after the others, I wanted extra room.”

Things moved swiftly after that, and soon the four of them were standing at the checkout counter. There was a couple ahead of them, and they waited patiently for their turn at the cash register. Sophie was still looking around her when she caught some of the conversation from the couple ahead. The clerk was looking very flustered because the couple did not speak English. Without thinking, Sophie stepped forward and spoke to the man and woman in flawless German.

“May I help?”

The woman looked so relieved that she sagged a little. The man began to explain in his native tongue, and Sophie never missed a beat.

“We are visiting and the woman we’re staying with, who translates for us, is sick. We go home tomorrow, and we need to exchange these shoes,” he pointed to one box, “for these.”

Sophie nodded and swiftly related the situation to the cashier. That woman asked a few questions that Sophie translated and just minutes later the transaction was completed. The cashier thanked her, and Sophie moved off with the couple. They stood by the door talking in rapid German until the Riley children paid for Craig’s shoes and joined her. Seeing them, Sophie said her good-byes and the couple thanked her for the fifth time.

No one in the Riley family spoke until they were in the car. Tory then asked, “Is that the language you speak in Czechoslovakia, Sophie?”

“No, Tory,” Sophie answered her quietly. “That was German.”

Craig, who had thought the same thing as Tory, turned in his seat to look at Sophie for a moment. Rita, who had understood what was happening from the first word, was utterly speechless. No one mentioned it on the way home or during supper preparation. They would have asked Sophie at the dinner table, but their father came home. They didn’t see Sophie again that night.

Friday morning dawned and Sophie was awake earlier than usual. Her first thought was of her date with Brad that night, and again she wondered if she had done the right thing. Brad hadn’t said where they were going, so Sophie decided to wear a skirt, but not anything too fancy. She thought maybe panty hose would be best, but not high heels. Then she laughed.

I have become a monster, Lord. First I give no thought to my clothes, and then I wake with clothes on my mind and not You. Help me to be balanced, Lord. Help me to be wise.
It was just what she needed to start the day on the right foot. With a song of praise in her heart, she headed for the bathroom and a long, hot shower.

The kids were right on time that morning, and Sophie had bran muffins for them, but the breakfast table was unusually quiet. Sophie suspected the reason, but did not offer to help. Finally, Rita spoke up.

“I’m sorry that I treated you like I did, Sophie, when you offered to help me with my German homework.”

“Is all right, Rita.” The older woman’s voice was kind. “You could not know.”

“You sounded just like my German teacher, Sophie. I mean, your German is perfect.”

Sophie smiled at the compliment.

“Is it close to Czech?” Craig now asked. “Is that how you know?”

“Not exactly, Craig. You see, I worked with languages in Czechoslovakia. This is how I know.”

“What does that mean, Sophie?” Tory now put in.

“I think I told you I worked for government.” Tory nodded, and Sophie went on. “Well, I worked as translator. Do you see?”

“No,” the little girl said honestly.

“Well, I would work on official papers that arrived in other languages, or escort visiting officials. Translators can have many jobs. Sometimes I traveled.”

“So you worked with the German and English-speaking visitors?” Rita was clearly fascinated.

“Not English, Rita. English is not fluent for me.”

“Oh.” Rita saw now that this would be true.

“Just German,” Craig told his sister, but Sophie corrected him. The children were going to be late for school, but it was time they knew about this.

“I speak German, Italian, Russian, and Polish,” she informed them softly and wanted to laugh at the looks on their faces.