September 23
Rose Residence
Patty helped her do the chores around the house after breakfast, washing the few dishes they’d used and running a bath for the laundry, including Patty’s dirty outfit. She’d wanted to start looking into getting a lawyer as soon as possible, but Patty needed something to wear other than Franny’s nightgown. It was late morning when there was a knock on the door and then a visitor announced their presence as they walked inside.
They both jerked their hands away from the tub and she twisted as she recognized the voice. “It’s Ms. Boykins again.”
“Don’t let her make me go to the bad man.” Patty’s bright blue eyes were round as saucers as she looked up at her.
“She wouldn’t,” Franny shook her head but she still didn’t know if she should introduce the pair of them. Ms. Boykins was under the impression that Franny was having a nervous breakdown, she’d freak out if she realized she was hiding a missing child here instead of taking her back to the police. “Don’t let her see you, stay in my room, I’ll get her to leave.”
Patty nodded fast and quick and scrambled while Franny peeked out of the bathroom and then waved her across the hall. She headed towards the front room with haste as she called out her name, “Franny? Where are you? Are you still in bed?”
“I’m here,” she slackened her pace, “I’m awake.”
Ms. Boykins turned with a smile but her brow furrowed as her gaze swept from head to toe, “You do look a mite better today. Are you feeling okay, Franny?”
“I slept well,” she said.
She scrutinized her more before she slid her coat off her shoulders, “There’s something else…” Could she see through Franny so well? Did she know Patty was here somehow? “It seems someone busted up your fence, Franny.”
“What?” She frowned and headed for the front door, past Ms. Boykins. She twisted the doorknob and yanked it open, staring out at the wooden fence that had been in perfect condition this morning. “What on earth or heaven?” She gasped as she stared out at it. There were several bricks in the yard, too, as though some neighborhood kids had thrown them at the wood hard enough to break it.
She felt a small hand on her shoulder, “Billy and I saw it a short bit ago, I sent him to town to collect some wood to fix it. He’s skipping work today.”
“Ms. Boykins, you didn’t have to,” she was still staring at the splintered wood.
“No, no, it’s fine. You’re family to us. We care about you.”
“Why would someone…” she eased outside at an unsteady pace, taking in the damages. She must’ve missed out on hearing it because she was in the bathroom using the washboard, chatting lightly with Patty.
“It’s not right.” She reached up and grabbed a hold of a small cross necklace around her neck. “It’s not Christianly at all.”
She sighed heavily and sat back on her heels, “Probably just kids.” She hadn’t told Ms. Boykins about her ordeal on the street with some of the town women and Joey Landing, though rumors had certainly been spreading. She was starting to understand more by the hour that, not only did the town think she was crazy and Jordy was guilty, but that she and Patty were unfortunate bystanders in a gang crime.
Pritchet had made it clear, if she kept talking, she was going to become a target. And little Patty…manipulating a child into a false report was just awful. Trying not to show her consternation, she turned back to Ms. Boykins, “It’s fine. This is fine. Everything is going to be all right. We’ll just get this fixed up and it’ll be like it never happened.”
YOU ARE READING
Shattered Roses
Historical Fiction[Complete] Ever since the second world war ended, Franny has been lost. She returned to a broken home and left behind her career as a nurse to take care of her wayward brother. When his dealings with a small-town mafia land them both in the middle o...
