The smell of fresh-baked apple pie was in the air as they pulled into the drive at Grandma Klein's. The car barely came to a stop before the kids started fighting their way to be the first out of the car and the first to sink their teeth into grandma's famously delicious apple pie.
"Hold it!" Daddy Joe roared. The effect of his words had the kids frozen in the oddest positions. "If anyone should ask what happened to Rita; which, mark my words, someone will, it will be said..." He hesitated, as his devious little mind went to work thinking up a reasonable explanation. "She went and helped the widow Brown round up some cows that got loose from the pasture." Satisfied with what he had come up with, he looked hard at each one of the kids until he was certain his words had sunk in. As soon as he turned around they started fighting their way out again. Billy, as usual, was the first to get out and run to the security of Grandma Klein's embrace.
"Happy Birthday, young man; my goodness Billy, how you have grown!" Grandma crooned as she hugged him heartily then scooted him across the porch, through the opened screen door and into the kitchen. Finishing with Billy, Grandma turned to greet the next of the kids, which happened to be Rita.
"Happy Birth— my Lord child, what on earth happened to you?" Grandma asked, concern softening her normally hard-lined face. "Land sakes, Maggie, what happened to Rita?" she scolded, staring hard into Mama's eyes. Maggie was Papa's nickname for Mama when they first met, and that is how she was introduced to his parents.
"It's not as bad as it looks, Grandma," Rita said easily, coming to her mother's rescue. "The Widow Brown's arthritis has been acting up again so I offered to help with the chores. As my luck would have it, some cows got loose from the pasture and I had to help chase 'em back."
Absentmindedly, Grandma started rubbing her wrist, as if her own arthritis might take a turn for the worse by the mere mention of it. She accepted the girl's explanation reluctantly and then hugged her warmly, yet with a little reserve. Grandma Klein was a very clean woman who hated dirt and grime and Rita was covered with it. The aroma Grandma carried about her was tantalizing indeed, a mixture of apple pie and homemade bread. It was so heavenly that Rita wished she could stay there wrapped in her grandma's arms forever. However, the thought of the apple pie made her mouth water so she wiggled herself free and followed the route Billy had taken to the kitchen. But, Grandma would not let her go just yet, and asked her about school, and if there were any boys who caught her fancy. Rita blushed, "Grandma!" She smiled wide. "School's good. Wrote a paper comparing the Movie version of To Kill a Mockingbird to the book and got an A."
Grandma Klein's eyes sparkled with pride at that, and Rita was patted on the head and led toward the kitchen door. Once inside, She wasn't surprised to find the room empty, the only sign Billy had ever been there was his pie plate with nothing but a few crumbs on it.
Rita sat down and watched the steam roll off the pie as she cut herself a sliver. She took a bite and savored the warm wonderful taste of it as the rest of the family filed in.
"Rita, you should be ashamed of yourself!" Grandma wailed. "Go wash your hands, child."
Rita looked down at her hands and felt so ashamed, because they were filthy. A healthy appetite guided by hunger had a way of taking precedence over manners. Still, Rita felt the heat rise to her face from embarrassment. She excused herself from the table and headed straight for the bathroom, only to find Billy locked in it. She tapped lightly on the door.
"Who's there?" Billy said.
"It's me. I need to wash my hands. You done, or what?"
Slowly, the door swung open enough for her to enter the spacious bathroom. Of all the rooms in the house, this was Rita's favorite. As she shut the door and locked it behind her, Billy whispered excitedly, "Guess what I got?" He bent down and lifted his pant leg to reveal a large knife taped to his ankle. "I betcha this was Papa's hunting knife!"
