Keep Me Safe

Chapter Six

Sundays were the only days when Agnes slept in. There was never anything interesting to do early in the morning because everyone was at church. Since she, much to the entire town's disapproval, would raise hell any time someone tried to force her to attend, she had nothing to do but catch up on sleep.

She was doing exactly that when she was abruptly awoken by a feather duster to the face.

Agnes let out a startled scream and bolted upright at the feeling of the feathers being whacked against her skin. Her arms flailed out and she narrowly missed hitting Franny.

"What the hell was that for?" she gasped, her hand pressed against her chest. Sitting up so quickly had given her an instant headache, and she had to lay back down in order to not pass out.

"Get up, child. You're helping me this morning."

Agnes groaned and draped her arm across her eyes. "But why? I'm trying to sleep."

"If you were so concerned about sleep, you wouldn't have been eavesdropping last night."

She peeked out from underneath her elbow as the previous night's events came rushing back to her. "What's going on with Lottie?"

"It's not my place to say." The old woman resumed her dusting.

The causality in Franny's voice piqued Agnes' interest and she immediately sat up, ignoring the headache that resulted. "She killed someone, didn't she?" It wasn't so much of a question as a simple fact that needed to be confirmed.

"You heard what they said."

"Franny, come on!" Agnes pleaded. "Can't you tell me anything? Why is Lottie really here? I know she's not Floyd's fiance. Is she hiding here because she killed someone? Is that it? Is someone trying to find her?"

Instead of answering, Franny turned so that her blind eye was facing Agnes and continued cleaning. That signaled that the conversation was over, and no amount of begging would change her mind.

Agnes watched her in silence for a few more minutes, waiting impatiently for her to finish. The thing about Franny was that she moved at her own pace; she wasn't a fast worker, but she moved at a consistent pace.

When she was done tidying up, Franny gestured for Agnes to follow her.

Agnes protested loudly, but knew better than to disobey. She grabbed a pair of overalls that were draped over a chair and slid them on over the over-sized shirt she was using as a nightgown.

"What do you need my help with?"

"We need to make food for the party this afternoon."

Agnes raised her eyebrows. "Party?"

"For Floyd, to welcome him back home. Since everyone else is at church, you're going to be forced to help me."

"That's stupid," she grumbled. "He isn't even done with school; he's just on break. He doesn't need a celebration."

"Your mama asked me to come over early to start cooking. I'm just doing what she told me to do."

Franny held open the back door for them and they made the short trek to the kitchen. A wasp greeted them as they stepped inside, buzzing around their heads for a few seconds before flying off.

"Why do we have to do this so early?" Agnes yawned. She pulled a dirty strip of ribbon out of her pocket and tied back her disheveled hair.

"It's eight in the morning."

"Exactly. Normally I sleep in until noon."

"Quit whining. You're on squirrel duty." She pointed to the small pile of dead animals stacked in the corner by the fireplace.