“This.” Victorine gave in once more to the impulse that had tempted her earlier and raised her hand. It was only later that she wondered if she should be troubled by the fact that Fedora hadn’t tried to dodge the blow.
•••
Roen and Lily were stupid with laughter as they entered the kitchen at the end of their workday. If anyone at the table had looked outside minutes earlier, they would have witnessed their parents throwing snowballs at each other and their mother getting the best of their da as he pitched forward into a drift. None of them saw it, though. Fedora held their attention. She didn’t know they were watching her because she wasat the stove with her back to them. They were uncommonly quiet, but each time she glanced over her shoulder to see what they were up to, they were always staring at their cards or trading them.
Roen was still chuckling as he helped Lily out of her coat. He shook it out, spraying snow toward the table. That should have elicited some laughter, some objections, but it did neither. He noticed that Lily had gone quiet as well. He hung up her outerwear and then removed his own.
“You ask,” he said, nodding toward the solemnly set faces at the table. “They’re not playing cards. They can’t be. No one’s arguing.”
“Fedora?” Lily said. “Who are these children, and where are ours?”
“I couldn’t say, ma’am.” Fedora kept slowly stirring the winter vegetable stew and didn’t turn away from the stove. “I’ve been wondering the same thing myself.”
Lily sought out her older son. “Clay?”
He shrugged and put down his cards. Everyone followed his lead. “Ask Lizzie. She’ll tell you.”
Lily looked sideways at Roen and saw her confusion mirrored there. “All right,” she said. “Lizzie? Clay says you’ll tell me.”
“Everyone asks Clay first, but this time it’s me that knows.”
“Just say it,” said Clay. “You told us as soon as we got home from school.”
At the stove, Fedora sucked in a breath.
Lizzie sat up straight. “This lady came and she slapped Miss Chen.” She held up two fingers. “Two times. Miss Chen didn’t cry, but I did. She said it didn’t hurt, but I think it did. I said she should lie down like you used to do and I would brush her hair. That made you better. I remember that.”
Lily felt as if her heart were being squeezed. Her memory was identical to her daughter’s. If she stopped too long to think about it, she would be able to feel the brush being pulled through her hair. Lizzie’s manner of healing was very real.
Lily studied Fedora’s ramrod spine, her stiff shoulders. “Fedora? Turn around, please.”
Fedora did as she was asked. There was no question of not complying. She kept her hands at her sides. She had notexamined herself in the mirror after Victorine left. Whatever evidence existed immediately after the blow would certainly not be in evidence now. She would not give herself away by trying to hide something that was no longer there.
Lily’s sharp intake of air told her how wrong she was. Now Fedora’s hand flew to her cheek.
Roen stepped forward and touched Hannah on the shoulder. “Get the ice bag. I assume we have one.” Hannah nodded, shoved away from the table, and was off. “Ham, get your coat on. When Hannah comes back, you take the bag and pack it with snow. Clay, your coat, too. You’re going to go to Dr. Madison’s and ask her to come here.” They jumped to their feet simultaneously and went to get their coats.
“What can I do?” Lizzie asked plaintively.
Roen scooped her up and hefted her against his chest, supporting her with one arm. “You’ve already done the most important job. You told your brothers and sister what happened, and then you told us.”
“No one said I shouldn’t this time.” She looked at her mother for confirmation.
“That’s right, Lizzie,” said Lily. “No one said you shouldn’t.”
Lizzie slid an arm around Roen’s neck. “That lady, she had a message for you.”
“She did?” Roen looked at Fedora questioningly but spoke to Lizzie. “What was it?”
“This.” She tapped Roen on the cheek with the flat of her hand. “Except hard. That was the second time she hit Miss Chen.”
“Is that right, Fedora?”
Fedora cast her eyes everywhere but at Roen and eventually nodded.
Hannah returned then with the ice bag. Ham took it and bolted out the door. Roen passed Lizzie to her sister and asked her to go to the front room. “Sit down, Fedora.”
“The soup will—”
