Edenville Owls

Chapter 30

I was walking Joanie to her house. The Ford Tudor was nowhere in sight.

“Did you hear Miss Delaney say bastard?” Joanie asked.

“And he called her a bitch,” I said.

We walked past the school. Dark now and perfectly still.

“Do you think she had a knife?” Joanie said.

“That’s what it sounded like.”

Along Church Street, the lights were on in the windows of houses. People were safely inside reading, listening to the radio, playing bridge.

“You think she was married to Reverend Tupper?” Joanie asked.

“I guess so,” I said.

“She’s got a baby,” Joanie said.

“I know.”

“You think they’d fire her if they knew?” she said. “I mean, Mrs. Wood is married.”

“She’s the only one,” I said.

“Mr. Welch is married. He has a little kid.”

“That’s different,” I said. “He’s a man.”

“So?”

“So women when they get married have their husband to take care of them,” I said. “If they work after they’re married, it’s not fair. They’re taking the job from a guy who has to support a family.”

Joanie didn’t say anything for a time.

Then she said, “I guess so.”

“Besides,” I continued, “I never heard of a divorced teacher.”

“And,” Joanie said, “they could say she lied to them when they hired her.”

“Right.”

Joanie’s house was ahead.

“Let’s walk a little more,” I said.

“Yes.”

We turned and walked along Water Street. The smell of the harbor was strong and cold. Ice had started to crust around the edges of the eel pond.

“It’s not exactly right that a father can’t see his son,” I said.

“Would you want Reverend Weirdo for a father?” Joanie asked.

“No.”

“He threatened her at the end,” Joanie said.

“I know.”

“And he hit her at least twice.”

“I know.”

“I wonder what she knows about him,” Joanie said.

“She knows his real name.”

“I wonder why she ever married him,” Joanie said.

I shook my head.

“I hated hearing her cry,” Joanie said.

“Yes,” I said. “Me too.”

“How are we going to stop him?” Joanie asked. “Make him leave her alone?”

“I don’t know,” I answered. “We need to figure it out.”