“You heard what I said, Cody. Now leave that thing alone. You can come back after you empty the drip pan.”
Cody grumbled, but got to his feet. He had the same auburn hair and gray-green eyes as Lanie, and there was a liveliness about him. He hurried down the hall, and by the time Lanie got to the kitchen, he had dragged out the drip pan and succeeded in spilling a widening pool of water on the floor.
“You’re making a mess, Cody!”
“Well, dang it, I can’t help it if the dumb ol’ thing’s full!”
“If you’d empty it when you’re supposed to, it wouldn’t get full.
Now get it out of here.”
“I’m gonna invent something that’ll drain this dadgummed ol’ icebox so nobody’ll have to carry the dumb water out!”
“Well, until you do, just take it out—and stop calling everything dumb.”
Lanie held the screen door open for Cody, who walked out with the pan, leaving a trail of water behind him. After checking the firebox, Lanie nodded with satisfaction. The rich pine had caught, and the fire was blazing. Straightening, she turned the damper down a little more to lessen the air intake. She had become an expert in building fires in the wood stove and rather liked it.
Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was almost three. She went to her parents’ bedroom, where her mother was sitting in a rocker beside an open window, crocheting.
Elizabeth Ann Freeman was thirty-six. Her body was swollen with the child she was expecting, but she had retained much of her early beauty. Her children received most of their looks from her, especially the auburn hair and gray eyes. She had a beautifully shaped face with a short English nose and a slight cleft in her chin.
“Mama, I need to know how to fix fried pies.”
She looked up at her daughter. “Fried pies? Don’t you know how to do that?”
“I’ve watched you, Mama, but I never learned how.”
“Well, set down here, and I’ll tell you.”
Lanie sat down on the bed and listened intently as her mother explained the process. She did not write anything down, for she had a phenomenal memory. Lanie noticed how tired her mother looked. Having this baby would be difficult, Lanie knew, for her mother had not borne a child for eleven years. There was a strain about her eyes, and Dr. Givens had left medicine for her. He had also left instructions that Elizabeth was to do no physical work, but should stay in bed as much as possible. Lanie had taken over the housework, with her siblings doing what they could.
“Well, that doesn’t sound hard, Mama. I can do it.”
Elizabeth smiled. “I know you can, honey. Now tell me about the contest at school. How are you doing?”
Lanie shrugged and made a face. “Oh, I don’t know. I’m doing the best I can, but it’s gonna be real hard. There are lots of smart kids.”
The William McKinley High School had launched a contest to reward the students with the best grades. There were other criteria, too, but grades would count most heavily. The winner in each class would receive a hundred dollars. The grand prize for the overall school winner was two hundred dollars and a silver cup, just like the athletic teams received. Being only a freshman, Lanie did not expect to win the big prize, but her grades had been outstanding in elementary school, and her mother encouraged her to throw herself into the work.
Lanie felt insecure about her abilities. “I might have a chance to win the freshman award, but Roger Langley will win the grand prize.” Roger Langley was the son of Otis Langley, the richest man in Fairhope. He was also the idol of every girl in high school—tall, fine-looking, and as good an athlete as he was a student. “I . . . I don’t think I can do it, Mama.”
“Of course you can! You can do anything you want to, Lanie.”
A flush touched Lanie’s cheeks. “I can if you help me, Mama.” She laughed. “It helps to have a schoolteacher for a mother.”
“I haven’t taught in a long time, but you and I can do it together.”
“I’ll do the best I can, Mama. Now I’m going to make Daddy’s favorite supper—fried chicken, thickening gravy, fried okra, and fried fruit pies.”
“He’ll love it!”
Lanie went back to the kitchen and glanced at the clock. She turned on the radio, which was on the table beside the icebox. Her favorite program, Lum & Abner,