Annie Oakley's Arc

Chapter 10 of 13

The ride back from the mining camp was slow. Annie kept one arm around Misty in the saddle and let Lainey lead. Misty didn't talk. She held the brim of her hat with both hands when the horse stepped down a slope. By the time the two cottages came into view, the sun was low and the vines on Annie's cottage looked black against the pale wall. Annie swung down first and lifted Misty after her. Misty's boots hit the path and she stopped. Her face went white under the hat. She bent forward and threw up into the flowers by the door. "Oh," Misty said. She stayed bent. "I didn't mean to." "It's alright." Annie crouched beside her and held her hat so it wouldn't fall. "I know that feeling. I get it too." "Am I sick like sick?" Misty's voice went small. "Am I gonna die?" "No. It's the kind that comes from being scared. It goes away." Annie wiped Misty's mouth with the edge of her own sleeve. "Come inside. I know what to do." She led Misty through the door. Someone, Lainey most likely, had moved a bigger bed into the front room while they were gone. The small daybed with the yellow throw sat pushed against the other wall, pillows stacked neat. Annie looked at both beds and decided fast. "That little one's yours," she said. "It's softer. I sleep in it when my stomach's bad, so I know." Misty climbed up and sat on the edge. Her legs didn't reach the floor. Annie went to the kitchen, dumped the kindling out of the tin pail, rinsed it, and set it on the floor beside the bed. "If your tummy comes up again, you use that. Don't try to make it to the door. Nobody's gonna be mad." Misty nodded. She pulled the yellow throw over her knees. "It still hurts." Annie sat on the floor so her face was level with Misty's. "Can I tell you what I do?" "Yeah." "When I'm scared and my stomach's bad from it, I talk to Jesus. Out loud, sometimes. Quiet, most times. He listens. Every time. And He looks out for me while I sleep, so I don't have to." Misty studied her hands. "I don't know the words." "There's no words. You just say what's true. You can say, I'm scared, my tummy hurts, please stay with me. That's enough." Misty closed her eyes. Her lips moved. Annie didn't lean in to hear. After a minute Misty lay down on her side, one hand on the rim of the pail, the other tucked under her cheek. "Will you be here?" Misty asked. "Right here." Misty's breathing slowed. The pail stayed empty. Annie stayed on the floor beside the small bed and watched the yellow throw rise and fall.