OCR Text |
Show (c6j "He always had so much to do - so many depending on him. But lots of them were s t r a n g e r s , Mama. That's what made me angry. While I sat in my bedroom, trying to sort out my life, he was s i t t i n g in here t e l l i n g ' a b s o l u t e strangers what juiil mif•-nn~r~1nr-h,iTy -i 'In Mi they should do with t h e i r wayward children - what irony!" My mother cleared her t h r o a t . She was flushed and now her head darted toward the door as though she feared someone might be l i s t e n i n g . "I don't l i k e to gossip, but I know for a fact that some of Rachel'Schildren have suffered t e r r i b ly from neglect - even though R aand .A have t r i e d to help raise them, even before t h e i r mother died. One of the boys says he wishes Brother Reardon was his father - or anyone, so long as i t could be someone who would take the time to get to know him." "Does Daddy know t h i s ?" She nodded. 'But he has so much to d o . . . i f the children don't come to him, they j u s t get l o s t in the shuffle." "Then w h y . . . . c a n ' t he see what's happening? Can't he see how his children need him?" My mother sighed deeply again, but the tension did not drain out of her. I could feel i t residing, crowding her soul from her body, a great residue of feeling that no burning could reduce to ash. "I didn't know t h a t t h i s could happen in the Principle. 1 was always glad to have the other g i r l s . I welcomed them into the family. WhenSarahcame with us, I couldn't have been more flighted - she was l i k e a long-lost s i s t e r . And we actually T ir GeFd a'™- Pushed f o r L aX°n a t o come i n t o the family. All but K The |