In the Shadows

crook of his elbow. “I’ll make certain Mr. Clemens follows

the order to the letter. He hates vacationers, but he’s always liked

Mother very much. We’ll get exactly what Charles needs.”

“Thank you,” Thomas said, reaching up to adjust his hat, then

his tie, then his collar. Cora felt a flush of something that felt sus-

piciously like pride. She had the power to fluster him with such a

simple action as her hand on his arm!

They walked like that to the town. The cool, dim interior of

the chemist’s shop was welcome after the heat of the afternoon.

She gave Mr. Clemens the instructions, and they watched as

he pulled out powders and liquids, muttering to himself as he

mixed several packets and a couple of glass vials. In a few minutes

he had everything together and helped Cora pack it all carefully

into her basket.

“How sick is he?” he asked, looking up through his bushy gray

eyebrows at Thomas.

Thomas cleared his throat, avoiding Cora’s concerned gaze.

“Getting better every day.”

“Hmm.” Mr. Clemens scowled doubtfully, then calculated the

cost and counted out Thomas’s change.

Cora fretted over the shift in Thomas’s demeanor. She knew

Charles was sick — very sick — and Mr. Clemens’s tone made her

think that it was not a sickness to be recovered from. They would

do all they could for him, but right now Cora worried more about

the older brother. It was not easy to be sick, surely, but it was also

not easy to be powerless to help those you loved.

“Does he need any of this right now?” she asked. “Because if it

can wait, I have been meaning to visit Miss Smith’s candy shop.

I can never go with Minnie because she spends all our pocket

change, but the candy dishes at the boardinghouse are getting low.