Heaven (Casteel 1)

did just the same. I dressed it in clothes that both Our

Jane and Keith had worn, maybe Fanny, Tom, and me

as well.

Sarah finally fell flat on her face on the soiled

bed, gripping the mattress in her clawing fingers,

crying as I'd never known her to cry before.

I didn't even notice Granny until I was finished

with the dead baby. Not until I looked at her two or

three times did I realize that she wasn't knitting,

crocheting, darning, braiding, weaving, or even

rocking. She was just sitting very still with her eyes

half closed. On her thin white lips was a faint smile. It

scared me, that funny happy smile; she should be

looking sad and mournful.

"Granny . . ." I whispered fearfully, laying

down the stillborn child all dressed and clean, "are

you all right?"

I touched her. She fell to one side. I felt her

face, and she was already turning cold, her flesh

hardening.

Granny was dead!

Shocked info-death by the birth of a monster

baby, or by years and years of struggling to endure a

life of hardships! I cried out, and felt an awful blow to

my own heart. I knelt by her rocking chair to hold her

close. "Granny, when you get to heaven, please tell

my mother I'm really trying hard to be like her. Tell

her that, will you, please?"

A scraping sound moved our way, drifting in

from the porch. "What ya doing with my Annie?"