A Few Days with Laura Sidle Chapter 4

Dinner was a light meal, followed by another gathering in the chapel. When Sara realized the small room was nearly full, she ducked to the back porch where a large grey cat found her. She sat on the step and the cat curled onto her lap, purring in contentment of finding a companion. The absolute quietness of the place was no longer out of the ordinary for her; if anything, the afternoon spent within the community had helped her understand why her mother chose to live here. Perhaps her mother's decision was not one of abandonment of normal life, but acceptance of a life that helped her become normal.

Sara ran her hand through her hair and leaned against the porch railing. Her own thoughts ranged from absolute depression at being forsaken by her only living parent for the second time in her life to one of euphoria that her battered mother had found a way to contribute to a community and have a certain satisfaction in living with this religious order. Maybe it was the religious aspect of all this that caused her darkest thoughts. She closed her eyes while the cat purred.

When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she did not know how long she had been sitting on the porch, sure she had not been asleep, but the touch startled her.

"Hello, Sara." It was the older nun from the meeting. Sister—no, she was Mother Veronica—the leader of the community. As she tried to stand, the hand remained on her shoulder, and the nun sat beside Sara. "I noticed you were not at evening service, so I slipped out to find you."

"I'm sorry—I should have come."

A hand covered Sara's. The hand was old, covered with darkened spots across its top and veins that stood out as dark blue. "Sara, don't apologize. Some of us are not meant for religious life—perhaps not even religion." The hand moved along Sara's arm as a gentle stroking, much as Sara had done with the cat in her lap. "We want your mother here and she wants to be here. She is not shutting you out of her life but opening up another door. She suffers daily from what happened to you but she is also very proud that you are such a smart, strong young woman."

Sara managed a smile. The cat stretched and stepped from Sara's lap to the nun's. Sara said, "Even the cat prefers you."

The old nun's arm went around Sara's shoulders. "Oh, Sara. This cat prefers me because I give her milk at this time every day. She wants one thing. Come with me. Let's walk." She tucked the cat against her chest and stood taking Sara's hand. The two women headed to the barn. "This cat wants fresh milk, straight from the cow. Have you ever milked a cow?"

Sara shook her head. She watched as the older woman pushed a stool near a black and white cow, sat the cat down beside her, and proceeded to fill a small bucket with milk. The cow was as docile as the cat as the nun poured milk into an old plate.

"I do this every night. Grey cat is the only one of the six cats who will come to the porch looking for me." She laughed as she pointed at two other cats crowding the plate. "We do most of the milking in the morning; but the cats are spoiled."

The lights were on in the house as they exited the barn. They closed doors behind them as walked a path back to the house.