Chapter 5 Emotions

Martha entered the room a moment later, carrying a basket of potatoes. She eyed the basket of rolls and smiled. "How is your leg today?" she asked Jeff.

"Good," he answered, "thanks for taking care of me last night."

"Happy to do it," she said smiling. "I've got some chores I could use some help with, if you've got a mind to."

"Course," Jeff said without hesitating.

So Jeff spent the rest of the morning at the table, peeling apples and potatoes. At 12 o'clock, Father Ed and Phineas returned for lunch.

As Bogg walked in, his eyes found Jeffrey and he smiled. Other than having his leg up on a chair, the kid looked fine. He had obviously been helping with some chores and Bogg smiled to himself as he walked over to him.

"We're famished Martha, this guy's a maniac with the work!" Father Ed declared as she pointed to the sink, indicating that he wash up.

At the same time, Phineas knelt down beside Jeff and spoke quietly, even though he knew they would both be able to hear what he said in such a small room. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Jeff answered and they exchanged a brief hug.

"Looks like you helped out," Bogg observed as he released him.

Father Ed and Martha exchanged a knowing glance as she piped up, "he did all the peeling for the pie and stew tonight, so I got to the laundry early."

Father Ed nodded as he thought about his unlikely houseguests. Last evening had been a stressful time, and sometimes, people were not themselves during times of stress, but now that the crisis was over, it was clear that these two had a caring relationship. After working with him all morning on the roof, and observing his relationship with Jeffrey, he now felt he knew a good deal about Phineas Bogg and his respect for him increased.

Phineas squeezed Jeff's shoulder and stood up, moving to the sink to take his turn at washing up, oblivious to their reaction to his contact with Jeff.

They had a simple meal of sandwiches and fruit, and then left to continue their work.

ooOoo

"Well, if you hop, we can do some chores inside the church," Martha said, and paused for Jeff's answer.

Jeffrey was only too glad for the change of scenery, and followed her, hoping through a side door that led directly into the church sanctuary next door. He sat in a pew and put his leg up, waiting for instructions. As Martha handed him cleaning supplies, she explained that every fall, the interior of the church was given a thorough cleaning. His job would be to clean each pew, moving from one to another.

As he began, he was surprised to hear the rear door open and a small group of people enter and walk to the front. They called hello to Martha and waved to him. Soon he heard a piano playing and people singing. It didn't take him long to realize this was a choir rehearsal.

Suddenly he felt sick. His chest and stomach hurt and he felt tears in his eyes. They were doing scales to warm up. He had often accompanied his mother to choir rehearsal and heard these same scales as he did his homework or read. He suddenly realized with horrible intensity that he hadn't thought about his mom in some time. Even last evening, when he'd been hurt, it was Bogg that he thought of and clung to. He reached up and wiped his eyes so Martha wouldn't know he was upset.

Unfortunately, a few minutes later they started to sing and the music became like a lead weight in his stomach. It was a hymn of Thanksgiving and he knew it well. His mother had loved that hymn and sung it often.

He leaned down to clean the wood, trying to hide his face, but he needn't have worried. Martha was in the back pew on the other side of the church and couldn't see him without going out of her way. So he was left alone, to work and listen and cry as quietly as he could during the rehearsal.

After the rehearsal ended it was another hour before Martha said they were done for the day. She needed to make supper. By then, Jeff had recovered enough that he was sure she wouldn't notice how upset he'd been. He didn't know exactly why he wanted to keep it to himself, but he did.

"Why don't you rest back on the bed while I make supper," she told him as they returned to the rectory and he was very happy to do just that. He lay back on the bed, exhausted from all the emotions of the afternoon. He tried to make his mind a blank, afraid to let in any other memories of his mother.

"Jeff, supper's ready." It was Bogg's voice, whispering, as Jeff felt the side of the bed go down and a hand on his arm. He opened his eyes and realized Bogg was sitting on the bed beside him.

He opened his eyes, "guess I fell asleep," he whispered and sat up.

"You sure you're okay?" Bogg asked worriedly. It really wasn't like Jeff to take a nap, but on the other hand he had lost some blood, and he had worked for a few hours today. He was proud of Jeff for his willingness to help out.

"Yeah, let's eat," Jeff answered as he got up quickly. He suddenly had an overwhelming feeling that if he stayed too close to Bogg, he'd end up telling him about the memories of his mother and didn't trust himself not to cry again. For now, he decided, he wanted to keep this to himself.

Bogg watched him get up on the other side of the bed, without any friendly banter, and then hobble slowly into the kitchen. He seemed to want to stay away from Phineas, like he was avoiding him, but that couldn't be, could it? Phineas watched him in confusion, then followed him into the kitchen and sat down beside him at the table.