Chapter 6 Thankful
Once the meal was prepared, Martha called to Father Ed, who was still next door in the church. Phineas and Jeffrey were surprised when he entered the room, followed by three boys of varying ages, around 8, 10 and 13. It was obvious they were living on the streets, their clothes were practically rags and filthy dirty. One looked suspiciously like the thief from the previous evening. Another was Tony, the boy Jeff had met this morning.
They all sat down to the meal together and waited while the priest said grace, as though they had done this many times. Then they ate as if they were starving.
"Do any of you know what holiday is coming up next week?" Father Ed asked the boys when the pace of their eating had slowed. None of them answered and Bogg nudged Jeffrey's arm, as if urging him to fill in the answer. After a short pause, the priest continued, "it's Thanksgiving. Here at St. Patrick's, we have a tradition of trying to think of the things we are most thankful for during the week before Thanksgiving."
"I'm thankful I had such a good helper today, so I finished my chores early," Martha said, jumping into the conversation.
Phineas smiled at Jeff, but noticed he didn't seem very pleased to have been singled out. "I'm thankful we have a safe place to stay while Jeff's leg is healing," he added and looked at Jeff expectantly.
Jeffrey's gaze locked with Bogg's for a second before he looked away. He felt like he was letting Bogg down, but the truth was, he couldn't think of anything to say. He didn't feel thankful for anything. His thoughts flew to his mother and his mind went blank. The other boys were just as quiet.
"Well, it's something to think about anyway," Father Ed finished, and then began asking the boys each in turn about school, and their other activities.
After the meal, the adults retired to the living room and the boys played a game in the kitchen. Later on, Martha gave them sandwiches to take with them as they left.
ooOoo
"This sure seems like a crazy set-up to me," Jeff remarked to Bogg as he settled back in bed that night. "These kids steal from the church, and then eat meals here. I mean, where do they live? Tony talked about his parents, and Joe and Rick talked about their father. Don't their parents feed them? Who takes care of them? Martha sent them off with sandwiches like she didn't think they would get anything at home to eat."
"Well, it probably has something to do with why we're here," Phineas told him. "I've got a feeling if we stick around we'll figure out what needs to be done. And your leg still needs some rest, so we'll just have to keep trying to figure it out."
"You were right," Jeff said pulling up the covers with a yawn, "this is a lot better than the Amazon," and he was asleep before Phineas could answer.