Ruth's parents, brothers, and youngest sister were all solemnly seated and waiting on them.

Ruth and Kid sensed it would be a long conversation and sat down.

"I was delivering wood to some of the shut-ins," Robert explained, "and heard that word going around is you're a witch what with you bringing Mrs. Norris off her death bed like you did."

Ruth chuckled at the ridiculousness of it. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but this wasn't it.

"It ain't a laughing matter," her father groused.

"I don't reckon it is," Ruth said, "but God's the one that healed her, not me. It just wasn't Mrs. Norris' time yet. Pure and simple."

"We know that and you know that, but they don't," Robert said, "and you ain't going to convince them that all you did was say a little prayer."

"A little prayer? Prayer is powerful. A lot of people pray, but they do it out of habit or approach it like they're asking a genie for a wish. They don't really believe that God can and will give them the answer to their prayer. Might not be the answer they want, but I find the closer we get to God, the closer our prayers line up with His will."

"Again, that's all well and good, but it don't fix the situation," Robert said.

"What situation? It's not like they're going to burn me at the stake or dunk me in the river. "

"No, of course not," her mother said, "but you don't think some fool might take it into his head to scare you a bit or, God forbid, even do you some kind of harm? There's a couple of idiots I can think of who would be mean enough to do that."

Kid's hand automatically went to his gun. It'd be over his dead body before anybody laid a hand on her.

"And when people get scared enough, they can turn into another critter entirely no matter if they're people you've known your whole life, and the truth is, people know that Mrs. Norris is—was about to die and now she's up walking around completely healed," James added.

Her mother's forehead was wrinkled with worry. "Maybe you ought to stay home tomorrow until the excitement dies down."

"No, Momma, I will not. That'll convince them they're right, and I ain't going to be kept from worshiping in church just because there's some people that don't believe God still performs miracles of healing."

"She's got a point. They never did anything to Miss Black," Clyde said with a shrug, "and everybody knew she was a witch."

"She was just a harmless old lady who liked her solitude and herbs," Ruth contradicted. "I used to go talk with her when I was a kid, and she said the only reason she didn't go to church was because everyone was afraid of her, kids especially, and that was a crying shame because she was one of the nicest people I ever met."

"That was a shame," Mary agreed. "Dear Miss Black was a little slow, but the community should have treated her much better than they did. However, that witch charge was started by children. Yours was started by a miraculous healing. There's a big difference."

"She'll be safe," Kid said in a clipped tone that suddenly made his past very real to her family. No one doubted he would hesitate to use his gun and a heavy silence fell.

"Well, I'm done discussing this foolishness," Ruth said. "I'm going to get started on the dinner for tomorrow, so we can all have a day of rest. I think we've all earned one."

"I'll help," Anna said, standing up and looking eager to talk to her sister alone.

Ruth and Anna went into the kitchen while Kid went to take his bath.

Ruth opened the stove and threw some wood shavings in. Then she struck the flint and steel together. It created a shower of sparks, but the enthusiastic movement caused the flint to fly into the stove. She got down on her knees and felt around for it, not having much success, she stuck her head in.

Anna was kneading the dough their mother had started earlier in the day, but she was watching Ruth's antics like a hawk. "Is that smart to stick your head in an oven?"

"It ain't been used since breakfast. It's as cool as anything in here," came Ruth's muffled voice. "Besides, I don't think anyone's libel to come along and push me in even with this witch thing."

Anna's eyes narrowed accusingly. "Why do you always have to cause a spectacle no matter what you do?"

"Just talented that way, I guess," she said lightly until she pulled her head back out and saw her expression. She was taken aback by it and was unable to hide her hurt. "You're serious."

Anna's face softened. "I know you don't mean to, but you do. You stir up controversy and drama like it's a perfume you wear. And you're so outspoken and…abrasive. You don't care about what people think, but I do." She was vigorously kneading as she spoke.

Ruth took the dough from her and stuck it in the pan. "I think you've kneaded the blame fool out of it." She tried again with the fire and got it going this time.

They finished the rest of the Sunday meal preparations in silence.

Once everything was heating up, Ruth asked, "What is it you're trying to tell me exactly?"

"I'm just asking you to be more normal or at least to be as normal as you can be. Just keep quiet when we're at church. You can be quiet for a couple hours, can't you? Give people some polite greetings and leave it at that. Don't make this latest drama any bigger than it has to be. You see, there's a fellow I like, and I don't want him to think I'm anything like you. "

The words stung. Ruth hadn't realized she was an embarrassment to her younger sister. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. Maybe this trip had been one big mistake. She hurried to the safety of her bedroom before her burning eyes gave way to tears.