The Staked Goat - Jeremiah Healy by Jeremiah Healy Page B

the coffee."
    Carol ran over to her and threw my coat around her.
She kneeled down and hugged her, rocking with her.
    I quick stepped to the kitchen and wet a towel. I
came back in and cleaned up the wall. I could hear kids crying
upstairs. I spelled Carol while she went upstairs to quiet them.
    After Carol came back down, we moved Martha to the
couch. We took turns holding and rocking with her through the night.
 
 
    NINE
-•-
    I FELT A STIRRING AGAINST NY RIGHT SHOULDER. I opened
my eyes.
    There was a lamp still on. A full head of blond hair
was nestled into my shoulder. It looked as though it had been there
awhile. Martha.
    Then I noticed the kids. They were squatting
Indian-style on the door, in front of us on the couch. They were both
wearing pajamas, the ones on the younger boy a bit small for him.
    "W-w-who are you?" said the older one. He
sounded scared.
    I lifted my free left hand to my lips in a silent
shush. The older boy noticed. My watch said 6:30 A.M. I raised my
chin so I could turn my head to the right without nudging Martha. My
neck was awfully stiff. Carol lay partially across Martha, sharing my
coat with her. One arm disappeared behind Martha and probably
belonged to the hand whose knuckles were pressed into my right side.
Carol's other arm was across Martha's stomach. Martha's forearms and
hands lay limply along my thigh. We were like three
puppies, huddled against the cold.
    Puppies? Cold?
    I exhaled and could see my breath. I looked down at
the boys. The older one hadn't been scared, he was shivering from the
cold. So was the little one.
    I couldn't see any way to help them without moving
from under Martha. I started to slide out from under her. The little
one said, "M-M—Momma. Mom-maa!" Martha's head flicked up
instantly. She blinked and looked around wildly.
    "It's okay, Martha," I said. "We're
just—"
    She looked at me terrified. "Who are . . .where
. . . oh, oh, yes." She blinked and leaned forward, rubbing her
eyes.
    Carol's arm fell behind her, and Carol slid down and
toward me, wakening with a start.
    "Mom?" said the older boy.
    I caught and steadied Carol. Martha spoke.
    "Kenny, Al. You must be freezing. Come up here
both of you."
    They scrambled up and climbed onto the couch in that
stiff mincing way kids move when they're cold. They cuddled with
their mothers under my coat. "Kenny," said Carol, rubbing
his back vigorously, "how long were you sitting down there?"
    "I—I—I . . . d-don't . . . know," he
said, stammering now more from the rubbing than from the cold.
    "Well," said Martha. "We'll have to
get you guys some breakfast. How does hot oatmeal sound?"
    "I want some," said Kenny.
    "Me too," said Al Junior.
    "Me three," said me.
    Martha and Carol laughed and got up with the kids.
Martha seemed O.K. Carol flashed me a real smile, a mixture of
friendship and relief.
    Over breakfast in the kitchen, I found myself
watching A1 Junior. I hadn't known his father at his age, of course,
but you could see the big, brown vulnerable eyes and the curly hair,
light brownish thanks to some genetic factor from Martha. He ate
thoroughly and slowly, as if he wanted to do it right. I suppressed
the thought that maybe he hadn't had much practice of late. The
kitchen was toasty warm, the more so since we'd left the oven on last
night before slumping on the couch.
    Al Junior finished his last mouthful.
    "Would you like some more?" said Martha at
the stove and over her shoulder.
    He shook his head. "Where's Daddy?"
    Martha's shoulders went up and down once. Carol said,
"Daddy's on a trip, remember?"
    Al Junior smiled and said, "Oh, yup." He
looked at me and frowned. "Who's he?"
    I figured I could handle that one. "I'm a friend
of your Daddy's, from the army."
    Kenny said, "From 'Nam?"
    The abbreviation had a hollow ring coming from his
young body. "Yes," I said.
    "Did you—"
    "Kenny," said Carol sharply.
    Kenny shut up and went back to his food. We all ate
breakfast a little faster after that.
    I