Jessie gave a small smile. "As long as you don't say anything, she won't know."
She ladled the last of the lemonade into the lunch pail, rinsed the stove pot with cold water, and filled it again. "If Grandma asks, I'll just say we used the firewood to boil water for everybody."
Emily eyed the pail. "And the lemonade inside…"
"We'll take it to Grandma Bennett's. You can stay there a few days."
"Will she let me? Grandma said I'm supposed to cook at home."
"Don't worry about that. I'll talk to her. She'll agree."
Once Emily settled a little, Jessie picked up the pail and led her out the gate. They almost walked straight into Margaret, who was tearing up the path like the house was on fire.
Margaret was nearly sixty, but she was tall, solid, and well-fed. When she ran she didn't look her age at all. She came flying toward them full tilt.
Jessie yanked Emily sideways just in time.
Margaret slammed on the brakes so hard she nearly went over. She grabbed the gatepost to steady herself and started yelling.
"You two good-for-nothings! Trying to run me over walking that fast?"
Her eyes were already hunting for something to hit with.
Jessie actually laughed. "That's rich. Em and I were walking normal. If anybody almost ran somebody over, it was you."
Emily usually shook when Margaret's face went dark. She hid behind Jessie and didn't make a sound.
Jessie squeezed her sister's hand and whispered, "Don't be scared. Take the pail to Grandma Bennett's first. I'll talk to Grandma a minute and catch up."
Emily remembered what was in the pail. If Margaret saw it they'd both get a beating for sure. She grabbed it and turned to go.
"Emily! Why are you carrying our lunch pail? You steal something good from the house?"
Jessie caught Margaret's wrist before she could lunge. Her voice went flat. "What in that house is even worth stealing? Em and I figured you might not feed us lunch or supper, so we were headed to Grandma Bennett's to ask for something. Were we supposed to carry plates from home? They'd just break on the way."
Margaret looked half convinced, half not. "Let go of me! I need to check if anything's missing. If something is, I'll skin the both of you!"
Jessie didn't trust her. The second she let go, Margaret would go after Emily and the pail first, not the rooms.
"Your room's locked, Grandma. I couldn't take anything even if I wanted to. I just used a little firewood to boil water so you'd have something cool to drink when you finished in the fields."
Margaret glared. "Let go right now or I'll slap you!"
She swung.
Jessie moved her hand. The slap landed on Margaret's own wrist with a sharp smack.
Jessie spread her hands, looking almost sorry. "Told you you wouldn't get me."
Free now, Margaret didn't bother chasing Emily. She was too furious. "You little brat! How dare you mess with me? I'll beat you senseless!"
She came after Jessie swinging.
Jessie stayed light on her feet. Margaret never landed a solid hit.
When she'd had enough of the dance, Jessie lifted a hand in a little wave. "I'm going to the county hospital to stay with Mom and Dad. Won't be home the next few days. That way the family saves a few meals."
Margaret nearly jumped in place. "We're in the middle of harvest and you think you can just not come home and help? Fine then—don't ever come back!"
Jessie's mouth twisted. "Fine. I won't."
Even when she worked the fields she never got a single bite of the flour that came from it. This life she wasn't going to be that quiet, obedient girl anymore, the one who starved herself just to keep her little sister from going hungry. She could feed Emily herself now.
She walked off without looking back.
Margaret didn't follow. She just stood in the doorway shouting after her.
"Jessie Carter, I'll see what you're good for! You come back for one more bite of food in this house and I'll twist your head clean off—"
She kept going until she ran out of breath, then stomped into the kitchen, scooped a ladle of water from the stove pot, and drank it down. It was only lukewarm from the leftover heat. She never noticed it hadn't even boiled.
Jessie caught up with Emily a little ways down the road.
"Em, once we get to Grandma Bennett's, you stay there quiet, all right? Only come home when I call for you. Don't listen if anybody else tells you to come back. Understand?"
She needed these next few days free to make some money.
Last time around, Margaret had only put in a little toward the hospital bills. Most of it had come from the Bennetts.
Her parents had checked themselves out early to save money and ended up with chronic problems that never left them. This time Jessie wanted them to stay until they were properly healed.
The Bennetts had always spoiled the two girls. They'd never turn Emily away.
Jessie used to refuse to stay there because she didn't want to put two extra mouths on a household that already struggled. Her mother, Helen, was their only child.
The Bennetts had slipped the Carters money more times than anyone liked to admit, and the more they gave, the more ashamed Jessie's side of the family felt about asking.
Things were different now. Jessie had to earn real money.
Once Emily was settled she could focus.
Emily was only six, but she listened hard when Jessie spoke. She nodded fast. "I'll listen, Jessie. Grandma didn't hit you just now, did she?"
Jessie smiled a little. "She tried. I moved. Missed. After I drop you at Grandma Bennett's I'm going straight to the hospital to see Mom and Dad. Once they're out, we're splitting the family. We won't have to put up with Grandma and Grandpa's attitudes anymore."
She was sure she could make enough in a short time.
Emily's eyes went worried. "Grandma won't agree. Daddy always listens to her…"
Emily still remembered the last time their parents tried to divide the property. Margaret had cried, screamed, threatened to hang herself. The whole thing got dropped.
Jessie looked at her sister's hair—short, yellow, brittle from never getting enough to eat. She made herself a quiet promise: she would earn enough to fix that. Emily's hair was going to be black and shiny again.
"Don't worry, Em. I've got a way to get Daddy to agree. Once he does, Grandma can't stop it."