The Pennier- Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“Would you like to stay the night with me? It would probably be best for the kittens to get used to you but be in their own home at the same time.” Martha asked.
“Sure,” said Lilyanne. She thought that that arrangement would probably be best for the kittens too, but she thought that Martha had asked her for another reason, a reason she couldn’t think of. And then that name! Martha was a name that was familiar with Lilyanne but she couldn’t think of it. Martha… Martha… now what was it? Lilyanne strained her brain to come up with the answer, but it just couldn’t.
“Come with me, I’ll show you to your room,” Martha said.
“Thank you very much for letting me stay the night, I just came off a train from Louisiana and I don’t really have a place to stay the night. My parents died when I was four and I went to a boy’s orphanage. Just about four days ago they kicked me out. And your name! Martha. I’ve heard it in my childhood before. I’m sure it wasn’t you. The last name was different. And she was from Louisiana. We’re in Wisconsin. Now how could I possibly meet someone from Louisiana in Wisconsin? I don’t think it’s possible,” Lilyanne reminded herself of the main character from her favorite book, Pollyanna.
“Yes, meeting someone you know in a different state without planning to do happen very often, does it?” Martha said. Lilyanne then noticed that Martha Everhart had a slight southern accent. It’s probably just my imagination, Lilyanne told herself, and if it’s not, and she is from the south, she’s probably from a different state. “I’ll ask her,” Lilyanne thought.
“So, where were you born?” Lilyanne asked Martha cautiously. The question must have caught Martha by surprise, for she stopped walking and looked Lilyanne straight in the eye. For a moment Lilyanne thought she had said something wrong, but when Martha smiled she knew it was okay.
“I was born the great southern state of… well, the state of Louisiana,” she said to Lilyanne. Then Lilyanne remembered. She remembered of a very long time ago when her parents where still alive. The time that she was thinking of was her first funeral. It was her Uncle Karl’s. He had died in an accident. Lilyanne didn’t even know what really happened to him. She remembered her parents describing it as a serious accident. And Martha Reedy was his wife. When he died she went to her maiden name. Was this woman her aunt? No, there’s other Marthas from Louisiana. Lots of other Marthas.
“Do you have a husband?” Lilyanne questioned her.
“Oh no, he died in an accident about six or seven years ago,” she said to Lilyanne without pause.
“I’m very sorry. What was his name?” Lilyanne didn’t think it would do any harm in just asking his name.
“His name,” Martha pausing and looking back at Lilyanne, “ was Karl Reedy.” Lilyanne’s eyes grew wide. She ran and hugged her Aunt Martha. Her aunt smiled down at her.
“ It’s nice to finally meet you again, Lily,” she said, calling her by her nickname and letting her southern accent out. Lilyanne was so happy she had found someone who knew her she couldn’t speak. She just stood there hugging her aunt and her aunt hugging her back. They finally let go of each other and both were beaming like mad.
“I’m always wondering where you went, and when you said your name, I knew it had to be you. But I didn’t want to just run up and hug you saying you were my niece, so I let you find out on your own,” Aunt Martha said to Lilyanne. Lilyanne just stood there smiling, speechless from her discovery.