Martha, dressed exactly as she had been when she'd left, clutched her new suitcase while the barest hint of a smile graced her pretty face. Cynthia, who'd followed the men to the door, was the first to smother the young girl in hugs and kisses, and an ample dose of tears with the others joining in with equal enthusiasm.
"We're so glad you're safe," Cynthia said, sniffing back a sob. "How did you ever get back here, hon?" Cynthia continued to cling to Martha as if letting go would somehow cause the child to disappear.
All hints of hesitation left the young girl in the wake of the smother of love that enveloped her. "I took the Greyhound. All the way from Illinois!"
"All by yourself?" Cynthia asked. Martha nodded proudly.
"Does anyone know you're here?" Dean asked. Before Martha could answer, the front door opened to Paul and Paulette Dawkins. They were too busy arguing to pay attention but Dean shielded Martha and hurried the group back to the rear quarters.
"Patsy knows," Martha said as she bounced down on the bed. "At least she knew I was coming-just not that I've got here yet. It's okay with her-she said so." Then she smiled sheepishly at Fred who tried to look innocent. Martha added, "No one saw me sneak in."
The Deans looked at one another, the unspoken question of what to do painted on each face. Mrs. Lincoln slipped into the room amid throaty sounds of welcome and hopped onto Martha's lap as calmly as if she'd never left. There was silence for a moment, a brief reverie of relief. Cynthia sat next to Martha and hugged her all the harder.
"You're glad I'm back, huh?"
"Ecstatic, hon. You know what that means?" she said.
"Like really glad?"
"Really, really glad," Dean answered.
Martha let loose a babble of questions about everybody and everything-the Deans, Fred, Mrs. Lincoln, Maria, SB the owl, Alice the geranium, garage sales, and guests-and lastly the identity of her troublesome bones. Most queries were answered in monosyllables except the last, which Dean put off by explaining they'd discuss the bones at length in the morning.
"Now tell us what happened," Dean said as Martha paused to catch her breath.
"Patsy got mad at one of the women where we were staying so she swiped her car and we took off. I knew we couldn't get away for long but Patsy needed to leave and wanted me to go with her. She had some money-I guess she swiped that, too-so we were on the lam, like in the movies. I was kind of scared they might shoot us or something, but nothing bad happened. We got to talk a lot-Patsy and me. I told her all about you guys. She said she'd really like you."