Page 45 of The Heart’s Charge

Alice sat up straighter in the tub and leaned her head back to keep the soap out of her eyes. “My brother doesn’t think so.”

Katherine reached for the small ewer of rinse water waiting at the side of the tub. “No?”

“He was named for our great-grandpappy Edgar.”

“That’s not so terrible.” She placed her hand at Alice’s nape. “Lean your head back a little farther, honey. I’m going to rinse you.”

Alice obeyed with the habitual ease of one who’d been bathed countless times in the past. By a loving mother? How long had she and Wart been on their own?

“I don’t ’member Grandpappy, but Wart said he was grouchy and smelled like old turnips. He didn’t want to end up like that.”

“So he chose to be called Wart instead?” It seemed an odd choice. Didn’t exactly draw the finer things to mind.

Alice closed her eyes and let Katherine pour the water over her head. “He didn’t choose it. I did.”

“You did?” Katherine helped her sit up. “Why would you choose such an odd name?”

Alice shrugged as she clasped the sides of the hip bath and stood. “I was just a kid at the time. About four or five.”

And she was so old now. Maybe as ancient as seven.

“When Mama got sick, Wart had to take care of me. One day I heard Mama praise him for being such a good big brother. She called him a knight. A stall-wart knight. I thought it was ’cause he liked workin’ with horses, but our teacher said it meant strong and brave. I liked it.”

Alice eased one leg over the side of the tub.

“He was the best big brother in the world, so I started calling him Stall Wart. It made Mama laugh. And Mama hardly ever laughed after she took sick. I wanted to make her happy, so I kept sayin’ it, but I got tired of wrapping my mouth around the whole thing, so I trimmed it down to just Wart.” Alice shrugged as she finished climbing out of the tub and stood on the towel Katherine had laid out on the floor. “After Mama passed last year, calling him Edgar didn’t feel right no more. Edgar was just a kid. Wart was a knight. Strong and brave.”

And now he was missing. Katherine’s lashes fluttered as she batted away the tears pooling in her eyes. She wrapped a second towel around Alice’s slim shoulders, wishing she could wrap the girl in a warm hug as well. What this poor child had been through. Losing her mother and now her brother as well.

Please, Lord, let Wart still be alive. Alice needed a home. A sanctuary. She needed Harmony House.

Alice pulled on the secondhand clothes Katherine had provided, stepping into the trousers and extending her arms over her head so Katherine could help her into the masculine shirt.

“You think they’ll know I’m a girl?” Alice caught a glimpse of herself in the rectangular mirror hanging over the washstand. She finger-combed her short hair onto her forehead in an unbecoming manner. “Wart rubbed dirt on my face every mornin’. Said it would help with the disguise.”

No wonder the bathwater looked like mud.

Unable to help herself, Katherine gently pushed Alice’s hands away and combed her hair in a more natural style, parted on the side with her bangs pulled across her forehead in a fetching swoop. With her delicate features, clean freckled skin, hair that now gleamed more red than brown, and the flip of a damp curl at her nape, Alice could pass for a pixie from a fairy story. There was no way the boys wouldn’t notice.

“Would it be so bad if the others learned the truth?”

Before Katherine could stop her, Alice snatched her filthy wool cap from atop her discarded clothes and slapped it on, pulling the brim down low over her forehead. “Rawley’s crew is boys only. If they find out I’m a girl . . .” She hugged her arms around her middle as if trying to stave off the threat of further abandonment.

Katherine knelt in front of her and placed her hands on her shoulders. “If they find out you’re a girl, you’ll just come stay at Harmony House,” she said fiercely. Softening her voice, she tried to paint an inviting picture. “We have a girl staying here named Ruby who is about your age. And another named Priscilla who’s three and lives here with her twin brother. They would love to have a new friend. You’ll meet them at dinner.”

Alice shook her head. “I can’t stay here. Rawley told us all about orphanages. They feed kids gruel, make ’em work all day, and take a strap to their backsides whenever they so much as sneeze wrong.”

“Well, as smart as Rawley is, he doesn’t know everything.” Katherine bundled up Alice’s dirty clothes before the child decided to reclaim something else from the pile. “Harmony House is not an orphanage. It’s a foundling home. Emphasis on home. Miss Southerland and I established this home for children in need. Not only do we provide meals and a place to sleep, but Miss Southerland is a teacher, so anyone staying with us will also receive a first-rate education. We do ask our wards to help with chores around the house, but straps are never utilized. Ever.”

Alice looked skeptical but slightly less mutinous.

“Why don’t you ask Abner and Ruby about it after dinner?” Katherine suggested as she wrapped the dirty clothes in a sheet and set them aside to launder later. “They can tell you everything you need to know about what life is like at Harmony House.”

“You gonna give those back?” Alice jerked her chin toward the laundry bundle, her voice cracking with challenge.

Katherine smiled. “Of course. They belong to you. I’m just going to wash them first. They will be returned to you tomorrow evening, cleaned and pressed.”

Alice said nothing aloud, but her expression clearly said, We’ll see.