Baxter, Nancy N.

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4 MANUSCRIPTSGranny Anna/Nancy N. BaxterT HE BEDR~OM where. Granny Anna spent her hours, either 'in thebed or III her dainty French chair, was large and cluttered.Fifty years of household accumulation, of Chippendale, Span-ish Provincial, and Bamboo, were clustered on the faded lavenderand blue rug together with the "finds" of dusty foreign shops.There were painted iron bedsteads in the fashion of the 1920'ssun-streaked pink damask drapes fringed with glass balls and ~Venetian black-enameled coffee. tab!e witl~ an inset of ~ Fiamingo.In the corner posed a nude white I·lorentine marble maIden with amodest Gibson-girl face. A thermometer in a hobnail glass wasbeside her. The room was silent with a kind of hopeless sickroomheaviness, and it smelled of musty lillies-of-the-valley, alcohol, andcigars.Dominating the wall above the beds was an enormous engrav-ing of the Gothic Lodge Cathedral downtown. Underneath was abronze plaque: "To H. R. Holtz with admiration." (At a banquetin 1910 Grandfather had suggested plans for the Cathedral in aspeech which ended, "Gentlemen; I will now start the donations withthis $20,000 check." He was greeted with a standing ovation.)Now, as Frankie entered the room he found Granny Anna inher chair, her shoulders hunched and drooping, a pink shawl Clutchedin her bird-like hand. He looked at his mother's face, which stillretained a shadow of beauty in its delicate, round lines in spite ofblue eyes that had faded and clouded and the too-sharp nose andchin. Her head, pink through shreds of Christmas angel. hair whichbarely covered it, was turned. He placed himself squarely before her."Hello, Mother dear," he said, kissing her cool cheek."Frankie, is that you?" she asked in a hoarsely hollow voice,feeling the sleeve of his rough, tweed coat. '"How's my girl today," Frankie said heartily."All right, dear. Sit down," she directed, weakly raising herhand."Did you sleep well, Mother?"His mother turned her half-seeing eyes to the window beforeanswering. A female cardinal bent a branch of the Beech tree; itmoved in a reddish-tan blur .. "No, dear. You know I have to bemoved so often in the night. I don't seem comfortable anywhere. . . but don't let's talk of that."Frankie looked vaguely alarmed. His pink baby's face darkened,then brightened as he asked. "Has anyone else been in today?"His mother sighed. "Hap was in right after breakfast. Hetold me about his trip to the Bosporus. They will be going ona-what?" Her mind strayed and then her voice trailed off."A tramp steamer," her son prompted. There was a silence.MANUSCRIPTS 5His mother forced herself to straighten up, and cleared her throatscratchily."I see you got the yellow Chrysanthemum plant we sent" hemused, looking at a bedside table. '"What? Oh yes," his mother said, smiling a pasty, painful smile.Frankie scooted his chair nearer to his mother's and picked upher small, blue-veined hand. "Mother dear, I'm bringing you in aspecial surprise. Until you can read more easily, I'm having theSound Shop send out a Phonograph with a record of four famouspoems read by John Charles Thomas. There's the "ChamberedNautilus," "The Charge of the Light Brigade," and "The Wreck ofthe Hesperus." He was hopeful and handsome."Wonderful, dear." His mother's voice was a halting whisper.She sank wearily back into the pillow. "And now I'm terribly tired.Thank you for stopping by."At the door he hesitated. "One of these days you'll meet mecoming downstairs," he said."Yes, dear," she replied tiredly, and called for the nurse to puther back in bed. Her mouth fell gaping as she dozed off. Sheblinked her eyes open when a slight, freckled girl in shorts slipped inand tiptoed to the bedside. She might have been in her late twenties;she wore tennis shoes and had a low musical voice."Granny Anna," she said, and her fragrant silky hair brushedthe old woman's cheek as she bent to kiss her.The grandmother opened her eyes wide. "Marnie?" she asked,and reached for her hand. "Prop me up." Neither of them said aword. Mamie held her grandmother's hand smiling, then looked outthe leaded window panes comfortably at the rain which was begin-ning to fall. Finally she said in a low tone, "What can I get foryou, Granny Anna?"Her grandmother tried to speak, then suffered a temporarylapse. "Ah, ah," she stammered. Then the words came, "Nothingon this earth."Mamie stroked her hand, in the soothing way she would havestroked a kitten."How is it going?" she asked.Granny Anna laid her head against the pillows and smiled va-cantly. She looked like a mouse staring out of a white hole. "Dr.Cotten is doing his best in what they call maintainative geriatrics.He keeps me alive by force, filling me with drugs and tubes, keepingmy poor tired body so busy with flooding and purging that it neverhas a chance to think of" (the word was barely audible) "expiring.""What do you want, darling?" said the girl softly.Granny Anna looked at her lithe, lovely granddaughter, soyoung, so intuitively understanding. She could see her clearly now;she looked into her eyes."I just want to die," she said firmly.Mamie was silent for a long while, looking out the window.6 MANUSCRIPTS/Then she put her cheek beside her grandmother's."I'll pray for it," she said; then kissing her grandmother, sheagain left the r00111.The Broken BladeClarice NolandI.THE BOYS scampered across the lawn, tearing their faded jeansas they scrambled down th~ embankment to the sidewalk. Onceon the pavement, they picked themselves up and gatheredaround Stevie, their leader. He was staring toward a boy who washis opposite. As he raised his head proudly, Stevie's eyes flashedblue sparks. He tossed his blond head and clenched his fists for theattack he felt was inevitable. A few yards from him stood the boyat whom he gazed. Jimmy was dark with brown hair and eyes. Hewas a head shorter than Stevie, but his stocky frame supported asmuch weight as did the blond boy's lithe body.While Stevie eyed him with puzzlement and contempt, Jimmy'sdark eyes glittered with hatred and resentment. He leaned back-wards for a moment as though gathering his forces, then crouchedslightly forward. Springing swiftly, he caught the boys off balance.Jimmy grabbed Stevie around the waist with both arms, and his mo-mentum sent them both crashing into the fleet of bicycles parked in. front of Stevie's house. The two boys, disentangling themselvesfrom each other and the broken spokes, did not drop their eyes fromeach other's faces."You bum," muttered Stevie, wiping blood from a gash on histemple. Jimmy said nothing. He stooel for a moment staring athis enemy, then, swinging quickly to face the other boys, he frozethem with a threatening glance, turned on his heel, and stalked away.In a second Stevie was on his feet. Seeing their leader in chargeagain, the other boys surged forward; but in that instant, Jimmywhirled around, crouching panther-like, and transfixing them all, asa contemptuous smile twisted his lips. While Jimmy stood there,Stevie shrugged his shoulders and started up the embankment to hisporch, motioning the others to follow with a wave.Alone on the field, the little dark rebel stood looking up at theboys, who were reassembling at the brick parapet, looking himselfmuch like a knight challenging the castle to send its champions outto do battle. As he walked on down the street, Jimmy could feeltheir eyes on him.. "You . . . you . . . fink!" Stevie screamed, his rage findingvoice at last. His olcler brother and his friends always used thatword when they talked about someone they didn't like.Jimmy lost stride, walking stiff-legged a few steps. Two de-mons were fighting for control in his body-one wanting to rush uponto the P?rch and pound Stevie; the other wanting very much torun home into his mother's arms. The second demon won, and his

Granny Anna

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Granny Anna

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