E

vanne tried to adjust her gown so she could breathe. She was five years old and growing big as the days went by. Grace saw her discomfort and beckoned on her.

"I can't seem to tie the knot properly mother and this gown is uncomfortable," she sighed.

"A proper lady doesn't sigh Evanne Victor Broody. I can change the dress for you but we'll be late to mass."

"I'll manage. I'm ready mother." She pulled Grace from the chair and she laughed. Her hymnary in one hand and Evanne's hand in the other, Grace walked to the nearby church beside her sisters house. She waved at older women walking to the same building and Evanne greeted with a smile.

Inside the church, she could hear whispers of women greeting each other and she strutted to where her sister and her husband sat on the bench in the third row. She smiled and asked to be excused and finally sat down.

The congregation got up when the priest walked in with the altar boys. He made the sign of the cross and everyone did the same as Evanne watched in awe. She had never been into a church before. Everyone sat down.

"The grace of the Lord be with you," the priest said.

"And also with you," everyone chorused.

"We'll sing our hymn from page 275 of the hymnary What A Friend We Have In Jesus..."

The church rose up and opened the book. Evanne saw that everyone had one except her and she stretched to see what was inside too. They started singing...

What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and grieve to bear
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer.....

When the singing was done, they sat down and listened to the word of God. Evanne slept most of the service in her mother's lap and when mass was over, Grace lifted her and she rested her little head on her shoulder. Grace smiled at everyone who walked towards her and her sister's family to greet them. They exchanged pleasantries and Eugene sat down to attend to her friends Glinda, Patricia and Omar.

Grace arranged her bags and that of Evanne's. She sniffed, picked her shawl and carried sleeping Evanne, strapped the girl to her back with a wrapper she carried from her bag.

The conversation with her sister ringing like a bad thought in her head. She had ran from Victor's house with the help of Leah and had sought refuge with her sister but now her sister had grown tired of her presence.

"You know I would want you to stay for as long as you can find your feet but I'm afraid there's just little I can spare for Earl and I," Eugene stood across the bed and stared at a shocked Grace. She tried to say something but the words didn't sit right with her.
Eugene had been gracious to accommodate her after she fled from Victor but she had nowhere to go.

"Don't be stubborn Gracey. Go back to Victor and see reasons with him. He's your husband and the father of your daughter," she paused and got up then turned back to Grace. "What will you tell Evanne when she asks of her father? Go back Grace."

Eugene closed the door behind her and Grace swallowed hard at the choking tears in her throat. Going back to Victor was her last option. She recalled Victor's rage when he heard she was pregnant for the third time. He had rushed at her, seized her by the throat and choked her for a while until her eyes started closing, then he let her breathe.

"I can't keep on like this Grace. You can't have this child," he'd told her and sat down, tapping his legs furiously. Grace had sat on the floor beside the bed and wept. It wasn't her fault that she wanted children. She just couldn't fathom why the man she'd fallen in love with could be so cold towards her having children.

"I'm leaving to Eugene's," she'd told him the next morning. He walked out on her like she didn't matter. He walked till he was out of sight and Grace had cried uncontrollably. Her marriage had crumbled to pieces. She had seen it coming but she hoped having children will change his mind. Seven months to her pregnancy, Grace had an early labour and birthed a still baby boy. She had cried from holding her dead child and even Victor hadn't come when he was called that she was in labour. Two weeks after, Victor not home,  she packed her belongings and Leah gave  her some coins and she was gone, to her sister.

Now she was leaving Eugene's. She knew nobody expect her father and the thought pricked her inside. The last time she saw her father, she was leaving with Victor. He'd warned her and she didn't listen. Now she sought refuge in the same house where she grew up, where she knew happiness and comfort. She picked up her bag and that of Evanne's and left as

Eugene watched her walk away until she was out of sight. She prayed the simple prayer she had memorized in her head when she thought of going back to her father. Please father, let him forgive me. I'm a prodigal child and I accept my fate. I long for peace and comfort once again no matter how it's given to me.

As she approached the little village sign board of North Dock, her heart started thumping hard. Was she doing the right thing going back? She hadn't even taken Evanne once to see her grandpa.

Her father Samuel was handsome and tall, dark with a pointed nose and hairs on his hands and legs. His gray hairs sat beautifully on his head with a mix of black. He had a deep authoritative voice that could command an army and also soothe a heart. He had met his wife Ella during the war when he served his country in the civil war. Ella had been one of the women who came to feed the men in the battle ground. Samuel had caught sight of her beauty; slender dark legs, skin of smooth caramel and hair dark and wavy. Her eyes were hazel and could pierce into the soul of any man and capture their heart. She walked with elegance and spoke with wisdom. Samuel had sworn to marry her and after two years when the war ended, he did.

They had birthed eight children and lost three, the last, twins, died during birth, taking their mother Ella with them. Her father had withdrawn after that. He was no longer himself. He'd sit for hours staring at her headstone and one could see tears well up in his eyes. His gray hairs grew out more and the once built man who carried his children and sang to them when the moon was full and glowed was gone. What was left of Samuel was a shadow of who he would have loved to be if Ella had been alive.