Colonial Madness (14 page)

“Great.”

I fastened the second weight around my other ankle and gripped the doorframe as I got to my feet. I took a few test steps, the lead balls slowing me to a snail's pace.

I turned to Mom. “Please cure me fast.”

She nodded, a determined look in her eye. “Thank goodness I've been watching those medical shows.”

“I don't think
Moles Shaped Like Animals
is considered a medical show,” I said, literally dragging my feet until I was in front of Angel's door. There was no box sitting outside
her
room.

After three knocks, she answered with a carrot in hand.

“What's up, Doc?”

“Aw, man! Why aren't
you
dying?” I asked.

Angel raised an eyebrow. “Sorry?”

I shook my head. “I caught this disease called beriberi—”

Angel took a giant step back.

“It's not real!” I said. “But Mom only has until sunset to find the cure or we're out.”

Angel paused mid—carrot crunch. “Yikes. I would
not
want to be in your”—she looked down—“ankle cuffs.”

“Well, do you know anything about beriberi?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Try looking in the library. Or asking your boyfriend.”

For a moment, I was taken aback. “I can't do that! It's cheating.” Then the second part of her words sunk in, and I giggled. “And shut up. He's not my boyfriend!” I smacked her arm.

Angel rolled her eyes. “Well, whatever your plan, you'd better hurry.”

I glanced from her to my ankle.

She cleared her throat. “So to speak.”

“Did you at least get
any
kind of illness this morning?” I asked.

She shrugged. “There was a note tacked to my door that said I had a headache, but I chewed on some willow bark, and Eli told me I was cured.”

I sighed. “Of course he did.”

I did a quick check up and down the hall. Nobody else had a box outside their door either.

“Mom and I must have been really lucky that we got selected for this,” I said in a flat voice.

“You'll figure it out,” she said. “Good luck.”

After Angel closed her door, I called to Mom, who ducked under one of my arms, and the two of us clambered downstairs as fast as my failing muscles would allow.

“Looks like there's a hitch in your giddyup,” said Uncle Max
from the dining room table. “You being punished?”

I spotted Eli watching us with a smug expression.

“You could say that,” I told Uncle Max.

Mom disappeared to make breakfast, and I leaned toward Uncle Max. “Have you ever heard of beriberi?”

His forehead wrinkled. “Is that a new boy band?”

I settled back in my chair. “Never mind.”

Mom returned with my food, and I held up the plate for Eli to see. “Is
this
the cure for beriberi?”

He shook his head. “Nay. None of those foods will do.”

I shrugged at Mom. “Worth a shot.”

She cleared her throat and cocked her head toward the kitchen.

Caleb was coming in through the door, his eyes fixed on his father even though I sat mere feet from his path.

“Hey, Caleb,” I said.

He ignored me.

Mom put her fingers in her mouth and let out a piercing whistle.

Everyone turned, startled.

“Caleb, my daughter was greeting you,” she said. “Surely colonial manners don't include ignoring a sweet girl whose mother is the one you should really be upset with.”

Both Caleb and I blushed, and he mumbled something before hurrying from the room.

It was Mom's turn to shrug. “I
tried
.”

I squeezed her arm. “Thanks. Let's go to the library and hit the books.”

“Reading?” Eli laughed. “There is no time for leisure during the day. There is work to be done!”

Mom and I shot him dismayed looks.

“What?” Mom asked.

“How are we supposed to find a cure if we don't have time to look for one?” I asked.

Eli waved away my concern. “While you are still mobile, it is your duty to pull your weight in the family.”

“I
am
pulling weight!” I pointed to my ankle. “Why—”

“The morning's challenge is about to begin!” Eli bellowed for all to hear. Then he walked out the back door.

“I get the feeling he doesn't like us,” said Mom.

The morning's challenge turned out to require a lot of running.

“I get the feeling he
really
doesn't like us,” I told Mom while Eli gave the instructions.

Since fires were left burning in colonial homes during the day, there were bound to be accidents where they got out of hand.
Our task was to fill a barrel with ten buckets of water as quickly as possible, extinguishing an imaginary fire.

But because the full buckets were so heavy, they required two people to carry them, which meant that even if Mom sprinted to fetch the water, I still had to help her carry it back.

“How much you want to bet Eli just came up with this challenge last night?” I mumbled to Mom.

The minute he gave the word, I wrapped an arm around Mom's shoulder and we hobbled as quickly as we could to the water pump while people raced past us. When we reached the pump, we were alone since everyone else had already headed back with their first load of water. Mom let go of me so she could fill the bucket, and I tried to step out of her way.

And immediately fell down.

Mom turned to see what had happened and tripped over one of my lead weights, sloshing half her bucket of water on me.

“Glub!” I protested and sputtered.

“Sorry, honey. Looks like you got a free shower.” Mom pulled me to my feet and went back to filling the bucket.

I heard laughter and glared in Eli's direction. Caleb stood beside him but didn't join in his father's mirth.

“Hey.” Mom nudged me. “Let's go.”

I grabbed one of the bucket's handles, and Mom held the other. Then she took four quick steps forward. I tried
to catch up, but my weights dragged through the grass, the chains pulling tight until I stumbled to my knees. My hand was still on the bucket, and it jerked downward so that the bucket tilted crazily and half the water dumped out.

“Oh, come on!” I shouted.

More laughter, muffled behind one of Eli's meaty hands. Caleb continued to stare, looking anxious. Or possibly guilty?

Around us, people continued to race back and forth.

“I think it'll just be easier if we fill the buckets halfway and I go it alone,” said Mom.

“But that's double the trips,” I told her, getting to my feet.

“Sweetie, we haven't even made
one
trip.” She pulled the bucket from my grasp and hurried away.

I sighed and sat on the back of an empty cart.

Then I gasped and stood up.

“Mom!” I shouted, reaching down for one of my lead weights. The chain was just long enough for me to load it into the cart. I hoisted the second one in after it. Then I grabbed the handles of the cart and pushed it to the water pump to meet her.

“That's brilliant!” she cried, placing the full bucket into the cart next to my weights. We both pushed, making it across the yard almost as fast as everyone else.

There was no more laughter from the sidelines.

Mom and I didn't finish first, but we didn't finish dead last, avoiding elimination.

“We have to find a way to research the cure,” I told her once we were back inside starting our chores. “Leisure time isn't until after sunset, and by then it'll be too late.”

She nodded. “You stay here where Eli can see you, and struggle as much as you can. Really put on a show. I'll sneak off to the library and see what I can find out.”

“What if he asks where you are?”

“Tell him I'm sick,” Mom whispered. “It wouldn't be far from the truth. I think the homemade cheese was a bad idea.”

“Gross.” I wrinkled my nose. “Good luck with . . . everything.”

Eli was outside talking with Caleb, so I took a bar of soap and some rags and dragged my weights out to join them.

“Time to do some cleaning!” I chirped happily. “Boy, that was embarrassing what happened to me earlier, huh? I hope I don't . . . whoa!”

I pretended to trip and tossed the rags wildly about me. Eli pressed his lips together, but the glee in his eyes was obvious. I started to gather the rags and then sneezed into the dirt so that it flew in my face. I coughed for real and wiped at my sweaty brow until the dirt turned to a thin coat of mud.

The things I'd do to win a stupid contest.

Eli let a snicker escape. But Caleb scowled and stormed off to his craft hut.

Eli and I stared after him and then at each other.

“I don't know if that was about you or me,” I said.

“
I
did nothing wrong,” said Eli, pushing past me and heading for the barn.

Putting down the rags and soap, I dragged my weights over to the craft hut and cracked the door open. Caleb glanced up from something he was working on but didn't say anything.

“You didn't like my tumbling routine?” I asked. “Because my mom and I were thinking about adding it to our comedy show.”

Instead of smiling, his dark expression deepened.

“Don't talk about your mom to me. She humiliated my family.”

“You know she didn't mean anything by it. She was just trying to save
my
family.” I started to approach the table but jerked to a halt when one of the lead balls got caught in the doorframe. Caleb reached down and helped me clear it.

“Still, it was really embarrassing,” he said. “And a lot of people are questioning us now. My mom won't leave the house because she hates the whispering.”

I chewed my lip. “I'm sorry she feels that way, but in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly having it easy either.” I lifted a leg, and the chains rattled.

Caleb frowned and hung his head. “What my dad's doing isn't fair,” he said. “I know he's upset, but he's handling it the wrong way.” Caleb reached for one of my dirt-covered hands. “And I don't want to see you get hurt or humiliated anymore.” He poked his head outside before closing the door and turning back to me. “The cure for beriberi is simple. It's—”

“LA!” I screamed, shoving my fingers in my ears. “LALALALALALA!”

Caleb looked taken aback and mouthed something to me.

“You can't give me the answer!” I shouted. “It's cheating!”

He tilted his head to one side and started to speak again.

“No!” I said. “You could get in trouble for helping me. Promise you won't.”

Caleb sighed and nodded. I took my fingers out of my ears.

“Look, I didn't come for answers or to make you feel worse,” I said. “I came to make sure we could still be friends. My mom and I would
never
intentionally hurt someone, and I'm sure if she knew how bad this made your family feel, she'd be apologizing in person.”

Caleb crossed his arms. “Why isn't she?”

“Because she's in the library trying to find a way to cure me,” I said. “Except she won't have much longer if your dad finds her.”

He shook his head. “Don't worry about that. I'll talk to my dad.”

“Thanks.” I smiled at him. “I'd hug you, but it would take a while to get there.”

Caleb laughed and took a few steps closer. But instead of hugging me, he leaned in and gave me the quickest kiss on the lips. When he stepped back, he wiped his mouth.

My heart sank into my shackles. “That bad?”

“There was a lot of dirt,” he said, grinning. He dipped a rag in the metal-cooling barrel and dabbed at my face until the stiffness of the mud disappeared. Then he kissed me again. “Much better.”

I smiled. “I should go help my mom. If I die, you and I can't hang out anymore.”

Caleb walked me to the door. “I could give you the answer,” he reminded me.

“I know,” I said, blowing him a kiss. Then I slowly made my way back into the house.

The library was just past the kitchen, but when I approached the entrance, I didn't hear the usual mumblings of my mom talking to herself. The room was completely quiet.

Too quiet.

I poked my head inside.

Mom was fast asleep in an armchair by the window. There
was a stack of books by her feet with a cup of tea resting on top.

“Again?! You have
got
to be kidding me,” I growled. “Mom!”

She didn't budge . . . just snored.

I bent down and removed a shoe. Then I chucked it at her.

“Mom!” The shoe struck her in the leg, but she mumbled something about unicorns and kept right on napping.

I approached her and prodded her. One eye opened and rolled around to take in the whole room. Then it closed and she slumbered on.

“Nice to know I can count on you in an emergency,” I mumbled, shifting the teacup to the floor and grabbing the top book.

The table of contents made no mention of beriberi, but it talked about cures for common ailments. I flipped through the pages and looked at remedies: spearmint for indigestion, lavender for sleeplessness, pine for scurvy . . . but nothing about beriberi.

The sun moved past the window as I continued to search through medical books but found nothing. Soon my stomach began to growl. I thought back to breakfast longingly.

Then I thought about when I'd asked if my eggs and cheese were a cure for beriberi. Eli had said none of
those
foods would do it.

Which meant
some
food would be the cure.

I returned to the bookshelves and grabbed anything I could find that referenced food in the title. I didn't even bother organizing. My sweaty fingers turned the pages, too aware of the shortage of time as my eyes squinted to adjust to the fading sun.