“Lemme do the talkin’,” said Skeeter. “It ain’t safe to be a stranger around here.”
Skeeter went close to the door and called: “Mrs. Kirk! Yoohoo! Mrs. Kirk!”
For several moments there was silence, and then—
“Who is it?”
Mrs. Kirk’s voice sounded very weak.
“Skeeter Bill Sarg, who went after groceries.”
The splintered door creaked, and a faint light came from the interior.
“Why, I—I—” stammered Mrs. Kirk, astonished beyond measure to hear his voice.
She stepped aside and stared white-faced at Skeeter and his burden and at the others with him. Skeeter stared at Roper Bates, asprawl in the chair, and at the form under the blankets on the bed.
He lowered Freel to the floor and propped Kales up between the table and the wall. Mary Leeds and Mrs. Porter were staring at Mrs. Kirk while Skeeter Bill chafed his benumbed arms and neck and haltingly introduced them.