‘Well?’ queried Rex.
‘No, she don’t owe me a red cent, young man. Yuh see, none of us ever understood her. We wanted to be neighbors, but she didn’t care to mix with us. We didn’t understand why she kept yuh so close all the time. Hirin’ private teachers and all that. Of course,’ quickly, ‘it wasn’t none of our business. But you’ve lived here a long time, and folks do get curious.’
‘I see,’ absently.
‘Ain’t you got no relations?’
Rex shook his head quickly. ‘None that I have ever heard about.’
‘Father dead?’
‘I don’t know,’ replied Rex honestly.
‘Don’t know?’
‘Not a thing, Mr. Weed. I have never heard a word about him. My mother never mentioned him to me.’
‘Nor to anybody else, I guess.’