Noble Pursuits by Chautona Havig

with the hose.
    “Getting out the gore?” Grace heard Nolan’s taunt from across the lawn but continued in her cleansing rite.
    “Aww, come on, Grace, the poor broom is clean already! Give the thing a chance!” Nolan’s wheedling voice seemed to make no impact on Grace.
    By the time he reached her side, he saw that things were much worse than he had realized. Grace wasn’t just angry over the mice; she was terrified. Her knuckles gripped the broom like a pair of vice grips. He eased the broom from her hands and drew Grace back into the house. Grabbing an afghan from the back of the couch, Nolan led her to the recliner, tucked the blanket around her, sat on the floor beside the chair, and prayed.
    Grace mumbled something about finding the money for an exterminator and then something about protecting her fruit before falling into an exhausted sleep. Nolan stood and watched her for a moment. Did she expect an exterminator to be open on a Sunday ? As he headed into the kitchen to consider how to protect the fruit, he realized that Grace had been talking to herself again. A bemused smile crept over his features as he went outside to rejoin Amber.
    “Does Grace often talk to herself?”
    Amber snickered as she practiced dribbling across the yard. “She carries on entire conversations by herself… she even repeats the conversation with different answers and stuff. It’s like she practices what she might have to say or something.
    Amber gave an impish little smile before adding, “And she is funny sometimes too! I heard her talking once; she was really letting some company have it for not sending the right stuff and then charging her for it and the right stuff too. When I went in, she was making her bed… and there was no phone anywhere!”
    Nolan chuckled at the mental picture but quickly sobered. “I don’t want to sound like I am reprimanding you, but… well, some people might call it gossip to tell a story like that. I shouldn’t have asked. Forgive me?”
    Amber looked at him curiously before nodding cautiously. “Do you really think Miss Grace would mind? She is always making fun of herself for her ‘inside conversations.’ I didn’t know it was wrong to talk about it.”
    “Well, technically it might not be wrong to have told me that story, but my asking was tempting you to gossip…and in the very strictest sense, talking about Grace, with her not here, could be considered gossip.” Nolan paused to try to clarify his thoughts. How do you explain gossip to a child who wouldn’t consider maligning her friend?
    “So, just in case someone thinks you are being mean, you shouldn’t talk about them unless they are there?” Amber seemed fascinated by the direction that the conversation had taken.
    “That’s right.” Nolan’s relief was evident.
    “But how would they know you talked about them if they aren’t there?” Amber’s eyes began to look suspicious.
    “That is the point, Amber. If who you spoke to mentions the conversation, then the person, if they felt gossiped about, might not feel comfortable talking to you anymore. See?”
    Amber looked as if she had another question, but before she could ask, remembered something. “ Wait! We forgot all about Mr. and Mrs. Buscher! They are having their baby right now. It might be here. Miss Grace wanted to go see them when the baby came. Should we go see for her?”
    Nolan laughed at the little girl’s obvious delight in her scheme. “Well, there are two problems with that. First, I can’t take you anywhere without Grace’s permission, and secondly… well… I think that her brother will call her as soon as that baby arrives. What we can do though, is go inside and make dinner.”
    “We could take some to Mr. and Mrs. Buscher too! Hospital food is yucky!” Amber’s face was comical. It seemed as though she was no stranger to the bland fare of institutional food.
    Inside, Nolan stood before the sparse refrigerator, hands in pockets and tried to