Ties That Bind by Debbie White

Bowman’s. We’re looking for the Bowman family.”
    She looked at me, and then she looked at Charles.
    “There’s no one here by that name,” she said as she made her way back inside, letting the screen door slam behind her.
    Charles took my hand. I was shaking and he knew very well that this incident had upset me.
    “I don’t think she’s telling the truth, but we’ll let it go - for now,” he said as he walked us toward the car.
    We drove in silence for a while. Finally, I had to say something. “What makes you think she’s not telling the truth?”
    “Well for one, she wasn’t very friendly. Most Iowans are very friendly. She wanted to get rid of us. You’d usually pick up on that, Pat. You have excellent investigative and instinctive skills,” he added smiling.
    “You’re right. I felt her uneasiness with our presence. I suppose it’s too close to home.”
    “That’s Ok, that’s why you brought me along,” he said, gently squeezing my hand.
    “We may be searching for a needle in a haystack, Charles. Aunt Toots and Uncle George left Iowa before we did. That old farmhouse has probably changed owners a zillion times,” I said looking out the car window at row after row of corn. Charles just kept driving.
    “See all these rows of corn? We used to run and hide among the stalks. We were dirt poor, but we had so much fun in those days. We didn’t really know we were poor or at least we didn’t care,” I said, smiling about the days I played on the farm.
    Sometimes I felt Charles couldn’t relate to my stories. His family was pretty well off. His dad was a big shot in the car industry in Michigan. Charles was educated and had military experience. I was a dumb farm girl from Iowa.
    He must have been deep in thought as he finally spoke up. “I realize that maybe the lady doesn’t know anything about your family, but I still think in a small town such as this, stories still float around or are passed down from family to family. I think she might know a little something.”
    I turned to him and although his eyes remained on the road, I spoke to his face. “Whenever you say enough is enough I’ll be ready to leave too.”
    He cut his face sharply to look at me. “We just got here, Pat. Give it time. Besides, we’re retired now. This is for fun. Relax. Take a chill pill,” he said laughing.
    Although he didn’t see it, I nodded.
    “Let’s go look for the convent,” I said with the enthusiasm I knew he wanted.

Chapter Ten
     
     
    It always amazed me how my mother could be so mean and evil yet at one time was a nun. At least that’s the story that had been handed down to me.
    We had wooden crosses that hung on the walls of our house, we blessed all our meals, and we said prayers before going to bed at night. Sundays we’d all go to church and by Sunday evening the gang would be drinking, cursing and playing cards. Talk about hypocrisy.
     
    ***
     
    We located the convent. I felt nervous as we entered the building. I’m not sure why, except that we were about to find out some things.
    We were greeted by a young lady dressed in a habit smiling ear to ear.
    “Hello. How can I help you?” She asked.
    I let Charles speak. I wasn’t sure I had the courage to ask the difficult questions yet.
    “Hello, we’re hoping you can help us,” he smoothly replied. “My wife,” he said nodding in my direction, “has some information that shows her adoptive mother perhaps once lived here as a teen,” Charles said, presenting a copy of the consensus.
    The sister took the paper and looked it over. She seemed to look at it for a long time. Perhaps she was trying to decide how to handle the awkward situation we’d placed her in. Thinking back on that day, I’m sure we couldn’t have been the only couple ever seeking answers from that convent before. I couldn’t be the only lost child trying to find answers.
    She looked up at us, first looking at me, and then directing her eyes to Charles.
    “We keep