Who's Sorry Now? by Jill Churchill Page A

bones. I hope it's within my lifetime. Do you think the Harbinger boys would make me a crate in which to ship her?"
    “Why are you calling the skeleton ‘her'?" Lily asked.
    Only slightly embarrassed to explain in detail, he merely said, "A woman's pelvis is designed to separate to let a baby's head through the birth canal. A man's isn't.”
    Her, Lily thought. She'd still been thinking of the skeleton as "it." From now on, the skeleton would be a girl.
    Dr. Toller was still staying at Grace and Favor but was late for dinner, so Mr. Prinney made a further announcement about the library. "It appears that we've already resolved the problem that Miss an dMr. Brewster and I were dealing with. So feel free to use the room anytime you wish.”
    Everybody was obviously curious. But they were too polite to ask questions.
    Lily changed the subject. "Dr. Toller should be here soon. He has interesting things to tell you about the skeleton. Especially about her moccasins."
    “What about them?" Robert asked.
    “I should let Dr. Toller tell you. But I can hardly keep it to myself. She was wearing small moccasins. They're completely intact and very pretty. He says they were probably soaked thoroughly in beeswax. Aside from a scrap of leather, and the other beads that were loose in the soil, that's the only article of clothing that survived. The beads are smaller than the other ones that were found.”
    A moment later, Dr. Toller arrived, apologizing for being late but proudly showing around the small shoes.
    “Poor little girl," Phoebe said. "Can you tell how she died?"
    “No, I'm afraid I can't," Dr. Toller admitted. "There was no sign of an injury. No broken bones, at least. It could have been a disease. Smallpox or measles. The bones don't tell me."
    “She might have been one of my family," Chief Walker said.
    “You're an Indian?" Toller asked.
    “Only an eighth part. But the old genes were passed down."
    “Do you think she was buried there before or after this house was built?" Robert asked.
    “I know bones. I don't know houses. Do you know when it was built?”
    Everyone looked at Mr. Prinney for an answer.
    He thought for a minute or two, and said, "Mr. Horatio Brewster inherited it from his Aunt Flora. She was born around 1850, as I recall. She was known to have been born and grown up here. So the house must have been here since at least that date. I can check the records at the city hall. They might still exist."
    “But she was a couple feet outside the foundation," Robert pursued. "No matter when the house was built, she wasn't dug up then, or she wouldn't have been found this week."
    “I was telling Miss Brewster a little while ago that the skeleton should be preserved at a museum. Right now it's impossible to guess when she died. But someday science will figure out a way to determine this. I hope some of us survive until that happens and one of you finds out."
    “I'm going to stay one more day, Mr. and Mrs. Prinney, if Miss and Mr. Brewster agree. I want to see her bones well packed into a crate. Then you can present me with your bill for feeding and housing me.”
    In spite of what Mr. Prinney, Lily, and Robert had discovered in the library, nobody demurred about being paid.
    “I for one have enjoyed having you here," Lily said. "You discovered such interesting things. We seldom have guests as knowledgeable as you are.”
    On that note, Dr. Toller put the moccasins aside and began his dinner as the others finished theirs.
    CHAPTER EIGHT
    Thursday, April 27
    DR. TOLLER had asked the Harbinger boys to make him a sturdy crate to ship the girl's bones, beads, and moccasins to the pathologist and then to a museum. He called a freighting company he was familiar with in these cases. "Do you mind if I leave her in your garage next to your car, Mr. Brewster?"
    “Not at all. But let me know when they're coming so I can move the Duesie out of their way." What he really meant, of course, was that he didn't want anybody