The story is simple: A well-to-do man brings an old black man home to live in a room in the barn loft, where his butler and maid, a young black married couple already occupy two rooms and the only bathroom there along with their infant daughter.
The young woman, Emmaline, is outraged. She is both frightened that they are being subtly pushed out because of the baby, and there is the deeper fear; the man represents the dirt poor family and town she’s left behind. Emmaline is overly dramatic and frantic with her worries which enables her husband, Bert, to take advantage of her fears by reminding her of an old crazy woman they both remember from their childhood, and comparing her to the woman.
Peter Taylor’s story’s are character driven, focusing on their foibles and flaws and his revelations come little by little, as he allows us to learn more and more about them. What they say to each other is often not what they feel but rather much is done in a self-protective mode.
Taylor brings the characters together in a moment of drama as the baby’s screaming cries wakes the three adults up and they try to console her. Each is still struggling with their own emotions as they face each other. The old man is finally the one to lull the baby quiet, but we finally get to see him as he is, another human being with his own fears to overcome.
Just an awesome story and one that will, like Promise of Rain, stay with me a long time.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology