Godslittlerosebud1
 Crystal Marie Shaw stared up at the farmhouse.  It looked nothing like what she had expected her new foster home to look like.  She wondered if the foster family here would be nicer then the last one, but she had a sinking feeling that they would be just the same or even worse.  It had been a long trip from the tip of Maine to the northwest corner of Kansas, and she was exhausted, but she kept it hidden from Ms.Taylor, her social worker, and climbed out of the station wagon.  She walked around to the back and took her suitcases out of the trunk and set them on the ground. 

"I'll bring the boxes in later."

Ms. Taylor shook her head angrily. 

"No, take them in now, I'm leaving as soon as I can." 

Crystal's eyes filled with tears as she turned away and struggled to lift the heavy boxes out of the car.  It took her a few minutes to get them out, with Ms. Taylor scolding her and not even lifting one manicured finger to help.  She finally managed to get them onto the porch of the big old farm house, and Ms. Taylor rang the doorbell.  A sourfaced old woman answered.

"Whadda ya want?" 

"I'm Ms. Taylor, and I've brought Crystal Shaw." 

The woman looked at Crystal suspiciously. 

"Humph.  You don't look like much.  Well, come on in.  Jed'll bring in your boxes later when he gets back from town." 

She led the way into a shabby, dingy parlor, and gave Crystal a wooden chair to sit on while Ms. Taylor was told to sit on the couch.  Ms. Taylor spoke first. 

"I assume that you are Mrs. Smith?" 

"No, I'm her mother, Mrs. Jackson.  She's not home right now, neither is Jed." 

Ms. Taylor was rather upset. 

"I need to sign the papers with them before I can leave, when will they be back?" 

"In about two hours.  Would you like to stay for supper?"

Ms. Taylor glanced at her watch.  It was about 5 o'clock, and she knew that signing the papers would take half an hour to an hour at best.  She sighed angrily.

"Might as well, I've nothing better to do." 

The insult was unmistakable.  Mrs. Jackson looked at her, anger smoldering in her dark eyes, then turned to the slightly built girl. 

"You can bring your things in, now." 

Crystal knew better then to argue, but her eyes said it all.  She knew that this was going to be the worst foster home she had ever been in.  But she had no idea how right she was, or what she would go through before the year was up.

 

Supper was strained as Jed Smith and Marla Smith tried to keep up a cheerful conversation.  It was a dismal failure.  Crystal picked at her food, while Ms. Taylor and Mrs. Jackson ate in stony silence.  Pretty soon the meal was over and the adults went into the sitting room to sign the papers.  Crystal went outside and sat on the porch.  She sat there for about an hour while the formalities were being wrapped up, then Ms. Taylor and Jed came out. 

"Crystal, I'm done here, so I'll be leaving.  You be good and don't give the Smiths any trouble." 

"Yes, ma'am," said Crystal quietly. 

Jed spoke up. 

"Come on, girl, let's git your things up to your room." 

She followed without a word; Jed picked up the two larger suitcases and headed up the stairs, Crystal followed, carrying the smallest of them.  They climbed up to the third floor and went down to the end of the very short hall.  Jed opened a door on the left side of the hall and stood back to let Crystal enter.  She set her suitcase down on the bed and turned to Jed. 

"Thank you.  Shall I help you bring up my boxes?" 

"No, I can git them.  You just make your self at home." 

He left the room, and Crystal sank down on the bed.  She felt unwanted, lonely, like an intruder.  She sighed, and took her first good look at the room that would be her home for who-knew how long.  It was a decent sized room, with two windows, a dormer and a regular window, sloping ceiling, and hardwood floor covered with a braided rag rug.  The bed was high and old fashioned, covered with a quilt and afghan.  The window had muslin curtains, and overlooked the front of the property.  Under the plain window was an old wooden desk, and next to the bed was a small table.  An old chair stood in the dormer window, and there was an armoir on next to the closet.  Nothing was improper, it was even pretty, but it felt sterile, cold, unwelcoming, as if no one had wanted her to come or made an effort to make it nicer.  She didn't know it, but that was exactly the case.  She sighed, and started to unpack her suitcases.

 

The next morning, Crystal went down to help with breakfast.  To her surprise, there were two other girls, about her age, in the kitchen making breakfast.  One, a short, thin girl with short blond hair and big blue eyes, stopped chopping up the apples and walked over to Crystal with a big smile. 

"Hi!  I'm Mae Smith.  Are you Crystal?" 

Crystal nodded nervously. 

"Yes.  I didn't see you yesterday."  Her voice had a questioning tone to it. 

"Yes, I was at work.  Mike brought me home late last night.  This is Jordan, she's staying with us until her grandparents can pick her up." 

"Hello," Crystal said shyly.  Jordan was a tall, thin girl who stood at the stove stirring the oatmeal.  She pushed her long brown hair back from her face and looked at Crystal.  She smiled slightly, then turned back to the stove.  Crystal looked at Mae. 

"She's a quiet person, don't take it personally.  Did you come down to help or eat?" 

Crystal laughed. 

"Both!  I'm starved.  What do you want me to do?" 

"Well, I guess you can set the table, that about all that's left.  Use bowls, we're having oatmeal today.  Uncle Jed's out with Mike doing the chores, and they'll be bringing in the milk.  Um, you can put that pitcher on, oh, and the bowls are in that cupboard next to the silverware drawer.  We'll be seven people." 

Mae went back to chopping the apples, and Crystal started to set the table.  They had just finished putting breakfast on when Jed and another man, who Crystal guessed to be Mike, walked in. 

"Huh, looks like you learn quick, girl.  That's good, because you'll have lots of learning to do, and we don't have time to waste training city slickers who don't know a weed from a carrot top!" Jed growled.

Crystal cringed slightly, but managed to say quietly, "I'll do my best, sir." 

Jed ignored her and turned to wash his hands.  Mae spoke up. 

"Crystal, would you come help me get the baby up?  You haven't met my little cousin yet." 

Crystal eagerly agreed, and they left the room.  They walked down the hall to a small room off the parlor.  Mae picked up the baby who was starting to fuss. 

"I'm going to warn you, Crystal, it's not going to be easy for you here.  You are a city girl, and city girls don't often know much about farming.  But don't worry, I'll help you as much as I can.  I'm glad you came!" 

Crystal stared at Mae.  She couldn't believe how kindly she was talking to her.  Most people shoved her around, scolding her for almost everything she did.  But this girl was different.  Why?  She didn't know, but she knew that it was good.  She smiled, a little less shyly than before, and said, "Thank you.  Shall we go eat?"

 

 Crystal had been at the farm for about a week.  Already, she was hurting deeply from the scorn of Jed, Marla, Mrs. Jackson, and Mike.  Jordan was indifferent, and Mae was too busy with her job in town to do much more than say "Hi" in the morning when they got up, and "Hi" when she got home at night.  One day, Crystal was out in the garden weeding when she heard Marla yelling for her. 

"Crystal, you lazy girl, git in here!" 

Crystal sighed and ran inside. 

"Yes, ma'am?" 

"I need you to go clean the room right across from yours, we are having another kid come tonight." 

"Tonight?!" she asked in shock. 

"Yes, tonight.  Now git up there and git it ready for him." 

"Yes, ma'am." 

Crystal went upstairs, her head spinning.  So, there was going to be another foster kid.  And it would be a boy.  Would he pick on her, like all the other foster kids she had known?  Would he ignore her?  Would he...She shut off her thoughts.  No, she wasn't going to think about stuff like that, ever.  She went to work, and, before long had made the room much more welcoming than her room had been.  She looked around and sighed, then went downstairs to start supper.

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