Monday Evening
October 27, 1952
- We've jumped ahead a little over a year, and Patience and Abyssinia—Abby for short—are back in Ponca City with Strong.
- The women of Ponca City are pretty obsessed with Abby and talk about her birth all the time. Of particular interest is a mark on the baby's cheek left by a small ember from the fire she was born next to.
- Patience shows Abyssinia the seasons as they pass, and then she prepares for winter. Always, though, women from the town stop by to coo over and hold Abby.
- Speaking of women stopping by to see Abby, Patience's sisters "were so possessive of the baby that Strong sometimes felt superfluous."
- One night Patience goes to check on Abby but finds the baby's bed empty. She assumes Strong must have her with him, but when he comes home, he also has no idea where the baby might be. Hrm…
- Patience and Strong figure her sisters Serena and Sadonia have taken Abby, and sure enough, when they stop by their house, they hear one of the sisters talking in baby talk. Thing is, they've locked the door and absolutely refuse to let Patience and Strong have their baby back. Needless to say, Strong has, um, strong feelings about this. Patience definitely isn't pleased, but she has a gentler touch and devises a surefire plan to get Abby back.
- There are gospel singers coming to church from out of town later in the day, and Patience knows there's no way her sisters won't show up for the service. So after trying unsuccessfully to talk them into returning Abby, she simply calls through the locked door that she'll see them at church.
- Abyssinia's birthmark isn't the only thing that makes her special, by the way—she also connects with church music in some instinctive and undeniable way: "Even Mother Barker, who was known for telling the truth, said it sounded like the baby was humming" (3.82). So boom.
- Anyway, later on at church, though Patience's sisters don't show up right away with Abby, they eventually do. And when they do, Patience simply picks her baby back up and starts nursing her.