Janet couldn't cry anymore. She couldn't even remember how many days she had been alone. Everything was gone: food, clean clothing, even toilet paper in that bathroom down the hall. But, faintly in the back of her mind she realized she did have something; hope. Her mother wasn't there. She could no longer control Janet. Janet could do whatever she wanted and she wanted desperately to let Larry know that she was in trouble. There was no telephone in the room and Janet did not want the police to find her. She knew what Karl and her mother had been doing. That probably made her guilty of some crime. The next thought made her smile. Jail couldn't be as bad as living with the mother.
Janet's next thought made her heart ache. She wished he had a mother like Millie. Millie! What would Millie do in a situation like this? Even though her behavior belied it, Janet had always admired Millie. She acted jealous and said nasty things about Millie and Freddy but that was her defense; a way to never let people get to close because even if they acted friendly, they would eventually make fun of her. No, Janet was not jealous of Millie but Millie did have one thing Janet wished she had; a mother like Irene.
Thinking of Millie made Janet feel a little better. Millie had never treated Janet unkindly. Millie just never paid much attention to her. After the Halloween Party though, it was different. Janet never got to join the Distaff Quartet but Millie, the other girls in the Quartet, almost all the kids except Suzy and Otis talked to her, included her, even said nice things to her like, "I like your dress today," when Janet had talked her mother into letting her wear something less extreme.
For the first time since Karl and her mother had not come back, she wasn't horrified. She was still afraid but now she could think and that question that kept popping into her mind was, "What would Millie do?"
At the Halloween Party Millie prayed. Janet, at the time, didn't know what she was doing. Later that evening Janet asked Millie who she was talking to. Millie said that she was praying, talking to God. Larry did that too but he didn't say anything. He just bowed his head for a little while before he started to eat. Janet's mother thought it was stupid and yelled at Larry that she was hungry, to pass the meat. At the time, Janet wondered if her mother was so hungry, why didn't she cook herself instead of waiting until Larry did the cooking after he'd finished the chores.
Millie had told Janet that she prayed to ask God to help them have fun and to thank Him for the food they would eat.
Help! Millie had asked God for help. If anyone ever needed help, it was Janet. But Janet did not know how to pray. She did, however, remember Millie telling her that she had learned to pray from her parents and church. Janet didn't have parents available but she was sure there must be a church around somewhere. She decided to find one and ask whoever was at the church to teach her to pray.
There were churches but the first four were locked. The fifth one was huge. It had two things sticking up from the roof really high. It looked like they had crosses on top of them. Janet had seen a lot of crosses but had no idea what they meant. She had always thought they were just jewelry like a pearl or anything like that. It didn't really matter. The door wasn't locked. Janet went in and asked the lady at the desk in the first room she came to if she would teach her to pray.
As soon as Janet told the secretary why she wanted to learn to pray, everything seemed to happen at once. From somewhere four men and two more women appeared, several fawning over Janet, some on the telephone, two offering her cookies and milk. Janet was hungry so she took the cookies and milk but then protested, "Thanks but I need to learn to pray."
One of the men, the older more dignified one said, "I think God has already heard your prayer."
"But I haven't said one yet. I don't know how."
"Janet, honey, God watches over all of us. He knows our thoughts. Why did you pick this church?"
"All the others were locked. No one was there."
"I think god was already answering your prayer. Do you know Mary Collier?"
A very excited Janet said, "She's Larry's sister. Do you know where I can find her?"
"She'll be here in a few minutes. I think God sent you to the right church. "Tim and Mary Collier are members here."
"But how did God know. I don't know how to pray?"
"God cares for all of us. There's a story in the Bible about God knowing when a sparrow dies. If God cares about birds He cares more about people. God knew you needed help. You prayed, Honey, when you decided to learn how to pray."
"Oh. I wonder why He waited so long. I guess I had to want His help and then He would help?"
That's a good way to put it.
Janet had more questions but at that moment, Mary Collier walked up. Janet was in her arms sobbing out her relief.