took the dishes into the kitchen.
“What do you want to do now?” Ernie asked, after they finished scrubbing the pots and wiping down the floor. “Wanna go for a walk down that road?”
“We can’t,” Jonny told him. “That leads to the girl’s school. It’s out of bounds.”
Without the other Indian boys around, there wasn’t really much to do. There wouldn’t be a baseball game or choir practice. They didn’t even have a fight in the yard to watch.
“Let’s go to the study hall,” Jonny suggested. “I’ve got a book on the go.”
Ernie wandered about the dark-panelled room, paying elaborate attention to the bars on the windows. “Do you know the rest of that legend?” he asked from across the room.
“What legend?” Jonny replied.
“The one you started to tell at the chicken coop.”
“I didn’t know it was a legend.”
“You don’t know much about Indians, do you?” Ernie said. “That story you told sounded exactly like one of our legends. Do you know the whole thing?”
Jonny closed his eyes. He could still hear the voice of the man in the woods. “Higher and higher went the water,” he said. “Day came and the rain still fell. Night came and the rain still fell. The chief of the village ordered the warriors to tie their canoes together.”
“Keep on going,” Ernie said sitting next to him
Jonny faced the boy next to him with a puzzled face. “I don’t know how I know all this.”
But Ernie didn’t seem to think it strange that Jonny knew this story. “Go on,” he said.
Jonny closed his eyes and continued. “And the people did. For many days and nights the people of the village watched the rain come down and the water rise above the treetops. In fear, they floated and drifted in the waters of the falling rain.”
“You’re telling it exactly the way it is supposed to be told,” Ernie said. He gave a great sigh of satisfaction. “Keep going.”
The rest of the story flowed from Jonny’s mouth. “They lived in the cave until the waters moved back down the mountain and the world began again.” He stopped speaking and gave out a great sigh. A sense of satisfaction rose within him and he smiled. “That’s it,” he said.
“You’ve got to end it the right way,” Ernie said. “Whenever my grandfather told legends, he always ended them the same way.”
Father Gregory walked into the study hall at that moment, carrying a notebook, pencil, and ruler. Jonny closed his book and stood up. Ernie sauntered over to the door.
“You go on ahead,” Father Gregory told Ernie. “I want to show Jonny my plans.”
Father Gregory put the notebook on the table. “In my last church, I had a whole choir of boys that sang as beautifully as you,” he said. “I wanted to be in charge of the choir here, but Sister Theresa was already directing it.” He gave a deep sigh and placed his hand on Jonny’s. “Maybe if I show Father Paul how good I am at taking care of little chicks, he’ll let me take over the choir. What do you think?”
Jonny slipped his hand out from under the priest’s. He didn’t know what to think or what to say, so he slid the notebook toward Father Gregory and quietly left the room.
In the dormitory Ernie adjusted his bed covers while Jonny sank to his knees. “Don’t tell me you’re praying again,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“We’re supposed to pray before bed,” Jonny replied.
The lights went out at nine-thirty. In the long-echoing dormitory, both boys lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Then Jonny remembered what Ernie had said in the study hall.
“Hey, Ernie,” he whispered. “What did you say about ending that legend?”
“You have to say,” Ernie whispered back, “‘these are the words of my people. These are the words I have learned.’” His voice broke into a sob, followed by a series of muffled whimpers.
That kid may be tough enough to fight everyone during the day, Jonny thought as he rolled over and closed his eyes. But, at night, Ernie’s just like all the others, crying in the dark for his home.
5
The Basement
The first bell of the morning woke Ernie with a start. He groaned, pulled the blankets up over his head, and curled into a ball.
Jonny, already dressed, folded his pajamas and tucked them in his cubby. He pulled the top sheet of his bed back to the bottom. “You better get up,” he whispered to the lump in the bed beside him, “or you’ll be …”
Father John’s black robes filled the doorway. “Rise and shine,” he boomed as he strode to the side of the Ernie’s mattress and gave it a strong upward tug. Ernie landed on the floor.
The priest left the room laughing.
“I’m definitely gonna get that guy,” Ernie said fighting his way out of the bed sheets.
“We have to be at the chapel before the next bell,” Jonny told him as he helped pull the mattress back into place. He led the boy into the washroom and handed him a toothbrush from the jar on the counter.
“What about breakfast?” Ernie asked.
“After Mass,” Jonny said. He didn’t bother to tell him they had to return to the dorm to make their beds after they aired out.
The bell for Mass sounded just as Jonny hurried Ernie toward the stairs. Instead of taking the steps, Ernie slid down the banister. Jonny genuflected at the door of the chapel. The acrid smells of incense filled their nostrils as they entered.
“What’s that stink?” Ernie whispered as he screwed up his nose. His mouth dropped open at the huge wooden image against the back wall. He frowned at the large drops of blood dripping from the crown of thorns that circled the Saviour’s head. “What the hell did that guy do?” Ernie asked.
“Sit here,” whispered Jonny as the black-robed men and women filled the front pews. Father Gregory lit a candle. He used it to light another and then another until the back wall of the altar filled with tongues of orange light.
Father Paul raised the silver communion plate and lowered it. He mixed a few drops of water with wine in a chalice and raised and lowered it as well. After washing his hands, the old priest spoke. “Lava me, Domine, ab iniquitate mea.”
Ernie stared at the priest in front of the altar pronouncing the mysterious words. “What language is he speaking?” he asked in a loud voice. “And how come they get to speak their own language and we can’t?”
Jonny nudged Ernie and shook his head.
Father Paul kneeled and rested his forehead against the crisp altar cloth. He stayed for a moment and staggered
