When they entered Bird Song Fred was still in place on the sofa, but as soon as he saw them he jumped up and embraced Cynthia like the returning prodigal child. During the hurried explanations of her mother's condition, her trip home and hushed comments on the recent happenings, it was moments before Dean noticed Janet O'Brien sitting in the far corner. She was dressed in a tattered coat, hands in her lap, sitting as nervously as an immigrant awaiting deportation.
"Janet!" Dean said, "What brings you out so late?"
"She's been waiting for you," Fred offered, as if embarrassed at failing to acknowledge their wayward employee earlier.
Janet, with an out-of-character burst of loquaciousness asked, "Miz Dean, I got a little problem. I gotta go away a bit. Can Martha stay here?"
"This evening?"
"No. Like overnight."
"Certainly. Martha's never a problem. She's a sweet little girl. She can stay as long as she wants."
Bells started going off in Dean's mind at the same time bells started ringing in the hall telephone. Janet's request was far too studied for a simple baby-sitting gig. He smelled a rat. "How long?" he asked. The phone continued to ring while Janet contemplated an answer. Dean wanted Fred to answer the damned thing but the old man was too nosy to move. Dean was forced to quiet the persistent instrument before hesitant Janet could muster enough courage to voice her reply. The caller was a stutterer who wanted information on summer rates and a detailed description of the area. Dean tried listening to the two conversations while responding to the one, all at the same time but only managed to catch Cynthia's carte blanc offer for Martha to stay, 'as long as necessary'. Dean, fearing the worse, tried to shake his head 'no' from the hall but no one was looking.
Janet muttered, "I got sixty days." Then she added, "Starts tomorrow."
The two women moved out of sight and sound and Dean agonized through the lengthy, halting conversation before rejoining them. Janet was backing away toward a stage-right exit now that her lines had been delivered. She told Cynthia she'd have Martha carry over her 'stuff '.
"Whoa, wait a minute," Dean said, cutting off his caller. "Officially, doesn't Martha have to-"
"Huh?" was Janet's response.
"I mean, what's her status? Is she a foster child?"
"Naw, she's a Boyd kid."
Dean closed his eyes in frustration. "I don't mean her name. I mean legally. Are you her guardian?"
Janet gave a wave of her hand. "It's all unofficial-like. Her ma didn't tell anyone she even had a kid, so nobody cares. I took Martha in 'cause I owed Patsy a favor for some stuff. When I see Patsy I'll tell her you got her so she knows where her kid is at. Martha won't be no problem."