Anybody Shining (19 page)

“She didn't even know about us?” Lucille harrumphed. “What kind of manners is that, not to tell your own child she has cousins?”

“Hush now, Lucille,” Mama said, sniffing a bit. “Anna says she has been in the wrong all these years, and she wants to come visit and see the old home place just as soon as she can, which will probably be next month.” Well, that set Mama off to crying for a long spell, and we all leaned over and patted her, trying to soothe her a bit.

“Did she give my letters to Caroline then?” I asked. “Does Caroline know I exist yet?”

Mama nodded. “Anna says Caroline's going to write you a nice letter back. Well, you got a letter today, didn't you? Who's it from?”

And that's when I finally let myself look at the return address. Sure, enough, it said Raleigh, North Carolina. “I think this is it,” I said, my fingers all a-trembling. “I think this is the letter from Caroline.”

“Read it, Arie Mae!” Harlan cried. “Let's hear about our cousin in Raleigh!”

But I couldn't bring myself to read it in front of them. I had told Caroline so much that I ain't told them, I felt our friendship to be a private thing.

“How about I open this package from Tom?” I asked, and they all cheered. So I opened up the box and what did I find, but a book just like Tom's and a note saying he was feeling much better and he was sending me a book for me to write my own stories in. “Please tell me all the ghost stories you hear, Arie Mae,” he wrote, “and let me know if you see Oza again.”

“Oza Odom?” Lucille asked, leaning toward me as though to read the letter herself. “You seen her?”

I folded it back up and said, “I'll tell you
about it later. Now let's see what's in this other parcel.”

Turned out the other parcel was from Aunt Jennie! She'd sent me a copy of her recipe book with a note that said, “Please copy out the souse receipt and send it on to Tom Wells.”

“I guess I'll go do that directly,” I said, standing up and gathering my things together. I leaned over and give Mama a hug. “I'm happy Aunt Anna wrote you a letter, Mama.”

Mama looked at me a long moment. “I gave up on my sister when I should have kept trying to reach her. I'm so glad you didn't give up on your cousin. It means the world to me that you two are friends.”

Cousin Caroline, I could barely keep still as I sat on my bed to read your letter. I feared it would be short and polite, even though the envelope had a nice heft to it. What if you had nothing to say to me, only “Thank you for your letters, I hope you are fine.” Oh, I couldn't bear it if that was the case.

But as you and me both know, that weren't the case at all.

Thank you for the picture you sent! It is such a nice one, the way your face is shining and full of life. Why, it makes me feel like we have knowed each other for years and years and have always been the best of friends.

I am sorry to say we don't share much of a resemblance, but you and Lucille have similar eyes, and that has made Lucille happy as can be. She says she is going to write you a long letter all about herself with lots of details and a lock of her hair. You don't have to write her back, but she will be your devoted servant if you do.

And thank you for telling me about what your school is like. I don't know that I'd care to go to a school that was just girls, especially when some of them sound awful mean. I think any girl named Bertha is bound to be sour, and you are wise to stay out of her way. I'm happy to hear that your teacher, Miss Gardner, is sweet-natured, and that you are her pet. I wish
Miss Sary's school had a chalkboard so I could clap erasers against the brick wall at the end of the day the way you do.

There is one part of your letter I have read over and over again, where you said my letters have set straight why your mama's apple stack cake has always been your favorite and why you have always felt homesick for a place you never been. My letters made you see that you are a mountain girl just the same as me.

Now, don't that just make perfect sense? Your mama is a mountain girl, after all. I think when you come to visit, you won't feel homesick no more because you will be right at home.

And yes, we will do all them things you asked to do once you get here. We'll hike up to Aunt Jennie's and go looking for Oza, and if you are truly wanting to learn to make souse, then I'm sure Mama will be happy to show you how, but you might think twice after you see the recipe.

And yes, we will visit Miss Sary and look at her encyclopedia with James and make plans for our travels, and we will go to a barn dance of a Saturday night and I will teach you all the words to “Cluck Old Hen.”

Lucille can't wait for you to meet Chandelier and James is wondering if you are the kind of girl who likes to go fishing. I told him that I thought you most likely was.

Oh, we will have so many adventures when you come to visit! But you know what I most look forward to? Sitting on the porch of an evening, where I will tell you all of my stories and you will tell me all of yours. For now, I will put your picture beside my bed and think of you each night before I go to sleep. I am counting the days until your arrival. Until then, I remain

Your Cousin and Own True Friend,

Arie Mae Sparks

I would like to thank Caitlyn Dlouhy for once again making the magic happen, and Jessica Sit for being a fabulous magician's assistant. Thanks to Michael McCartney, who did such a marvelous job designing this book, and to Clare McGlade, whose copyedits made the book a better place to be. Thanks to Justin Chanda, world's best publisher and rooftop gardener, for his ongoing support. Thanks to Doug Broyles, for sharing his knowledge of Old Time music and trying to teach me to play the fiddle, bless his heart. Thanks to the good folks of the N.C. Folklife Institute for letting me raid their archives. A tip of the hat is owed to David Whisnant, whose book
All That is Native and Fine: The Politics of Culture in an American Region
inspired this story. Much love to Amy Graham and Danielle Paul for their constant encouragement, and to Clifton, Jack, Will and Travis Dowell for being the best family (and dog) a writer could ask for.

Also by Frances O'Roark Dowell

The Secret Language of Girls

The Kind of Friends We Used to Be

The Sound of Your Voice, Only Really Far Away

* * *

Phineas L. MacGuire . . . Blasts Off!

Phineas L. MacGuire . . . Erupts!

Phineas L. MacGuire . . . Gets Slimed!

Phineas L. MacGuire . . . Gets Cooking!

* * *

Chicken Boy

Dovey Coe

Falling In

The Second Life of Abigail Walker

Shooting the Moon

Ten Miles Past Normal

Where I'd Like To Be

* * *

ATHENEUM BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Text copyright © 2014 by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Jacket illustration copyright © 2014 by Robert Hunt

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dowell, Frances O'Roark.

Anybody shining / Frances O'Roark Dowell. — First edition.

p.   cm

Summary: In a series of letters to her cousin, twelve-year-old Arie Mae relates her life in a mountain valley of North Carolina in the 1920s.

ISBN 978-1-4424-3292-5 (hc)

ISBN 978-1-4424-3294-9 (eBook)

[1. Mountain life—North Carolina—Fiction. 2. North Carolina—History—20th century—Fiction. 3. Letters—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.D75455An 2014

[Fic]—dc23

2013032730