Puddlejumpers (19 page)

Joey couldn't contain her excitement. “Oh, Russ, you won't believe what we found…”

“… yeah, some bear tracks,” interrupted Ernie. “Up in that field across the ridge.” He nervously fingered the rattle concealed behind his back.

Catching on, Joey stammered, “Oh, oh yeah, up there behind Emil's bee keep. Can you believe it, Russ—bears, right here in Illinois.”

Russ raised an eyebrow but went along good-naturedly with a look to Ernie. “And I'm guessing you got to wrestling with that same bear and looks like you got the worst of it.”

Ernie was starting to regret the bear story when Betty entered looking stressed. The sight of her daughter standing next to a wild-looking boy in a dusty Cubs cap and ripped shirt didn't brighten her outlook. “I hope you have a good reason for getting back after dark, Jo Virginia—I'm already on the boiling point, and when my spout blows, I'm not going to be whistlin',” she warned.

Joey improvised, “Well, Mom, you see, we were playin' a big old game of hide-and-seek and Ernie was having some trouble finding me, and it got late, but I didn't want to leave him, seeing as he's new around here, so I finally just came in.”

Betty laughed. “I'm sure you don't expect me to believe that.”

“It's all true, mostly, hey, Mom—meet the Cubber, just in from Chicago.”

Betty extended her hand while keeping a skeptical eye on her daughter. “Hi, Cubber. I'm Betty Woodruff.”

Ernie slipped the rattle into his back pocket before shaking Betty's hand. “Ernie Banks,” he said.

“It must be nice for you to get away—from the city, I mean.”

Ernie shrugged.

“We sure hope you enjoy your stay,” she said with a smile.

“He can do magic, Mom,” proclaimed Joey, then tugged Ernie's arm. “Make something disappear.”

Ernie looked pained under the glare of the adult spotlight. Betty squeezed her daughter in a hug and kissed her forehead. “Think you could make this one disappear?” she asked playfully.

“Mom!” complained Joey.

Betty frowned. “How on earth did your clothes get wet?”

“It's called water, Mom. You know, like what comes out of the hose.”

Betty shook her head. “And you shouldn't be wasting it.”

“No baths tonight,” joked Russ as he herded everyone out of the room. “C'mon, I want Ernie to meet everybody, and we better get you guys some supper before it's all gone. Oh, one more thing—I'll take those matches now.”

Ernie sheepishly handed them over. As they walked toward the kitchen, he gave Joey a look, warning her to keep silent.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The Secret

A
FTER SUPPER
, Ernie and Joey wandered out to the corral and sat on the top rail of the fence. Beneath a moon that hung so low in the sky Ernie felt he could touch it, they discussed their discovery.
Why was everything so tiny in the kidnapper's hideout! What made that puddle float in the air? Where was Shawn Frazier now?

They fell silent when Russ and Betty came outside to bid the neighbors good night. Joey and Ernie listened to the friendly exchanges as everyone got into their cars and pickups, then watched the parade of vehicles motor up the dusty drive. Russ and Betty lingered by the porch, looking at the stars. Her Jeep was the only vehicle left in the yard.

After a few moments, Ernie turned to Joey. “I like your mom.”

“Yeah. So does Russ. He says she's the only mom in the whole county who can fix her Jeep and paint a picture and do it on the same day. She paints barns, mostly. Not real barns, just pictures of barns and some other stuff, too. Russ says they belong in a gallery somewhere, but most of them end up in people's houses. Oh, and our mailbox, too. It looks just like that,” she said, pointing to the stars.

Ernie nodded as he considered his next question. “So what happened to your real dad?”

She answered matter-of-factly. “My daddy got run over by his tractor on a mud slide up along East Creek when I was a little kid.”

“Oh.” Ernie wondered if a father dying was worse than never having one at all. “You think your mom and Russ'll ever get married?”

She shrugged. “She sure talks about him enough.”

Ernie tried to stop himself from asking the next question, but it just spilled out. “Would you like it if you got a new dad?”

“Yeah,” answered Joey.

“You'll probably get the crib room,” he speculated.

“I doubt it. My mom says if it don't rain soon, Russ is gonna lose this farm.”

“He can't lose his own farm,” protested Ernie.

“Shows you know nothin' about economics—the bank can take it when he don't make a cent on one acre out of twenty-five.”

Ernie wasn't exactly sure what she was talking about, but he gave her the benefit of the doubt, considering she was a farmer and all. He decided to change the subject. “How long has Russ been bringing orphan kids out here?”

“Ever since I can remember. My mom says it makes him feel like he's doing something for little Shawnie.”

“What's that bat and glove doing in the basement?”

“It's Russ',” she replied. “He used to play ball with the Tigers.”

Ernie's jaw dropped. “No way! The Detroit Tigers?”

“Yup,” she said casually. “Didn't you see all those trophies? Russ didn't get 'em riding the pine—he was a star, until he blew out his knee sliding into home plate.”

“Wow,” he said, shaking his head in awe. “Is that why he limps?”

“Obviously.”

Their conversation was interrupted when Betty called from the porch, “Joey, time to be getting home.”

“Don't worry, Mom, I'll have Sassy fed and watered before you get there.”

“Don't give her too many oats—that pony's wild enough already.”

“I know, just one can,” she answered, then turned to Ernie with a shy expression. “Now it's time for their big smooch.” They watched as Russ and Betty disappeared arm in arm into the kitchen. Joey whistled for Sassy. Her pony trotted over and nuzzled against her.

“You afraid of blood?” asked Ernie.

“Not hardly,” she responded.

“Good,” Ernie said as he pilfered a sliver from the fence. He didn't like the sight of blood any more than the next person, but this was something that had to be done. He pricked his thumb and blood oozed from the wound.

“You crazy?” she blurted. “What'd you do that for?”

Ernie looked Joey in the eye. “You and me know something nobody else knows in the whole world, and now we got to trust each other, like family.”

“Oh, jeez—why's everything got to be such a big secret with you?”

“'Cause grown-ups mess things up and that's no maybe—it's a fact,” he asserted.

“But it's Russ' kid we're talkin' about here, not some stranger,” she reminded.

“We'll tell him when the time is right and not before.”

Joey gave him a long look. “So what you're asking is for me to be your blood brother?”

“Yeah, basically, for the sake of Shawn Frazier.”

She sighed deeply, then held out her thumb. He pricked it with the sharp sliver.

“Ouch!” she cried.

All business, Ernie took her thumb and pressed it against his, then looked her in the eyes with a solemn gravity. “You promise to never abandon a brother in time of trouble or war?”

“Yes.”

“To never tell what can't be told?”

“I guess,” mumbled Joey.

“Yes or no,” snapped Ernie.

“Yup.”

“You promise all the way to Kingdom Come and back?”

“Where's that?”

Just promise!

“Yes!”

Ernie pressed his thumb tight against hers and rotated a quarter turn. “We're brothers now.”

“Brother and sister, but don't get soppy,” she said as she put a foot in the stirrup and swung up into the saddle. Sassy snorted and pranced impatiently, ready to go home. “What about tomorrow?” she asked.

Ernie dangled Holsapple's keys.

Joey's eyes grew wide. “No way, nohow, never.”

Ernie smoothly palmed the keys, banged his fists together, then magically made them disappear.

“Yes,” he insisted. “The kidnappers' hideout was up on Holsapple property, and it's up to us to find out if there's any connection. The answer could be somewhere inside that house.”

Joey considered his logic with a wry smile. “You're dangerous, Cub. You could really get a girl in trouble.” She reined Sassy to the side and gave her a quick kick with her heels. “Giddy-up!”

Ernie watched the pony and rider depart in a cloud of dust, then wandered back across the yard, mulling all the questions surging through his mind. He padded across the porch to peer through the screen door. Inside, Russ and Betty were doing the dishes, but he could tell it was more than that. They were laughing and whispering. Embarrassed, he slipped inside and, averting his eyes, walked through the kitchen. Betty looked up, suds on her cheek, and smiled. “Hey, Ernie.”

He stopped just inside the hall, caught.

“Anything special you'd like to do while you're here?” she asked.

He pondered the question. “Well, I really like to swim. Is there a pool anywhere?”

Russ smiled. “Sorry, no pools.” He shared a wistful look with Betty. “I used to have a beautiful water hole, even had an old tire swing.”

“Geronimo,” recalled Betty.

“That's what Joey called it,” said Russ. “Unfortunately, that hole dried up with the drought. Even the river's nearly gone.”

Ernie seemed disappointed.

“Tell you what,” said Betty. “How about later in the week you and Russ come over and we'll go horseback riding.”

“Okay,” he said flatly.

“Or we could do something else,” she offered.

“Well, it's just my butt's pretty sore already, from Sassy.”

She laughed. “Well, then—I guess we'll give you a few days to recover.”

“Okay, g'night,” he muttered as he hurried down the hall.

“Good night,” she said.

“I'll be down in just a minute, Ernie,” called Russ.

When Betty heard the crib room door close, her expression turned serious. “So what do you make of him?”

“What do you mean?”

“He's kind of odd. All he did tonight was stare. Never spoke a word to anyone,” she pointed out.

“He's just taking it all in, everything's new,” explained Russ as he dried a dish and placed it in the cupboard. “I was the same way at his age.”

Poised outside the crib room at the end of the hall, Ernie reversed direction and tiptoed back toward the kitchen. He'd closed the door to make them think he'd gone inside. It was an old Lakeside trick he used when he needed to get information from Mrs. McGinty. He peeked into the kitchen, where Russ and Betty were at the sink with their backs to him. When Russ turned to wipe the counter, Ernie jerked his head back and pressed up against the wall, listening.

“But there's just something, I don't know, just a little off-kilter about him,” said Betty softly, her hands working in the sudsy water. “And that report you got from Lakeside, quite a laundry list to compile in just thirteen years. I wonder if he's going to be more difficult than some of the other boys you've brought out here.”

“Well, Joey seems to like him—that's a first.”

“I guess, but he's pretty rough around the edges. I just hope he won't be a bad influence.”

“They'll be fine,” assured Russ as he splattered some suds on her nose. “She's plenty tough herself. Just like her mother.”

Betty laughed and kissed Russ quickly on the lips. Russ looked in her eyes, then kissed her back.

Entranced, Ernie watched for as long as he dared before creeping back down the hall to the crib room.

Dressed in his underwear, T-shirt, socks, and Cubs cap, Ernie stood at the window watching Betty's Jeep depart up the driveway. There was a knock on the door.

“Ernie?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah,” answered Ernie as he hustled to get under the covers.

Russ poked his head into the room. “Anybody thirsty?” He came over to the bed and handed Ernie a tall glass of milk.

“Thanks,” said Ernie, then downed it in one breath.

Russ chuckled. “I guess that answers that. Need anything else before you turn in?”

“Nope.”

“How's your backside doing?”

“Better.”

“It'll take a while.” Russ took the empty glass. “Is it true?” he asked. “Can you really do magic?”

“A few things.”

“Love to see a trick sometime.”

Ernie considered the proposition. “I could show you one now.”

“Great,” said Russ as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Need an assistant?”