Way Down Deep (17 page)

All of the bad temper was forgotten as Ruby suddenly felt a great surge of pity for her grandma. Yes, it was no wonder she was mad at the world. She had lived a very hard and sad life.

“Grandma,” she said gently, “I think you'll be welcome at The Roost.”

T
HE NEXT MORNING
T
HE
R
OOST RESIDENTS WERE AWAK
ened by an unfamiliar racket. It was Mr. Crawford's typewriter. He appeared for breakfast with a smile on his face and announced that he was planning to finish his book by Christmas. After eating, he went back to writing.

When Miss Arbutus emptied the trash later that day, she found a phonograph record in it. She was surprised to see it was Mr. Crawford's “Laura.” Carefully she dug it out and put it away. It was a nice song, and somebody might want to hear it again someday.

That afternoon, as Miss Arbutus and Lucy Elkins were in the common room having a cup of tea and cookies together, Rita Reeder walked in with a big smile on her face. She had come alone, wearing a red sunsuit that Ruby had worn when she was five.

“Well, look at you!” Lucy Elkins said to the child. “What a big girl you are to come all by yourself!”

Rita climbed onto Miss Arbutus's lap, picked up a
cookie, and spoke her first words since her mother had died.

“Ruby June is coming home.”

 

When Chris Combs and his three sons arrived at the house on Yonder Mountain with groceries the following Saturday, they were surprised to see Ruby and Goldie Combs sitting on the front porch, chatting and laughing together like old friends.

“Howdy do, boys!” Grandma called out to them pleasantly. “Y'all come on over and set a spell. We've got some talking to do.”

Uncle Chris and his sons were so amazed, they didn't think about running away or protesting. They set their grocery sacks down on the edge of the porch and simply stared at Grandma Combs.

“I'm moving on,” the woman said. “Going to live in town at The Roost. Ruby is leaving today, and she'll need a ride to Way Down. If you can't take her, Chris, then she'll call from your place and have Miss Arbutus send somebody for her.”

Grandma's face was bright with excitement, but the four male faces were blank, and all eight of their eyes remained wide with wonder.

“That's right,” Ruby joined in. “I'll have to speak with Miss Arbutus first, but I'm sure she'll say it's okay.”

“As for me, I'm gonna need some help from the three
of you boys,” Grandma said. “I have to go through my stuff. It's been building all these years. I'll be packing some of it to take with me, and I'll give the rest away, if anybody wants it.

“I'll pay you to help me pack and carry stuff off this mountain. I'll not bark at you.”

The boys looked at their grandma doubtfully.

“I promise,” Grandma said.

Then Ruby was finally on her way home. She walked through the woods and down the mountain with Uncle Chris and her cousins. Jeff and Sam turned out to be more likable than Sidney. They did not tease her.

That very afternoon Uncle Chris took her home. She arrived at The Roost as the tenants were assembling in the common room to wait for the supper bell. When Miss Arbutus heard all the commotion from the front room, she knew that Ruby had returned. She and Lucy Elkins took off their aprons and hurried in to greet her.

It was a wonderful meal, all full of bubbling laughter and good food. Ruby had so much to talk about, she could hardly fit her food in between the words.

After dinner Miss Arbutus helped her put her things away, and they talked about Grandma.

“She's not all that bad once you get to know her,” Ruby explained. “In fact, y'all will probably get along just fine.”

“Of course she must come and live with us!” Miss Arbutus said to Ruby. “It's the answer I've been praying for!”

A
FTER HER DISCUSSION WITH
M
ISS
A
RBUTUS ON THE PAR
ticulars of Grandma's coming to Way Down, Ruby went out to see Jethro. The goat was so tickled, he didn't know how to act. He scampered all over the yard and up the woodpile, then back to Ruby for more hugs. He was headed for the woodpile again when two figures came around the side of the house and entered through the gate.

“Peter! Cedar!” Ruby squealed, and almost hugged them both, but managed to control herself.

Peter just stood there grinning. He searched his brain for something to say, but found himself tongue-tied.

Not so with Cedar. “Wanna go hang around town?” he asked Ruby.

“Sure.”

So the three of them ventured toward Busy Street to see what they could see on a Saturday night.

As they neared Mrs. Rife's house, they spotted the old
woman sitting on her porch with a small pile of rocks beside her. She held one of them in her hand.

“Uh-oh!” Ruby whispered. “There she is, just waiting for us.”

“But I heard she quit throwing rocks!” Peter said.

“Yeah,” Cedar joined in. “At least, she's trying to break the habit.”

They walked by cautiously with one eye on Mrs. Rife all the way, barely daring to breathe.

Mrs. Rife just sat there holding the rock and mumbling to herself.

“What's she saying?” Ruby whispered.

But at that moment Mrs. Rife spoke up. “I am
not
going to throw this rock!” And louder still,
“You hear me, you mangy strays? I am
not
going to throw this rock!”

“Watch out!” Ruby hollered, and the three of them broke into a run. The rock sailed by their heads, missing all three. They ran, laughing so hard they could hardly breathe.

At a safe distance they finally stopped. Gasping, they bent over and braced their palms on bent knees to catch their breath again. Only then did they look back. The old woman was sitting again, her eyes peeling the neighborhood for other kids to harass.

“She can't quit,” Ruby managed to say. “She's about as addicted to rock-throwing as Mr. Farmer is to liquor.”

“Not anymore!” Cedar said. “I met up with him this morning. He was helping Mrs. Farmer deliver the mail, and he told me he hasn't had a drop of liquor in days.”

“Good for him!”

“Cedar can tell you how hard it is to break a habit,” Peter said. “Right, Cedar?”

“I don't wanna discuss it,” Cedar replied.

“He has to do a chore for Mrs. Bevins every time he says a cuss word!” Peter informed Ruby with a wink.

“Talk about something else!” Cedar said hotly.

“Okay.” Peter relented, and turned his attention back to Ruby. “How was your visit to Yonder Mountain?”

“Not bad. My grandma is coming here to live at The Roost.”

“No kiddin'? When?”

“Next week. She had a lot of things to sort out at her house. My cousins are helping her. Me and Miss Arbutus have to get her room ready for her.”

“Where you gonna put her?”

“Well, I guess you heard Mr. Gentry and Miss Wordy are getting married and moving out?”

“Yeah, we heard that.”

“So I am going in Miss Wordy's ‘spacious pastel boudoir.' Grandma will be next door to me, and we are fixing up my old room for Rita when she comes to spend the night.”

“I'm glad y'all are taking such an interest in Rita,” Peter said. “Now I won't feel so guilty running off to band practice in the evenings.”

“You're going to play in the band?”

“I sure am! Mr. Gentry has been working with me on the drums. He says I have a rare talent for it. One of his
drummers is graduating this year, and he wants me to take his place.”

As they entered Busy Street, it seemed the whole town had turned out to welcome Ruby home, and her heart swelled.

R
UBY WOKE UP, AND FOR A FEW SECONDS COULD NOT RE
member where she was. Then her face broke into a smile in the darkness. Yes, she was sleeping in her own bed at The Roost. And nobody would ever take her away again.

After her return from town, she and Miss Arbutus had sat at the dressing table talking for a long time, and Ruby had learned about her magical journey over the mountains and valleys with Miss Arbutus when she was a toddler.

“On Yonder Mountain I learned about my mama and daddy,” she told Miss Arbutus. “I wish they hadn't died, but the way I got here . . . why, you know, Miss Arbutus . . . that story tells me for certain that I am supposed to be here with you! And I think it's what they must have wanted for me.”

Now it was three in the morning, and something had awakened Ruby. She lay there and listened.

She could hear voices outside and see headlight beams
sweeping across her ceiling. She jumped onto her knees and pulled the pansy curtains aside.

Yes! It was the carnival! They were moving in for Kids' Day, which would be on Monday. She watched the long string of covered trucks and colorful vans that carried the Ferris wheel, the merry-go-round, the Tilt-a-Whirl, and other carnival paraphernalia and people.

Ruby thought of previous Kids' Days in Way Down. First Mayor Chambers always made a short speech in which he told the kids how much they were loved and treasured above and beyond all things. He explained that Kids' Day was just a little token of the town's appreciation. And he always ended by saying that the real treasure of Way Down was its children.

Ruby looked at the hills silhouetted against the night sky and remembered the many nights she had whispered in the darkness, “Woo-bee is right here waiting for you.”

Now she could put that thought to rest. No more waiting.

She picked up the picture from her nightstand. In the moonlight she could make out the smiles on those three happy faces. She thought of her mother as a little girl, lonely and unloved on Yonder Mountain. And she thought of her father growing up in an orphanage where he was probably neglected.

“But I will always remember you happy and smiling like this,” she whispered to them.

Then she sank back into her bed and closed her eyes. Fanning out like a boat's wake behind her she could see
the past—those sweet, dreamy days in Way Down, the laughter and joy, the Christmases and birthdays and last days of school, the people she had known for a night or a season or a lifetime. And yes, there would be many such wonders ahead!

But this would probably be her last Kids' Day. Now that she had a real birthday, she knew she would be thirteen on October 2, and too old for such stuff. She would grow up and suffer through algebra and acne, high heels and lost loves, and other bitter berries.

But for the time being, she was still only twelve, and she would savor every moment. For
now
there was the upcoming carnival and Kids' Day and a full moon shining way down deep between the mountains of West Virginia.