Dorothy Garlock - [Route 66] (27 page)

“Since this mornnn …ing.”

“Have ya had anything to eat?”

“A bisss …cuit.”

“We don't have time for me to get ya somethin' to eat. Get a drink at the pump.” Isaac quickly blew out the lantern and placed it in its customary place on the porch.

Ruth Ann cupped her hands and drank from them while Isaac worked the pump handle. When she finished, he took her hand and hurried her across the road and into the woods.

“Come on, Ruth Ann. That's yore name ain't it?”

“You know it is.”

“I don't know when Pa'll be back, so shake a leg.”

“Can't we go on the road? I'm …scared in the woods.”

“Somebody'd see us on the road. Walk fast. I've got to get ya home and get back. My little brother is goin to die, and I don't want to leave my ma there by herself.”

“My mama d-d-di …ed.”

“Paul is just a little boy.”

“What's he dyin' of?”

“The diphtheria.”

“You're Isaac. I've seen you at school.”

“Yeah.”

“I hate Uncle Virgil.”

“Can't blame ya for that.”

“It's scary in the woods.”

“Don't worry. I won't let anythin' hurt ya. Ya won't tell anyone I took ya home, will ya?”

“Not if you don't want me to.”

“All he's talked about was gettin you and your sister away from Aunt Lee. It'll make him crazy when he finds out you got away. If he knew I helped ya, he'd whip me for sure. Might…even kill me.”

“I won't tell, I promise.”

“Don't tell anyone, not even yore Aunt Leona, where ya've been.”

“She wouldn't tell—”

“Don't tell her, I said. I'd have to leave home, and I ought to stay and help Ma.”

“All right. I won't tell. I promise. Can we rest a minute? I'm awfully hungry.”

“We've got to cross a road up here and go behind some house. Stay here and rest. I'll go see if anyone is out—”

“No. Don't leave me.” Ruth Ann clung tightly to Isaac's hand. “Please, Isaac—” she pleaded.

“All right, but ya gotta be quiet. It wouldn't do for someone to see us sneakin' around. They'd go right to the sheriff. And that old Deputy Ham and my pa are thick as fleas on a dog's back.”

“The sheriff?” Ruth Ann said fearfully. “I'll be quiet. I promise.”

It was near midnight when an exhausted little girl holding tightly to Isaac's hand stood at the edge of the woods near her home. Her feet hurt; her dress was torn and dirty. She was weak from hunger.

The house where she had lived all her life was dark. The only light shone from the dim bulb that burned in front of her daddy's garage. A car with a low white tent pitched beside was parked in the campground. A car passed on the highway, its lights forging a path ahead of it. Then, it was so quiet, she could hear the sound of rustling leaves in the tree limb overhead as a curious squirrel positioned himself to spy on them.

“Go on. I'll wait until yo're in the house.”

“I'm scared. Come with me.”

“I can't. I've got to get back.”

“Please—”

“Don't be a baby!” he said harshly and she began to cry. “Ah …stop cryin, Ruth Ann. I said I'd bring ya home and I did, didn't I?”

“You'll stay and …watch?”

“I'll watch till yo're on the porch.”

“Isaac, I …never talked to you at school 'cause I thought you'd be like Uncle Virgil—”

“Well, I'm not. Go on—”

“I don't want you to get a whippin.”

“I won't unless ya tell.”

“I won't tell. I promise.”

Ruth Ann hesitated. When he said nothing more, she ran toward the house. Isaac watched her until the dog came bounding off the porch, then he took off and ran as if his life depended on it.

Chapter 22

T
HE DARK SKY WAS STUDDED WITH STARS,
and a sliver of moon shone over the treetops. Leona sat in the porch swing with Yates, her heart heavy with dread. The swing moved in response to Yates's foot and was quiet because Deke had greased the chains earlier

Deke sat on the steps with his back to a porch post, his hand reaching out occasionally to scratch Calvin's ears. The dog, knowing that something was not quite right, had stuck close to the house.

Margie had been a blessing. Moving around quietly, she had made sandwiches and kept a pitcher of iced tea handy. After doing the outdoor chores, she baked a cake in the portable oven and deviled a dozen eggs for tomorrow. She had kept JoBeth occupied all day by telling her stories or cutting strings of paper dolls out of folded newspaper. She showed her how to draw faces and dresses on the paper dolls with her crayons. An hour before she had put JoBeth to bed and stayed with her.

Looking out into the dark night, Leona wondered if Ruth Ann was in the dark somewhere, hungry and scared. Oh, Lord. Would she be able to get the words out when she called Andy in the morning? A moaning sound escaped from her throat. Yates put his arm around her and drew her to his side.

“I don't know how I'm going to tell him,” she said, as if the man sitting close to her knew what was in her mind.

“Do you want me to do it?”

“Mr. Fleming said he'd call someone and have him go get Andy and bring him home. I don't want a stranger to tell him.”

“We'll go to the telephone company in the morning. You can decide then if you can tell him.”

“He'll come home and miss the rest of the shots. He might die. Then, it'd just be me and JoBeth.”

“Try to believe that we'll find her tomorrow.”

“If she was hiding, she'd have come home at dark.”

“Why don't you go in and lie down for a while?”

“No. You and Deke go rest. Deke, you can use Andy's bed. I'll sit here a while.”

Neither Yates nor Deke made a move. The three of them sat in silence, each deep in private thoughts. Finally Deke broke the silence.

“I'm thinkin' I'll go see Virgil in the mornin', darlin'. If that bastard's behind this, I'll stomp his guts out if I have to get on a ladder to do it.”

“Don't do anything that'll get you in trouble, Deke. If Virgil has taken Ruth Ann, the sheriff will find out about it. I can't believe that even Virgil would take a child into a house quarantined with diphtheria.”

“Don't be too sure, darlin'. The man's always had clabber for brains. He's got his mind set on gettin' Andy's girls. He'll keep tryin' till somebody puts the kibosh on him. He's pure mad-dog mean through and through.”

Leona's head drooped against Yates's shoulder. His hand stroked her arm from her shoulder to her elbow. She would remember to her dying day the comfort and support he had given her on this dreadful day.

“It's getting late. Why don't you close your eyes and rest a while?”

He shifted so that she would be more comfortable against him and thought of many things he would like to say to her, but they formed no logical order in his mind. To speak of his emotions was not easy for a man like Yates, when the feelings were deep and strong. Besides that, this was not the time nor the place.

The one thought that stood foremost in his mind was that she had needed him, and it had been wonderful to be needed. Surprisingly, he had been happier here in this modest home, tending a run-down garage, than he had been since he was a boy at home on the ranch. Without Leona the future seemed long and lonely.

He gathered his scattered thoughts together and spoke. “Tomorrow will be a busy day, and you'll need your strength.”

“I keep thinking the sheriff will drive in with news that someone has found her.”

“If he does, I'll wake you up.”

“I couldn't sleep.”

Calvin stood suddenly and slipped out from under Deke's stroking hand. He went to the end of the porch and stood there stiff-legged, staring off toward the woods. Deke, following Calvin's gaze, could see nothing. Then a low growl began to vibrate from the dog's throat.

“Is someone out there, Calvin?” Deke walked around to the end of the porch.

Yates stopped the swing and got to his feet. He had been around the dog enough to know that Calvin had his eyes on something they couldn't see. Suddenly, Calvin leaped from the porch and raced toward the woods. It was then that Yates's sharp eyes saw a blur of something light running toward the house. Calvin raced past the running figure and dashed into the woods.

“Calvin! Caaal…vin! Come back.” The shouting voice was Ruth Ann's.

Leona was stunned for a moment, then screamed, “Ruth Ann? Oh, blessed Jesus! Ruth Ann!” Leona pushed past the men to run out into the yard.

“Aunt Lee! Aunt Lee! Make Calvin come back.”

Leona reached the child, swung her up in her arms and burst into tears.

“Are you all right? Tell me you're all right.” She hugged the child to her.

“I'm all right. Make Calvin come back.”

“He's back. He's right here. Oh, honey. We've been so worried.”

“I'm hungry, Aunt Lee.”

“I'll fix anything you want.” Leona kissed her again and again.

Yates reached for the child. “Here, let me have her. She's too heavy for you to carry. Come to me, punkin.” Yates lifted Ruth Ann into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I was afraid I was going to have to bury your Aunt Lee if you hadn't come back soon.”

“Howdy, little sweetheart.” Deke's voice was hoarse. “We've been pretty worried 'bout ya.”

Yates carried Ruth Ann into the house with Deke and Calvin following along behind. Leona went ahead and turned on the lights.

“Margie, JoBeth,” she called out happily. “Ruth Ann's home.” Leona sat down on a kitchen chair and Yates set Ruth Ann on her lap. “Honey, I don't think I'll ever let you out of my sight again.”

JoBeth came into the kitchen still in her night clothes. Squinting against the light she saw her sister, ran to her and wrapped her little arms around her.

“You can have my crayons if you won't go off again. You can have the paper dolls Margie cut out for me.”

Ruth Ann burst into tears.

Leona stood in the doorway of the bedroom reluctant to take her eyes off the two girls in the bed. She had washed Ruth Ann and dressed her in a clean pair of underdrawers and put her to bed with JoBeth. The child had hardly been able to keep her eyes open while she ate a slice of cake and drank two glasses of milk. She had fallen asleep almost immediately.

Leona had tried to talk to her about where she had been.

“We looked all over and we couldn't find you.” She had asked gently, “Where did you go?”

“Ah …someplace.”

“Can you tell me where?”

“No.”

“You don't know where you were?”

“I know, but I can't tell.”

“Can't tell your Aunt Lee? Why can't you tell?”

“I promised. I promised not to tell you.”

“Oh, I see. Did someone hurt you?”

“Uh-huh. But I'm all right now.”

“Oh, honey. I can't stand the thought of someone hurting you.”

“Tell me who, sweetheart,” Deke said “And your Uncle Deke will take care of him.”

“I can't tell. I promised.”

“Did someone hurt you and you promised not to tell?” Leona asked.

“Not him. I promised somebody else.”

“The one who brought you home?” Yates had squatted down beside the chair.

“Uh-huh.” Ruth Ann snuggled against Leona and closed her eyes.

After Leona put the child to bed, she returned to the kitchen and sank down in a chair at the table. Yates was speaking to Deke.

“I was sure someone else was out there when Calvin went dashing into the woods. Whoever found her and brought her home has earned the twenty-five-dollar reward I offered.”

“I didn't know you had offered a reward,” Leona said.

“I told the sheriff and the storekeepers, thinking it might bring some information out that we'd not get otherwise.”

Leona folded her arms on the table and rested her forehead on them. “I'm so thankful that I don't have to call Andy. The suspense of not knowing where Ruth Ann was would have been terrible for him.”

Deke stood, came around the table and put his hand on her shoulder.

“You'd better get to bed, darlin'. You've had a hair-raisin' day.”

“I'm almost afraid to close my eyes. I'm afraid she'll disappear again.”

“Give me a couple of quilts. I'll bed down out on the porch. No use me firin' up that cycle tonight. I'll go back to the ranch in the mornin' and tell Mr. Fleming to call off his searchers.”

Leona grabbed his hand. “You've always been there when I needed you, Deke. I'm proud that you're my friend. Andy will be, too, when I tell him.”

“Ya've always been special to me, little darlin'.” His fingers stroked her cheek. “I'd crawl over a bed of hot coals to get to ya if ya needed me.”

“I know that, Deke. And if you're ever in need, I'll be here for you. You know that, don't you?”

“Yeah, darlin'. I know.”

Margie spoke. “I'll get the quilts if you tell me where they are.”

“In Andy's room. Take one of the pillows, too.”

Yates listened to the exchange between Leona and Deke. He wasn't sure what he was feeling. It couldn't be jealousy. How could he be jealous of this little man and his dogged devotion? Deke loved Leona knowing that he could never have her. She loved him as she loved Ruth Ann and JoBeth. Deke knew that was all he would ever have and was resigned to it.

When they were alone, Yates rose and pulled Leona up to stand beside him.

“You're dead on your feet. You can rest easy tonight. There isn't anything coming or going on this place that either Deke, Calvin or I won't know about.”

“Thank you, Yates. You've been the rock that anchored me and kept me sane today.”

“It's been my pleasure to be with you and do what I could. Thank God it's over, all except finding out where she's been.
Someone
was holding her,
someone
found her and brought her home. I intend to find out who those two
someones
are.”

“Do you think we should still call and tell Andy?”

“Yes, I do. I'm going to talk to the doc here and see if he can give Andy the rest of the shots if we get him the serum. The crucial time has passed. If Andy was going to have a violent reaction to the serum, he would have had it by now.”

“Then he could come home?”

“He could come home. It was Barker Fleming's idea. Another thing, honey. We've got to be careful where we take the girls. The doc said he has six cases of diphtheria in the area. The germs travel from child to child.”