,', _~
'J1
.r1
a
,,
·~~
_~1-
Probably the best work of our best
children) s nouelist " ( Harper) s)
iJDJJ~
®Uf@~J~Q[n}~
A fearsome and beautifully written book that can't be put down
- Jean Stafford, The New Yorker
or forgotten.
Doomed to-or
blessed with-eternal
life after drinking
from a
magic spring, the Tuck family wanders about tqing to live as
inconspicuously and comfortably as the, can. 11Vhen ten-year-old
Winn ie Foster stumbles on their secret, the Tucks take her home
and explain why living forever at one age is less a blessing than
it might seem. Complications
arise when "\Vinnie is followed by
a stmnzer who wants to market the spring water for a fortune.
Starred/School Library Journal
Rarely does one find a book with such distinctive prose. Flawless
in both style and structure, it is rich in imagery and punctuated
-The
with light fillips of humor.
AN
ALA
NOTABLE
Horn Book
BOOK
A Sunburst Book/ Farrar. Straus and Giroux
USA
$4.95/CAN
$6. 75
11111111111111111111111 I
911780:\74
ISBN
480U97
0-374-48009-5
11111 ~1111 ij1fI
C1o.ss
~-t
Gr.5
rI\1ck
Ever las ting
:\ATALIE
BABBITT
A SU:\"BURST
FARR
AR . ST RA
BOOK
i: S A :-,.; D GI ROUX
Prologue
~
~
The first week of August hangs at the very top of
summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest
scat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning.
The weeks that come before arc only a climb from
balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the
chill of autumn.
but the first week of August is mo-
tionless. and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank
white dawns and glaring noons. and sunsets smeared
with too much color. Often at night there is lightning. but it quivers all alone. There is no thunder,
no relieving rain. These are strange and breathless
days, the dog davs, when people arc led to do things
they a re sure to be sorry for aft er.
One day at that time. not so very long ago, three
things happened and at first there appeared to be no
connection between them.
. 3 .
At dawn. Mac Tuck set out on her horse for the
wood at the edge of the village of Treegap.
1
She was
going there, as she did once every ten years. to meet
herrn·nsom. Miles and Jesse.
At noontime, Wiun ie Foster. whose family owned
the Treegap
~
i'r.
wood, lost her patience at last and de-
cided to think about running a,,·ay.
And at sunset a stranger appeared
at the Fosters'
gate. He was looking for someone. but he didn't say
who.
No connection,
you would agree. But things can
come together in strange ways. The wood was at the
center, the hub of the wheel. "·\11 wheels must have a
The road that led to ·11Tt·:1p had been trod out long
hub. A Ferris wheel has one, as the sun is the hub of
before by a herd of c011i who were, to say the least,
the wheeling
Fixed points they arc, and
relaxed. It wandered a lonr in curves and easy angles,
for without
swayed off and up in a pbant tangent to the top of
calendar.
best left undisturbed,
holds together.
them,
nothing
But sometimes people find this out
a small hill, ambled dow: again between fringes of
'
bee-hung
too late.
meadow. Here
seemed
'
clover, and rl'.tn cut sidewise
across
its edge, blurred. It widened
to pause, suggt-ring tranquil
bovine
nics: slow chewing and frughtful contemplation
a
and
picof
the infinite. And then it went on again and came at
last to the wood. But on rtcching the shadows of the
it veered sharph. s1rnng out in a wide arc
as if, for the first time. it
reason to think where it
first trees,
was going, and passed arourrl.
On the other side of tr1t wood, the sense of easiness dissolved.
• 4 •
The road no longer belonged to the
cows. It became. instead, and rather abruptly,
the
the road around the wood because that was the way
property of people. Auel all at once the sun was un-
it led. There
comfortably hot. the du st oppressive, and the meager
an)way. Ior the people, there was another reason to
grass along its edges somewhat ragged and forlorn.
lean· the wood to itself: it belonged to the Fosters,
On the left stood the first house, a square and solid
the owners of the touch-me-not
cottage with a touch-me-not appearance. surrounded
therefore private property in spite of the fact that it
by grass cut painfully to the quick and enclosed by
lay outside the fence and was perfectly accessible.
a capable iron fence some four feet high which clearly
was no road
I Ii
rough
the wood, And
cottage, and was
The ownership of land is an odd thing when you
don't want you here." So the
come to think of it. How deep. after all, can it go) If
road went humbly by and made its way, past cottages
a person owns a piece of land, does he own it all the
more and more frequent but less and less forbidding.
·way down, in ever narrowing dimensions. till it meets
said, "Move on-we
into the vil lagc. But the village doesn't matter, ex-
all other pieces at the center of the earth? Or does
cept for the jailhouse and the gallows. The first house
owncrsh ip consist only of a thin crust under which
only is important:
the fricnd lv worms have never heard of trespassing,
the first. house, the road, and the
In any case, the wood, being on top-except,
wood.
There
was something strange about the wood. If
of
course, for its roots=was owned bud and bough by
the look of the first house suggested that you'd better
the Fost crs in the touch-me-not cottage, and if they
pass it by. so did the look of the wood. but for quite
never went there, if they never wandered in among
a different reason. The house was so proud of itself
the trees, wcl l, that was their affair. '\·\'innie. the only
that you wanted to make a lot of noise as you passed,
child of the house, never went there, though
and maybe even throw a rock or two. But the wood
sometimes stood inside the fence, carelessly
had a sleeping,
that made
a stick against the iron bars, and looked at it. But she
you want to speak in whispers. This, at least, is what
had never been curious about it. Nothing ever seems
the cows must have thought:
interesting
otherworld
appearance
"Let it keep its peace:
when it belongs to vou=only
she
banging
when it
doesn't.
we won't disturb it."
Wher her the people felt that 'Nay about the wood
And what is interesting. anyway, about a slim few
or not is difficult to say. There were some, perhaps,
acres of trees? · I here wi ll be a dimness shot through
who did. But for the most part the people followed
with bars of sunlight,
• 6 •
a great man) squirrels
~
I
and
birds. a deep. damp mattress of leaves on the ground,
2
and all the other things just as Ia m il iar ii not so
pleasanr= r hings like spiders. thorns, and grubs.
In the end, however, it was the cows who were responsible
for the wood's isolation,
and the c ows,
through some wisdom they were not wise enough to
know that they possessed, were Yery wise indeed. If
they had made their road through the wood instead
of around
it. then the people would have followed
the road. The people would have noticed the giant
ash tree at the center of the wood, and then, in time.
they'd have noticed
the little spring bubbling
up
among its roots in spite of the pebbles piled there to
And so, at dawn, that day in the first week of August,
conceal it. And that would have been a disaster so
Mac Tuck woke up and lay for a while beaming at
immense that this weary old earth, owned or not to
the cobwebs on the ceiling. At last she said aloud,
its fiery core, would have trembled on its axis like a
"The boysl l be home tomorrow! ..
beetle on a pin.
Mac's husband.
on his back beside her, did not
stir. He was still asleep, and the melancholy creases
that folded his daytime lace were smoothed and slack.
He snored gcntlv. and for a moment the corners of
his mouth turned
upward in a smile. Tuck almost
never smiled except in sleep.
Mae sat up in bed and looked at him tolerantly.
"The boysl l be home tomorrow,"
she said again, a
little more loudly.
Tuck twitched and the smile vanished. He opened
his eyes. "Wh v'd you have
to wake
me up?" he
sighed. ··1 was having that dream again, the good
. 8 .
• 9 •
one where we're all in heaven and never heard of
mous
pocket, an old cotton jacket, and a knitted
shawl which she pinned
across her bosom
with a
Treegap."
Mae sat there Irown i ng. a great potato of a woman
tarnished metal brooch. The sounds of her dressing
with a round. ~eusiblc face and ca lm brown eyes. "Its
were so familiar to Tuck that he could say, without
no use having that dream;" she said. "Noth ing''s go-
opening his eyes, "You don't need that shawl in the
ing to change."
"You tell me that everv day," said Tuck, turning
middle of the summer."
away from her onto his side. "Anyways,
"Will you be all right? We won't get back till late
I can't help
Mae ignored
this observation,
Instead, she said,
what I dream."
"Mavbe not," said Mae. "But, all the same, you
tomorrow.
shouldve got used to things by now."
Tuck groaned. 'Tm going back to sleep," he said.
"What in the world could possibly happen to me?"
"Not me," said Mae. 'Tm going to take the horse
and go down to the wood to meet them."
·'Meet who?"
"The bovs. 'Tuck.'
Our sons. I'm going to ride
"I don't," said Tuck. "Have a nice time'." And in
a moment he was asleep again.
pair of short leather boots so thin and soft with age
it was a wonder they held together. Then she stood
"Better not do that," said Tuck.
"I know," said Mae. "but I just can't wait to sec
it's ten years since I went to Tree-
and took from the washstand beside the bed a little
square-shaped object, a music box painted with roses
and lilies of the valley. It was the one pretty thing
me. I'll ride in at sunset,
she owned and she never went anywhere without it.
I won't go into the village. But,
Her fingers strayed to the winding key on its bottom,
gap. No onc 'Il remember
just to the wood.
"That's so," said Mae. "I keep forgetting."
Mae sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on a
down t.o meet them."
them. Anyways.
Tuck rolled over and made a rueful face at her.
even if someone did sec me, they won't remember.
but glancing at the sleeping Tuck,
They never did before. now. did they?"
head, gave the little box a pat-, and dropped
"Suit vou rsclf , then," said Tuck
into his pillow.
Mac Tuck climbed out of bed and beg,rn to dress:
three pcu icoat s, a r ustv brown skirt with one enor-
IO
it into
last of all, she pulled down over
her ears a blue straw hat with a drooping, exhausted
"L'm going back to sleep ."
•
her pocket. Then,
she shook her
•
brim.
But, before she put on the hat, she brushed
'
I I
'
her
gray-brmn1 hair and wound it into a bun at the back
3
of her neck. She did this quickly and skillfully without a single glance in the mirror. Mae Tuck didn't
need a mirror, though she had one propped up on
the washstand. She knew verv well what she would
sec in it: her reflection had long since ceased to interest her. For Mac Tuck.
and her husband,
and
Miles and Jesse, too, had all looked exactly the same
for eighty-seven years.
At noon of that same day in the first week of August.
\\'innic
Foster sat on the bristly grass just inside the
fence and said to the large toad who was squat ting a
few yards
away across
the road,
"I will, though.
You'll see. Maybe even first thing tomorrow. while
everyone s sti 11 asleep."
It was hard to know whether the toad was listening
or not. Certainly, Winnie
had given it good reason
to ignore her. She had come out to the fence, very
cross, very near the boiling point on a day that was
itself near to boiling, and had noticed the toad at
once. It was the only living thing in sight except for
a stationary
cloud of hvsrerical gnats suspended
the heat. a bove the road. Winnie
in
had found some
pebbles at the base of the fence and, for lack of any
other wav to show how she felt, had Aung one at the
•
I2
•
• IJ •
toad. It missed altogether,
as she'd fully intended
should, but she made a game of it anyway,
it
tossing
change." She leaned her forehead against the bars
and after a short silence went on in a thoughtful
tone.
pebbles at such an angle that they passed through
'Tm
the gnat cloud on their way to the toad. The gnats
something
were too frantic to notice these intrusions,
however,
Something that would make some kind of difference
and since every pebble missed its final mark, the toad
in the world. It'd be nice to have a new name, to
continued
to squat and grimace without so much as
start with, one that's not all worn out from being
a twitch. Possibly it felt resentful. Or perhaps it was
called so much. And I might even decide to have a
only asleep. In either case, it gave her not a glance
pct. Maybe a big old toad. like vou , that I could keep
when at last she ran out of pebbles and sat down to
in a nice cage with lots of grass. and ... "
tell it her troubles.
interesting-something
that's
all mine.
At this the toad stirred and blinked. It gave a heave
"Look here, toad," she said, thrusting
through
not exactly sure what l 'd do. you know. but
her arms
the bars of the fence and plucking
at the
of muscles and plopped its heavy mudball of a body
a few inches farther away from her.
··r
weeds on the other side. "I don't think I can stand it
much longer."
you'd be just the way I am, now. \\'hy should vou
At this moment a window at the front of the cot-
have to be cooped up in a cage. too: l td be better if
tage was flung open and a thin voice-her
mother's-piped,
you're
right,"
said \\'innie.
"Then
grand-
I could be like you. out in the open and making up
"Wi nifred! Don't sit on that dirty
my own mind. Do you know they've ha rd lv ever let
grass. You'll stain your boots and stockings.··
And another,
suppose
firmer voice-her
mother's-added,
me out of this yard all by mvsclf? I'll never be able
if I sra y in here like this. I
to do anything important
"Come in now, Wirin ie. Right away. You'll get heat
expect I'd better run away." She paused and peered
stroke out there on a day like this. And your lunch
is ready."
anxiously at the toad to sec how it would
"Sec?" said Winnie to the toad. "That's just what
I eceivc
th is
staggering idea, but it showed no signs of interest.
"You think
I wou ldnt
dare. don't
you:" she said
I mean. It's like that every minute. If I had a sister
accusingly. "I will, though. You'll sec. Maybe even
or a brother,
hrst thing
there'd
be someone else for them to
watch. But, as it is, there's only me. I'm tired of being
looked at all the time. I want to be by myself for a
• I
4 •
in the morning,
wlii le everyone's
still
asleep."
"Wi nu ic!" came the h rm voice from the window.
•
I
5 •
"All right.1 I'm corning!" she cried, exasperated,
4
and then added quickly. "I mean, I'll be right there,
Mama." She stood up. brushing at her legs wher e
bits of itchy gL1ss clung to her stockings.
The toad, as if it saw that their interview was over,
stirred again. bunched up, and bounced itself clumsily off toward the wood. Winnie watched it go. "Hop
a,\·ay, toad," she called after it. "You 'Il see. Just wait
till morning."
At sunset of that same long day, a stranger
came
strolling up the road from the village and paused at
the Fosters' gate. Winnie was once again in the yard,
this time intent on catching fireflies. and at first she
didn't notice him. But, after a few moments of watching her, he called out. "Good evening!"
He was remarkably
tall and narrow, this stranger
standing there. His long chin faded off into a thin,
apologetic beard. but his suit was a jaunty
yellow
that seemed to glow a little in the fading light. A
black hat dangled
from one hand, and as Win nie
came toward him, he passed the other through
his
dry, gray hair, settling it smoothly. "Well, now," he
said in a light voice, "Out for fireflies, arc you)"
"Yes," said Winnie.
"A lovclv; thingc to do on a summer evening,"
said
c
the man richly. "A lovely entertainment.
• I6 •
• I7 •
I used to
do it myself when I was vou r age. But of course that
just one big forest e\'erywhnc
was a long. long time ago." He laughed, gesturing in
all cut down now. Except for the wood."
self-deprecation with long. thin fingers. His tall body
moved
continuously;
a foot
tapped,
a shoulder
twitched. And it moved in angles. rather jerkily. But
at the same time he had a kind of grace. like a wellhandled
marionette.
Indeed.
he seemed almost to
around. but it's mostly
''I see." said the man, pulling at his beard. "So of
course you know everyone, and cver-ythi ng that goes
on.
"\Vell, not especially,"
said \\'innie.
"At least, I
hang suspended there in the twilight. But \\'innie.
don't. \\1hy?"
The man lifted his eyebrows. "Oh," he said, "I'm
though she was half charmed. was suddenly reminded
looking for someone. A family."
of the stiff black ribbons they had hung on the door
of the cottage
for her grandfather's
funeral.
She
frowned and looked at the man more closely. But his
smile seemed perfectly all right, quite agreeable and
friendly.
"I don't know anybody much," said \Vinnie, with
a shrug. "But my father might. You could ask him."
''I believe I shall," said the man. ''I do believe I
shall."
At this moment the cottage door opened. and in
"Is this your house)" asked the man, folding his
the lamp glow that spilled across the grass. \\'innie's
arms now and leaning against the gate.
grandmother
"Yes," said Winnie.
ther?"
talking to out there?"
"Do you want to see my fa-
appeared.
"Winifred?
"It's a man. Granny."
"Perhaps. In a bit," said the man. "But I'd like to
talk to you first. Have you and your fa m ilv lived here
long)"
"Oh, yes." said Winnie.
ever."
"\\'e\:c
lived here for-
Who
are you
she called back. "He says
he's looking for someone."
"What's that;" said the old woman. She picked up
her skirts and came clown the path to the gate. "What
did you sav he wants?"
The man on the other side of the fence bowed
"Forcvcr ," the man echoed thoughtfully.
slightly.
It. was not a question, but \\'innie
delightful to sec you looking so fit."
decided to ex-
plain any,\·ay. "Well. not forever. of course, but. as
"Cood
eve n ing, madam."
"And why shouldn't
he said.
I be fit)" she retorted,
"How
peer-
been anv people here. My grand-
ing at. him through the fading light. His yellow suit
mother was born here. She savs this was all trees once.
seemed to surprise her, and she squinted suspiciously.
' I8 '
• I9 •
long as
t hcre'vc
··,ve
havcn 'r met.
that
I can recall.
\\'ho
arc vou looki11g Ior?"
\\'ho
arc vou>
13ut. before he could get an answer. it began again
and tl16 all ,topped
The man a11swercd neither of these question-'. Instead, he said, "This young lady tells me vouv« liYed
jrs wa\
to listen. This t imc it tinkled
faintly through the little melody three times
here for a lo11g ti me, so I thought you wou Id prob-
before it faded.
"It sounds like a music box, .. said \Vinnie when it
ably know everyone who comes and goes."
\\·a, O\'CL
The old worna n shook her head. "I don't know
.. ;\" onscusc. It's ch-cs'." crowed her grand mot her
cvervone." she said. "nor do I want to. And I don't
excitedly. :\nd then she said to the man at the gate.
stand outside
.. You'll have to excuse us
in the dark discussing such a thiug
with strangers. Neither does \\'inifred. So
And then she paused. For. through the twilight
110,\·."
She shook the gate
latch under his nose, to make sure it was locked, and
then, taking \.\'innie
by the hand once more, she
sounds of crickets and sighing trees, a faint, surpris-
marched up the path into the cottage, shutting
ing wisp of music came floating to them, and all
toward it, toward the wood. It was a
door firmly behind her.
But the man in the yel low suit stood tapping his
melody, and in a few moments it
foot in the road for a long time all alone, looking at
three turned
tinkling
stopped.
little
the
the wood. The last stains of sunset had melted away.
"My stars!" said \\rinnie's grandmother, her eves
and the twilight died, too. as he stood there. though
round. "I do believe it's come again, after all these
its remnants
clung reluctantly
years!" She pressed her wrinkled hands together,
was pale in color-pebbles.
forgetting the man in the vellow suit. "Did you hear
of the man himself-turning
to everything
that
the dusty road, the figure
them blue and blurry.
that, \Vinifrcd? That's it! That's the elf music I told
Then the moon rose. The man came to himself and
you about. \Vhy, it's been ages since I heard it last.
,ighed. His expression was one of intense satisfaction.
And this is the first time you've ever heard it, isn't it:
He put on his hat, and in the moonlight
Wait till we tell your father!" And she seized Win-
fingers were graceful and very white. Then he turned
nie's hand and turned
and disappeared
to go back into the cottage.
"Wait l " said the man at the gate. He had stiffened.
and his voice was cager. "You 've heard that music
before, you say>"
•
20
•
his long
down the shadowy road, and as he
went he whistled, very softly, the tinkling little melody from the wood.
•
2I
•
wou ld 1101 be abk
5
to manage wir hout protection.
They were alway, telling her that, too. No one ever
said prccisc lv « hat it w.rx that she would not be able
to manage. But ,he did not need to ask. Her own
imagination supplied the horrors.
Still. it was galling. this haviru; to admit she was
afraid .. And when she remembered
even more dishr-arttncd.
the toad. she felt
What if the toad should be
out by the fence again today: Wliat
if he should
laugh at her secretly and think she was a coward?
\\'ell.
a nvwav. she could at least slip out. right
now, she decided. a ncl go into the wood. To sec if
\\'i1111ie woke carl , next morning. 'The sun was only
she could discover what had really made the music
j ust opening its 0\\'11 eve 011 the east crn horizon and
the night before. That would be something. anyway.
the cottage was full of si lcnt c. But ,he realized that
She did not a llo« herself to consider the idea that
sometime
making a diHncnce
during
the night she had mack up her
mind: she wou ld not run away today. "\\'here
I go. an:
\\·;n :··
she asked herself. "There's
would
nowhere
bolder venture.
"()f
in the wor ld rnight require
She mcrx-lv
a
told herself consolingly.
course. wh i l« I'm in the wood. if I decide never
else I really want to be." But in another part of her
to come back. wcl l then. that will be that." She was
head.
able to bcl icv« in this became she needed to: and.
the dark part
where her oldest fears were
housed. she k ncw there was another
sort of reason
for sL1Yi11g at home: she was afraid to go ,rn·ay alone.
belie, ing.
her own true. promising friend once
\\;1,
more.
It \\·a,, one thing to talk about being by yourself.
doing important
things. but quite another when the
It \\·as .mor lur
hcaYy iuorni ng. already
opport u nitv arose. The characters in the stories she
brcathlc,,.
read a lwavs seemed to go off without
vme lk-d ,tgrn·.tbh <Lllnp. \\'innie
a thought
or
but in
t hr
hot and
wood the air was cooler and
had been no more
care. but in real l i lc=wt-ll. the world was a danger-
than
ous pl:«:c. People were a lwavs telling her so. Arid she
terLt<illg ln;1nclics when she wondered wh . she had
•
22
•
t\10
slm,-
t
u in u t cs i\·;tlking t i m i d lv under the in-
.
,, ..,
-)
.
r
r
never come hen- bet ore. "\\'ll\.
it's n icc' " sh~· thought
w it h great xurpris«.
For the wood was full of light.
cnt irclv different
from the light she was used to. It was green
ber and alive. qu ivcri ug in splotches
ground.
Lrn11i11g into ~tuniy stripes
trunks.
n izc.
wliit«
v irus:
and am-
on the p;1ddcd
between
the tree
\\TIT Ii tt le Ilowcr« she did not rccog-
There
and
:md here
palest
blue:
and
endless,
a fa l k-n log. half rot tecl
.mcl there
there
were
crcar u res evcrvwhcre.
fa i rlv h u m mcd wit h their
and birds and squirrels
things
u nsecn.
daybreak
and self-absorbed
in the k;:st a l.um inu. There
and she might
1\a~
other
arid not
even, she saw w it h
toad. It was squat ting on a low stump
not have noticed
like a mushroom
it. for it looked more
t lia n a l ivi ng creature
.\s <he came abreast
the iuovcmcut
beetles
and ants. and countless
all gentle
satisfaction.the
activity:
air
ga,T
of it. however
sitting
it blinked.
there.
and
it awav.
·sec: .. she exclaimed.
"I told vo u I'd be here first
thin" ,-, ill i hr moru i nu,'; ..
The
Or perhaps
it \\a, 011h swa llo« i11g- a Hv. But then it nudged
ofl' the edge of the ',\ UlllIJ and
va n ivhcd
itself
in the u n-
the
·11 m u-t h.r, c l,ec11 watching
:111d
\\';h
HT\
for me," said \\'in11iL·
\.\"Ltd >he had cornc .
•
2-f-
•
world
looki11g
proud
nny-
.t t
to lorgu
the
ln u nrn i no a lit t l« now.
out,ide.
11ight bdolt'.
\nd
up ahead.
then,
place where the light seemed brighter
somewhat
\\'irn1ic
stopped
it's rca llv elves."
hc-m ." Aud.
nm.
,he
abrupt
and the gruund
enough.
"H
"I ra n have a look at
to d ixcovcr
She began
clown.
i nst inc t ,, ;is to turn
her
was pleased
close
l , and cnn1ched
she thought.
though
\\·as q rongn.
go jmt
in a
more opc11. sornct h ing moved
to ncep
she
t h.u her L llriosity
forward.
told
.uid
herself.
She would
Just
close
L'110ugl1 to ,cc. A11d t/1e11 ,he wou ld t u rn and
nm.
But when ,he ca mc near, up behind
a ,hcltning
t r cc
trunk,
mouth
and
pcnnl
around
open and all thought
There
of wh ich an enormous
thick
rooh
l'\t'J\
direction
run1pli11g
<1
thick
much
of her.
tree thrust
at
up. its
ten feet around
in
with hi, back ag:timt
he seemed
:\II(!
d1c lost her heart at once.
1
and sunburned.
this woudcrful
boy,
mop of cu rlv br owu hair.
and he wore
trousers
shirt wit h a:,
scll-assu raurc
pair of green
that
dropped
aw.iv.
in front
bov , u lu rost a man.
to \\'i1lllie
He was thin
the ground
.. 'iitti11g relaxed
\\';t:, :t
,o gloriou:,
with
it, her
of ru nn iug melted
was a clc.u ing directly
the center
lu::, battered
dc-rbruvh.
to lin>cli.
heard
the trunk
toad hlink cd ag;till .uul 11oddnl.
to e,·n,tliing.
tryi11g to rou rcru brr the pattcr11 of the mclod , ,lie had
t
The
for a lo!lg time.
listcnit1g
tig·lit. pruned
tangled
but soft wi rl: patches of S\\TCt grcc11 . velvet moss.
And
She wandered
thing.
and loose. grubby
as if t hc , were silk and satin.:\
~u-.pendc1'.
•
11101c dccoratiH:
2
5 •
than
uvc-
Jul. g:1n· the
fini,hing touch.
101
he
\\·;1.s ·d1nclc,s
hcr« \\.l, ;1 n1·ig t u: kcd lxt wc-cu t lu- toes
t
He
'.1·;1\'ld the
t urncd
up
1,1ig id l.
a, !tl· ,at
or Olle foot.
there.
to g·:11e .rt the bLuiclics
and
his faCl'
far above
him.
·1 he g(ildc11 ruorn i uu iight s1.·L·n1cd to glmr all .uou ud
h im: wh ilc brightn
brown
ha nd«. 1Hn1·
xt ir n·d
O\'LT
p:1tchL·, lcl l. now on his lean.
011
t
;111 car t":m.:lcssh.
io n to a little pile ot pebbles
w.it c IH'd. ,c.1neh
l u l l v to one ,i(k.
the
ground
stone
vawncd.
hi, posrrio n, he turned
.. 'ihifting
hi, at ten-
IJl\·;1tliin,c;.lie moved the pile ca r cHcnc.u.h the p i lc,
pclJblc l r, pclibk.
,1:1s sh iu , wct .
I he
bov lifted
and \\'i11niL· ,,1,1 :1 lo,1· spurt
a final
ol wat cr, arching
the ground.
bent a1H! put his lip, to the :,;purt. drinking noise·
k,,h·
.uid then
,knc
ac rm, hi, niou
Li<-c in her direct
he .,at up :1g:1i11 an<l drew
t
h. .-\,
i011- -a tit! r lui
~iktKl'.
the
w it l:
bm
nrou t h. .'\eitl1L-r <ii
to Ii 1, 'Ide.
t
Iii,
lum
'You 111.1,
his ,hirt
did this. he turned
ill'
r
t'\ D
For :1 Ion~; 1n<>111<·111 the, lookccl
;i
;111d
next to him .. \, \\'im1ic
up and ret u in i ng. like a Io u nt a i n. into
u.
met.
.i
t each
other
a r m <t il l r.i iscd
111mTd
his
to
in
h is
:\t last his arm tell
\1TI it o uu. out ... he said, w it.h
,l'
l rown.
\\'i1111it·
k now .mvorrc wou ld be here ."
The
bo:, eyed her as she ca n n: fotwa rcl. "\\'hat
t h.u . JL·scnthd.
·re
you doing hen': .. he a,kecl her st crulv.
my woor] ." said \\'i1rnic.
"It's
question.
"I
conic
Gilt
surprised
In
the
I ,1:111t to .. \t
here whenever
but l could
least. I was never here before.
"Oh."
ILJ\'c come.
up.
cm b.nr.i-vccl
.u rd: lwcau~e
"I d!(l11·1 nua n to w a t c]: vou."
•
2 (j •
of
~he
said the bov, relaxing
a little.
"You're
one
of the Fosters. then .:
''I'm \\'in11ie."
she said. "\\'ho arc H>u:"
"I'm Jesse ·ruck.''
he answered.
"How do." .\11d
he put our a hand.
Wi nn ie took his hand. staring
more
beautiful
managed
ar him. He \las cvr-n
up close. "Do you Jin· 11c11ln :" she
at List. letting
go of his hand
"I never saw you before. Do
ones supposed
\Oll
rclucr aut lv .
corue here a lot: .'\o
to. It's our wood."
~lie added
Then
quickly. "It's all right. though. if vo u come hell'. I
mean. it's all right wit Ii I/If' .' ,
The box grinned.
110. I don't
"That's
Irorn
"~o.
co me here
.-\11d thanks. l
stepped
stood
"I d id nr
as she ~teppecl into the clearing·.
a nv time.
hi, he.rd.
· 11ic11 he rubbed
stretched
Iii, hair aud face. as the lct\l'S
protested
'in
I don't
often.
Just
live nc.rrbv.
pas.,ing
through.
glad it ·s all right ,, ith you ."
good."
said
\\'innie
back and sar down
irrclcva nt lv.
pri rn lx a short
him ... How old arc you.
anvw.iv-"
.
.
squinting
and
,
at him.
,..,
-;
~
.
She
d ixta nc c
sl«: asked.
I
i
'f
i\ ,l'-
/!('!"('
,l
\t Lf,t ht' ,.1id .. \\'!1\ do y ou
p;lll',L'
..
tt·d,"
,;1id \\'illl1ic.
w.n n t,J k•1u\1·~"
"J J'.l,t \\()l:d,
\ll nglit.
lie f(Jld
iil'l
vo
I '111
otll'
I'robablv prett, di r t v
pebble, mer it agai11.
h u udtcd a nd lour
\l'.trs
old."
lcn ut lv .
":\o. I
n1c;111
"\\'t·ll
tl1c11.··
he said. "ii
\Ull
111u,t
k now I'm scv-
hope lcsslv. "Seventeen. That\
rou,
I mean. I'm
though."
not-" said \\'i11nie. She stood up. "It's mine,
And she went to where he sat. and
knelt down beside the pile of pebbles.
"Bel ievc me. \\'innic
"You h.i x « no idea." he ,1g1cn! w it h ;1 nod.
had the feeling he was laughing
be terrible
at her.
but <kt idcd it was <1 nice kind of laughing. "Arc
\OU
man iccl-" she asked next.
)Ou:"
:\m,· it was Wi nn ies turn to laugh. "Of course
not," she said. ''I'm onlx ten. But 1·11 be eleven
pretty
soon.
Foster," said Jesse. "it would
for you if you drank an, of this water.
Just terrible. I can't let you."
"Wel l, I still don't
plaintively.
T'h is time he laughed out loud. "No. I'm not mar-
sec wh) not,"
said \\'innic
"L'ru getting thirstier e,cry minute. If it
didn't hurt you. it won't hurt me. If my papa was
here, he'd let me have: some ."
"You 're not going to tell him about it. arc vou>"
said Jesse. His face had gone \Try pale under its sunburn. He stood up and put a bare foot firmly on the
tJu,11
)<H1'1l get married." he ~uggcstcd.
pile of pebbles. "I knew this would happen sooner
\Vinnie laughed agai11. her head on 011c side, ad1rnrr11g h i m .. .\11d then she pointed
"ls that
good to drink-"
to the spurt of
she asked.
"L'm
th irstv."
or later. i\'ow what am I going to do:"
As he said this. there was a crashing sound among
the trees and a voice called, "Jesse:··
.. 'Thank goodness!"
Jc,,c Tuck',
~0-.-110.
He looked at her anx-
used to it. It wou ldnt be good for
dry as dust."
\\'i1n1ic
old."
ried. Arc
rcm iudcd him.
anp\'ay. if it's in the wood. I want some. I'm about
"llr;1t', right."
water.
"But you drank sornc." \\'innie
"\\'In
\\'irmic
.Vn d he bcg.111 to pile the
iously. "\Veil, me, I'll drink anvrh ing
"Scn·11tt-cn:"
"Oh." s.ud
."
"Oh. Did you sec that:"
rc;ilh ... slw pl'r,i,tcd.
l'llll'ClL.
"Aud
drink from it. Comes right up out of the grnund.
Lice w;is instantly serious. "Oh. that.
ir's not."
he said q u ick l v. "You mu st u't
• 28 •
said Je~se,
blowing
out his
checks in relief. "Herc comes Ma and Miles. They'll
know what to do."
\nd
SUH'
CilOllgh.
:t
big.
(OJlli(l!Ltbk·looking
6
wom.u r ;1ppcal'l'd. k;tdi11g a l.u old horse. and at her
,ilk
\\:t,
:1 \·oung 11L111 :t\1110,t ,IS llt'autiful
:\Lie
\\·,Is
luck
wit l:
Jin
other
as Jesse. It
sun, Jesse's older
Ill other. .\nd at 01H c. ,1hl·11 she sa,r the t wo of them,
~
Jn,c wi t h his foot rn1 the pile ul pebbles and "\\'innic
~
011 her knees beside him. she seemed to understand.
I It
1
h.mcl
brooc h
bleak.
Ilc« to her boso m. grasping at the old
t h.u
"\\'ell.
fastened
her shawl,
and
her face went
bovs." she said. "here it is. The wo rst
is h:1ppc11i11gat last.'
.\ftcrwanl,
when she thought
it, it seemed to
about
Winn ie that the next fn\· uuuu t cs
\HTC
First she was kneeling 011 the ground.
drink from the spring. and
thc
imistillg on a
next thing she knew,
she was seized and s,n1ng through
mouthed.
only a blur.
t he air, open·
am! l ou nd herself st radd li ng the bouncing
back of the fat old hor-,«. with Miles and Jc,sc
ring
along on either
t rot
wh i lc Mac ran puffing
side,
ahead, dragging n11 t lic bridle.
\\'innic
had often been hau nt cd 1)\ visious ol what
it would be like to be kidnapped.
But none of her
visiou-, had been like this, wit li her kidnappers
JUSt
as alarmed as she \\a, herself. Slic had a l wavs pie·
tu red a troupe ol bur lv men wit h long black n ioust:ichcs who would tumble
bear her of:! like
. 3 () .
.t
lier into a blanket
and
sack of potatoes while ~he pleaded
}T
fo1 nu-r cv. But. i nvt cacl. it
\liks,1nd_ln,c.
"!'lease.
\\ho
. don't
dc;1r. <kar c h i l d
·i-lii,
\\;1,
\Lte.
II
r h« road. \\·a~ the ma n l ro m the night lx-lorc. the ma n
i11 the ve llow suit, hi, b l:« k hat o n his head.
plcadi11g
\\"l'l'l."
child
lw -.ct1L·d.·
1/1n. 'vl ;«: ·1 uck .111d
\\;1,
I
tni11g
to run
and
,ou
call
Di,cm<.::ring
him,
-cnt ed at once
verscl , went
1\oulcln't
-l«. merely goggled
v
ou
. tor
t
lu \\·,;rid.··
blank.
where he stood.
... "sorneonc
,poke,
111ight \ c· !1canl \ o u and
Mi le- sa id
\nd
L1r enough
that.
11 ;1, \\"L·
re
hcn,elt
11<1, spccdilc•;-;.
and g,l\T
\Vinnie
to
,0111etl1i11g.
:nrav. ··
\\'innie
saddle
,o()
cx p la i n it
\\'c'll
up to
lier,clf
She clung
to the
t hc a\l<l11i,liing
thoug·li lier lu-a rt \\·:ts pounding
l ac t
and lier back-
at him as the,
;\lac
that she ought
one: b, one.
scnt cd thc.·111,ehc,
,raitinµ;
their
turn
as if the,
that tinn-. and she
"So t h is is w hat it\
i11 line.
t o ride a horsc->I 1\·;1s g·oing to run
\Ll\·~,\·li.n
wi]!
t luv
sa,
whc-n
like
;rna, t ocl.iv any·
niomrnr
another
1 ·111 not
t hc rc for
:\fter
\LIS
afraid
her arms. do
\Ll\T
away bch i nd by
to let go of the saddle,
it was too Lite. Thn
another
with
"Stop!"
fn,· minutes.
xr.«.
had sp.-d up
the road kd tit em to a
\\ il lows and sheltning.
cried
"\\'c'll
stop
stream
,nubby
hcr c!"
looped
hushc«.
\Jiles
Ul"L'akl;1<,t · l w ixh the to;1d Lottld ,cc 111c 11m\·--t hat
Jesse gr;1bl>ed at the horse's harm·ss and he pulled
wo l l LI
abru pi l y. nc.ul , toppling
ll
Jes.,c·· J"d
lxt t c r clue k
lnaut Ii to knock
Thn
!lll'
l don't
d
\L111t
t h i-,
nc-x t
otr ."
,Im\ i11g their Lipid jog. · 1 he ro.ul. \\ l ur«
it angkd
:HTm,
wh i«:
t
i11
the
l« open
\\:lS
tlll';l([m,·.
,u11light .. \11d
.
the poor child
lwaYing. ··\\'c'll
had co m« to the edge ot till' \\uod now, wit h
no ,ign of
"Lift
..,
,.,
)-
.
ju,t ahead.
t
l urt.
da11li11g
,urnli11g· 011
t rv
\\'innie
and
up
of! over hi., neck
down." i\foe ga~pcd, her cht:st
go catch our breath
to put thing·s ~traight
But
In
side. .uid the opportunity
pbcc where. off to the lcl t , a shallow
near.
"Teaching
to turn arou nd. lest she Lill off the horse.
afraid
h.id been
out for help.
offer was:
But the man had fallen
was lost.
pre-
per·
fled past the spot
to shout,
head
thoughts
mind
l iow to ridc !" Only then did it come
the hill and clown its other
ca Im. Di~con11ccted
pH'
was the only one who
Tuck
bone l e l: like a pipe full of cold ru u ui ng wat cr. lur
was fiencl:
o! cning
Instead
.uir!
su rprisc.
\\'i1111ic's
and the iuoxt ~he could
our little girl ...
rivkv."
hi,
\\ it h choices.
b.uk O\"LT lu-r sh ou ldi-r at t l u s.u n« ti111L·. ··\\'c
IL111n
seeing
by the wu t cr arid
belore we go 011. ..
the cx plauar io n. once the:, had sr umbh-d
to
the banks of the xt rc.uu. ca m« lia rd. ~Lie seL·rnnl cmbarraxscd.
and
;\lilc~ and .Jesse fidgeted.
n·
gb11cillg
nt
their
mot lu-r u ncasi!v.
:'\o rn,e k11c11 l rov, to lwf{lll.
For her p;tll. \\'inn1c.
OHT.
lwg:rn to
nm,
t
COlll]ll'l'liC11d
h.u
\\
t h«
rulll1i11g ,,·;1,
hat \\ ;1,
l1;q>]>l'llillg,
.. lh.u « t lu: t ru t h ." said M:«: hl'lplc'-,1\'. "The dear
.ord knows tll('rc's been t inu- enough
<>IlC.
to t h in k of'
and it kid to h:tppen soo nc.r or la u-r. \\'e been
and wit h the compn·hemio11 lier t liro.u closed .mcl
plain bone lucky it hasn 't bdorc
her mouth went dn
expected it'd be a rh il d!" Slit" rc:« hcd distr:ictcdh
a, p,qll'r. '!'hi,
\Lh
no n,1011
This was real. Snangcrs wc r« taking her ,n\'ay: they
might do annhing:
she might 11n"Cr sec her mother
agarn .. -vnd then. thinking
of her motlier. she saw
herself as small. weak. .md helpless. ;111d she began to
cry. su ddcn lv. crushed
as murh
bv outrage
as bv
:\lac luck's round Lice\\ ii nk le-d in d ivmav.
"Dear
shock.
into the pocket of lu-r skirt and took out the m usic
!JOx and, w it hou t thinking.
w it h trembling
\\'hen
t wi-t cd
the ,,·inding k ev
fingers.
the tinkling
lit t lc: nic lodv
bl'gan, \\'innic\
,obbing slowed. She stood bv the st rc.un. her hands
sti ll mer her face. and listened. Yes. it ,,·a, the same
cl i i ld ' " she n n-
Lord. don't crv ' Plctsc don't en.
plorcd. "\\'e're
not b:id people.
luul to bring , ou
t ru
lv wcr« not. \Ve
~you '11 sec ,,·Jn in ;1 minute
:t1,·;n
--and we'll take v ou b.uk just
d
S ,0011 a,
\\'C
can.
T'omorrow. T promise."
\\'hen
11m\·. But 1 never
Ma«
xa id ,
music sh« Ind heard the niglit before. So mcho«
it
calmed her. It \\·as like a ribbon t1ing her to familiar
thin gs. Sh c thought.
· \ V h c ll 1 get Ii o Ill e. I'll t cl 1
Cranny it wasn 't ell music after all." She wiped her
Lice as wc ll as she could wit h her wet hands and
turned to :\fae. "That's the music I heard List night."
"T'oruorr ow."
tu rued to wa i ls. Tornorrow'
\\'innie's
sobs
It was like being told
she wou l cl be kept a wav fore, er. She wanted to go
she managed between rccover ing snu lllcs. "\\'hen
was out in 1111· yard . Mv gra11111 ~aid ir
\LIS
"Dear nu-. no." ~aid i'\Iac. peering
I
elves."
at her hope-
home now, at once. rush back to the safety of the
fully. "It's on lv mv music box. I didn't s11pposc a n v-
fence and her niothcr's 1oicc from the window. Mae
one could hear it." She held it our to \\'innic.
reached out to her. but ·die t 11 ivt cd ;n\':11. lier liands
vou want to take a look at it:"
over her l arr. .u id gJ\ L' hl'1v·li up to \\Tl'ping.
"Thi" is .nvl'u l!" <a id Jcs,c
thing. I\Ia: I he poor little
"\\'c oug·ht to v c h.id
said :\Iilcs.
"It's prcr t v." said \,\'innic.
'Can't vou d(i some-
Ltd ...
VJllll'
better plan
and turning
11':lS
t han
1/1i,."
"Do
taking the little box
it over in her hands. Tlic w ind i ng kL'\
still revolving. but more and more slowlv. · I he
melody faltered .. \nothcr
le,,. widch
plinked. a ncl then it stopped.
)
)
.
~paced note,
'\\ i nd it "P il
\\i11nil
t lu-n.
to."
\OU
\\;11Il
the
k cv . It
turned
;dtcr sn-cr;d more t u tn s.
said
()JJC 1\'110
owned
di~agrecablc. \\'innic
l i l ics of the
t
It's prett\
th
i-,
;111d nrcrrv.
<
ould lx: too
cx.n n incd the painted
... she repeated.
srui lcd in spite
n>sc, and
o! l1L·1 self.
it back to \LtL·.
handing
· lIic mu sic bux had relaxed them all. \Iile,
a h.mdkerth
7
hc m us ir IJL·g:in to
;1 thi11g like
\ a l lcv: and
r
clicked L1i11th .. \11d
p lav ;1g:1i11. lnivk l toru its lJT,h ,, indillg.
:\o
"CJ1,ck
\l.1(
ict from a back pocket
d1 ;1ggTd
and mopped
at
his Lice. .uid Mac sa uk down lu-avi lv 011 a rock. pullrng off the blue
st ra«: h.u and f auui ng hrrvclf
wit l:
She soon suspccrcd
1 t.
"Look
fricnds.
~!l
It 11·a, the qra11gest
here.
\\C
\\'innic
Foster."
said .Je~se.
rca l lv arc. But vou got to help
down. ;111d wo]] try to tell :ou ,,·liy ."
"\\\·'re
u-. Corne
st o rv \\'i1111ie
thn
had
had ever
heard.
told it before.
JH'HT
ex-
cept to each other---that
sh« 11·a, their
ence:
for t h cv gathered
around her like children
their
mot hcrs
tion.
and sornct imcs t hcv all talked
terrupted
knee.
each trying
each other.
to claim
;1
long
\\';t\
at
her atten-
at once. and
in-
in their eagerness.
F.igh t\ -scvcn vcars bcf ore. the
from
first real audi-
Tucks
to the cast. looking
h:1d c
01
for a place
ne
to
sen le. Jn those da,, the wnorl was not a wood, it \\·as
a forcvr , j uvr
;1,
that went on and
lier grandmother
011
and
011.
had said:
T'h cv had
wou ld <t a rt a [a rm.
;i~
oft lie t ll'l'S.
t recs never seemed
the\
cum·
But the
to t h« part
t houcht
,,
the,
soon as t hev came to the end
that
\\':!,
to end. \ \'hen
now the wood .. md
t u ruc-rl l rt n n the t ra i l to Ii ucl a camping
• 36 •
a forest
)/
pbcc. the,
luppcned
J cssc
o n the
wi: Ii
;t
,pring.
"Lt
lot, of suuvh i nc. t liat
.-\ clearing,
those k nohl»
roots.
\\'e
said
j mt the \\·a, it docs now.
It lookl'Cl
,igh.
nice."
ff;il
\\"dS
big t rrc
wit h all
;u1d en:n one took
,topped
a d ri nk. cvcn the horse."
"No."
cmnc bv one da\
chi uk . That·s
deer. t hcv said.
the,
nu-
;1
drink.
of st range.
But
Arid Pa carved a T
wc 'c] been . Auel then
iH.·
wc-nt
O\'l'n1ight.
to ma rk where
011.'·
to the west. had Iou nd a t h i n lx populatccl
their
farm.
Pa." said :\Iilc,.
prct
"and a little shack for Jesse and me.
was the li r-,t time \\'C hgurcd
thing peculiar."
··r
Ia n n l ics of our
own
ty sorn1 and wou lcl want our own houses ."
"That
there \\·as ,omc-
said .\.Lw ".Je.,se !ell out of a tree .. ."
to saw otf some of the big branchc-,
shudder.·\\\·
But
plurn
tiiouglit
Io r
,u1T
come to find out. it d icl u ·t
"\.'ot
said 1\bc with
on hi~ head.'.
long a l'tri ." \lilc~
hcd
hull
wcnt
broke
But alter
to tau:
the
bullet
went
to;icbtools
is.
right
on
...
"Rr-nu-mlx-r- Sl ir-
\\·as rn01-c'11 l
"I
was mar ricd.
hi, neck.
t
bv
hcn
said
."
t hcv
something
1,·:1, gctti11g :111\
v
ort
1,·;1,
t wcntv.
had
t crr
i hlv
older.
Mi
s.u
k-s
l
lv.
"I
But. from t l«: look
t wcntv-t wo . .\f,
wil c. she Ii na l lv
m.idr 11p lu-r m iud I'd sold Ill\ sou l to the lh:, i l. She
nrc. She went
a wav ;111d ~he took
the ch i ldr ou
wit h her."
"I 'm gbd I ucvvr got ma : 1 ice! .. .Jc:,,c put
the
come
bLrn1c
them.
\\'c didn
,,·;I\
h u nt crs
there
t hcu
I had t wo childrc-n.
of me. I was still
about wiuhr
a
t h.u
Lin
that worr icd them
the I.nm. ,et tied down, made
ten \Tar,.
\.'orw of t lum
\\TOllg.
"The,
him a bit,··
on. "some
had worked
"It ,u,
before
wc c u t her down. l lmt 111, b.i l.u n c a nd 1 fell .....
·He b11clcd
But the thing
;i
h.m l l v even lca vc a mark."
.Jcsst· a t c: the poivm
lrit,11ds.
kit
was wav up in the middle." Jesse interrupted.
"trying·
that:
But it wa, the pc1ss:1gc of time
va llr-v , had
"\\'c put up a hou «: for Ma .uid
figured u-ed be starting
\\'c
Linn
h i m. The
kill
him, and didn't
most. The\
·1 ·hey had come out ol the forest at last. 11ia11, miles
started
u
·· \ncl l cut mv-a-lf ." <a id .\Lie
had
wat cr tasted
there
cnnpnl
011 the tree trunk.
\H'
vo
C1n
h i m fm
111g bread."
an, wav." _Jesse wcu t 011. "the
"\\'ell,
-· sort
didn't
".-\11d
c:,.;c:ept for till' c:11.··
out gTa1i11g
\Lt,
·· I hen P:1 g·ot snake bite ... ''
p01 t anr
"Yes." said M i Ic«. "clon·t l.avc: that out. \\'call
<u nscr ·1·1ic ho r-«:
bv -;urne trees and t l u-v ,!int h iru, .\listnok
,hrough
said Mac. "the rat didn't
;11
i\t'
\\"!,en
,;mw wit h our
to pull
back
from
l ricnds."
h na llv
\\·L·
,;1id
us. There
r.if}. BLtck tll:1µ;ic. \\'dl.
but
had to leave
:-.tarted
orn«. ju,t
\\·:1,
\H'.
\\·,11Hkri11g.
\\'c
got t h is f:11. it'd Ll1,rnglCl.
) ()
.
.\be.
1\·a,
You ca n t
"t k no w 1dH.rL' to go. \\'c
(
111.
talk
harcllv
the Lum.
b.ick the
like
g)
ol c:nirsc.
jl\ic.-;.
\ lot
r
!
of the trees was gone.
'There
was people.
and Trcegap
I he road \,·;is here. but in
~-it ,,·as a new Yillagc.
those days it was mostly just a cow path. \Ye went on
into what was left of the wood to make a camp. and
wh c n we got to the clearing
spring, we remembered
"ft hadn't changed.
"And that was how
no morcu
a mark. Ju,t
I nil let through
like--rn11 k11m\'~~like vo u shot
water.
we had." said Mi lcs.
out. Pa'd carved a Ton
r wcnt v vca rs before, but the
was just where it'd been when he done it. That
T
tree
;1
And he was just the ,;1mc as
if he'd never done it. ..
"After that w« went sort of
CLll\
...
said Jcs,e. grin-
ning at the mcmorv. "Heck. we was going to live forever. C:a11 you picture whar it felt like to find that out
it from before."
,,T found
the nee, remember.
and the tree and the
ldt
>"
"But then we sat clown and talked it over ..... said
l\I i Ies.
"\\'c'rc still talking it over." .Jc~sc added.
"And we figured
it'd be ,cry
had if cvc-rvouc
in all that rime. It \,·as ex-
k nowcd about that spring." said Ma«. "\\'c begun to
actly the same. And the T he'd carved was as fresh
sec what it would mean." She peered at Winnie. "Do
as if it'd just been p11t there."
Then they had re1ncrnberccl drinking
you understand.
hadn't
grown one whit
They-and
the horse
ch i ld? That
\\'atcr~it
stops
\Oll
the water.
right where you arc. H you'd had a drink of it todav.
But not the cat. The cat had
you'd stay a little girl forever. You'd never grow up.
lin:'.cl a long and happy l il c on the farm. but had died
not ever.
some ten years before. So they decided at last
"\\'c don't know how it works. or even whv." said
Miles.
that
the source of their changelcssness was the ~pring.
"\\'hen
we come to t h.i t conclusion,"
1\1 ac wen t
"Pa thinks
it's somct h i ng left over from-well.
Angus Tuck~-
from some other plan for the wav the world should
hc said he had to be sure. once and for all. He took
be." said Jesse. "Some plan that did n 't work out too
his shotgun and he pointed it at h issclf the best wav
good. A.11d so cvcrvth i ng was changed. Except that
he could. and before
the spring was passed mer. somehow or other. Mavbe
on, "Tuck
said-that's
my husband,
could ~top him. he pulled
\\T
the trigger." There was
;1
long pause. Mac's fingers.
he's right. 1 don't know. But
\OU
'iCC,
\\'innic
Foster.
laced together in her lap. t wist cd with the tension of
when I told you before I'm a hundred and four vca rs
rcmernbering .. \t last \he said. "The
old. I was telling the truth. But I'm really o n lv scv-
him down. \\'cnt
shot knocked
into his heart. It h ad to. the wav
he aimed .. \11d right 011 through him. It scarcely even
entccn. And. so far as I know. I '11 stay seventeen till
the end of the world."
• J-
I
•
Iu I- Jmt
8
think ol a l l the things
seen in the
\\T\·c
world'. .-\II the things were goillg to ,n·1••
"That kind of ra lk 'Il make her wa nt to rush back
and drink
"There's
a gallon
of the st ulf."
w.unccl
,\[ i lcs.
a whole lot more to it than .Jesse I ucks
good times. vou know."
"Oh, stuff," said Jesse w ir h a shrug. · \\'e might
as well enjoy it. long as we ca nt change it. You don't
have to be such a parvin all the time."
"L'm not being a parson.·· said :\lilc,. · I just think
vou ought to take it more scriou s ."
"Now, boys." said Mac. She was kneeling bv the
Wi nn ie did not believe in fain tales. She had never
stream, splashing her face and hands w it h cool wa-
longed for a magic wand, did not expect to marrv a
ter. "\\'he"·'
prince, and was scornf u l=most of the time-of
back on her heels. She unfastened
grandmother·s
her
elves. So now she sat, mouth open,
Such weather!"
she exclaimed.
<i t t ing
the brooch, took
off her shawl, and toweled her dripping
face. "'\\'ell.
wide-eyed. not knowing what to make of this ex-
child." she said to \Vinnie. standing
t raor
share our secret. It's a big. dangerous secret. \ \' c g-ot
dinarv
storv.
It cou ldut=-not
a bit of it-be
true. And yet:
to have your help to keep it. 1 expect vourc
"It feels so fi ne to tell somcbodv!" Jesse exploded.
"Just think, \\'innie
Foster, vou 're the only person
in the world, besides us,
"Hold
1\°110
knows about it'. ..
on now." said Mi lcs c aut iouslv. "Mavbc
questions. but
\H'
the shawl around
her waist
pains me to think how your ma and pa wi ll worry.
but there's just no wav around it. \\'c got to take You
home with us. That's
talk it out, make sure you sec
out. "Wcvc
don't know them ... .Jnsc pointed
never had a nvo nc but u s to talk about
it to. Winnic-visn
't
it peculiar:
• 42
•
\nc! kind of wonder
full of
then. and sighed. "It
know, \\·;mclcring around ju:,t like us."
ii'<'
\'OU
can't st av here no longer.·· She tied
not. There might be a whole lot. of ot lici s. for all we
· Mavbc. But
up. "now
the plan. ·1 uck-hc'll
1\°111
\
wa nt to
ou can 't tell no
one. But we'Il bring you back tomorrow. .·\II 1ig·ht:"
And all three oft hem looked .u her hopcl u I l v.
"All right.'" said \Vinnie.
For. she decided. there
• ·I -, •
't
wasn
an
probabh
v
choice. She would
m.i
kc- her go.
said. But she felt there
an)
hav«
wa
\la.,
to
v.
·1·1ie\
go.
ld
tcr wh.u .,he
110 m.u
nothing
wou
to be afraid of,
of !i('J m\'11 kncl·d
she'd
\1i,hl'Cl ,he liacl .. \11cl .i l l
:1hL1n
cbtl'ci. \\'hnl· ,1-c1 e the ten
not rcallv. For they seemed gentle. Centlc and-in
,lwuld
a strange wav= ch i id l i k«. The\
,d1c1c
made her fed old.
v.ud, ,he di,co\Trccl
She r ou lrl 11ot
l'\.}>Ctl:
I he
oVi
<
at her. made her feel special. 1 mportant.
picked. and it vlum mcrc-d w i t h light
warm, spreading
feeling. cnt irclv new. She liked it.
on HT,
till ,lie
\\·;1,
o! home.
pcciall , Jesse.
i
rea llv fine to have vou along. even if it ·s only for a
cla v or t wo ."
Then Jesse ga\'e a great whoop and leapt into the
st1Ca111. splashing might ii). "\\'liat'd
bring for
\OU
breakfast. ;\la:" he cried. "\\'e can cat
can't we. I'm stan·mg' ..
011
the ,ray.
wiclc l o u t
:111d
st i llne-,s. eating
lll'
pm,ibilit,
cli11, wit h it. Iler mot hcrs voice. the feel
receded for the m o m c n t , and her thoughts
u rucd forward. \\'11\. sh«. too. might Jin' l orcvcr i11
1!11,
remarkable world ~he \\·a, on lx just discovering:
l he vt orv ol the ,pri11g-it
,., lien sh«
\LIS
rnight be true'
So that.
not rol l iug along 011 the back of the ht
old horsc-·bY choice. this time-she
ran ,houting
.lown the road. her arm- flung out. inak injr more
noise t han am bodv.
It was good. So good. i11 fact. that through
So. with the sun riding high now in the sk v. t lie,
started off again, noisy in the .\ugmt
1h
to her like t lie petals of a Howcr rcadv to
and in spite of their story. she liked them. t or i- ..es-
But it was Mi lcs who took her hand and ,aid. "It's
,lit' ,n,
t lic-m ;111\·
1t'Cog11ii'c
And the wav they spoke to her. the wav the, looked
It was a
;11 OJHl'
~he'd lxcn told ,lw
c.u t li <.'pcncd out
'\\tTl
the ,n11gs
it all.
not one of them noticed that the man the, had pa,scd
011
the road. the
111a11in
the vcl low suit. had crept up
bread and cheese. Jesse sang funny old ,ongs in a
to the buxhcs bv the stream
loud
who le fantastic st orv. :\'01 did t hcv notice that he was
voice and
branches
swung
like a monkey
from
the
of trees, shm,·ing off shamelessly for \Vin-
nie. calling to her. "Hcv , \\'innie
and "Look what I can do!"
Aud \\'innic,
Foster. watch me!"
and
above the thin. gray beard.
turned
rowa rel a s 111 ilc.
alarm. They were f ricnds. h e : friends. She was r u nuing a,\·ay after all. but she
\LlS
not alone. Closing
fears a, she had closed the gate
• c/·I •
it all. the
Iol lowi ng now. beside the road far behind. his mouth.
laughing at him, lost the last of her
the gate on lu-r oldnt
heard
• ./ 5 •
ever so slighth·
flung them up like pebbles. But e,cnthing
9
c lsc was
motionless. dry as biscuit. 011 the brink of lJllrni11g.
hoarding
final rcscrvoi rs of sap. trying to hold out
till the rain returned,
and Queen
An ncs bee Ln
dusty on the surface of the meadows like foam on
;i
painted sea.
It was amazing, then, to climb a long hill. to see
ahead another hill, and beyond that the deep green
of a scattered pine forest. and as you cl imbcd. to feel
the air case and soften. \Vinnie 1T,·i\ eel. sniffing. and
was able to ride the horse again. perched
Mae. And to her oft-repeated
The
.\ug·ust sun rolled up. hung at mid-heaven for
a blinding hour. and at last wheeled westward before
the journn
was done. But Wirm ie was exhausted
question,
behind
"Arr we al-
most there?" the welcome answer came a r List: "On lv
a few more minutes now."
A wide stand of dark pines rose up. loomed nearer.
long before that. Mi lcs carried her some of the way.
and suddenly Jesse was crvi ng, "Were
The tops of her checks
is it, Winn ie Foster!" Anrl he and Mile, raced on
\HTC
bright pink with sun-
burn. her nose a vivid. comic reel, but she had been
and disappeared
home! This
among the trees. The
horse fo!-
by Mae, who
lowed, turning onto a rutted path lumpy wit h roots,
had fina llv insisted t luit she wear the blue st raw hat.
and it was as if tlicv had slipped in under a giant·
It came down far over her ears and ga,·e her a clown-
colander.
ish appearance.
only in scattered glimmers. and
rescued from a more serious broiling
but the shade from its brim was so
wclcouu: that \\'innie
gratefully
put vanity aside and dozed
in \files·~ 'itrn11g arms. her own arms
wou nd around h is neck.
The
crossed
pasr u rcs. fields.
\l'l'lT
\'
igorous
The late sun's brilliance
and untouched.
sliding
needles.
C\
crything \\·as si lcnt
the ground muflkd
the
could penetrate
graceful arms
with moss and
of
the
pines
stretched out protective l , in cvcrv cli n-ct iou. Auel it
and
scrubbv
1\·it h bLTS.
gro,cs
they
was cool, blessed lv cool and green. The horse picked
and cric kcts lea pt
his way carcfu llv, and then ahead the path dropped
before them a:- if c:1cl1 step released a spring and
down a steep embankment:
and beyond that. \\'in-
. 47 ·
n ic. peering
around
and a dazzling
Macs
sparkle.
bulk,
Down
saw a flash of color
the cm bauk mrnt
t hev
swayed and then' it was. a plain. homely little house.
In ..
."
h i msc-lf, setting \\'i11nic on
He interrupted
the ground, and turned to Mac. "Docs she k11(m-:"
"Course
she knows, .. said Mac. "T'hat 's why
barn-red, .md below it the last of the sun flashing on
brung her back. \\'innie,
the wrinkled surface of a tiny lake.
Tuck. Tuck. meet Wirin ie Foster."
"Oh, !ooh'" cried \\'i1111ie. "\\'atcr!"
. .\t the same time.
they
splashes, two voices roaring
"Ir don't take 'cm morcn
heard
"How do, Wi nn ic Foster."
two enormous
with pleasure.
a minute
that porid." said Mac, beaming.
to pile into
"\Ve!!. you can't
want.
was st a ud i ng there. "\\'here's
demanded.
"The
for \\'innic
the ch ild?" he
was h iddcn behind his w if«.
that
made
her
feel
like an unexpected
head.
blue hat. which still enveloped
"We-l l, then."
Tuck
happened in--oh--at least eighty years."
at once when she saw
the big man wit li his sad face and baggy trousers, but
as he gazed at her. the warm. pleasing feeling spread
head tilted
to one
side. his nes went soft. and the g-cntlcst smile in the
world displaced the iucl.mchol , creases of his checks.
I k rcachcd up to lift her l roru the horse's back and
he said. "There's
lam
repeated.
"seeing
in
her
x ou
know. I'll go on and say this is the finest thing that's
"and here she is ."
her again. For Tuck's
present.
wrapped in pretty paper and tied with ribbons.
"So I d id." said Ma«. sliding down off the horse.
through
He
looking back into his face, saw an expression there
good ncss. na tu ral child!"
shvncss returned
shaking
solcm nlv. "Wel l, then!"
boys say you bru ng along a real, honest-to-
\\'innie's
said Tuck.
\ngus
and peered down at her. and \Vinnie,
spite of Macs
Then they were at the door of the little house and
Tuck
Win nies hand rather
straightened
blame 'cm in heat like this. You can go in, too. if
\'OU
here's my husband,
jmt no words to tell vou how happy
to sec you. It's the finest thing that's happened
• -19 •
1()
a metal sink, and cvcr,
surface,
a nrl strewn
wit h ncnthing
and
from onions
tubs .. \nd
hung
to lanterns
in a cornrr
The
~
ancient
like
\\-11111ic hud grmn1 up wi t h order.
She \\·a.~ used to it.
;1ss;11dts of her mother
.md
[ '11dcr t lu- pitik,,
double
gr:111dmotlicr.
cott:igc wlre r« she lived \\'as ;ih,ay,
clca n. rnoppcd
suburisviou.
11l·,s, no putting
and .'i\\'ept and scoured
llicr«
was no room
thing,
were indon1it;d)lc
~o sl1L·
hc,ick
\1":1,
t.l1t
off until
later.
.. \ncl \\'innie
u11prcpz1rccl
)•()lld.
01m· to
unprcparccl
on l ,
t
h rc« ro1Jrn,_
(1pcn cahi11('t
to\\'u,
Tht
another
rnossy
Foster
1,·lil'n· dishc,
wit h o n r t lu: lc;i,t
dinwnsio11,.
There
t rai
n i ng.
house
cddic~ oi
T'hcrc-
\\'(TC
camr: first. w it h an
were srarked
H'.gard
,,·:h 1111 cnormou
50 •
in it,
,d10 li\'C'd--~:rnd
the mouse
l or
alone
fallen
xt i ll deep
log,
in the center.
facing
a soot-
in List winters
ashes.
The table with the drawer
that
housed
was pushed
into
a far corner,
three
off, also alone.
armchairs
aimlessly,
and
like
an eldcr lx rocker
st rangers
at a party.
.\n
the
mouse
and
stood
about
ignoring
each
other.
Bcvond
this wax the bedroom,
where
a vast and
was room beside
for the gentle
kitchen
into
soh lolled
gTcen-plush
yet
helter-skelter.
The
\\·a, in
a t.ib l« dr.iwcr.
liilll'---ill
forgot ten shot-
tipsy brass bed took up most of the space. but there
for the honu-l v little
cluvt . r h« vi lv rr cobwcb-.
\1·c·lt
Tuck's
to wash
for c.irclcss-
1\·orn1·11 h.«] macl« a Iort rcvs out of du tv. \\'ith
t hn
stood
wit h age. was set about
sr rcak cd fireplace
limp
to \\'OCH!c11 spoons
came next. \\·here the l urn itu rc. loose
parlor
and sloping
,quc,1ki11g
imaginable.
gun.
~
i h«
evcrv wa ll. was piled
in perilous
their
,;1n 111g
s b l.irk stove, and
mirror,
it for the washstand
and opposite
with the lonely
its foot a caver nous oak ward-
robe from wh ich leaked the Li int smell of camphor.
Up a steep Hight of n.urow
-"That's
where
the boys sleep when
Mac cxplaincd=a
Mac's
rugs:
its contents,
was eYcr) where
and
and scraps of bright
braided
they're
loft
home,"
nd r har was all. And yet it was not·
quire all. For there
activities.
stairs was a dusty
Tuck's.
cloth:
Her
evidence
of their
sewing:
patches
half-completed
:1 bag of cotton
like snow, drifting
batting
quilts
and
wit h wisps of
into cracks and cor-
....,.......
I
ncrs:
of the ,oLt 1,-cb!wd wit 1i ,t
the arms
thread and (L!11gcrou,
wi
t ]:
r;11Hls
of
lu-rxcll :
! I i-, woorl ra rv
IJ('<·dks.
ing: cu i l v sha\"i11g, f11ni11g the lloo r. a n.l l it r lr: h('ap,
! ,rntT
blccl dolls and wooden ,oldins:
ship rnodcl propped
i
ll,
the\
ht·cnhc
ci<:111 it up.·· \nd
t
dun't circ'"
111,t
· ·i-iic hm·, don't he home \'cry uiuch ." said Mac
,1,
t
!icy
c1111c
up into the ha lJ li~h; of the loft. "But
wlnu
a stack of wooden
roori.." The loft w.rs cluttered.
Yeh-ct. tl1c topmost l io w l lillcd wit h a jumble of big
wooden spoom and forks. like dn.
i)kachcd bone,.
··,\'c make thing·., to sell." <.rid ~Lie. surn·ying
the
mess approving iv.
of the parlor.
danced and wavered
through
ligl1t swa m :me!
the windows frorn the vu n l it surf are: of the
the clean.
"IDS
sweet smell ol the water and its weeds. rlie chatter
of a s,n>oping kingfisher.the
carol and trill of,! dozen
kinds of bird. and occi~iom l lv the
note of an u1L1.~toni1,hcd bu lit rog at
t lirilling
l'.t~l'
some
where along the n ru dd y bau k s.
:1
<11HI
wh ol« new idea to her
could Ii Ye in sue h d isa trav. but
was charmed.
It was ...
hind :\lac up the ~tair,
bed up here. There's
plcritv of
too. wit h all kinds
nd l'.llcl,. but the-re were
t wo
mat tresses
rolled nut on the Hoor, and fresh sheets and blankets
""'hc!T
'\'innic.
to be
;it
t
t
•
"Oh." s;iid Mac. "they go different places. do different things
They work at what jobs
try to bring home some
do carpl'ntcring.
t liev
can get.
of their money. Miles can
and he's a prctt y fair blacksmith.
too. Jessl· now, lt r: don't ever seem too settled in him-
self. Cou rs«. he's \oung
· She stopped and smiled.
"That sou nd-, fun nv don't it~ Still. it's true, just the
same. So Jc,,c. he docs what strikes him at the mo01
in saloons, things like
that, whatever he comes across. But they can't stay
l i.i
on in a nv one P lac « for long. you k now. None of us
t
pcnplt-
lie -a mc t iuic ,lie
o sec t l«: loft. sh« thought to
5 .2
awav?" asked
do t hev do~"
vcrv much
coml ort ab lc. C:lin1hing bet
do they go when they're
""'hat
mcut. ,\·urking in the ticlds.
Into it all came ,Vinnie. c,cs widr
amazed. It was
;1
arc. thn
w cr« fo lclcd al most IHiatly on each. waiting
like a bright rniug·e. rdkct"l'd
white and vcllow. And over e,·cr,thing
ba,s
of odd,
the old bc.nncd
011
vt rca k s of
pond. There were bowl-, of cLtisic, cvervv, here. g;n
other
thn
spread.
And still this was not all. For.
ceiling
t licv have
h i-, was fo l lowc«] by an-
on the 1110use·, tahk. \\·aiti11g f1,1 It, .~lue to drv: and
bowl«. their sides <moot hcd to
think
111lwr thnu:2,!11. h1 rnmt· rcvolu t.ion:u v. "l\laybe rhey
l111il1, oi u11,i,-;e111;i
lr
1
of splinters .!!](I ch i ps: cvcrv surf.ic « cl i m with the
sa w d ust of c<n111tlc-,, ,.rndingy
\l.t\'lH'
can. Pcop le get to wonrler i njr." She sighed ... -\Ve been
Ill
t
this home about as long as we dare, going on
went v vca rs. Ir's a right nice place. Tuck's got so's
•
5)
•
T
I
he's real attached
too. it's off by itself,
to it. Then.
\\-It\ it happc11cd to
don't
111.
'\\'c
around. \\'hen
And, l ik cwisc, I don't
1\T
go sometimes to
pL1i11 ;is salt. u-, 'I ucks.
deserve no blessing-, ii it is a bk,-,ing.
plenty of fish in the pond. not too far lroru the towns
we need things.
\\\·'re
,cc
how
1\l'
dcsnn:
to be
one, sometimes the next, so people don't come to
cursed, if it's a curse. Still.~thnc's
notice us much .. And 1\'C ~ell where we can. But I
figuTT why things Lill the wa, they do. Thing,
guess we'l l be mm ing on, one of these days. It's just
arc, a ncl fus,i11g don't
about time."
he's grit a fc\,· other ideas. but I expect he'll tell
It sounded rather sad to \Yinnie. never to belong
a nvwhcrc. "That's
too bad," she said, glancing sin ly
at l\Iae. "Alwavs moving around
and never having
a nv friends or anything."
"Tuck and
she said. "and that's a lot.
The boys, now. they go their separate \\·ays. They're
some diticrcnt.
don't
t hcv come home
bring changes.
ju st
I uck. now,
\OU.
There! The bms arc i n l rorn the pond."
\\'illl1ie heard a burst of voices dowuvt a i rs. .uid in
a 1110111cnt Mi lc« and _Tes'-C
\\'CIT
cl imb iug to the loft
"Herc, child." said ;\Jae hastily. "Hide vou r eves.
But Mac shrugged off this observation.
me, we got each other,"
no use trying to
always get on too good. But
whenever
the spirit
moves, and
e\-cry ten years, first week of August, they meet at
Boys: Are vou decent: \\'har'd
in: I got \\'innic
why we was
up line. do x o u hear me:"
"For goodness'
sake, !\Lt ." s:1id Jesse, cmcrvme
(-, 0
from the stairwell. "You think wcr« going to march
around in our altogether wit h '\Vinnie Fovicr in t lie
l11msc:"
\ml Mi k.«. behind him, said, "\\'c ju,t ju1npcd in
the spring and come home together so's we can be a
f am ilv again for a little while. That's
:,nu put 011 to <wi m
w it
h our clothes on. ·1 oo hot a nrl t ii ccl to shed cm. ..
there this morning. One 1\·ay or another, it all works
It was true. Thev stood there ~idc bv side "it h
out." She folded her arms and nodded, more to her-
their wet clot hcs plastered to their ski us. little poob
self than r o \Yinnie. "Life's got to be lived, no mat"
of wa
t er
how long or short."
she said calmly. "You got
trr colkcting at their feet.
·\\'ell'
· said ;\Ltc. relined ... .\l l right. Find ,rnm'·
to take what comes. \\'e just go along, like eYcry-
thing drv to put 011. Your pa\
bod, else, one day at a time. Funny-we
reach."
no different.
about
don't feel
to us, forget it altogether.
And then sometimes it comes over me and I wonder
. 54 ·
11carh
:\11d she hustled \\'in11ic clowu the narrow
Lcast wavs, I don't. Sometimes I forget
\\ hat's happened
got rnppcr
• 55 •
Tucks
11
kept their en·, and their attention
on the
business at hand .. \nd in the silence. giYcn time to
think. \\'innie
felt her elation. and her thoughtless
pleasure. wobble and collapse.
~
It had been different when they were out-of-doors.
~
where the world belonged to cvcrvone and no one.
Herc, cn:rything
was
t hcir-,
alone. e,cnthing
wa,
done their way. Eating, she rca lizcd now, iLt, a
\Tn
personal 'hing, not something to do with strangers
C h eu: i II g was a personal thing. Y ct here she was, chew
ing with strangers in a strange place. She shivered a
little. and frowned,
It \\;1s ;1 good ,upper.
lbpjacb.
bacon. bread, and
st orv
t
looking round
at them.
That
liev had told her- .. wliv, they were (Tan. she
applesauce. but the\ ate sitti11g about in the parlor
thought harshly. and they were criminals. 'Thcv had
instead of a10u11d a table. \\'innie
had never had a
k idna ppcd her. right out of the middle of her \cry
rclu llv.
own wood. and now she wou ld be expected to sleep
meal r h.u wav
before and she i\·atclwd them
.
at first. to see what
cn
ru lcs there might be that she
~-(/!! nig/1/-in
this d irt v, peculiar
house. She had
did not know about. But there seemed to be no rules.
11<'\ er slept in am bed but her own in her lilc. _\II
Jesse sat
and used the scat of ;1 chair for
tlinc thoughts flml'cd at once lro m the dark part of
a table. but the others held their plates in their laps.
her mind. She put down her fork and said. u nstcad-
There
i lv, "I want to go home."
on
the
Hoot
were 110 napkins.
It i\·;1s all right. then. to
rup Irorn vo u r fingcrs. \\'i1111ie was
The Tucks ~topped eati11g. and looked at lier. sur-
never a l lowcd to do surh a thing at home. but she
prised. Mae said soothingly. "\\'hy. of course You do.
had always tlwught it wou ld he the easiest way .. \11d
child. Thats
suddcnh
promised I would, soon's wcvc explained a bit as to
lick the maple
t
S\
h« n na l ,tTllH.d luxurious.
·\l'tn a In,· mi nutc-. hmH'HT. it \\·as clr.u to \\'in-
,d1y you got to promise you 'Il never tell about the
111c th.u then· w.i-, at least 011c rule: As lo11g as there
spring. That's
i\·;1, food to c.u , t lu: c· i\'as no co11Ycrs.1tion. All four
\\\·got
. 56 •
011h
home. I
.
. nat u ra l. I 'l l take vou
'
the 0111\' reason
to nia kc You
SLT
win- ."
• 57 ·
"\IC
bnmg
\'OU
here.
Then
Mi k-, said. clic-crf u llv and with sudden
pat h v. ··Thnc\
out I or
\Oll
,I
a p1ett\
nm·
good olcl row boat. I'll take
't
Wirmic,
but I'm sure most awful sorry it had to
happen like that. \Vl10 was th is man vou saw>"
"I don't know his name," said \\Tinnie. "But he's
I. '\\'ill11ic Fost er. Listen. I ·11 show you where
a pretty nice man, I guess." In fact, he seemed su-
;1 re,
"Hush;"
nie .
and ... "
Tuck
take '\\'innic
premelv nice to her now. a kind of savior. Arid then
interrupted.
"Everyone hush. I'll
rowing on the pond. There's
a good
deal tr> be said and I think we better hurry up and
it. I got a feeling there ain't a whole lot of time."
Jesse laughed
through
at this, and ran a hand roughh
his curls. "That's
But Mae frowned.
funny, Pa. Seems to me
\OU:
"We ll, that don't
sound
Pa." said
"Just
Winnie,"
the same,
"\\'C
said Tuck,
got to get vou home again.
standing
up decisively.
"\Ve
got to get you home just as fast as we can. I got a
feeling this whole thing is going to come apart like
:\'o one saw us on the wav up. \Veil, now,
wet bread. But first we got to talk, and the pond's
the, did. come to think of it. There
was a man on the road. just outside Treegap. But he
the best place. The pond's got answers. Come along.
child. Let's go out on the water."
didn't sa, notb ing ."
· He knows me. though.''
said '\Vinnie. She had
:·orgottcn. too. about the man in the yellow suit, and
now. thinking of him. she felt a rnrge of relief. "He'll
i
too serious,
Tuck) What · s
wait a bir=-vcs.
"You worried,
she added, "He came to our house last night. but he
didn't go inside."
Miles. "Just some stranger passing by."
like t imes the only thing we got a lot of."
got
l
said. "I guess there's no wav to make it up to you.
I found her first,
the frogs
,:l\
I
I
after supper."
"No I w i ll ." said Jesse. "Let
dicln
sym-
el l my Lither he s.nv me."
"He knows
)nti:"
said ;\Jae. her frown deepening.
"But vou didn't call out to h i m. child. \Vln not,"
· I wa-, too scared to do
11n\'ih111g."
said \Vinnie
h o nc-st lv.
Tuck shook his head. "I never thought we'd come
to the place where we'd be scaring children."
he
· 59.
T
12
I-Inc and there the still surface of the water di mplcd. and bright
ixhcrl.
"Feeding
rings ,pread
time." said
noisclcsslv and v.m-
luck softly. And \Vin-
uic. looking down, s.i« host « of tiny insects ~kittning
~
and ,kating on the sut Iacc. "Best time of all for 11.,h-
~
ing." he said, "when they come up to feed."
He dragged on the oars. The rowboat slowed and
began to drift gently toward the farthest end of the
pond. It was so quiet that \Vinnie almost jumped
when the bullfrog spoke again. And then, from the
tall pines and birches that ringed the pond. a wood
The sb was a ragged blaze of reel and pink and orange, and its double trembled
011
the surface of t hc
pond like color spilled from a paintbox.
was dropping
The
thrush caroled. The silver notes were pure and clear
and lovely.
"Know what that is, all around us, \Vinnie:," said
sun
Tuck. his voice low. "Life. Moving, growing. chang-
fast now. a soft red sliding egg yolk,
ing, never the same two minutes together. This wa-
and already to the cast there was a darkening
to pur·
ter, you look out at it every morning,
and it looks
pie. \Vinnie. ncw ly brave with her thoughts of being·
the same, but it ain't. All night long it's been mov-
rescued. climbed boldly into the rowboat. The hard
i11g,
heels of her buttoned
west, slipping out through the st ream down east here.
boots made a hollow banging
coming in through the stream back there to the
sound against its wet boards. loud in the warin and
always
brca th lcvs q u ict . Across the pond a bullfrog
hardly see the current,
spoke
quiet,
always
new,
moving
011.
You can't
can you? And sometimes the
a deep note of warning. Tuck climbed in. too, push-
wi nd makes it look like it's going the other way. But
ing off. and. settling the oars into their locks. clipped
it 's always there. the water's alwavs moving
them into the silty bottom in one strong pull. The
somcda y. after a long while, it comes to the ocean."
rowboat
slipped from the bank then, silently. and
glided out. tall water grasses whispering
its sides. releasing it.
away from
and
They drifted in silence for a time. The bullfrog
spoke again, and from behind them, far back in some
reedy, secret place. another
. 60 .
011,
• 6I •
bullfrog
answered
In
T
I
the faclirw
~ lie,-i ht. the t 1n·, :1 lorn.!
'' t h« b.m b
slow h.
\\TIT
lo.,ing their di11w11sion,. fLittclling into ,ilhoucttcs
clipped
a lcani ngwi llow. and disappeared.
Irom bLtck pa1,er a nd pasted to the paling
sk v. The
vo ir c of :1 d i ll crcnt
frog·. hoarser and not
so deep. c ro:1kcd from the nearest bank.
The sun sucks some of it up right out of
the occ:1n ;111(! ( a rrics it back in clouds.
"It goes
on."
Tuck repeated,
this rowboat now. it's stuck. If
"to the ocean. But
\\C
didn't
move it
out ourself. it would stay here Forever. trying to get
"Kncrn wh.u li:ippcm then:" said Tuck. "To the
water.
Wi nriie could sec t h.i t it hurried into a curve. a rou nd
and
i lu-u
rains. :111d the ra i n Ia l ls into the stream, and
it
the
loose. but stuck.
That's what us Tucks a rr-, \\'innic.
Stuck so's we can't move on. \Ye ain't uarr of the
'
wheel no more. Dropped
off Wirm ic. Left hch i nd.
And everywhere
us. things is 1110\'ing and
around
You. for instance. A child
st rc.u u keep, rnmi11g on. taking it all back ,tg·ain.
growing and changing.
It'« a whccl. \\'irllliC. Evcrv t h.iugs a wheel
now, but somcdav a woman. And after that, 111m·ing
;111d turning.
never stopping.
The
turning
frogs is part of
it. ,111d t lu: hugs. and the Iish , and the wood thrush.
011 to make room for the ncvv children."
Winnie
blinked,
and all at once ho
mind was
too. Aud people. But never the same ones .. Alw.ivs
drowned wit h understanding
corning in new. .rlwavs growing and changing. and
For she-yes.
:t!,,·a1 s moving on. That's the \\·ay it's supposed to be.
wi lly-nil lv someday. Just go out. like the flame of a
Tliat\
the
,,·a,
it is."
of what he was s;1\·ing.
even shc=wou ld go out of the world
candle, and no use protesting.
· I he rowboat had d rii red at last to the end of the
She would
t rv
It was a ccrrai nt v.
vcrv hard not to think of it. but some
into the rotting
times. as now. it would be forced upon her. She raged
bra nc he, of a Lil kn t rec that thrust thick fingers into
against it. helpless and insulted. and blurted at last.
the water. And though
"I dun
pond.
hut now its boxv bumped
the current
pulled
at it,
't \\
.mt to die."
dragging it, stern s irlcwis«, the boat was \\·edged and
"No;" said Tuck calrnlv. ":',;ot 11m\'. Your time's
could not Iol low. I he wat cr slipped past it, out be-
not now, But dvings part of the \\·heel. right there
n,ct·n
clul!lp, of recd, and brambles.
and gurgled
next to bung
born. You can't. pick out the pieces
dm\·11 a u.urow bed. over stones and pebbles. foaming
you like and leave the rest. Being part of the whole
a little. moving swi l t lv now after its slow trip be-
thing. that's the blcs,ing.
t wccn
Tucks. Living« !ican work. but off to one sick. the
the prn1d\ wick b.mk s. And. farther
. 62.
down,
But it's pas~ing us by. u s
\\·ay V't' arc, it's useless, too. It don 't make sense. If I
only sit hunched and numb. the sound of the water
knowcd how to climb back on
rolling in her ears. It was black and silky now: it
in a minute.
t lic
wheel, I'd do it
You can't have living without
dying.
So you can't call it living, what we got. \Ve just are,
lapped at the sides of the rowboat. and hurried
on
around them into the stream.
And then. down the length of the pond, a voice
we just he, like rocks beside the road."
Tuck's voice was rough now, and \\'innie.
amazed.
rang out. It was Miles. and C\-cry word, across the
sat rigid. No one hacl ever talked to her of things like
water, came clearly to their ears. "Pa! Pa, come back!
this before. "I want to grow again," he said fiercely.
Someth ings happened,
"and change. And if that means I got to move on at
you hear me, Someone's stole the horse."
Pa. The horse is gone. Can
the end of it, then I want that, too. Listen, \\'innie,
it's something you don't find out how you feel until
afterwards. If people k nowcd about the spring down
there in Treegap,
to slops. They'd
they'd all come running
trample
each other,
like pigs
trying to get
some of that water. That'd
be bad enough, but after-
wards=can
All the little ones little
fOIT\
you imagine-
er. all the old ones old forever. Can you picture
what that means: Forere ii The wheel would keep
on going round, the water rolling by to the ocean,
but the people would've
turned
into nothing
but
rocks bv the side of the road. 'Cause they wouldn't
know till after, and then it'd be too late." He peered
at her, and \\'innie
saw that his face was pinched
with the etfort of explaining.
"Do
YOU
see.
110\\'.
child: Do you u ndcrsta ncl- Oh. Lord, I just got to
make you understand!"
There was a long, long moment of silence. \Vinnie,
struggling with the anguish of all these things. could
· 65.
13
14
Sometime later, the man in the yellow suit slipped
There had been nothing tor the Tucks to do but go
down from the saddle and tied the Tucks' old horse
to bed. It was too dark now to go out looking for the
to a bar of the Fovtcrs ' fence. He tncd the gate. It
horse thief. and am1\·ay. they had no idea when he
was unlocked. He pushed through and strode up the
had done h is thin ing or wh ich \\·ay he had gone.
path to the door of tLc cottage. Though
late now. almost
midnight.
it was very
the windows
glowed
golden. the family h.id not gone to bed. The man in
the yellow su it took off his hat and smoothed his hair
w it h long wh iu: fingers. Then
cloor.
It was opened
mot her
he knocked at the
at once by \Vinnie's
and before sh« cou ld speak. the
q u ick l v, "Ah ' (;ood ncning'
JIU
t hcvvc
beats all, though, don't it. Pa," said Jesse.
"coming up to a person's home and stealing their
horse right out from under their nose!"
"I got to giYe
)OU
that." said Tuck. "But the ques-
tion is, was it just some ordinary thief. or
\LIS
it some-
grancl-
one that had some special reason? I don't like it. I
n said
got a bad feeling about the whole t h i ng."
Mav I come in: I have
ha ppv news lot you. I k now whcr«
"That
taken the
"Hush
1101\·,
'Tuck ." said Mac. She was spreading a
quilt on the old sofa. making it into a bed lor \\'innic, "You're too much of a worricr. There's nothing
little girl."
we can do about it now, so there's
110
sense fussing.
You got no reason to think there's a n yt h ing peculiar
· 66 ·
· 67 .
I,
I
it ,
about
,Jeep
w.iv.
:!ll\
C:()1111.· 011.
\,·c'l] g·,·t :t g•.,<>d 11i,L:,l11 ·,
a nc! fir~11tL' it out i11 the lll()ll1i11g wlu-n
\\l
r c:
fresh. Bm,,. up vo u go. and clon: g'l't t.tlki11g v oul l
keep
\\'i11nie. child. v ou bcrl d<>11·11. i oo.
tis awake.
1i
mc. The
clid not sleep at a l l, 1101 i01 a long. long
cushion,
i1Tcping. "He's told them IJy now," she thought.
tl'hc:11,i11g it. "'I '!in ·,c been looking
hours. But tlu-v dout
ma n sa\\· which wa .
You'll -Iccp Iirxt-r.ur- on the <ola here ."
But \\'innie
the vcl low su it was the only thi11g·that kept her from
of the .,uLt were rcmarkab lx
lu m pv and smelled like olcl nn,·spapers:
chair pad :\Ltc l r.«l gin:n her for a pi llow
me They're
out
for me for
know whrr« to look! :\'o. The
1\'C
were headed. Papa wil l find
looking for
Ille
right
now."
She went over it ::igain and again. lyi11g wrapped
.uid the
in the quilt, while outside the moon rose, turning
thin
the pond to vi lvcr. There was a hint of mist. now
\\,1,
and hard, and rough under her check. But Jar ,,·orsL·
t hat
than this ,,a:- the fact that she was still i u her clothes,
Iortab
for she had firml . rel used the offer of :\fac's "\'all'
rh vth m ir song. In the table drawer. the mouse rustled
nightgmn1.
w i t h its seeming miles of faded cot t o n
the air wa-, cooler. and the frogs talked cornlv.
Crickets soon joined in
sofr lv, enjming
their
with
sh
r
i
ll.
the supper of flapjack crumbs Mac
flannel. Only her own rnghtgcnn1 wou lcl do. :ind the
had put there for him. And at last these things were
regular bedtime routine: without
clearer
them. she
\Lts
p.tin-
in \\'innie's
ears than
the
\ oice of her
fully lonely Ior home. Her joy 011 the road that 11101 n-
thoughts. She began to relax. listening to the sou nd-
i11g had completely
filled silence. Then.
disappeared:
the wide world
just as she \\·as drifting
into
shrank and her oldest fears rolled l rccly in her co n-
sleep. she heard soft foor stcps and Mae was beside
scious11cs.,. It was u nbcl ievablc that she should be in
her. "You resting casv, child:" she whispered.
this place: it w.is an outr:1gc. But she i\'as hclpkss to
"L'iu all right. thank you." said \Vinnie.
do a n yt h i ng about it. helpless to c ont rol it. a ud ex-
"I'm sorrv about cvcrvt h iug." said Mac.
didn't
h a u st o.] by the L on vcrsat io n in the rowboat
\\'as it
Tuck,:
lJ ue.
Could thl'\
!L'ally
never
It had evident h not occurred
die. these
to t lu-m that
she n1ight not believe it. ·1 hl'\ wcr« only
<
oncnmci
that she keep the scxr cr . Wcl l. she did nor believe
it. It 11·;1s nonsense.
\\'a,11'1 it~ \\'ell. wasnt
\\'i1111ie\ lic,td wh irlcd. Remcmbcriug
· 68 ·
tlie u1;111
know no other way but to bring vou back
w it h us. I know it ain't vcrv happv for vou here, but
... well ... :mq\·ay. you have a good talk with Tuck:"
"I guc~, so." said \\'innie.
"That's good. \\'ell. I'm going back to bed. Cet a
good sleep ."
it:
111
"I juvt
"Al l nght." said \\'i11nic.
, 69 .
But still Mae lingered.
she sa id at last.
"I guess
"\\'e
been
alone
so long."
don't know how to do
\\T
with v ivit ors. But still and all, it's a good feeling, you
versat iou, But then he bent and k isscd her quickly
011
the check, and was gone.
Wi nn ic la,' with her eves
wide. She felt cared for
'
being here wit h us. I wish you was ... ours." She put
and-vconfuscd.
out an awkward hancl then and touched
would happen to the Tucks when her father came.
\\'innie's
hair. "\\'ell." she said. "good night."
And all at once she wondered what
\ Vhat would he do to them: She wou ld never be
"(;ood night," said \\'in11ie.
able to explain how they had been with her. how
'Tuck came, too. a little later. to peer clown at her
they made her feel. She rcuicmbcrerl
a nxiouvly. H c was wca ring a lung white nightshirt
at supper she had dccickd they
and his hair was rumpled.
but they
"Oh! .. he said. "You still
"Yes ... said \\'innie.
mean to go clist urbing
you," he said.
"But I been laying in there thinking
I ought to be
said Winnie,
sur-
but if you want
something. wil l you holler: I'm just in the next room
~I'd
:1
creaking· on the loft stairs and
Jesse was looking down at her.
eager in
the
be out here like a shot. .. And then he added,
gruffly. "It's been quite a time since
HT\
faint biuc moonlight.
bcaut if u l and
"Hcv, \\'innie
'This time she sat up, pullillg the quilt around her
in sudden embarrassment,
prised and touched. "L'm all right.''
"Well ...
was
Foster," he whispcrcd. "You asleep:"
setting out here wit h you till you went to sleep."
He looked uncertain.
criminals. \Vell.
Aud yet.,.
Wl"if'.
plete. There
"You don't have to do that,"
that
And then a final visitor made her confusion com-
awake- En.:Tything all right:"
"I didn't
\HTC
guiltily
and answered. "No. not
vet."
"\\'ell then, listen." He knelt beside her. his curls
tumbled and his eves wide. "I been thinking it over.
had a nat-
Pa's right about vou having to keep the secret. It's
ural. growing child in the house ..... His voice trailed
not hard to sec whv. But the thing is. you knowing
oft. "\\'ell.
about the water a lreadv, and living right next to it
Wt'
·1 rv to get some ~Jeep. That sofa there,
I guess it ain't the kind oft hing you 're used to."
so's ) ou could go there am time. well, listen, howd
"It's fine." said \\'innic.
it be if
"The bed's no better. or I'd switch with vou ," he
;1ge a:, mc-i-hcck. that's only six vcars off--and then
said. He didn't seem to k now how to finish
. 70 .
t he
con-
)OU
was to wait till vourc
seventeen. same
vou could go and drink some. and then vou could
. 71 .
go away
That'd
with me! \Ve
could
be pretty good. wouldn't
get married.
even.
it! \Ve could have
a grand old time, go all around the world. sec everything. Listen, Ma and Pa and Miles, they don't know
how to enjoy it. what we got. Wh y, heck, Winn ie,
life's to enjoy yourself, isn't it) What else is it good
for? That's
what I say. And you and me, we could
have a good time that never, never stopped. Wou ldn"t
that be something)"
Once more Winnie
adored him, kneeling
beside her in the moonlight.
He wasn
could he be? He was just-~amazing.
't
there
crazy. How
But she was
In Treegap, the same moonlight si lvered the roof of
struck dumb. All she could do was stare at him.
"You think on it, \Vinnie Foster," Jesse whispered
the touch-me-not cottage, but inside, the lamps were
earnestly. "Think on it some and sec if it don't sound
burning.
good .. \nyway,
suit. "I know where she is." He sat back in his chair
I'll
see you
in the morning.
All
right)"
":\II
"That's
right," said the man in the yellow
in the Fosters' spotless parlor, crossing his long, thin
right,"
she managed
to whisper
in return.
legs. and the suspended
foot began a rhythmic
jig-
He slipped a'.\·ay then, back up the creaking step~.
gling. He hung his hat on his knee and smiled, his
but \\'innic
eyes nearly closed. "I Followed them, you sec. She's
sat upright, wide awake, her checks burn-
ing. She could not deal with this remarkable
sugges-
with them now. As soon as I saw they'd arrivcd at
tion. she could not "think on it." For she didn't know
their destination,
I turned around and came directly
what to believe about anything. She lay down again,
back. I thought
you'd be staying up. You've been
finally.
looking for her all day, of course. It must be quite a
and stared into the moonlight
half an hour before she fell asleep.
for another
worry.
He lifted a hand then, ignoring
their exclama-
tions, and began to smooth the thin hairs of his beard.
"You know." he said thoughtfully,
. 72
•
. 7J •
"L've come a long
wav, looking for a wood exactly like the one you've
got next door here. It would mean a great deal to
me to own it. And how pleasant to have neighbors
like yourselves!
Now,
understand,
down many of the trees.
I'm
I wouldn't
no barbarian,
can see that. No, just a few. You wouldn't
So: I want the "·ood and vou w.uu the child. It's a
trade. A simple, clear-cut trade."
He looked around at the three shocked L1ccs. .md
cut
as if he were seeing nothing
you
ment, he smiled delightedly
find it
together.
there but calm agree.mcl rubbed
"Done and done." he said. "I k ncw right
different at all, really." He gestured with his long,
away, I said to myself, ·:\\rn· here is a group of intel-
white fingers and srniled,
ligent, reasonable
his face crinkling
pleas-
people!'
l 'm seldom
judge of character.
girl and I, we're friends already. It would be a great
All that remains is to writc it up on paper. gi,ing me
relief to see her safely home again. wouldn't
He
the wood, and to sign it. It's best. don't you agree. to
thing,
keep things legal and tidy. The rest is easv. ,'\'othing
that I was a witness!
to it. You go for your local constable, and he and I
kidnapping.
and frowned.
Isn't it fortunate
"Dreadful
it)"
Very seldom disappointed.
So'
Why, without
me, vou might never have heard a
ride out and bring back the child mu! the criminals.
word. They're
rough country people, the ones that
No-oh.
no. Mr. Foster-I
understand
your concern,
took her. There's just no telling what illiterates like
but you mustn't come along. \\'e'll
that might clo. Yes," he sighed, lifting his eyebrows
my way. There now! Your terrible ordeal is as good
and smiling again. "it looks as if I'm the only person
as over. isn't it: I'm so thankful I was here to help vou
out!"
in the whole world ,d10 knows where to find her."
And then the man in the yellow suit sat forward.
His long face took on a hard expression.
"Now, I
don't have to spell things out for people like yourselves. Some t nies one comes across can't seem to cut
their ,\'ay through any problem, and that docs make
things difficult.
But you, I don't have to explain the
situation to you. I've got what you want, and you've
got what I want. Of course, vou might find that child
without me, but ...
you might
not find her in time.
'
;
· 74.
\
"T<mg as a
antly. "Wed be good friends. I think. \Vhy, the little
clicked his tongue
\
his hands
75 •
do this business
Then he shrugged. and slumped a little in the sad-
of Foster land) Going to clear her: Put up a home.
dle.
or a store, maybe>"
"Might
as well relax,"
companionable.
Still there was
"Yessir," said
something
he wheezed,
suddenly
"Wcl] be riding three. four hours."
"No," said the man in the vcl low suit.
110 reply.
The constable waited for more, but there
the constable,
trying
again.
new for these parts, kidnapping.
"It's
Never
had a case like this before that I know of, and I been
more. His sour mood returned.
shook
the ashes
from his
,\·;is
He frowned
cigar.
"Say,"
he
no
:1rnl
said.
"You're kind of a close-lipped feller. ain't you:"
The man in the yellow suit narrowed his eves. His
in charge going on fifteen years."
He waited.
mouth,
"You don't say so." his companion said at last.
annoyance.
"Yep, that's a fact," said the constable, with evi-
you mind if I rode on ahead: I'm worricd about that
dent relief. Maybe now there wou ld be some conver-
child. I'll tell you how to get there, and I'll go on
sation! "Yep. fifteen years. Seen a lot of trouble
ahead and keep watch."
fifteen years, but nothing
in
quite like this. 'Course,
above the thin gray beard.
"Look here,"
twitched
he said tightly.
"Wel l." said the constable grudging!\
wi t h
"\\'ould
"all right.
there's a first time for everything, as they say. We got
if you're in such a ding-danged hurry. But don't do
a brand-new ja ilhousc, did you notice? Listen, it's a
nothing till I get there. Those folks arc likeh dan-
dandy! Give those folks nice clean accommodations."
gerous. I'll try to keep up, but this horse of m ine.
He chuckled ... 'Course, they won't be there long.
she's none too strong. Don't see as how I cou Id get
Circuit judge'll be coming through next week. He'll
her to a gallop, even if I tried."
send 'cm over to Char lcvvil lc, most likely,
county jail. That's
to the
what they do for your serious
crimes. 'Course, we got a gallows of our own, if we
ever need it. Keeps down trouble, I think, just hav-
"That's
"So I'll go
right,"
011
said rhe man in the vcl lotv suit.
ahead, and wait outside the home till
you get r here."
He explained
the route carcfu llv, then dug his
ing it there .. Ai n 't ever used it yet. 'Thar's because
heels into the Hanks of the fat old horse. cantering
they take care of the serious stuff over to Charley-
off into the darkness where just a hint of dawn glm\-cd
villc. like I sav."
on the edges of the hills far ahead.
The constable paused to light a cigar, and went
on cheerfully:
"What you got planned for that piece
. 78 .
The constable
"Humph,"
chewed on the encl of his ugar.
he said to his horse.
· 79 ·
"Did vou get a
gander at
t har
suit of clothes: Oh, wcl l , it takes all
kinds, a s they sav." .\nd
,awning.
he fo l lowcd
17
slmdy after,
the gap between him and the man ahead
lcng-rhcning wit h nTry mile.
For the second morning
in a row, Winnie
Foster
woke early. Outside, in the ring of trees around the
pond, the birds were celebrating,
giving the new
day a brass band's worth of greeting. Winriie freed
herself from the twisted quilt and went to a window.
Mist lay on the surface of the water, and the light
was still pale. It looked unreal. and she felt, herself,
unreal,
waking where she had, with her hair wi ld
and her dress all crumpled.
Through
She rubbed
her eyes.
the dewy weeds below the window, a toad
hopped suddenly into view and Winnie peered at it
eagerly.
But no-of
And remembering
thought
course it wasn
that other
now, almost fondly-it
't
the same toad.
toad-her
toad, she
seemed to her that
she had been away from home for weeks. Then she
. 80 .
. 81 .
heard a step on the loft stairs and thought,
"Jesse!"
At once her checks Harned.
But it was Miles.
today," thought
\\'innie.
She was somehow certain
of this, and began to feel quite cheerful.
He came into
the parlor, and
been kidnapped.
but nothing
She had
bad had happened,
when he saw that she was up. he smiled and whis-
and now it was almost over. Now, remembering
pered,
visits of the nigh.t before, she smiled-and
"Good!
You're
awake.
Come
on=you
can
help me catch some fish for breakfast."
the
found that
she loved them. this most peculiar family. They were
her friends, after all. And hers alone.
This time. Winnie was careful not to make a noise
"Howd you sleep?" Miles asked her.
when she climbed into the rowboat.
"All right," she said.
She made her
,\·ay to her scat in the stern. and Mi lcs handed her
two old cane poles- "\\'atch
warned-and
out for the hooks!" he
a jar of bait: pork
fat cut into little
pieces. A big brown night moth fluttered
"That's good. I'm glad. Ever been fishing before?"
"No," she told him.
"You'll like it. It's fun." And he smiled at her.
out from
The mist was lifting now, as the sun poked up
under the oar blades propped beside her on the scat,
above the trees, and the water sparkled. Miles guided
and wobbled off toward nowhere
the fra-
the rowboat near a spot where lily pads lay like up-
plopped
turned
through
grant air. Aud from the bank, something
into the water. A frog! \\'innie
caught just a glimpse
of it as it scissored away from shore. 'The water was
so clear that she could sec tiny brown
fish near the
bottom. flicking this way and that.
some here,"
he said.
"There'll
be trout
those weeds and stems. Here-give
I'll bait the hooks for us."
me the poles and
the near end of
was like j esse's, and yet not like.
without
.Jesse's rounded
cheeks,
It was thinner,
and paler, and his
the pond. where the water came in from the stream.
hair was almost straight,
The locks grated as the oars clipped and swung, but
ears.
Miles was skillful. He rowed wit h out a single splash.
thicker, the skin scrubbed-looking,
The dripping
knuckles and under the nails. Winnie
from the blades. as they lifted, sent
rows of overlapping
circles spreading
clown in
Winnie sat watching him as he worked. His face
Miles pushed the rowboat off and sprang in, and
soon the1 were gliding up toward
palms on the surface. "We']! let her drift
His hands
were
clipped
different,
neatly below the
too,
the
fingers
but black at the
remembered
silently behind
then that he worked sometimes as a blacksmith, and
them. It was very peaceful. "T'h c v'l l take me home
indeed his shoulders, under his threadbare shirt, were
. 82.
· 83 .
broad
and
m u sc.lcr]. He looked solid,
like an oar.
whereas Jcsse~-\\-ell. she decided. Jesse was like water:
thin, and quick.
\\'i1111ic clutch.-d lier pole. sitting sidewise in the
Miles seemed to sense that she was \\·atcliing him.
He looked up from the bait jar arid his eves. rct.urning her gaze, were soft. "Remember
two children:"
pole. Jw,r case the hook down in the 11·;1te1. You'll
know when \Oll get ;1 bite ..
I told you I had
he asked. "\\'ell, one of 'ern was a girl.
I took her fishing. too." His face clou dcd then. and
he shook his head.· Iler name was .\nna. Lord. how
sweet she was, that child' It's queer to think she'd
st eru, and 11·;1tchcd the baited hook sink slow l , down.
:\ dragonfh.
a brilliant
From the nearest bank. a bullfrog spoke.
ccrra i n l y arc a lot of frogs around here,"
"There
\Vinnie observed.
.. I'hats
so." said Miles. "They'll
be close to eighty now, if she's even still alive. Arid
too, long as the turtles
my son-he'd
they'll eat
Winnie
be cight\·two."
looked
at his young.
after a moment she said. ""'In
strong
Iacc. and
didn't you take them
to the spring and gin: them some of the special wa-
,t
"We ll, of course, we didn't realize about the spring
keep commg.
stay away. Snappers,
Wi nn ie thought about
this
peril to the frogs, and
sighed. "It'd be nice," she said, "if nothing ever had
to die."
think
on it, ,ou
know," said :\files. "If you
come to sec there'd
while we was still on the farm," said Miles. "After-
creatures,
wards, I thought about going to find them. I wanted
right up next to each other before long."
to, heaven knows. But, Winnie. howd
it have been
now,
frog soon as look at him."
"\Veil. now. I don't
ter?"
blue jewel. darted up and
paused over the lily pads, then ,wung up and a,say.
be so many
includi11g people. we'd all be squeezed in
\Vinnie
squinted
at her fishing line and tried to
if I had? My wife was nearly forty by then. Arid the
picture a tecrning world. "Mm m ," she said, "yes, I
children-well,
guess you 're right."
what was the use) T'hev'd have been
near growed theirselvcs. They'd have had a pa close
Suddenly
the cane pole jerked in her hands and
to the same age they was, No. it'd all have been so
bent into an arch, its rip dragged down nearly to the
mixed up and peculiar, it just wouldn't
water's surface. \\'i1111ic held on tight to the handle,
Then
have worked.
Pa. he was dead-set against it, anyway. The
fewer people know about the spring,
he says. the
fewer there are to tell about it. I lcrc-hcrc's
· 84 '
vou r
her eves wide.
"Hey!" cried Miles. "Look there! You got a bite.
Fresh trout for breakfast, Winnie."
· 85'
But
again
just
as suddenly
the
pole
and the line went slack.
wh ippcd
"Shucks,"
straight
said Miles.
Iu l if they're going to take up space in the world."
"But what will you d o?" \V1n11ie persisted.
"I don't k now vet." said l\lilcs. "I ain't had no
"It got away."
'Tm kind of glad." \Vinnie admitted,
casing her
schooling or nothing,
and that makes it harder."
rigid grip on the butt of the pole. "You fish, Mi lcs.
Then
l 'rn not so sure 1 want to."
though. I'll locate sorncthing."
he set his jaw and added,
"Tl! find a way,
And so they drifted for a little longer. The sky was
\Vinnie nodded. She reached out and ran her fin-
blue and hard now, the last of the mist dissolved, and
gers across a lily pad that lay 011 the water beside the
the sun, stepping
higher above the trees, was hot
boat. It was warm and very dry, like a blotter. but
back. The first week of August was re-
near its center was a single drop of water, round and
asserting itself after a good night's sleep. lt would be
perfect. She touched the drop and brought her fin·
another scaring· day.
gertip back wet: but the drop of water, though
on Winnie's
A mosquito appeared
and sat clown on \Vinnie's
knee. She slapped at it absently, thinking about what
Miles had said. If all the mosquitoes lived forever=
it
rolled a little. rernai ncd as round and perfect as before.
And then Miles caught a fish. There it Aoppcd, in
be
the bottom of the boat, its jaw wor k ing. its gills fan-
terrible. The Tucks were right. It was best if no one
ning rapidly. \Vinnie drew up her knees and stared
knew about the spring, including
at it. It was beautiful.
ancl if they kept on having
babics!-it
would
the mosquitoes.
and horrible
too. with gleam-
She would keep the secret. She looked at Miles, and
ing, ra inbow-colorcd scales. and an eye like a marble
then she asked him. "What will you do, if you've got
beginning
so much time?"
was caught in its upper lip, and suddenly \Vinnie
"Someday," said Miles, "I'll find a way to do some-
to dim C\Cn as she watched it. The hook
wanted to weep. "Put it back. Miles," she said, her
voice dry and harsh. "Put it back right awav."
thing important."
Miles started to protest, and then, looking at her
Winnie nodded. That was what she wanted.
"The way I sec it," Miles went on, "it's no good
face, he picked up the trout and gently worked the
hiding yourself away, like Pa and lots of other peo-
barbed hook tree. "All right, \Vinnie,'· he said. He
ple. And it's no good just thinking
dropped the fish mer the edge of the boat. It flipped
pleasure,
either.
of your own
People got to do something
• 86 •
use-
its tail and disappeared under the lily pads.
(),..,
• u;
.
"Wi ll it be all right?" asked Winnie, feeling fool-
18
ish and happy both at once.
"It'll
be all right,"
he said, "People
Miles assured her. And then
got to be meat-eaters
sometimes,
though. It's the natural way. And that means killing
~
things."
~
"I know," said \Vinnie weakly. "But still."
"Yes," said Miles. "I know."
And so there were flapjacks again for breakfast. but
no one seemed to mind. "Didn't get a bite, ch>" said
Mae.
"No," said Miles, "nothing we wa n t.cr] to keep."
That
was
true.
anyway.
And
though
\\'i1111ic
blushed as he said it. she was grateful that he didn't
explain.
"Never
mind,"
said Mac. "You're
likely out of
practice. Tomorrow, maybe."
"Sure," said Miles. "Tomorrow."
But it was the thought
of seeing Jesse again that
kept Winn ics stomach fluttering.
And at last he
came down from the loft. ya,n1i11g and rosy, rubbing
his curls, just as Mac was piling the plates with flapjacks. "Wcl l, slug-a-bed,"
she said to him fondly.
"You come near to missing breakfast. Miles and \\'in-
· 88 •
n ic been up for hours, out fishing and back already."
licked the syrup from her fingers wit hou t pausing to
"( )h:" said Jesse, his eyes on Mi les. "Where's
think about it first. Her fears at last night's supper
the
Iisli, thc11: I l ovv come we got nothing but flapjacks?"
.. ~o
luck." said Mac. "They
wasn't biting,
for
some reason.
seemed silly to her now. Perhaps they 11•1·re crazy, but
they weren't criminals.
longed to her.
"Reas011 is. Mi lcs don't know how to fish," said
Tuck said, "Howd
Jesse. He gri1111cd at \Vinnie and she lowered her
n es., her heart thumping.
be-
you sleep. ch ild>"
And she answered, "Just tine," and wished, for a
fleeting moment, that she could stav w irl: them for-
"It don't mattcr." said Mae. "We got plenty without. Come and get your plates, everybody."
be lore. The
cc i ling swam with bright
and sunlight
st
ever in that sunny, untidy little house by the pond.
Gnnv up with them and perhaps, if it was true about
The, sat about int he parlor, as they had the night
reflections,
reamed across the dusty, chip-strewn
floor. Mac sunned
She loved them. They
it all and sighed contentedly.
the spring-then
...
perhaps. when she was seventeen
She glanced at Jesse, where he sat on the floor,
his curly head bent over his plate. Then she looked
at Miles. And then her eyes went to Tuck and lin-
":\'m,·, this is real nice," she said, her fork poised
gered on his sad, creased face. It occurred to her that
above her plate. "Everyone
he was the dearest of them all, though she couldn't
sitting clown together.
And haYing \Vinnie here-why,
"That's
the truth,"
it's just like a party."
said Jesse and Miles both to-
gether. and Win n ic felt a rush of happiness.
"Still. we got things to discuss," Tuck reminded
them.
"There's
stole . And
\\T
the business of the horse getting
got to get Winn ic home where she be-
loncs. How we ooi1w to do that without the horse?"
\._,
.. \ftcr
(J
t'"'I
brcak tast., ·1 uck.." said Mae firmly. "Don't
have explained why she felt that way.
However; there wasn't time to wonder, for at that
moment someone knocked at the door.
It was such an alien sound, so sudden and surprising, that Mae dropped her fork, and everyone looked
up, startled. "\Vho's that:" said Tuck.
"I can't imagine," whispered Mae. "We ain't never
had callers in all the years we been here."
spoil a good meal w itl: a lot of talk. We'l l get to it
The knock came again.
soon enough."
"I'll go, Ma," said Miles.
So t hex were silent. eating, and this time \Vinnie
. 90 .
"No, stay where you are," she said. "I'tl go." She
• 9l
•
put her plate down
up, straightening
t
l il' Hoor and stood
her skirts. f'ht.,i
she went to the
cardtill,
on
19
kitchen and opened t lie door.
Winnie recognized the voio al
0nce.
It was a rich
*
and pleasant voice. The nian 111 the yellm,· suit. And
he was saying, "Good mornin<>, .\ { 1..;. Tuck. It is Mrs.
~
t'
Tuck, isn't it. May I come in)"
•
The man in the yellow suit came into the sunlit parlor. He stood for a moment, looking around at them
all, Mac and Miles and Jesse and Tuck, and Win uic.
too. His
face
was without expression, but there was
something unpleasant
at once, something
behind it that Wirm ie sensed
that made her instantly
suspi-
cious. And yet his voice was mild when he said,
"You're safe now. Winifred.
I've come to take you
home."
"We Has going to bring her back directly, ourself," said Tuck, standing up slowly. "She ain't been
in no danger."
"You're Mr. Tuck. I suppose." said the man in the
yel low suit.
"I am," said Tuck
Iorrna lly, his back straighter
than usual.
. 92 •
• 9j
•
'1
"\\'ell.
you may as well sit down again. You, too,
wi t h her children to li,·c at my grandmother's
house
Mrs. Tuck. I have a great deal to say and very little
for a short wh ilc. · I "hen she mm eel west. I don't know
t imc for saying it. ..
what became of her. But my mother still remembers
Mae sat down on the edge of the rocker. and Tuck
same age. There was a son. and a daughter. ..
sat. too. but his eyes were narrowed.
J csse
said. u ncasi I v, "Who in
t arna
t ion do you
think vo u->"
But Tuck interrupted.
"Hush, boy. Let him speak
his piece ...
"That's
'Tl! be
;is
playrng with the children. They were all about the
.. Anna!" wh ispcrcrl M ilcs.
Mae burst out. "You got
us pain! ..
110
call to cornc and bring
And Tuck added roughly. "You got something to
wise." said the man in the yellow suit.
brief as possible ." He took off his hat and
say. you better come to the point and say it."
"There.
there. now." said the man in the Yellow
laid it on the mantel. and then he stood tapping his
suit. He spread his long, wh itc fingers in a soothing
loot on the littered hearth, facing them. His face was
gesture. "Hear me out .. \s I've told you, I was fasci-
smooth and empty. "I was born west of here," he
nated by my grandmother's
began. "and all the t ime I was growing up, my grand-
grn\' older! It was fantastic. It took possession of me.
told me stories. They were wi lei, u n belicv-
I decided to devote my life to finding out ii it could
mother
stories. People who never
a blc stories. but I believed them. They involved a
be true. and if so. how and whv. I went to school, I
dear friend of my grandmother's
went to a university,
who married into a
CY en
I studied
philosophy,
meta-
vcrv odd family. Married the older of two sons, and
ph ysics,
a Ii tt le mcdici nc. :\Tone of it did me
they had two children. It was after the children were
any good. Oh, there were ancient legends, but noth-
born that sh« began to see that the family was odd.
ing more. I nearly ga,t: it up. It began to seem ri-
This friend of my grandmother's,
diculous,
husband
she lived with her
for twenty years, and strange
never got any older. Size
to say, he
did, but he didn't.
And
and a waste of time. I went
grandmother
home. My
was ,·cry old by t h cn , I took her a pres-
ent one clay, a music box. And when I ga,·e it to her,
neither did his mother or his father or his brother.
it reminded
People began to wonder about that family, and my
mother of the family that d id n 'r grm\" old, she had
had a music box ."
grandmother's
friend decided at last that they were
witches, or worse. She left her husband
· 94 •
and came
her of something:
the woman,
the
Mac's hand went to the pocket of her skirt. Her
• 95 •
mouth
opened, and then she shut it again with a
snap.
"T'hat music box played a very particular
Mae's face drained
of color. Her mouth
hung
tune,"
open. And Tuck said hoarsely. "Whar you going to
do?"
the man in the yellow suit went on. "My grand-
The man in the yellow suit smiled. "T'he Fosters
mother's
friend and her children-Anna)
the daughter's
namca--thcy'd
Was that
heard it so often that
have given me the wood," he said. "In exchange for
bringing
Wiriif'red home. I was the only one who
they knew it by heart. They'd taught it to my mother
knew where she was, you see. So it was a trade. Yes,
during
I followed you, Mrs. Tuck,
the short time they lived in the house. We
talked about it then, all those years afterward,
mother,
my grandmother,
able to remember
and I. My mother
my
was
the melody, finally. She taught it
to me. That was nearly twenty years ago now. but
I kept it in my head. It was a clue."
horse and went directly back."
The tension in the parlor was immense. Winnie
found that she could scarcely
rocked a little. His voice was easy, almost friendly.
breathe.
It was true,
then! Or was the rnan who stood there crazy, too)
"Horse
'The man in the yellow suit folded his arms and
and then I took your
thief!"
cried Tuck.
"Get to the point!
What you going to do:"
"It's very simple," said the man in the yellow suit.
"Dur ing those twenty years," he said, "I worked at
And, as he said this, the smoothness of his face began
other things. But I couldn't
to loosen a little. A faint flush crept up his neck, and
family that didn't
forget the tune or the
grmv older. They
haunted
my
the pitch of his voice lifted, became a fraction higher.
dreams. So a Ie w months ago I left my home and I
"'Like all magnificent
things. it's very simple. The
started out to look for them, following the route they
wood-and
were said to have taken when they left their farm.
ted his breast pocket. "I have a paper here, all signed
No one I asked along the v,ay knew anythi nc. No
and legal, to prove it. I'm going to sell the water,
one had heard of them,
vou see.
no one recognized
their
name. But two evenings ago, I heard that music box.
I heard that very rune, and it was corning from the
Fosters' wood. And next morning
early, I saw the
the spring-belong
to me now." He pat-
"You can't do thar!" roared Tuck. "You got to be
out of vour mind!"
The man in the ve llow suit frowned.
"But I'm
family at last, taking \Vinifred away. I followed. and
not going to sell it to just anybody,"
I heard their story, every word."
"Only to certain people, people who deserve it. And
. 97 ·
he protested.
it will
be very. vcrv
gin: a fortune
expensive.
But
who wouldn't
very frightened.
"I wouldn't," said Tuck grimly.
one know about
"Exactly," said the man in the yellow suit. His eyes
would happrnl"
the opportunity.
back in her chair.
Tuck
cried, "You're a madman! A loony! You can't let
to live forever?"
glowed. "Ignorant
shrank
people like you should never have
It should be kept for ...
certain
that water.
Don't
110
you sec what
"L've given you your chance," shrilled the man
111
the yellow suit, "a nd you 'vc refused ir ." He seized
others. And for me. However. since it's already too
Wi n nic roughly by the arm and dragged her up out
late to keep vou out. you may as well join me in what
of her chair. ''I'll take the child. and be on about my
I'm going to do. You can show me where the spring
business."
is and help me to advertise. We 'l l set up demonstrations. You knmv-things
that would be fatal to any-
body else. but won't affect you in the least. I'll pav
Tuck began to Live now, his face stretched
horror. "Madman!"
he shouted. And Miles and Jesse
began to shout, too. They crowded after as the ma
for your assistance, of course. It won't take long for
in the yellow suit dragged
the word to spread. And then you can go your \\"ay.
kitchen to the door.
Wel l, what do you say?"
him. ''I wontgo
the
with you ' I won 't !"
But he opened
show."
The man in the yellow suit raised his eyebrows
and a nervous petulance
Wi nn ic through
11
"No!" she was screaming, for now at last she hated
Jesse said dully, "Freaks. You want us to be freaks.
In a patent-medicine
w ith
came into his voice. "Of
course, if the idea doesn't appeal to you," he said.
the door and pushed her out in
front of him. His eyes were like blind hrcpoint s. his
face was twisted.
Then the shouting behind them stopped abruptly.
blinking rapidly, "you needn't be in on it. I can find
and in the midst of the sudden silence came Mac's
the spring and manage just as well without you. But
voice, Hat and cold. "You leave that child be." she
it seemed the gentlemanly
said.
thing to make the offer.
After all," he added, looking round at the cluttered
Winnie stared. Mae was standing just outside the
room. "it would mean you could afford to live like
doorway. She held Tuck's long-forgotten
people again, instead of pigs."
the barrel, like a club.
shotgun by
burst. All four
The man in the yellow suit smiled a ghastly smile.
Tucks sprang to their feet at once, whi lc Wi n nic,
"I can't think why you're so upset. Did you really
. 98 ·
· 99 ·
And that was when the tension
••••
believe vou could keep that water for yourselves?
Your selfishness
is really quite
extraordinary,
20
and
worse than that, you're stupid. You could have done
what I'm about to do, long ago. Now it's too late.
Once Win ifred drinks some of the water. she'll do
just as well for my demonstrations.
Even better. Chil-
dren arc much more appealing. anyway. So you may
as well relax. There's
me.
nothing
you can do to stop
But he was wrong. Mae lifted the shotgun. Behind
her, Miles gasped, "Ma! No.1"
But Mac's face was dark red. "Not Winriie l " she
said between clenched teeth. "You ain't going to do
Winnie
a thing like that to Winnie. And you ain't going to
Tuck's chest, her arms Hung tight around him. She
give out the secret." Her strong arms swung the shot-
trembled, and kept her eyes squeezed shut. She could
gun round her head, like a wheel. The man in the
feel 'Tuck's breath come and go in little gasps. It was
yellow suit jerked away. but it was too late. Wir h a
was standing
with her check pressed into
dull cracking· sound, the stock of the shotgun smashed
very quiet.
The Treegap
into the back of his skull. He dropped like a tree, his
body of the man in the yellow suit, and then he said.
face surprised, his eves wide open. And at that very
"He ain't dead. Leastways, not yet."
moment. riding through
the pine trees just in time
to sec it al], came the Treegap constable.
constable knelt over the sprawled
Winnie opened her eyes a crack. She could sec the
shotgun lying on the grass where Mac had dropped
it. She could see Mae's hands, too, hanging
clenching,
then hanging
limp,
limp again. The sun was
scorching hot, and near her ear a gnat whined.
The constable stood up. "What did you hit him
for?" he wheezed resentfully.
"He was taking the child away," said Mae. Her
•
I 00
•
•
IOI
•
"'
voice was dull and exhausted.
child against her will."
At this the constable
"He was taking the
was as if he were entranced
exploded.
"Ding-dang
woman, what you trying to say? Taking
against her wilP That's
najJj1ed that child."
it,
a nd-vyes,
a starving man looking through
envious-like
a window at a ban-
that child
quet. Wirmic could not bear
to sec him like that.
what you done. You hid-
She reached out a hand and
touched
broke
and took her hand.
\Vinnie let go of Tuck's waist and turned around.
Her trembling
his brows drawn down, his rn ou th a little open. It
had stopped.
"They
didn't
kidnap
me," she said. "I came because I wanted to."
the spell.
He blinked
him, and it
squeezing it.
"We ll, anyway." said the constable
at last, turning
businesslike, "I got to take charge here. Get this feller
Behind her, Tuck drew his breath in sharply.
into the house before he fries. I'm telling you now:
"You wanted to?" echoed the constable, his eyes
wide with disbelief. "You wanted to?"
if he don't make it, you're in a pickle, you people.
"That's
right,"
said
"They're my friends."
Mac, "you got to come with me, you and the little
Winnie
unflinchingly.
girl. You got to be locked up right away: and the
The constable stared at her. He scratched his chin,
eyebrows high, and eased his own shotgun
ground.
Now, here's what we'll do. You." he said, pointing at
little girl, I got to get her home. The rest of you, you
to the
stay here with him. Look after him. I'll get back with
Then he shrugged and looked down at the
a doctor quick as I can. Should have brought a dep-
man in the yellow suit, who lay motionless on the
uty, but I didn't expect nothing
grass, the blazing sun white on his face and hands.
Well, it's too late now, All right, let's get moving."
His eyes were closed now, but except for that, he
looked more than ever like a marionette,
a mario-
Miles said softly.
"Ma. \Vc'l\
get you out right
away.
nette flung carelessly into a corner, arms and legs
"Sure. Ma." said Jesse.
every which way midst tangled strings.
"Don't
The one glance she gave him fixed his appearance
like this to happen.
worry about me none,"
said Mae in the
same exhausted voice. "I.'l l make out."
forever in Winnie's mind. She turned her eyes away
"Make out?" exclaimed the constable. "You peo-
quickly, looking to Tuck for relief. But Tuck was
ple beat all. If this feller dies, you'll get the gallows,
not looking back at her. Instead, he was gazing at
that's what you'll get, if that's
the body on the ground,
make out."
•
I02
leaning forward slightly,
•
•
IO
3 •
what you mean by
Tuck's face crumpled.
pered ... Hang ing?"
"That's
"The
gallows;,"
he whis-
not respond. But Wi nn ie leaned round the constable and looked back at Tuck. "You'll see," she said.
it," said the constable.
"That's
the law.
And then she faced forward, sitting very straight. She
was going home, but the thought of that was far from
Now, let's get going."
Miles and Jesse lifted the man in the yellow suit
her mind. She watched the rump of the horse ahead,
and carried him carefully into the house. but T'u ck
the swish of coarse, dusty hairs as he moved his tail.
stood staring, and Winnie
And she watched the swaying,
could guess what he was
thinking·. The constable swung her up onto his horse
and directed
Mac to her own saddle. But Win n ie
sagging back of the
woman who rode him.
Up through the clirn pine trees they went, the con-
kept her eyes on Tuck. His face was very pale, the
stable's breath wheezing in her ears, and emerging
creases deeper than ever, and his eyes looked blank
from the coolness and the green, Winriie saw again
and sunken.
She heard
again, "T'he
him whisper
the wide world spread before her, shimmering
with
light and possibility. But the possibilities were dif-
gallows!"
And then Winnie
said something
she had never
ferent now. They did not point to what might happen
said before, but the words were words she had some-
to her but to what she herself might keep from hap-
times heard, and often longed to hear. They sounded
pening. For the only thing she could think of was the
strange
up
clear and terrible
necessity:
worry.
go to the gallows.
\VhateYer happened
on
straighter.
her
"Mr.
own
lips
Tuck,"
and
she
made
said,
her
"don't
sit
head. Then, clutching
behind
Winnie
his shotgun,
and turned
and shook his
Because if all they had said was true, then Mac, even
he climbed up
if she were the cruelest of murderers and deserved to
the horse toward
the
path. "You first," he barked at Mae. "I got to keep
be put to dcath= Mae Tuck would not be able to
die.
an eye on you. And as for you," he added grimly.
speaking to Tuck, "you better hope that lei lcr don't
die on you. I'll be back soon as I can."
"Everythingll
be all right," Tuck repeated slowly.
Mac, slumped on the back of the fat old horse, did
'
I04'
to the man
in the yellow suit, Mac Tuck must not be hanged.
Evcryth ing's going to be all right."
The constable glanced heavenward
Mae Tuck must never
'
IO
5 '
mother said, "Lt was the elves. We heard them. They
21
must have bewitched her."
And so they had borne her into the house, and
after she had taken the bath they insisted upon, they
feel and petted her and ref used, with little laughs
and murmurs.
to accept her answers
to their ques-
tions: She had gone away with the Tucks becausewcll. she just wanted to. The Tucks had been very
kind to her, had giwn her flapjacks,
taken her fish-
ing. The Tucks were good and gentle people. All
this would have been swept away in any case, however, this good impression of her friends which she
was trying to create, when she told them what had
\Vinnie pulled her little rocking chair up to her bedroom "·indm\· and sat dow n. The rocking chair had
been giwn to her whcn she was very small, but she
still squeezed
into it sometimes, when no one was
looking, because the rocking made her almost remem ber something
pleasant,
something
soothing.
that 1\·otild never quite come up to the surface of her
mind .. \ncl tonight she wanted to be soothed.
'The constable had brought her home. They had
seized her at once, flinging the gate open and swooping dmn1 on her. her mother weeping. her father
speechless,
hugging her to him, her grandmother
babbling wit h excitement. There was a painful pause
whcn the constable told them she had gone away of
her own Ircc will, but it only lasted for a moment.
They clicl not. 1rnuld not be lieve it, and her grand-
•
I06
•
happened to the man in the yellow suit. Had they
really given him the wood in exchange for finding
her? They had. Well, perhaps he wouldn't
want it
now. Mae had hit him with the shotgun. He was very
sick. They received this news with mingled hope and
horror, and her father said, ''I suppose the wood will
be ours again if that man should ...
doesn't ... "
"You mean, if he dies," Winnie
that is, if he
had said, flatly,
and they had sat back, shocked. Soon after, they put
her to bed, with many kisses. But they peered at her
anxiously over their shoulders as they tiptoed out of
her bedroom, as if they sensed that she was different
now from what she had been before. As if some part
of her had slipped away.
•
I07
•
111111111
Wcl l , thought
Winnie.
crossing her arms on the
windowsi ll, she uas different. Things had happened
to her that were hers alone, and had nothing
to do
with them. It was the first time. And no amount of
telling about it could help them understand
or share
what she felt. It was satisfying and lonely, both at
once. She rocked, gazing out at the twilight, and the
soothing feeling came re liablv into her bones. That
feeling-it
tied her to them, to her mother, her fa-
ther, her grandmother,
with strong threads too an-
cient and precious to be broken. But there were new
threads now, tugging and insistent, which tied her
just as firmly to the Tucks.
"If it's true about the spri ng, then he has to die. He
m us t . A. n cl that's w h v sh c cl i cl it."
Then
she heard hoofbeats 011 the road below,
horse hurrying
her window. There
was not the
least hint of a breeze to soften the heavy August
night. And then, over the treetops, on the faraway
horizon, there was a flash of white. Heat lightning.
Again and again it throbbed,
without
a sound. It
was like pain, she thought. And suddenly she longed
for a thunderstorm.
there were footsteps and a knocking on the door.
Winnie crept out of her room and crouched in the
shadows at the top of the stairs. It was the constable.
She heard him saying,
"So that's that. Mr. Foster.
We can't press no kidnappi11g
little girl claims there
u•11s11
'!
charges,
since your
no kidnapping.
But it
don't matter now, a11yway. The doc just got back a
one you sold your
land to) He's dead." There was a pause. and the murmur of other voices; then a match striking, the acrid
smell of fresh cigar smoke. "Yep, she got him a good
one, all right. He never even come to. So it's an openand-shut case, since I seen her do it. Eyewitness.
i\'o
question about it. They'll hang her for sure."
\Vinnie went back to her room and climbed into
bed. She lay in the dark, propped up on the pi llows,
She cradled her head in her arms and closed her
eves.
At once the image of the man in the yellow
suit
.
.
.
rose up. She could see him again, sprawled motionless on the sun-blanched
grass. "He can't die," she
whispered. thinking of Mae. "He mustn't." And then
she considered his plans for the water in the spring,
and Tuck's yoice saving, "They'd
•
I08
all come running
a
into the \'illage, and not long after,
few minutes ago. That feller-the
Winnie watched the sky slide into blackness over
the wood outside
like pigs to slops." And she found herself thinking.
and stared at the lighter square of her window, at the
heat
lightning
throbbing.
It was like
pain,
she
thought again, a dull pain on the fringes of the sky.
Mae had killed the man in the yellow suit. And she
had meant to kill him.
Winnie had killed a wasp once, in fear and anger,
just in time to spare herself a stinging.
•
•
I09
•
She had
sbrnrned
at the \\asp
22
wit h a hcavx book. and killed
it. And then. seeing its boclv broken. the thin \l'ings
stilled, she Jud wished it
\\'Cjlt
alive again. She had
\\TIT
for that wasp. \Vas Mac weeping now for the
*
man in the yellow suit: In spite of her wish to spare
•
the world. did she w ish he were a live again: 'J here
was no \\·ay of knowing. But Mae had done what she
thought
she had to do. \Vinnie closed her eyes to
•
shut out the silent pulsing of the lightning. :'\ow .1/1e
wou lr! have to do something. She had no idea w h a t ,
but s01nethin<r.;:-, M:«. Tuck must not rv:
<TO to the gallo,,·s.
l
\Vinnie went out to the fence d i rcct.lx
Next morning
after
breakfast.
It was the hottest day yet. so Iicavv
that the slightest exertion brought on a flood of perspiration,
an exhaustion
in the joints. Two d.rys be-
fore, they would have insisted that she stay indoors.
but now, this morning. the; were careful with her. a
little
gingerly,
as if she were a n egg. She had said.
"I'm
going
right,
but come in if it gets too hot. won't you, dear:"
outside
now." and the,
had said. ".\11
And she had answered, "Yes.'
The earth, where it was worn bald under the gate.
was cracked,
and
and hard as rock, a lifeless tan color:
the road was an aisle of brilliant
velvet dust.
Wi n n ie leaned against the fence. her hands gripping
the warm metal of the bars. and thought about Mae
behind
•
I IO
'
another
set of bars in the jailhousc. And then,
'
I I I
•
lifting her head, she saw the toad. lt was squatting
where she had seen it first, across the road ... Hello'."
she said. vcrv glad to sec it.
The toad did not so much as Hick a muscle or blink
an eye. It looked dried
thirsty,"
out today. parched ... It's
said \Vinnie to herself ... No "·ondcr. on a
But when they came out to the fence, \Vinnie balancing a small bowl of water with enormous
care,
the toad was gone.
"We ll, he must be all right," said her grandmother.
.. If he could hop off."
With mingled disappointment
and relief. \Vinnie
day like this." She left the icnce and went back into
tipped the water onto the cracked earth at the gate.
the cottage ... Cranny,
It was sucked in immediately,
can I have some water in a
dish? There's a toad out front that looks as ii he's just
about to die of thirst."
.. A toad)" said her grandmother,
·wrinkling
her
out there, and 1 like him. Can I give him a drink of
water?"
"Toads don't drink water, Winifred.
"I could
.. I never saw such heat in all my life;" said Winnie's grandmother,
dabbing uselessly at her neck with
a handkerchief.
"Don't stay out here much longer."
"I won't,"
said Winn ic, and was left alone once
It wouldn't
What could she do to set Mae free? She closed her
eyes against the glaring light, and watched, a little
dizzily, as brilliant patterns of red and orange danced
inside her eyelids .
And then, miraculously,
forever!"
sprinkle
some
said
water
Winnie,
on him.
couldn't P That would help, wouldn't it)"
I suppose so," said her grandmother.
.. weu.
"Where is he? l n the yard?"
"No," said Winnie ... He's across the road."
"L'Il come with you, then. I don't want you leaving
Jesse was there, crouch-
ing just on the other side of the fence ... \Vinnie!"
hissed ... You sleepi ng?"
•
112
•
he
"Oh, Jesse!" Her eyes Hew open and she reached
through the fence to grasp his hand. 'Tm so glad to
sec you' \Vhat can we do? \Ve have to get her out!"
.. Mi lcss got a plan, but I don't
see how it can
work," said Jesse, speaking quickly, his voice almost a
whisper. .. He knows a lot about carpentering.
the yard alone."
almost as
more. She sat down on the grass and sighed. Mae!
do him any good."
.. They don't drink water at a ll?"
.. No. They take it in through their skins, like a
alarmed.
paled and vanished
quickly.
nose in disgust. .. Nasty things, toads."
.. Not this one," said \Vinnie. "T'h is one is always
sponge. \\'hen it rains."
"But it hasn't rained
stain it left behind
and the wet brown
•
II]
'
He says
he c::111 take Ma's w iudow frame right straight out of
the wall. bars and all. and she
Glll
cl i mb through.
\\'e'rc going to try it tonight when it gets dark. Only
That would give you time to get a\\·ay! You'd have
at least till morni ng!"
Jesse squinted
at her, and then he said. "Yep-
trouble
is. that constable keeps watching her every
you know, it might work. It might just make the
minute.
he's so du rncd proud of having a prisoner
difference. But I don't know as Pa's going to want
in that new jail of his. \Ve been down to see her.
you taking any risk. I mean, what 'Il they say to vou
She's all right. But even if she can climb through the
after. when they find out:"
window. he'll come after her soori's he sees she's gone.
"I don't know." said \Vinnie, "but it doesn't mat-
Seems to me he'll notice right off. That don't give us
ter. Tell your father I want to help. I lun.e to help.
rnuch time to get away. But we got to try it. There
If it wasn't for me. there wouldn't
ain't no other way. Anyhow, I come to say goodbye.
trouble in the first place. Tell him I have to."
We won't be able to come back here for a long, long
time. \Vinnie, ii
\\T
get awav. I mean, they'll be look-
ing for Ma. Win nic, listen-I
won't see you again,
not for ages Look nm,·-here's
a bottle of water from
the spring. You keep it. And then, no matter where
\'OU
are, when you're seventeen,
Wirmic.
you can
drink it. and then come find us. Wcl] leave directions somehow. \Vinnie, please sav
\OU
will!"
He pressed the littie bot tie into her hands and
\Vinnie
took it, closing her fingers over it. "Jesse.
"Well ... all right. Can you get out alter dark:"
"Yes," said \Vinnie.
"Then-at
midnight,
Winnie.
'\Vinifred!"
an anxious voice called from the cot-
tage. "\\'ho's that you're talking to:"
\Vinnie stood up and turned to answer. "It's just
a boy, Granny.
turned
around
I'll be in in a minute."
again,
Jesse
control the rising excitement
catch. At midnight
climbs out the w iudow, I'll climb in and take her
the world.
the constable looks in, he wo n't be able to tell the
111
the dark. I can hump up and look
a lot bigger. Miles can even put the window back.
•
II4'
gone.
she
\Vinnie
that made her breath
she would make a difference in
place. I can ,nap myself up in her blanket, and when
difference. :\'.ot
was
\\'hen
clutched the little bottle in her hands and tried to
had the answer. "I can help'
your mother
I'll be \\'aiting for
you right here at midnight."
wa it !" she whispered breathlessly. for all at once she
\\'hen
have been any
•
II5'
hidden Jesse's bottle in a bureau drawer, there was
23
nothing to do but wait. In the hall outside her room,
the grandfather's
clock
ticked deliberately,
unim-
pressed with anyone's impatience, and Wi n nic found
herself rocking
~
~
•
to its rhythrn~forward,
back.
for-
ward, back. tick. tock. tick, tock. She tried to read
but it was so quiet that she could not concentrate,
and so she was glad when at last it was time for supper. It was something to do, though none of them
could manage more than a nibble.
But later, when Wirin ie went out again to the
fence, she saw that the sky was changing. It was not
It was the longest day: mindlessly hot, unspeakably
so much clouding up as thickening.
hot, too hot to move or even think. The countryside,
every direction at once. the blank blue gone to haze.
the village of Trcegap,
And then, as the sun sank reluctantly
Nothing
without
stirred.
The
the wood-all
sun was a ponderous
edges, a roar without
glare so thorough
lay defeated.
circle
a sound, a blazing
and remorseless that even in the
Fosters' parlor, with curtains
drawn, it seemed an
actual presence. You could not shut it out.
Winnie's
all afternoon
sipping
mother
and grandmother
their
hair unsettled
knees loose. It was totally unlike
them,
and their
t his
lapse
from gentility, and it made them much more interesting. But Winnie
didn't stay with them. rnstcad,
she took her own brimming
glass to her room and
sat in her little rocker by the window. Once she had
•
I
16 •
behind
to a brilliant
the
brownish-
yellow. In the wood, the leaves turned underside-up,
gi,·ing the trees a si lverv cast.
The air was noticeably heavier. It pressed on \Vinnies
sat plaintive
in the parlor, fanning themselves and
lemonade,
treetops, the haze hardened
somehow, from
turned
chest
and made her breathing
difficult.
She
and went back into the cottage. "It's going
to rain, I think," she told the prostrate group in the
parlor. and the news was received with little moans
of gratitude.
Everyone went to bed early. closing windows firmly
on their way. For outside. though it was almost dark.
shreds of the hard bnnn1-yellow
light lingered
on
the rims of things. and there was a wind beginning.
•
I I
I •
hidden Jesse's bottle in a bureau drawer, there was
23
nothing to do but wait. In the hall outside her room,
the grandfather's
clock ticked dcl iberatclv,
unim-
pressed with anyone's impatience, and Winnie found
~
herself rocking
to its rhythm-forward,
back. for·
~
ward. back. tick. tock. tick. tock. She tried to read,
but it was so quiet that she could not concentrate.
and so she was glad when at last it was time for sup·
per. It was something
to do, though none of them
could manage more than a nibble.
But later, when \Vinnie
went out again to the
fence, she saw that the sky was changing. It was not
It was the I ongcst day: mindlessly hot, unspeakably
so much clouding up as thickening.
hot, too hot to
every direction at once, the blank blue gone to haze.
n10\'C
or even think. The countryside,
the Yi llage of Trccgap, the wood-all
Nothing
stirred.
witho ut edges,
The
;i
glare so thorough
Fosters'
parlor,
lay defeated.
sun was a ponderous
roar without
circle
a sound, a blazing
and remorseless that even in the
with curtains
drawn, it seemed an
all afternoon
mot [icr and grandmother
And then, as the sun sank reluctantly
treetops. the haze hardened
sat plaintive
in the parlor, fanning themselves and
behind
to a brilliant
the
brownish-
ycl low. In the wood. the leaves turned underside-up,
gi,·ing the trees a silvery cast.
The air was noticeably heavier. It pressed on Wi nn ies chest and made her breathing
actual presence. you could not shut it out.
Wi n nies
somehow. from
turned
difficult. She
and went back into the cottage. "Its
going
to rain, I th ink ." she told the prostrate group in the
and their
parlor. and the news was received with little moans
them, this lapse
from gent iii r.y, and it made them much more inter-
of gratitude.
Evervorie went to bed early, closing windows firmly
esting.
on their way. For outside. though it was almost dark.
sipping
knees
len1onadc,
loose.
their
hair unsettled
It ,,·as totally unlike
But ,vinnic
didn't
she took her own brimming
stay with them. instead,
glass to her room and
sat in her lit tie rocker by the window. Once she had
•
116
•
shreds of the hard brown-yellow
light lingered on
the rims of things. and there was a w irid beginning,
•
1 I/
•
cell and had to bring her home for the second time?
small
gusts
that
rattled
trees to rustling.
air.
"\\'hat
over."
1/1i.1
"\\'ell.
.\nd
fence
gate and
The smell of rain hung
a week
grandmother.
the
has
thank
\Vinnie
thought
been!"
the
to herself:
\\'hat
sweet in the
said
Lord,
set the
\\'innie's
it's
almost
wou ld thcv ~a,: \Vnuld
:1gain~ \Vinnie squirmed.
sitting in the rocker. and
swallowed uncomfortabh.
\Veil. she would have to
make them understand.
mg.
The hall clock chimed eleven. Outside. the wind
had stopped.
three hours to wa i t before midnight and
\\TIT
nothing\\
\Vinnie
h.u cvcr to do. \Vinnie wanrlcrcd restlessly
about her
roo
m. sat in her rocker. lay on her bed,
count eel the ticks of the hall clock. Beneath her excitement.
somehow. wit hout explain-
Yes, it's al-
most over.
.lIu-rc
they ever trust her
she was thick with guilt. For the second
t i mc in three short davs--thouoh
;
t"l
more than
that--she
thcv seemed manv
was about
i
i
to do something
wliir.h she knew wou lrl be forbidden. She didn't have
to ask.
\Vinnie had her own strong sense of rightness. She
knew that she could always say, aften,·,ud,
vou never told me
u oi
-w-u,
t.o!" But how si llv that would
be! Of course it wou ld never occur to them to include
such a thing on their list of donts.
She could hear
them saying it. and almost smiled: ";\'m,·. remember,
\Vinilrcd--clon't
bite your fingernails.
don't
inter-
rupt \\ hen someone else is speaking. and don't go
down to the jailhousc at midnight
to change places
w ir l: prisoners."
Still. it \\asn't rcal lv funny. What would happen
Evcrvrhing.
it seemed. was \\·aiting.
dmn1 and .-loscd
Ll\
her eyes. Thinking
Tuck and Mac. of Miles and Jesse. her heart softened. They needed her. To take care of them. For in
the Iunuv
.
sort of \\·a,. that had struck her at the first.
the, were helpless. Or too trusting. \Vcll. 10111ething
like that. -\11)\\·ay. they needed her. She wou ld not
disappoint
them. Mac wou lrl go free. No one would
have to find out-\Vinnie
\Hrnld not have t o find out
--that \Jae could not .
. but \Vinnie
the secret. Instead.
\\'hen
she
\\·as
she turned her thoughts to Jesse.
sc\·cntccn-,Hrnld
18 •
she' II it was true.
,rnuld she: Aud if she did. would she be sorry afterwards?
ruck had said. "It's something
out how
\OU
true. She knew that. now. here in her
Tbcv
\\'Cl'C
you don't find
Iccl until ;dten,·;nds." But no--it wasn't
probabh
them a nvwav. The\
rrazv after
0\\'11
bedroom.
all. But she loved
needed her. \nd.
thinking
this,
\Vinnie fell asleep.
She \\·okc wit h a jerk sometime later. and sat up,
'
I
blocked the
picture from her mind. the horror that \\·ould prove
i11 the morning. when the constable found her in the
•
of
I I
9 '
•
alarmed.
The clock was ticking steadily, the dark-
24
ness was complete. Outside, the night seemed poised
on tiptoe, wa iti ng, waiting, holding
its breath for
the storm. \Vinnie stole out to the hall and frowned
at the clock face in the shadows. And at last she could
make it out, for the black Roman
numerals
just barely visible against their white ground,
~
were
~
the
brass hands glowed faintly. As she peered at them,
the long hand snapped forward one more notch, with
a loud click. She had not missed her moment-it
five minutes to midnight.
was
Leavi ng the house was so easy that \Vinnie felt faintly
shocked. She had half expected that the instant she
put a foot on the stairs r hev would leap from their
beds and surround
her with accusations. But no one
stirred. And she was struck by the realization that. if
she chose, she could slip out night after night without their k nowing. The thought made her feel more
guilty than ever that she should once more take advantage of their trust. But tonight, this one last time,
she had to. There was no other way. She opened the
door and slipped out into the heavy August night.
Leaving the cottage was like leaving something real
and moving into dream. Her body felt weightless,
and she seemed to float clown the path to the gate.
Jesse was there, waiting. Neither of them spoke. He
•
I20
•
'
I2I
•
took
her hand
the
road.
and
empty
dows
past other
here
barely
The
and they rm togctli('r,
center
sleq,tng- cottages,
of the \illage.
St o II e
li?,htly, down
The
H,
a /1 s d o
Nor iron
into the dim
II
o t a j n i rn 11
big glass win-
didn't
care~rhat
Over and over the lines repeated themselves in her
lidded
tics that
s;n\' them.
barclv
:J\C
then, back reflections.
head till they were altogether
till'
mill, the church, the
roll of thunder
shop.
stores, so busy and alive r1 daylight, were hunched,
deserted
now, dark piles .1:1d shapes witJ1out a pur-
pose or a meaning.
Arid then, ahead, vvinnic saw
spilling
Wirmies
it,
like a great L Upside
for a few 1110111cnts latc1 a 10,1· murnble,
lightning,
storm was moving
the thick. rich smell of it dowu to
nostrils. Tuck handed up a tool and l\files
began to pry at the nails securing the window frame.
Miles knew carpentering.
The sky flashed white. Hut this tiine it ,v·asn't heat
The
ing oil around the frame of the wi ndow. A swirl of
wind brought
through a windowat the fro1lt. A11d there, in
sounded.
meaningless .. \nothcr
nearer.
Then Miles was standing on a box. He was pour-
the ja.ilhouse, its new wooci1till u11p;1inted. lamplight
the cleared yard behind
down, was the g,illm,·s.
lu' ,
fJ1111a u1ge.
were
blacksmith's
11111
Miles could do the job.
Winnie shivered and held tight to Jesse's hand. One
nail was free. Another.
Tuck reached up to receive
still far away, announced at last the con1ing storm.
them as they came out one by one. A fourth
A fresh breeze lifted Winnie's hair, and from some-
screeched as it was pried up. and Mi lcs poured on
where in the village
behi
c.
more oil.
From the front
them a dogr( barked.
~I'wo shadows detached thcrnsclvr,
Fron: the gloom
of the jailhouse.
nail
the constable
puJlcd her to
yawned noisily and began to whistle. The wh i st ling
h i m and hugged her hard. and l\Iiles sq11eezed her
came nearer. Miles dropped down. They heard the
as \Vinnie
No one said a word Then the fo11r of them
hand.
crept
to the back of the building. Here,
\Vinnie
which.
and Jesse ca nu up. Tuck
100
high for
constable's
barred
footsteps corning up to Mac's cell. The
door clanked.
Then
the footsteps receded.
barred ,,·indo1,· through
the whistling grew fainter. An inner door shut. and
from the room in nnnt, light glm1cd faintly.
the lamp glow disappeared.
At once Miles was up again and prying at the
to sec into, was
.t
Wi n n ic peered up at it. at the black11ess
11f
the bars
with the dim gold of the k111 bcn,·ec u. I 1110 her head
carrie lines from an old poc::1.
•
I~~ •
nails. An eighth was out. a ninth, a tenth. \Vinnie
counted
carefully.
while behind
•
I 2 "J
•
her counting.
her
mind
sang.
Miles
the
bars
stood
"Stone
handed
wal ls do
down
"\\'hat
a prison
the pning
of the wi nrlow
poised.
not
firmly,
tool.
rearlv
is he waiting
Wiu n ic.
"\Vin
docsn 't he .....
lig·htning
and. soon after,
make."
He grasped
to pull,
for)"
Then-a
a crack of thunder.
and
her bulk. Her hips were free-now.
look out '-here
she came. her skirts tearing on the rough edges of
thought
the boards. arms flailing-and
flash
heap on the ground. Another crash of thunder
of
In the
midst of the noise. Mi lcs gaYe a mighty heave. But
the window did not budge.
they were all in a
What if the window would
never come out: \Vhat if ...
She looked over her
muf-
fled .Jesse\ bursting. exultant laugh. Mae was free.
\\'innic
clasped her trembling
hands thankfully.
And then the first drop of ruin plopped
The thunder ebbed. Winnie's heart sank. \Vhat if
it was all impossible?
close at his sides. arms upst retched. cager to receive
precisclx
on the tip of her nose. The Tucks untangled
thern-
selves and turned to her. One bv one. as the rain began.
t
h ev drew her to them and kissed her. One by
shoulder at the dark shape of the gallows. and shud-
one she kissed them back. \\'as it rain on Mae's face?
dcred.
On Tuck's) Or was it tears) .Jesse was last. He put his
Again a flash of lightning,
ing burst
of noise from
vankcd. The
window
and this time a crash-
the swirling
sky. Miles
arms around her and hugged her tight, and whispered the single word, "Remember'."
frame sprang free, and still
Then Miles was on the box again. lifting her. Her
grasping it by the bars, he tumbled backward off the
hands grasped the edges of the window. This time
box. The job was clone.
she waited with him. \\'hen the thunder came, it tore
Two arms appeared in the hole left by the missing
the sky apart with its roar, and as it came, she pulled
frame. Mae! Her head appeared.
It was too dark to
herself through.
see her face. The window=what
if it was too small
harmed. She looked up at the open square and saw
for her to squeeze through) What if ... But now her
the frame wit h Mi lcs's hands holding it. The next
shoulders were out. She groaned softly. Another flash
obliging
of lightning
into place. A.nd then-1\·ould
nails) She waited.
lit her face for an instant and Winnie
saw an expression there of deep concentration,
of tongue protruding.
tip
brows furrowed.
Now Tuck was on the box. helping
her his own shoulders
.
roll of thunder
to the cot inside, un-
saw it \\·edged once more
Mi lcs put back the
Rain c.uue in sheets now, riding the wind, flung
her. giving
to pull on, Miles and Jesse
124.
and dropped
crosswise through
the night. Lightning
crackled, a
brilliant, jagged streak. and thunder rattled the little
• r25 •
building.
The
and vanished.
stomach
tension
loosened,
standing
next
earth
cased
muscles
of her
25
and all at once she was exhausted.
\Vould
tiptoe
bars of the window,
just sec through.
parched
Win n ie felt it go. The
Still she waited.
At last,
in the
Miles put
on the cot, she grasped
pulling
Rain
flash of lightning,
back the nails)
herself
the
up till she could
blew into her face, but at the
looking
down,
she saw that
the yard was empty. And before the thunder
followed,
in a pause while wind and rain held back for one
brief moment, she thought she heard, fading in the
distance, the tinkling little melody of the music box.
The Tucks-her
darling Tucks-were
gone.
The first week of August was long over. And now.
though autumn was still some weeks away. there was
a feeling that the year had begun its downward arc.
that the wheel was turning
again. slow lv now, but
soon to go faster, turning once more in its changeless
sweep of change. Wirmie. standing
at the fence in
front of the touch-me-not cottage. could hear the new
note in the voices of the birds. \\'hole clouds of t liem
lifted, chattering.
into the sky above the wood. and
then settled, only to lift again. Across the road. goldenrod was coming into bloom. And an carh-dning
milkweed had opened its rough pod. exposing a host
of downy-headed seeds. As she watched, one of these
detached
itself into a sudden breeze and sailed sc
<lately off, while others leaned from the pod as if to
observe its departure.
•
I26
•
•
I
27 •
\Vinnie
chopped down cross-legged
on the grass.
Two weeks had gone by sillce the night of the storm.
the night of l\I;;e Tuck's
been found. There w as
escape.
110
And l\fac had not
trace of her at all, or of
when on the way home she saw that the gallows had
blown over in the wind.
But oh1-it
made her tremble
still to remember
the constable's face when he found
her. She had
Tuck or Mile's or Jesse. \\'inllic was profoundly grate-
heard first a bustling
lu l for that. nut sJ1c w as ;ilso profoundly
smelled fresh coffee, and had sat up, stiff with appre-
tired. It had
been a trying two Weeks.
For the l111ndrcdth
the constablv
had co me into the cell soon after she
had sett led licrse If
a shutter
how,
hension.
ti111c she reviewed it all: how
011
the cot: how he had let down
O\cr the \\·indo,\·
then.
the inner
door opened-the
door,
she now saw, which separated the office from the pair
of cells-and
in the light that streamed before him,
the constable appeared, carrying a breakfast tray, He
to keep out the rain:
was whistling cheerfully. He came up to the barred
lie had stood over her as she hunched
door of her cell and looked in, And his whistling
under the b];111ket,
her breath heavy, trying to look
as large as p1)ssiblc:
how. finally,
he had gone zrn·ay
and not corri.. back till morning.
kick off the blanket
a ud µ;iYe herself ,rn·ay-givc the
awav -unwittingh.
died on his lips as if it had run down and needed to
be wound up again. But this comical astonishment
lasted for a moment only. And then his face flushed
But she h;1d not cla rcd to sleep. for fear she would
Tucks
Then
in the front of the jail, and
So she had
lain there.
red with anger.
Winn ie had sat on the cot, eves
downcast, fcelinvt,
'
very small-and
very like a criminal. In fact, he was
pulse thudrl i ng. eyes wide open. She wou ld never
soon shouting
that if she were older, he'd have to
forget the
keep her there-that
LI t
tlc of the r;iin on the jailhouse
roof, or
it
Il'llS
the smell of ,,·et \\·oocl. 01 the darkness that had saved
them all: or '1cm· difficult it was not to cough. She had
done. She was ...
,\·,1111ed to C<lugh as soon as it occurred
too young to be punished
she n i ustn 't, and she
swallow
a\\"it\
her throat.
pa,sed a lo11g
to her that
hour trying to
the tickle that pcrvcrsc ly constricted
.\11Cl she
,rnuld
never forget the crash
murderer
escape.
a crime, what she had
an accomplice, She had helped a
She was, in fact, a criminal.
But
by the law. Worse luck,
he told her, for she badly needed punishing,
She was released,
then, into the custody of her
mother and father. And these new words,
"accom-
outside that inade her )1L\fft race, that she could not
plice" and "custody,"
im esr igate,
over thev asked her, shocked at first and then wistful:
,1 ud did
not understand
•
128
•
till morning.
chilled her blood. Over and
'
I29'
l
why had she done such a thing~ TV/i,? She was their
road this time. It bounced out of a cover of old dan-
daughter.
delion
They had trusted her. They had tried to
leaves
and landcd-plop!-just
beyond
the
bring her up properly. with a true sense of right and
fence. If she had reached her hand through the bars,
wrong. They did not understand.
she could haw· touched it. And next, a large brown
sobbed the only truth
And finally she had
there was into her mother's
shoulder. the only explanation:
the Tucks were her
friends. She had done it bccausc~in
t hing. she loved them.
spite of every-
staunchly
and after-
around
her. It
was hard for them in the ,,illage. Wi nn ic knew it was.
and the knowlcdce
b
a-ave her pain.
b
For the, .
\\CIC
proud. And she had shamed them. Still, this side of
the affair was not without
its benefits. at least for
\Vinnie. 'Though she was confined
dcfin itclv and could go nowhere.
mother or her grandmother,
to the yard m-
not even with her
the other children
ing down the road toward them. He stopped opposite
the fence and looked at Win n ie with a friendly swish
gan to bark. his eyes bright. He pranced up. his hind
quarters
leaping
independently
from side to side,
nose close to the toad. his voice shrill with enthusiasrn.
"Don't!"
cried \Vinnie.
leaping to her feet and
flapping her arms. "Go away, clog! Stop that! Go
away-shoo!"
The dog paused. He looked up at Winnie's frantic
wan-
dancing and then he looked at the toad. who had
the
pressed down close to the dirt. eyes tight shut. It was
were impressed by what she had done.
too much for him. He began to bark again, and
dered by to look at her. to talk to her through
fence. The,
tongue, came lop-
of his tail. and then he saw the toad. At once he be-
This of all things her family understood.
ward they drew together
dog. with easy gait and dangling
She was a figure of rorna nee to them now.
before she had been too neat.
too prissv:
where
reached out a long paw.
almost.
"Oh!" cried \Vinnie.
somehow. too clean to be a real friend.
\Vinnie sighed and plucked
<
at the bcrrass around
so bad. In fact. she thought as her spirits lifted,
be
this
nrcc.
First of all. the
toad appeared out of the wcccls, on her side
IJO
do that! Leave
what she was doing. she bent, reached through
•
of the
the
bars, and snatched the toad up and a,\·ay from harm,
dropping it on the grass inside the fence.
A feeling of revulsion swept through
And then t,10 things happened.
•
'I
my toad alone!" And before she had time to realize
her ankles. School wou ld open soon. It \\·cnildn't
year it rnight be rather
''Oh-don
her. Wh ile
the dog whined. pawing uselessly at the fence, she
stood rigid, staring
at the toad, ,\·iping her hand
•
I} I
•
again and again
remembered
011
the skirt of her dress. ·1 hen she
the actual feel of the toad. and the re-
vulsion passed. She knelt and touched the skin of its
s m: led. I hen she stooped
the !, IHL' :md
set
;111d
the toad
t
put lier h.md t hrouyh
rc.
'You 're s.il«. Forcvcr."
back. It was rough and soft. both at once . And cool.
\Vinnie stood up and looked at the clog. tic was
waiting outside the fence, his head on one side, peering at her longingly.
my
"Ir 's
toad," Winnie
told
him. "So youd better leave it alone." Arid then, on
an impulse, she turned and ran into the cottage. up
to her room. to the bureau
hidden Jesse's bott.le=-tlic
drawer where she had
bottle of water from the
spring. In a moment she was back again. The toad
still squatted where she had dropped it, the dog still
waited at the fence. Winnie pulled out the cork from
the mouth of the bottle, and kneeling. she poured the
precious
water.
very
slowly
and
carefully.
over
the toad.
The dog watched this operation,
ing, he was suddenly
and then, Yawn-
bored. He turned
and loped
awav. back d01n1 the road to the vil lage. \Vinnie
picked up the toad and held it for a long time. without the least disgust, in the palm of her hand. It sat
calmly, blinking, and the water glistened on its back.
The little bottle was empty now. It lay on the grass
at Wi nn ic's feet. But if all of it was true. there was
more water in the wood. There
was plenty more.
Just in case. \Vhen she was seventeen. If she should
decide, there was more water in the wood. Wiun ic:
•
132
•
. rn .
.. "l l rc ic!" she s:t1d.
In /,erui11g Memo r»
"That's
JVi11if1ed Foster ]ac/0011
so." said Tuck.
"Let's just head on out
this wav. \\'c'll locate somcth iug."
Dear Wife
"All right," said Mac .. And then she put
Dern Mother
;1
hand
on his arm and pointed. "Look out !or that toad."
'Tuck had seen it. too. He reined in the horse and
climbed down from the \\'agon. The toad was squat-
"So," said Tuck
"Two years. She's
to himself.
been gone two years."
around, embarrassed.
He stood up and looked
ting in the middle of the road, quite unconcerned.
In the other lane,
;1
pickup truck rattled
bv, and
trying to clear the lump from
against the breeze it made. the toad shut its eves
But there was no one to see him. The
tightly. But it did not move. Tuck waited till the
cemetery was yery quiet. In the branches of a willow
truck had passed. and then he picked up the toad
behind him, a red-winged blackbird
and carried
his throat.
wiped
his eyes hastily.
Then
chirped.
he straightened
Tuck
his
jacket again and drew up his hand in a brief salute.
"Good girl," he said aloud. And then he turned and
left the cemetery, wal king quickly.
ever," he said to Mae.
And soon they were rolling on again, leaving Treegap behind,
Later. as he and Mae rolled out of Treegap,
Mae
said softly, wir hou t looking at him. "She's gone~"
it to the weeds along the road's edge.
"Dur n fool thing must think it's going to Jin· for-
and as they went., the tinkling
melody of a music box drifted out behind them and
was lost at last Jar down the road.
Tuck nodded. "She's gone." he answered.
There was a long moment of silence between them,
and then Mae said. "Poor Jesse.''
"He k.nowed it, though." said Tuck. "At least, he
k nowcd she wasn
't
coming.
We all knowed
that.
lone1:", t i nie ;wo."
b
"Just the same," said Mac. She sighed. And then
she sat up a l iu lc straighter.
"Well, where to now,
'Tuck? ='Jo need to co rue back here
•
I
38 •
110
little
more."
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I
,9 •
l