Thimble Summer (12 page)

“Is mother worried about me?” asked Garnet.

“No she ain't,” said Mr. Freebody unexpectedly. “Matter of fact nobody's worried about you but me. They've been too busy. Your dad thought you was home and your mama thought you was out to the threshing or with the Hauser girl. You said you didn't want dinner so nobody bothered about that. Nope, ain't nobody worried about you but me. And if I was you I wouldn't say nothing about your little jaunt for the time being; no sense in getting your mama upset now that you've been and done it.”

“But my presents!” wailed Garnet.

“Presents can wait,” said Mr. Freebody sternly. “In a couple of days when things are quieter, you can bring 'em out and tell your mama how you got 'em.”

“Oh Mr. Freebody,” said Garnet. “I'm sorry I'm such a nuisance to you. I wish I didn't do things the way I do.”

Suddenly she held the chicken out to him.

“Please would you hold her for a minute?” She sat down at the roadside. “I just
have
to take these shoes off.”

Mr. Freebody held the hen and laughed.

“I guess it ain't no use,” he said. “I never saw a young-one with spirit that didn't get into mischief from time to time. You're pretty well-behaved on the whole; I wouldn't have you different. Just
think
a little oftener, that's all I mean. We don't want anything to happen to you.”

Garnet felt better. The dust was soft as velvet under her feet, and she could feel each one of her toes rejoicing. Mr. Freebody promised to keep the hen for her till she could give it to Eric.

“What shall I name her?” asked Garnet.

“I ain't much hand at naming things,” said Mr. Freebody. “I've always had a horse named Beauty, and I've always had a dog named Major, but I ain't never had a hen named anything. Let's see now. How about Blackie?”

Garnet shook her head slowly.

“I don't think that's quite the right name for her,” she replied. “This hen is different from other hens; she has a lot of fighting spirit. There was a goddess once who was a sort of warrior; mother told me about her. But what was her name? I can't remember.”

“And I can't help you,” said Mr. Freebody.

They went through the gate and Mr. Freebody went out to the chicken coops to hide the chicken, and Garnet went down to the cold room to hide her bundle. All the time she kept trying to remember the name of the goddess.

At supper everyone was very tired and had oats in their hair and talked about threshing, and how many sacks they'd got, and what a good quality the oats were.

Afterwards Garnet dried dishes. While she was putting plates in the china cupboard Jay came up to her and said: “As soon as you're finished let's go into town. Mr. Freebody'll take us in and we can catch a ride back with someone. There's a band concert tonight, and we can get some pop or something.”

“Okay, let's! Tell Eric too,” said Garnet. She smiled at Jay. She knew that he felt a little sorry for the way he'd spoken to her in the field. But he would never tell her so in words; and it didn't matter.

“Brünnhilde!” she shouted suddenly.

Jay just looked at her. “What in time are you talking about now?”

“There was a goddess who was sort of a warrior,” explained Garnet. “She had a helmet and spear and everything, and I just remembered what she was called. I wanted to name something after her.”

“Are you ever goofy!” sighed Jay. “Well, come on, hurry up. I'll help you finish these.”

And afterwards Garnet and Jay and Eric went in to town. It was wonderful.

Lots of people were there because it was Wednesday, the day that farmers bring their cattle in to sell and ship away.

The band played in a sort of screened cage set up on stilts over a street corner. They played loud, cheerful music, and they all had their coats off because they got so hot playing it.

Garnet and Eric and Jay walked up and down the street and talked to their friends. They stopped and watched a bingo game for a while, and then they went up in the band-concert thing, and the drummer let Jay beat his drum during one entire waltz. All Jay had to do was to go:
Boom
thump-thump,
Boom
thump-thump, over and over again, with a big thundery crash on the
Boom
and two gentle bounces on the thump-thump. Jay would have liked to go on playing waltzes all night, but Garnet and Eric wanted him to come down with them, and anyway the drummer said the next number was to be a march, and much too difficult for Jay. After that they bought some ice-cream cones, and after that they drank pop out of bottles. And then they got some peanuts in a bag, and walked up the street eating them, and scattering shells and laughing; and everything was all right again.

VIII. Fair Day

ON THE ninth of September the sun came up with a special glory. The air was deep and clear and full of blue light the way it often is in September, and now and then the wind moved a little. There was a huge feeling about this wind though it moved so slightly; it was as if it came from far away, through a door that was open into another space.

Garnet woke up early. Before she was quite wide awake she lay with her eyes closed, half afraid to look for fear it might be raining. But even with them closed she knew it was going to be all right because the color behind her lids was clear and rosy and she knew the sunlight lay upon them. And she heard crickets in the meadow, and a fly buzzing against the screen, and somebody whistling outside. So it
was
all right and she opened her eyes. Oh what a day! She held up her arm in the sunlight; all the little hairs on it glittered like fine gold, and her closed fingers were ember-colored as if there were a light inside them.

She kicked off the blankets and pointed her foot into the sunlight, and her toes were ember-colored too, though not so much as her fingers.

She yawned and stretched and gave a sudden leap that brought her out of bed. Without waiting to put on a bathrobe she ran out of the room and down the stairs which were uncarpeted and hollow sounding, like drums.

Bang! went the screen door at the bottom, and Garnet was halfway across the lawn; racing towards a small pen that stood by itself. Eric had built it especially for Timmy.

“Timmy!” called Garnet, “Lazy Timmy, it's time to get up!” But Timmy had been awake for ages and came lolloping over to the fence rail looking interested and hungry. He was quite big now, and his coat was very stiff and fine; he stood well and looked as if he could take care of himself no matter what happened. Every day for several weeks Garnet had been training him to walk and stand like a prize hog. Mr. Freebody had showed her how to steer him along with two little boards, and how to make him stand neatly with his two front hoofs together.

Garnet scratched Timmy's back with a twig, and he leaned against the fence with his little eyes half closed, grunting softly with pleasure.

“Today you must remember everything I've taught you,” Garnet told him. “You are going for a long ride in a little crate that you won't like much. And then you'll be taken into a big sort of shed and put into a pen by yourself; but there'll be lots of other pens there with pigs in them too. So you can make friends and not be lonesome. Then by-and-by some men will come and look at you and you must walk right and stand right just the way I showed you, and maybe you'll win a lovely blue ribbon.”

Timmy twitched his little tail that was all curled up like a pretzel; then he rolled over on his back so that she could scratch his stomach.

“Garnet!” called Mrs. Linden from the house. “You come in and get dressed this minute!”

It
was
rather chilly with nothing on but a nightgown. Garnet wrapped her arms around her cold self and hurried to the house.

“Will he win a prize, mother, do you think?” she asked.

“I shouldn't wonder, darling,” said her mother, “he's a changed pig since you took him in hand.”

Garnet went up to her room and dressed with care. She put on the blue dress and shoes. (But not the strapped ones; those she would never wear again!) She braided her pigtails so tight they hurt her, and scrubbed her face till it had a shine like shellac. Then she went down to the kitchen where she could hear bacon hissing and sputtering in the frying pan.

The whole family was going to the fair, and they were all dressed up for the occasion. Jay and Eric both had straight hair for once; they had used so much water on it that there were little trickles at the back of their necks; and Donald had to eat his breakfast in one of Mrs. Linden's aprons so that he would be sure to leave the table without oatmeal decorations. Garnet thought her mother looked wonderful; she had on a flowered dress, and her hair was different. Mr. Linden looked fine, too, in a dark suit and a collar that hurt him.

Garnet's stomach felt as if there were a pinwheel inside of it turning and spinning a shower of sparks. She said so to her mother.

“It's excitement,” said Mrs. Linden calmly, “excitement and emptiness. Eat your cereal.” “Oh
mother!
” groaned Garnet, “I
can't.
” “Yes you can, darling,” insisted her mother heartlessly. “You can't leave the house till you've finished every spoonful.” Garnet ploughed through the cereal grimly.

“It's like eating Boulder Dam,” she grumbled, but she finished it. Then she leapt from her chair and started for the door; and then came slowly, sadly back.

“The dishes,” she said. “Oh, let them stand for once!” cried Mrs. Linden grandly, “we can do them when we come home. This is an important day.”

“You're nice,” said Garnet, and gave her mother a hug.

Eric called through the window, “Come on Garnet, Mr. Freebody's here with his truck, let's get Timmy in his box.”

“Poor pig!” said Garnet to Timmy, who struggled and rolled his eyes and squealed when they put him in the crate. “But just think if you win a prize!”

“That little hog don't care nothing about blue ribbons, I bet,” said Mr. Freebody, “a couple of square feet of mud and a full trough and he'd be a durn sight more contented.” Mr. Freebody laughed. “He sure looks pretty as a peach though, don't he? Smells good, too. How did that happen?”

“Oh, I washed him,” said Garnet. “The soap smelled like that.”

“My, my what a fancy little hog!” chuckled Mr. Freebody. “With all them clean bristles and that fine smell of perfumery I'm going to be mighty disappointed in the Fair Authorities if he don't get a prize!”

Mr. Freebody had offered to drive his truck to New Conniston solely for Timmy's convenience. The Linden's didn't have a truck and there wasn't enough room in the Ford for both the family and Timmy's crate.

“But I'm going to ride in the truck with you, Mr. Freebody,” Garnet told him.

“Just so's you can keep on eye on that pig, I bet,” said Mr. Freebody, “well get in then. It's time we started.”

Garnet watched the precious crate safely installed on the back of the truck; then she got in herself. She called good-bye to her family who were busily getting themselves sorted out and into the Ford. This was particularly difficult as Mrs. Hauser, her daughter Citronella and her son Hugo had just arrived and wanted to go with them.

“It's a good thing you decided to come with me,” remarked Mr. Freebody, “otherwise I don't know how you
would
have got to the fair, or Timmy either. Them Hausers are a mighty fleshy family.”

Garnet watched Mrs. Hauser get into the car. Did she imagine it, or did she really see the Ford sink down a little on its springs, as if it sighed under a great weight. My goodness, thought Garnet, Mother, Father, Jay, Donald, Eric,
and
Mrs. Hauser,
and
Hugo,
and
—

“Citronella!” shouted Garnet, “you come ride with us. There's lots of room, isn't there Mr. Freebody?”