True Blue Page 22

And then we all laughed.

  Mr. Greeley said, “Later, Barty boy.” He turned to the rest of us again. “So, that’s all I have to say. Thank you again for your kindness and your welcome. We don’t plan to stay for the rest of the service.” He cocked his head, and Mrs. Greeley set down Brad and stood up.

  We all stood up.

  Daddy said, “We wish you wouldn’t leave.”

  There was a long silence, and then Brother Abner said, “But we understand your reasons, and honor them.”

  Mr. Greeley picked up the baby bed, and they started walking toward the door. I shouted, “Bye, Bart! Bye, Brad! Be good boys!”

  Bart turned his head and then waved, but Brad came running back and threw his arms around my knees. I bent down and picked him up. He kissed me and said, “Miss you, Abby. Miss you!”

  Then he struggled to get down, and when I set him on his feet, he ran for the door and went out with the others. The door closed behind them.

  I heard Mrs. Larkin say, “Dear me,” and then Mr. Hazen stood up and continued with his lesson.

  I never thought I would miss Brad Greeley, but I did.

  As for Daddy and Danny, you would have thought that there had never been any problem about the horse. When we got home from church that night, Danny was there with Jake Morrisson’s truck and trailer. It was a nice evening, almost April now, so we sat on the front porch and drank some glasses of lemonade. Danny said that he’d ridden Blue up the hillside, “Nothing strenuous, but he was good.” Also, he had met a guy on the other side of the valley who was looking for a big horse, and he had mentioned Amazon to him. If someone called named Wayne Kingston, that was him. Danny said, “He has some money to spend, and she’s a good-looking mare.”

  “Lucky fella,” said Daddy.

  At this point, Danny reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, his check, and handed it to Daddy. Daddy smoothed it out and looked at it, and then, after a long pause, said, “Fine, then. That’s fine.” He nodded. He put the check into his shirt pocket.

  Then there was another long pause.

  At last, Daddy said, “What’s your schedule this week?”

  Danny said, “I can be here Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.”

  And Daddy said, “Well, then, why don’t you plan on staying for supper Thursday night?”

  And Danny smiled and said, “I’d like that.”

  I realized right then that Mom was standing inside the door, and I’m sure her ears were as big as plates, just like mine. Maybe she let out a long breath, just like I did. What I thought was that it was really weird the way that things are very very hard until all of a sudden, they are easy again.

  About the Author

  Jane Smiley is the author of five works of nonfiction, as well as many novels for adults, including Horse Heaven, Moo, and the Pulitzer Prize–winning A Thousand Acres. She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2001.

  Jane Smiley lives in Northern California, where she rides her horses every chance she gets. Her first two novels for young readers, The Georges and the Jewels and A Good Horse, also feature Abby Lovitt and her family.