The Fiery Ring (3 page)

“The question is, do I put you under the bed now—or do I do it after breakfast?”

Joy struggled harder. “Let me down, you bully!”

Travis always felt it was his duty to put her under her bed on her birthday to show that she was still just a little girl. She struggled hard and kicked at him, but he merely laughed and avoided her blows and kicks. “I guess it’ll have to be after breakfast. You’re too rambunctious right now.”

Her father entered to catch the last of this and laughed aloud. “It’ll be your birthday in a couple of months, Travis, and I’ll have to put
you
under the bed.”

“Oh, come on, Dad! That’s just for little children like Joy.”

“Everybody sit down. The food’s going to get cold,” Elaine said quickly. Dawn came sleepy-eyed to the table as Joy helped her mother set out the meal, which consisted of eggs over easy, the way they all liked them, fresh biscuits, fried ham slices, three different kinds of homemade jellies, coffee for the adults, and milk for the youngsters.

“When can I start drinking coffee?” Dawn protested as her father poured her a glass of milk.

“You can start right now.” Bill grinned. He got up, grabbed a cup from the cupboard, and poured it full of black coffee from the battered pot. Picking up the cream pitcher, he added cream, then three spoonfuls of sugar, and stirred it. “There, you’re just as grown up as anybody.”

Dawn smiled. “Thank you, Daddy.”

“She’s too little to be drinking coffee,” Travis protested. “Here, I’ll take it.”

Dawn slapped his hand as he reached over. “You keep your grimy hands off of my coffee!”

Bill Winslow laughed, sat down, and bowed his head. The others followed his lead, and he said, “Lord, we thank you for this food. We thank you for our home. We thank you for every blessing. And, Lord, we ask your guidance in all that we do this day and for the rest of our lives. In the name of Jesus. Amen.”

“Amen,” Dawn said, then discovered that during the blessing Travis had taken her cup and was sipping from it. “You give me that back!” she demanded.

“Give her the cup back, Travis,” Bill said good-naturedly. “She’s almost a grown woman now.”

Travis handed the cup back with reluctance. “Grown woman! Why, she’s a baby, and so is Joy.” He grinned at Joy and winked at his father.

“And you’re a long way from being a full-grown man,” Joy said, sticking out her tongue out at him.

Elaine laughed. “Now, that’s showing real maturity—sticking your tongue out.”

“Well, he’s so mean to me,” Joy said.

They continued the lighthearted banter as they ate breakfast. When they were finished, Travis started to get up, but his father said, “Just a minute, Travis. I have an announcement to make.”

Travis sat back down, and the three youngsters looked up expectantly at their parents’ smiling faces. “What is it, Mom—Dad?” Joy asked curiously.

“Well, we didn’t want to say anything until we were pretty sure it was all going to work out, but we’ve made a decision,” Bill began. “I’ve been talking to the Tatums, and they’ve agreed to buy this place.”

Joy stared at her father in disbelief. She could not say a word for a moment, then let out a screech. “Daddy, we’re going back home!”

“That’s the plan. We’re not going to get much out of this place, since buyers aren’t all that thick right now. Albert drove a hard bargain, but he’s willing to take over the property and pay cash, so at least we’ll have enough to go back home.”

“Hey, that’s the best news I’ve ever heard, Dad!” Travis said. “When can we leave?”

“Your mother and I need to talk about that and make a decision.”

“Where will we go?” Joy asked. “I mean, where in Virginia?”

“Not sure about that, but we’ll be starting all over. I’ll have to get a job. My brother John is looking around for a place
for us. Maybe we can get a good deal on a property the bank has taken over. At least that’s what I’m hoping for.”

“But what about all our furniture?” Joy asked. “We can’t leave it here!”

“No, we’ll take it with us,” Bill said. “Almost all of it has belonged to our family for a long time. I thought our move here would be for good, so I wanted to keep it. I wanted you kids to have something that’s been in the Winslow family for a long time. As a matter of fact, it’s pretty valuable. Antiques cost more than new furniture.”

“So we’ll take it all back with us.” Elaine smiled. “And one day you children will have it—and then your children.”

For twenty minutes the family talked excitedly about the move. Finally Bill rose and said, “Your mother and I are going to town to sign the papers this morning. We won’t get the cash today, but we need to sign the papers to make the deal legal. You kids get the chores done.” He turned to Joy and smiled. “And tonight we’ll go into town and celebrate. It’s your birthday, Joy, so you get to eat anywhere you want to, go anywhere you want to go. You can have anything you want!”

Joy leaped out of her chair, ran around the table, and threw herself into her father’s arms. “I’m so happy, Daddy! Moving back to Virginia will be the best birthday present any girl ever got. I don’t care if I get anything else.”

“Well then, we’ll just have to take back all those presents we bought.” Travis grinned.

“Oh no, you won’t!”

Elaine took off her apron and said, “We’re not sure how long it will take, but we should be back by noon or maybe before.”

Dawn spoke up eagerly. “Daddy, let me go with you.”

“You’d just be bored, honey.”

“No I wouldn’t! Please let me go.”

Bill Winslow tried to fend her off but in the end threw up his hands. “All right! All right! But no complaining if you get bored.”

“I won’t complain, honest I won’t.”

Elaine smiled and shook her head. “You spoil her to death, Bill.”

“We’ll take care of things around here,” Travis said. “I’d like to go with you, but I guess you won’t need any help.”

“No, I think we’ll do just fine by ourselves.”

Ten minutes later Travis and Joy were out front standing beside the truck. They took turns hugging both their parents. “Hurry back,” Joy said. “We want to hear all about it.”

At that moment Dawn came running out of the house, still pulling on her coat over her best dress. She stopped long enough to hug Travis. He lifted her off the ground and said, “You’re not going to China, you know. We’ll see you in no time.”

Dawn turned to Joy and hugged her, then kissed her cheek. “Bye-bye, Joy. I love you!”

Joy laughed, “I love you too, little sister!” It touched her that Dawn said that to her so often. “We’ll have such fun when we get back to Virginia.”

Dawn smiled and said, “I’ll be so glad to get home.”

Bill opened the passenger door for Elaine, then went around to the driver’s side. “We’ll see you soon, and then we’ll be on our way to Virginia. Bye, kids.” He got in, slammed the door, and started the engine. The ancient truck rumbled off down over the icy ruts of the road.

Joy and Travis watched them go. Then Joy turned to him. “Well, did you expect anything like this?”

“Not really. I knew we would go back to Virginia someday, but I didn’t expect it this soon.”

“I’m going to have trouble working on the same old chores today.”

“Tell you what, you milk the cow, and I’ll slop the hogs. Then we’ll run down and see if we can’t catch a fish or two. The ice has melted off part of the pond in the last few days, and I could sure use a bite of fried fish.”

“I’ll bet I catch more than you do!” Joy smiled brilliantly, then turned, and the two of them raced toward the barn.

****

The sun was high in the sky, and Joy looked out the window impatiently. “I don’t know why they’re taking so long.”

“I don’t either, but those legal things are pretty slow, I hear. I guess we might as well do the rest of the chores.”

Joy sighed but agreed. As she went about cleaning the house while Travis took care of the outside work, she thought about the fun she’d had fishing with her brother. They hadn’t caught anything big enough to keep, but they had enjoyed themselves. The two of them were very close, and even though Travis was two years older, he always included her in any activity. He took her hunting and fishing, and whenever he went to town in the truck, he brought her along.

Joy worked steadily, thinking with pleasure of returning to Virginia. She remembered so clearly the warm days of summer and the haze that sometimes topped the Blue Ridge Mountains, wreathing them in vapor.

Finally she heard Travis in the kitchen and went in to find him fixing a sandwich. “Don’t you eat too much,” Joy said. “We’re going to eat out tonight.”

Travis was putting a layer of peanut butter on a piece of bread. “I’ve got to have something to eat,” he complained, “or I’ll starve.” He started to take a bite, then turned his head to one side. “Listen, I think I hear them.”

Joy had heard it too. She rushed to the door, and the two of them arrived at the same time. They struggled for a moment, and then Travis stepped back and said, “All right, it’s your birthday.”

Joy rushed outside, but as soon as she was out on the porch she stopped. “It’s not them!” she exclaimed with disappointment. “It’s Uncle Albert and Aunt Opal.”

“What are they doing here?” Travis wondered.

The two descended from the porch and walked out to the
drive to meet their aunt and uncle as the car pulled up to the house. Joy lifted her hand to wave, but to her surprise her aunt Opal did not wave back. She had not expected anything like a cheerful wave from her uncle, for he never had a good word for anyone, as far as she could tell. Catching a glimpse of her aunt’s face, a strange feeling swept over Joy. She could not explain it, but somehow she knew it was bad news.

“Travis,” she whispered, “something’s wrong.”

“I think you’re right,” Travis murmured. “Look at their faces. I’ll bet the sale didn’t go through, and they’ve come to tell us.”

The Oldsmobile came to a halt, and the engine shut off. The door on the driver’s side opened, and Albert struggled to get out. He was such a big man it was difficult, and while he was still at it, Opal was already outside and had moved around the front of the car. Her eyes were opened wide, and Travis and Joy saw tears running down her face. “What’s wrong, Aunt Opal?” Joy cried, but she did not want to know the answer.

Opal Tatum reached Joy and threw her arms around her. She began crying so violently she could not speak. Travis turned to his uncle and said, “What is it, Uncle Albert?”

Albert’s face was pale, and there was a puckered look around his mouth.

“What is it? Is it Mom and Dad?”

“I’m afraid so, boy.” Tatum cleared his throat and looked at the ground. He shook his head as if trying to clear it, then looked up and bit his lip. Finally he said, “It’s your folks—they were—they were in a bad wreck.”

At that moment Joy knew everything. She did not have to hear the rest of the story. She stiffened and her mind grew numb. It was as if the world had shut off and she was standing outside of it. She felt Travis put his arm around her, and she heard Albert say, “They got hit head-on by a big truck. They didn’t have a chance, kids. They were both killed instantly.”

Travis’s face was pale as paper. “What . . . what about Dawn?”

“She’s gone too,” Opal sobbed, turning to Albert and pressing her face against his chest.

Joy couldn’t take it all in. She could still see her father smiling and waving, saying,
“You can have anything you want!”
and her mother’s smile, the last glimpse she’d had of her as the family truck had pulled out. And she knew she would never forget Dawn saying “I love you” before she left.

And now they were all gone.

Joy felt light-headed. She turned to Travis, and he caught her as she fell against him weeping.

****

“I’ve got to tell you kids something, but I wish I didn’t.”

It was several weeks after the accident, and Albert Tatum had called Travis and Joy into the drawing room after supper. He had waited until his own children had gone out with some of their friends. Travis and Joy had been washing the dishes when he spoke to them. Now they all stood in the drawing room, Albert facing his niece and nephew and Opal standing partly behind him.

“What is it, Uncle Albert?” Travis asked.

“It’s bad news for you.”

“I guess we’re used to that,” Travis said bitterly.

Joy cast a quick glance at her brother. He was the man of the family now. The memory of the past weeks since the funeral ran through her mind. It had been a living death for both of them. They had not been permitted to stay on the farm but had come to live with the Tatums. This was bitter medicine in itself. Their aunt was kind enough, but living with Albert’s gruff demands was truly a hardship. And Witt and Olean were thoughtless, spoiled, and at times even cruel. Albert spoke little with Joy and Travis, though he had insisted on their working from the very day they came in. “Work is good for you,” he said. “It’ll help you forget your grief.”

And now as Joy stared at her uncle, bitterness gnawed at her heart. She had wept herself to sleep for weeks, glad that she had a place of her own where Olean and Witt could not hear her. She slept in a tiny room in the attic, no more than eight by ten, with only a bed, a table, and a small chest. It had become a haven for her; it was the only place she could go to be alone in this hostile environment. She had brought her journals with her and managed to conceal them between the joists of the ceiling under her.

“I’ve been meetin’ with the lawyers,” Albert said. “I guess you both knew that the farm hadn’t done well.”

Travis and Joy looked at each other but said nothing. “There were a lot of debts on the place, and now the notes are all due. I had to settle for the best I could.”

“What do you mean, Uncle Albert?” Joy asked. “Mom and Dad were going to sell out to you.”

“Well, that was the plan, but when we got to looking into it, there were so many debts that there wasn’t any money left over. I managed to pay the place off, but there won’t be any inheritance. No money for you kids.”

Opal came forward and put her hand on Albert’s arm. “We’ll take care of you. I promised Elaine long ago that I’d always do that if anything happened to them. We promised each other.”