Part 17 (1/2)
”Mama, look coming! Yonder's Mierd and Wiley! What're they running for?”
”My sakes! Mister Shepherd must've turned school out early!”
”Mama! Guess what! School's out! We're getting a holiday!”
Wiley yelled, long before he and Mierd got to the gate. ”Teacher said we ought'a celebrate stopping the war! November 'leven's gonna be a big day to remember! Always!”
”Yeah, Mama!” Mierd hollered. ”Mister Shepherd said they'll put it in the history book! But he a.s.signed us so much arithmetic it ain't gonna be no holiday a-tall! Me and Wiley'll be up till midnight!”
”Maybe not.”
”Mama, I gotta run tell Grandpa the war's over! He won't have to save no more peach seeds!”
”Son, he knows it. Your papa phoned us the news just a few minutes ago.”
”Peach seeds? What's Grandpa and peach seeds got to do with the Armistice?”
”Good grannies, Mierd, you heard Grandpa talking 'bout saving 'em not long ago. The Government wanted folks to all start saving up peach seeds and nut hulls for the soldiers.”
”Are you crazy, Wiley?”
”No, silly. They was gonna use seeds to get carbon for them gas masks-that's what soldiers wear on the front line.”
Mierd didn't seem very much bothered about things soldiers put over their heads. She dumped her school books and dinner bucket on the edge of the porch and went off to play in the yard.
Most nights, after supper, Papa sat by the fire and counted his store money. But that night, when I got into the fireplace room, I saw his striped money sack was still hanging over the back of his chair. Papa was sitting there in his rocker, frowning and looking into the fire. So I knew he was thinking about Mister Ward. Mama had told Papa a hundred times to quit thinking of that man, but Papa said that was impossible.
Mierd and Wiley were at their study table in the corner, but they surely weren't studying. They didn't even have their books out. Wiley was trying to make a new slingshot out of a forked stick and an old leather shoe tongue; all Mierd was doing was holding her cat in her lap. Nero liked that. He was purring and purring as Mierd stroked his slick, yellow fur. Wiley flipped his slingshot over toward Nero's tail.
”Don't you hurt Nero!”
”Mierd, your old cat sounds like a pea thrasher!”
”Nero does not sound like a pea thrasher! Do you, kitty?”
”He sounds worse!”
”Now, now,” Papa told both of them. ”Y'all get to your school books. Bandershanks, you come here.”
”Papa, we gonna count money?”
”No need to tonight, hon. I didn't take in much today. Folks was so carried away over the Armistice news they didn't buy.”
”Not nothing?”
”Well, your Aunt Vic did send Jim-Bo to get a sack of flour, and Old Mister Hawk was in as usual for his plug of tobacco.
Otherwise, I sold very little today. Here, let's get your heels warmed up so you can crawl in the bed. My goodness, this is a mighty long nightgown you've got on tonight.”
”It's a new one.”