The Fiery Ring Read online

  “Still I’d like to see them,” Joy said. “Robin told me she’d write, and she did twice, but then she quit.”

  Travis suddenly realized he had made his sister sad. “Come on, sis, we’re going to eat at the Royal Café. I’m going to stuff myself like a Thanksgiving turkey!”

  ****

  The Royal Café was not a fancy or expensive place. It served meals to the farmers who came in only once or twice a week. But the food was good, and Joy loved eating there. She ordered meatloaf and mashed potatoes, and Travis ordered a steak and a baked potato. Dawn ordered a hamburger and fries, to the disgust of Joy and Travis. “You can get hamburgers anytime,” Travis snorted.

  “Hamburgers are my favorite food,” Dawn insisted. “I wish we had them every day.”

  While they waited for the food, the three siblings entertained each other with stories about their neighbors, and then when the meal came, they threw themselves into it with gusto. The dessert choices were apple and cherry pie, and even though it was chilly in the restaurant, Joy wanted ice cream on hers.

  As they were finishing their dessert Bill Winslow turned to the children and said, “Your mother and I have been talking, and I think it’s something you three should know about.”

  With some apprehension all three youngsters looked up. “What is it, Dad?” Travis asked. “Something bad?”

  “No. I think you’ll like this.” Bill’s wide mouth turned upward at the corners. He loved his children dearly and wanted them to have good lives, but he did not see any possibility of that where they were. “The first good year we have—and I hope it’s this next year—the price of land will go back up again. As soon as it does, we’re going to sell out and go back home.”

  “You mean back to Virginia to our old house?”

  “No, we can’t go back to the old place, but we’ll find someplace as close as we can get. I’m hungry to see something sticking up out of the ground, like a hill or a mountain.”

  Joy’s eyes blazed with excitement, and she forgot the ice cream that was soaking into her apple pie. “Oh, Daddy, maybe it will be this coming year!”

  “Maybe so, punkin’. I know it’s been hard on all of us. One good year, and we can go back down south where we belong.”

  ****

  Joy had drawn her chair closer to the coal oil lamp. Before her were four tablets, each of them with a date drawn in heavy black crayon across the front. Picking up the first one, she opened it and thought about how different she was from the time she had written these entries. She had started keeping the journal when she was only nine, and it gave her a great deal of pleasure to turn back the clock and read what had been on her mind then.

  The first entry was dated May 20, 1919:

  I am going to keep a dairy. It won’t be to hard because I like to rite. I will put down everthing in this dairy that is on my hart and someday when I’m a gron up I will look back and no what I was thinking wen I was only nine years old.

  Joy smiled at the misspellings and the large childish scrawls. Her penmanship had improved and so had her spelling. She flipped through the journal, letting her eyes roam over the pages, and then picked up another journal. She had read them all so often she could practically recite them from memory. Her face flushed when she came to an entry in which she had tried to describe her thoughts about getting her first period. The writing was somewhat better but was still immature:

  It scared me very much. Mom had tried to warn me but I din’t pay much atention. Now I wish I had. I was so scared but Mom talked to me for a long time and its all right. She said its very natural and it means that I’m becuming a full-grown woman. I hope I can talk to Dawn about this before it happens to her. She’ll be scared to death!

  Joy had been very honest in her journal, and she was always nervous that someone would find her writings. She kept them hidden as well as possible behind a drawer of a large bureau.

  Picking up the current journal, she folded the pages back, placing at the top November 15, 1925, and then began to write:

  We went out tonight and had dinner at the Royal Café. I had meatloaf and mashed potatoes and for dessert I had apple pie with ice cream. Afterward we went to see The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Lon Cheney. It was not a good movie but very interesting. He is such an ugly man, the hunchback, but the real Lon Cheney isn’t ugly at all. I tried to pretend I wasn’t scared, but I really was. But the best thing of all was, Daddy said tonight while we were eating that if we have a good year next year and a good crop, the price of land will go up. And if it does, we’re going to sell this old farm and go back to Virginia.

  Joy studied what she wrote and then continued:

  I’ve been praying to God that He would get us all home again, and now I’m going to pray even harder than before.

  She wrote for ten more minutes and then folded the tablet up and put it in the hiding place. Quickly she got into her narrow bed and, shivering, pulled the covers about her. The last thing she did before going to sleep was to pray, “Oh, God, get me and Mom and Dad and Travis and Dawn back home again!”

  CHAPTER TWO

  “You Can Have Anything You Want!”

  Joy lay under the weight of the blankets, savoring the warmth and dreading getting up. Dawn lay beside her, sleeping like a hibernating bear. Joy had always envied Dawn’s ability to sleep through anything, even the frigid cold. The worst of winter was over now, but March still retained some of its bitter traces. The dawn was just beginning to break, and she could hear her mother downstairs in the kitchen, the faint sounds of pots and pans clanging gently.

  Finally, with resolution, she swept the blanket back and climbed out of bed, pulling off her long woolen nightgown. Shivering, she tugged on her underwear as quickly as she could, then her outer clothing. After blowing on her hands, she fumbled with a match to light the coal oil lamp that sat on a small table. The yellow light broke the semidarkness of the bedroom. Hastily, she removed the drawer of the bureau, pulled out the tablet with the red cover, sat down at the table, and began writing. She put the date, March 15, 1926, at the top, then wrote:

  It’s my birthday today. I’m sixteen years old and have great hope for this year to come.

  She glanced back momentarily at an earlier entry, read it, then went back to the present date.

  I was looking back four months ago. We went to the Royal Café for supper in Bismarck and saw The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and that was when Daddy told us that if we had a good year, we would sell out and go back home to Virginia. I haven’t said anything to him about it, but I think the drought has broken. We had a ton of snow this winter, so it looks like this could be the year we go back.

  She wrote rapidly until she heard her mother’s voice floating up to her. “Girls, come down and help with breakfast.”

  She replaced the notebook in its niche, put the drawer back, and went over to shake her sister. “Dawn, wake up. Time to get ready for breakfast.” As she left the room she heard the train whistle and knew it was the six-thirty southbound freight. She wished she and all of her family were on it. True enough it was only a freight train, but she would be willing to ride on top of a train if it would take her back to Virginia.

  Downstairs she found her mother busily putting breakfast together. Her mother gave her a hug and smiled. “Happy birthday, Joy.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  At that moment Travis came in, grabbed Joy, and swung her about. She protested but actually liked it very much. “Happy birthday, Joy,” he said, kissing her on the cheek. He held her for a moment longer, then assumed a studious frown. “Now, the only question is—”

  “What is the question?” Joy demanded, trying to get loose.

  “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.