wouldnât never amount to nothing âcause he was rough on stock. Myron, he was working for old man Macey then, got fired the next day. He blamed it onto Paw and told him heâd get even, and he did, too.â
âHow, Judy?â I asked.
âGetting Sis to run off with him, thatâs how,â she told me. âHe had Kitten then; had her when he come riding into Beaver Valley looking for a job. Well, when he got fired he was gone away for a week or two, and when he come back he was leading Vixen, almost a spittinâ image of Kitten, only she wasnât mean and ornery. She was the one ought to have been named Kittenâjust as clever as a baby kitten. Sis fell in love with Vixen, and run away with Myron to get her. Sheâs been paying for it ever since.â
âThey couldnât have run far,â I said. âIsnât that Beaver Valley where the little town sits at the bottom of the divide?â
âUh-huh, thatâs Cedar Bluffs,â she said, âwhere I live in the summertimes. In the winters I go to high school over to Oberlin, and get my keep for doing dishes and minding the baby for a lady. Her husbandâs in the bank over there, but Myron hates him, âcause he wonât let him have no more money. There wonât none of the bankers. Thatâs why heâs having to fix that old header now.â
As Judy spoke I saw Doc coming down the lane toward us, so when sheâd finished I called to him quietly, âDid you find the salt, Doc? Iâll be along in a few minutes.â
âOkay, Bud,â he called back just as quietly, âIâll get some brine ready for those blisters,â then he kept straight on.
Judy had half risen when I called to Doc, but Iâd drawn her back beside me. As soon as heâd passed she started to rise again, and said, âIâd best go in now. Sis might worry.â
I could hear the whine of the separator from the kitchen, so I told her, âWait till Paco finishes the separating. She wonât worry while sheâs busy with the milk. Besides, you havenât told me yet about her running away with Myron. Was that when they came up here?â
I hadnât sat in the moonlight with a girl for a long, long time, and Judyâs hand was soft in mine, so when I drew her back beside me that second time I drew her closer. She didnât really pull away, just ooched over a little, leaving two or three inches between usâand I liked her better for it. She sat for a moment, looking up the golden pathway the moonlight made across the wheat field, then said, âUh-uh, not up here. This would have been too close to home, and Paw would have come to fetch her back. They run off to the sand hills, up in Nebraska, but Myron didnât do no good up there so they come back . . . right at the beginning of harvest, it was . . . the week before Marthy was born. All they had was Kitten and Vixen . . . and a filly foal out of each one of âem . . . not even saddles . . . and Sis rode all that ways bareback . . . and her within a week of her time.â
There was a catch in her voice as she said the last few words, but it didnât seem right to have any sadness that eveningânot there in the moonlightâso to take her mind off her sister I said, âThatâs a shame, Judy, but you were going to tell me how Myron got the way he is.â
âWell, thatâs when it started,â she said, âPaw, he was awful mad, and cussed Myron out, and told him again that he wouldnât never amount to nothing. And Myron cussed Paw back, and told him heâd show him . . . and right under his own nose, too . . . and for a little bit it looked like he was going to do it. Myron ainât lazy. He hired out for a harvest hand to the banker over to Marion . . . thatâs on the Nebraska side of the
Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, June Scobee Rodgers