Keeping Secrets by Linda Byler Read Free Book Online Page A

you what’s unfolding right now, and that’s my stomach. Whatever is up with having no supper?” Reuben announced, getting out of the recliner and clutching his empty abdomen.
    “Let’s get pizza!” Anna shouted.
    “Pizza!” Reuben echoed.
    “Who has money?”
    “Not me.”
    “I would if we’d just get pizza, but till everyone has their cheesesteaks and ham subs and Pepsi, the bill will come to more than $50.00.”
    “I’ll make a homemade pizza. We have leftover chicken corn soup…”
    “No-o-o!” Reuben wailed.
    “I’ll pay 20,” Dat volunteered.
    “I’ll pay 10!”
    “Ten!”
    “Who’s going to order?”
    “Who do you think?” Mam asked, pointing to Sadie.
    Sadie laughed and got a scrap of paper and pen, wrote down the order, and went to the phone shanty to call the little rural pizza shop that delivered pizza to the homes spread around the lovely, Montana countryside.
    On the way back to the house, Sadie’s heart filled with love for her family. Her emotions had run a gauntlet that day, but how wonderfully firm was the foundation under her indecisive feet. The love and devotion of a family was a solid structure that held together through all of life’s trials, above any storm that blew in. And how would life ever be manageable without her sisters and Reuben?
    When the pizza arrived, the family was prepared with a stack of plates, tall glasses loaded with ice cubes, and Mam’s bread knife to cut through the thick crust.
    They remembered to bow their heads, their hands folded in their laps while they all prayed in silence. The girls had their own private joke about “putting patties down,” the Pennsylvania Dutch version of saying a blessing, when pizza was ordered in. Dat never seemed to pray quite as long, and tonight was no different. Sadie was pretty sure Reuben didn’t pray at all, the way he shrugged his shoulders and swung his feet. His head was only bowed halfway, and he watched the pepperoni on the pizza the way a cat watches a mouse nibbling on oats in the forebay of the barn.
    When they raised their heads and Mam reached for the knife to cut the pizza, Sadie caught Rebekah’s eye. They ducked their heads before Dat could catch their smiles.
    It was delicious, as usual, the great slices of thick, crusty pizza dripping with tomato sauce, cheese, pepperoni, and mushrooms.
    The subs were made with a special bread recipe, brown and firm, the ham and cheese melted to perfection, the lettuce and tomato still fresh and colorful.
    No one said much, as they ate hungrily, then pushed back their plates and relaxed with their drinks.
    Sadie watched Anna reaching across the table for one of the last slices, her third. Then she settled back happily on the bench beside Reuben, enthusiastically sinking her teeth into the thick pizza.
    Reuben wiped his mouth with a napkin, surveying his hungry sister. “Boy, Anna, you ate a pile of pizza. Must be you were really hungry.”
    “I was!” Anna said, swallowing and nodding her head.
    Reuben eyed her with concern. “You’re getting chunky.”
    “So.”
    Her answer was about as indifferent as it could be, so Reuben shrugged his shoulders and said he was going to the barn.
    “Are you riding?” Sadie asked.
    “No. I have to clean my rabbit pens. Dat said.”
    Sadie figured she had better not persuade him to ride with her. Those rabbit pens were desperately in need of cleaning. Anna had told him that if he didn’t clean the rabbit pens more regularly, she was going to call the Humane Society to come get the rabbits, and the animal rights people would put him in jail.
    Horrified at the thought of being put in handcuffs, which Anna had explained in full detail, Reuben went crying to Mam. Anna was sent to her room after that. This had all occurred when Reuben was seven or eight, and things had not changed much at all. Reuben still loathed cleaning those pens.
    Sadie slipped away from the house, telling Mam she was going for a ride on Paris. Mam nodded