Wish You Well(86)

more terrible than the car accident even, for she had been alone in her crisis. Lou peered

inside the room and was surprised to find the window open. She went in, closed it, and

turned to the bed. For one dazed moment she could not find her mother in the covers, and

then of course there she was. Lou's breath became normal, the shivers of fear fading as

she drew closer to the bed. Amanda was breathing lightly, her eyes closed, fingers

actually curled, as though in pain. Lou reached out and touched her and then withdrew

her hand. Her mother's skin was moist, clammy. Lou fled the room and bumped into Oz

standing in the hall.

"Oz," she said, "you're not going to believe what happened to me."

"What were you doing in Mom's room?"

She took a step back. "What? I—"

"If you don't want Mom to get better, then you should just leave her alone, Lou. Just

leave her alone!"

"But Oz—"

"Dad loved you the best, but I'll take care of Mom. Just like she always took care of us. I

know Mom will get better, even if you don't."

"But you didn't take the bottle of holy water Diamond got for you."

"Maybe necklaces and holy water won't help Mom, but me believing she'll get better will.

But you don't believe, so just leave her be."

He had never in his life talked to her this way. He just stood there and glared, his thin,

strong arms dangling by his sides, like needles at the end of thread. Her little brother

really angry at her! She couldn't believe it. "Oz!" He turned and walked away. "Oz," she

called again. "Please, don't be mad at me. Please!" Oz never turned around. He went into

his room and shut the door.

Lou stumbled to the back of the house, then went out and sat on the steps. The beautiful

night, the wondrous i2ht of the mountains, the calls of all kind of wildlife made no

impression at all on her. She looked at her hands where the sun had leathered them, the

palms rough as oak bark. Her fingernails were jagged and dirty, her hair knotted and lyesoaped to death, her body fatigued beyond her years, her spirit given way to despair after

losing almost all those she cared about. And now her precious Oz no longer loved her.

At that moment, the hated mine siren boomed across the valley. It was as though the

mountain were shrieking in anticipation of the coming pain. The sound seemed to splinter

Lou's very soul. And next the rumble of the dynamite came and finished her off. Lou

looked to that Cardinal graveyard knoll and suddenly wished she was there too, where

nothing else could ever hurt her.

She bent over and wept quietly into her lap. She hadn't been there long when she heard

the door creak open behind her. At first she thought it might be Eugene checking on her,

but the tread was too light. The arms wrapped around her and held her tight.

Lou could feel her brother's delicate breaths on her neck. She stayed bent over, yet she

reached behind her and wrapped an arm around him. And brother and sister stayed there

like that for the longest time.



CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

THEY RODE THE WAGON DOWN TO McKENZIE'S MER-cantile, and Eugene, Lou, and Oz

went inside. Rol-lie McKenzie stood behind a waist-high counter of warped maple. He

was a little ball of a man, with a shiny, hairless head and a long grayish white beard that

rested on his slack chest. He wore spectacles of great strength, yet the man still had to

squint to see. The store was filled to nearly overflowing with farm supplies and building

materials of various kinds. The smell of leather harnesses, kerosene oil, and burning

wood from the corner potbelly filled the large space. There were glass candy dispensers

and a Chero Cola box against one wall. A few other customers were in the place and they

all stopped and gaped at Eugene and the children as though they were apparitions come

haunting.

McKenzie squinted and nodded at Eugene, his fingers picking at his thick beard, like a

squirrel worrying a nut.

"Hi, Mr. McKenzie," said Lou. She had been here several times now and found the man

gruff but fair.

Oz had his baseball mitts draped around his neck and was tossing his ball. He was never

without them now, and Lou suspected her brother even slept with the things.

"Real sorry to hear 'bout Louisa," McKenzie said.

"She's going to be fine," said Lou firmly, and Oz gave her a surprised look and almost

dropped his baseball.

"What can I do for you?" asked McKenzie.

"Got to raise us a new barn," said Eugene. "Got to have us some things."

"Somebody burned our barn down," said Lou, and she glared around at the people

staring.

"Use some finished board, posts, nails, hardware for the doors, and such," said Eugene.