Chapter Two: Country Rain
Willie Fae stepped out onto the patio of Mrs. Lester's boarding house. It was really a road side motel, but Mrs. Lester called it a boarding house, and that's what it said on the sign by the road, although it didn't fit the real definition of the name.
Willie Fae sat down on the swing, and looked out towards the sun set. There was no one else around; they were all inside around the table in the big dining room, talking and laughing, eating cheese and crackers, and watching a movie. It was a custom of Mrs. Lester to make everybody feel at home in that way; have a "homey" party on the evenings that people could be there. It wasn't a bad idea; except Willie Fae didn't like it. She never liked having a lot of people around. She didn't like to talk if she didn't have to. She didn't like movies. She didn't like a lot of things.
But what she did like was silence, and she had plenty of it outside, alone. Mrs. Lester couldn't have dogs inside- it was a rule that public places couldn't let in pets in Mayville- but Juneau stayed outside in a wood box, which Mrs. Lester had overturned and propped up to give him a sort of a dog house. Now, he came padding out of it to greet his new mistress. He sat down beside her, on the ground. She absently scratched him behind the ears, but she kept her eyes on the setting sun, the horizon ahead of her; she kept her mind on her various problems, and the things she needed to solve.
Then through the faint din she could hear from the dining room, there was the shrill bell of a telephone. She glanced behind her into Mrs. Lester's picture window, and saw Mrs. Lester stand up and walk over to the stand behind the couch, where the phone was. She picked it up and talked for a moment before saying, "Certainly, I'll put her on." She glanced around the room, covering the receiver with one hand, but soon returned it to her ear, saying "Well, she was here just a moment ago, I'm terribly sorry-"
Willie Fae looked in closer. Everyone who stayed at that motel was there except her; so if somebody had a phone call and was missing, it meant it was for her. She gave Juneau a parting pat and stood up to go inside. She came up to Mrs. Lester just before she would have hung up, and say, "That for me?"
Mrs. Lester jumped, turned around, clapped a hand over her chest and took a deep breath, and then said into the phone, "No, wait, here she is..." She covered the receiver again and said "Willie Fae, will you please stop sneaking around like that, you're going to give me a heart attack!"
Willie Fae just shrugged.
"Well, I don't imagine you want to take the call here, so you can go in the kitchen and use the wall phone extension. I won't hang up until you pick it up."
Willie Fae nodded and walked into the kitchen, picked up the handset of the wall phone, and said, "What do you want, Daisy?"
A very shocked Daisy Mae's voice replied, "Willie Fae, how did you ever know it was me!"
"'Cause I couldn't think of anyone I wanted to talk to- and I still can't." she added, a bit pointedly. "Well, what do you want?"
"Oh! Yes, there's this man who was asking about you here today."
"Why should I care?" Willie Fae leaned against the wall.
"Well, he asked an awful lot of questions. How old are you, and where are you from, and what do you like, and what was your name, and do you have a horse, and what does the horse look like, and what was the horse's name, and- oh, so many questions! You'd have thought he was investigating a crime."
"Was he?" Willie Fae asked in an amused tone. "It wouldn't surprise me. Maybe that dog of mine's been racking up trash can tipping fines."
"Oh, no Willie Fae, this is serious!" Daisy pleaded. "Do you want to know what I think?"
"Don't s'pose I have a choice." Willie Fae grunted.
"I think he's a secret admirer."
Willie Fae got a big laugh out of that. "Admirer of who? Me or my horse?"
"Just imagine! A man in a suit like that, he must have had money, and if he likes you, you should meet with him and maybe you'll like him and marry him!" Daisy raved.
"Let me know how that works for ya." Willie Fae said dryly. "What did he look like?"
"Well," Daisy began, "He had these handsome blue eyes, and a dazzling smile, and he had a most expensive suit, and it was so dapper looking, and he had-"
"Daisy, I didn't ask you if he had handsome blue eyes, I asked you what he looked like. If you wanna talk about handsome blue eyes call a coyote, 'cause I don't care."
"Oops!" giggled Daisy. "Sorry. Anyway, he had blue eyes, and blond hair- kinda brownish tinted maybe- and he was very tall, and he had expensive clothes."
Willie Fae thought that sounded awfully familiar. Too familiar. She wished almost wished she hadn't asked what he'd looked like- but then again, it was best she knew now.
"Huh. Well, I better go."
It seemed an abrupt end to the conversation, but Daisy was used to it. "Okay, goodbye."
Willie Fae hung up, and slipped out the back door to return to her spot on the patio. Juneau was still there.
"Well puppy, we may be in trouble." She walked off towards the road. She needed to check on her horse, and then go to bed.
That night was a clear, still one. A night bird sang here and there, and the crickets echoed throughout the silence.
A girl and a dog stood at the end of a driveway. A man faced them. Angry voices echoed; disturbing the calm of the darkness, and interrupting the crickets' song. The dog sat crouched, glaring at the man, the man stood tall, glaring at the girl, and the girl looked at him with a fire that should have melted him. Every now and then the man took a step forward, and the dog would leap up, and growl, but with a calm word, the girl would send him back to a crouched position once more.
But still, the night continued on as if it had not been interrupted- for not a soul was witness to the scene.
When Daisy Mae hung up the phone, she immediately picked the receiver up again and started dialing a different number. "Hello, Stacy? Guess what! The most handsome man was here asking me about the most un romantic person I know!" And with a giggle she began to explain the man in great detail. Stacy apparently was interested.; but if Daisy could have been one room with her, she would have seen that her friend Stacy was actually thinking very different thoughts.
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Willie Fae went inside of the office at the Auction Barn. It was 6 o'clock on Friday- payday. She was given her pay in cash, by Mr. Salsburry, and the way she saw it, the price she had to pay to get it was paid by working hard all week, and then listening to Mr. Salsburry talk about nonsense for a whole 10 minutes while he tried to count out the money; unfortunately he wasn't a good multitask-er, and since his priority in life seemed to be talking, he usually ended up doing that instead of counting.
Today she got to hear about the time he tried to ford a small creek on a 16 HH horse and fell off. Why she should care that he fell off of a short horse and got wet, she didn't know- everyone had done it some time- but she listened dutifully till he got the pay counted, which ironically was the same time the story ended.
"How much longer are you gonna be here?" asked Mr. Salsburry.
Willie Fae shrugged. "As long as I feel like it."
"I see," Mr. Salsbury nodded. "Where do you come from again?"
"Southern Texas. By the Mexican border."
"Hmm! How'd you like it down there?"
"Too hot in the summer, and too cold in the winter." Willie Fae chuckled. "Now it ain't any better. It's too hot in the summer, and twice as cold in the winter."
"Yes, certainly know about that, sure do. There was this one feller- say, did I tell you about that cowboy I had workin' for me that hauled off to Juneau Alaska?"
Willie Fae had automatically started backing towards the door on "did I tel you" but when she heard the part about Juneau, she was ready to run. Once was about all she could handle.
"Yep, sure did, and I've got to be goin'... see ya around." She practically leaped out the door and headed for her horse. She'd ridden to work that day, because her "ride" was sick, plus Kentucky Belle could use the excercise, and she had some things she wanted to do.
She untied Kentuck and mounted her horse while she thought of how she was going to go about her task. She wanted to scope out another job before she quit this one, because common sense told her she wasn't rich and if she didn't find another right away she'd be in trouble when she quit- and she was going to quit, after her next week's pay check. She felt she needed to be moving on. Two weeks was enough for her. If she stayed much longer than that she might just acquire more animals, she thought with a laugh -thinking of Juneau- and that was the last thing she needed.
She rode up to the next town. It was small one, known as Valedale. It had a bank, a post office, 25 houses, a large house that a lady rented rooms from, the mayor's place, the town's offices, a gas station, and a general store for all your daily needs, and that was it. It had been a railroad town in its day, but with railroad quite and outdated idea in the 70s, many said the town would soon dry up. Not even the bus stopped there. The only way to get to Valedale by bus was to get off at the last stop in Mayville and walk or hitch hike to Valedale.
When Willie Fae road in, she walked up to the post office. On the wall outside was a bulletin board that served as the town's newscast. The mayor posted announcements, residents wanted ads, looking for work ads, business ads, lost animal ads, and the like, businesses posted ads for their stores such as sales or important changes to their stores. Willie Fae scanned the wanted ads, and one in particular caught her eye:
"In need of someone to care for my horses while I am away for three weeks. Call me at the number below if interested. Ask for Todd."
That would work... that would certainly work! Willie Fae copied the number and rode back to Mayville; Mrs. Lester was making quite a fuss over Mason's illness. He seemed to have the flu. Willie Fae was tired, it was getting dark, and she'd hada long day. She took care of Kentuck and Juneau for the night and went to bed. She had a plan for the next day... now if only she could pull it off.
When Willie Fae rode into Mayville the next morning, Juneau trailing behind Kentucky, she had a plan: She would ride to the park and tie her horse, and then walk to Daisy's house. It would attract much less attention that way- and for various reasons, she wanted to keep attention away from herself.
She tied Kentucky Belle and started walking. Juneau followed. She didn't really enjoy walking and didn't really relish the idea but she had to something to make sure she wasn't seen. One run in with a crazy man was enough. She couldn't handle another.
She knocked on Daisy's door and this time, Daisy herself answered. "Oh hello! What is it Willie Fae?"
"Just lettin' you know I'll be here for four more days and I'm leaving."
"Aww!" Daisy wailed. "Why won't you ever stay, Willie Fae?"
"Just don't wanna." Willie Fae said evasively. Even Daisy thought that there was some other reason than the one her friend always gave, and for Daisy to have such a thought was quite a thing. but Willie Fae never made a mistake- she always said what needed said and conveniently left out the rest.
Willie Fae said, "Look, Daisy, you 'member that guy you said was over here?"
A dreamy look came into Daisy's eyes. "Oh, who doesn't!"
"Well, if he comes back tell him you ain't got any idea where I've gone." Willie Fae instructed her.
"Okay." Daisy agreed. "Where are you going?"
Willie Fae rolled her eyes. "If I tell you, you'll know where I've gone, and I ain't gonna make a liar out of you."
Daisy's eyes widened. "You mean... you're not going to tell me?"
"No."
"Oh!" Daisy cried. "How can you? I won't know how to get a hold of you at all!"
"That's the idea." Willie Fae said.
"When'll I see you again?" Daisy asked.
"Not for a long while." Willie Fae answered. "See ya around, Daisy Mae."
Willie Fae was only going to Valedale but she wasn't going to tell that to Daisy Mae. She walked to the nearest store and purchased a few of the thing she knew she's be needing later on for her next stop, because she wasn't planning on going "out and about" again.
She carried things back to where Kentucky Belle was tied and rode back to Mrs. Lester's.
She walked into find Mrs. Lester talking to Mason. Mason was standing in the Kitchen door way. He turned around when he heard her coming up behind him.
"Hello Willie Fae." he smiled. Mason was a very friendly and polite, but Willie Fae wasn't really moved by someone who happened to be open and friendly. As long as they weren't overly rude, she regarded everyone with a rather indifferent and aloof approach.
"Well, your daily ride is back and has never felt better!" Mason grinned.
"Better?" Willie Fae repeated. It took a moment before it hit her- Mason had had the flu. "Oh, that's good." Could she help if she honestly didn't care about other people's welfare? She mentally demanded of Mrs. Lester, who cast a very disapproving glance in her direction. As long she wasn't affected, she couldn't say she cared. Or did she... and she just didn't want to?
"You gonna want a ride to work tomorrow?" Mason wanted to know.
"Sure." Willie Fae replied, as usual not bothering to even look at him.
"Okay... Be here at the door and ready by seven o'clock AM. Sharp."
"Yalp." she answered him."
Mason put on his hat and strode out the door, probably to run an errand or something, Willie Fae decided.
Willie Fae went upstairs to her own room and laid down across the top of the bed, which happened to be one of the hardest, most lumpy excuses for a bed she'd ever seen, but beggars can't be choosy, she had decided. It was only six in the evening, but she didn't have anything better to do, so she just closed her eyes.
While Willie Fae was asleep, Mrs. Lester was was in the kitchen making supper. While there was nothing to stir to watch she sat down at the table in the kitchen, the one that no ever ate at, and read magazine. But she was thinking about something else; and she couldn't keep her mind on her magazine. She knew quite well that it was none of her business, but she couldn't help but wonder about her young boarder. Willie Fae Marlyn was a strange girl, and there was no doubt about it. She was so forbidding, yet in reality she could be very affable if she wanted to be. Like she was with that "high and mighty" friend of hers, the one that was related to the mayor, Mrs. Lester thought. But why must she be so closed off to everyone? Mrs. Lester could sense that even that rich girl didn't completely know her friend.
"Better that way any how." Mrs. Lester muttered to herself, turning back to her magazine. "One'll corrupt the other yet."
Mrs. Lester had her own selfish reasons for wanting to know.... that handsome fellow who'd come by while Willie Fae was at work... the one with those blue eyes and that disarming smile. Mrs. Lester smiled at the thought. She still called herself Mrs. even though she was widowed, but she couldn't resist that man's flattery. Yes, for him she would find out more about Willie Fae Marlyn.
The next thing Willie Fae knew, the grandfather clock downstairs was striking nine o'clock. She sat up and glanced around. Her door was shut and her hat lay on the bed beside her, but why was it so cold, she wondered... oh yes, the window was open. She stood up and went to close it, intending to change and go to bed. But as she closed the window she saw a light coming towards the house. And holding the light was a man. What was a man coming so late for, unless to get a room? But there was a no vacancies sign by the road, so that couldn't be it; he must have been visiting Mrs. Lester. But it was certainly late for that.
She heard a knock on the front door and she heard Mrs. Lester open it after calling "coming!" from the kitchen. She heard her exclamation of surprise and and heard them talking. The man's voice sounded vaguely familiar but Willie Fae was too tired to care. She closed the window, opened the closet, got out a night gown, changed, and climbed into bed.
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"Hey! Where are you going?" called a voice. "We're not done here!"
Willie Fae glanced behind with an indifferent manner. "You can handle it."
She continued walking towards the front of the auction barn, leaving two of her co workers behind, including Mason. For some reason, Mason wasn't in a great mood that day. She really didn't care, which only appeared to annoy him further.
She walked to the front of the building and met Juneau, who was laying on the pavement in front of the entrance to the office. It was very hot that day- over 80 degrees, at least, and rather humid. He was laying there panting, and greeted his mistress rather un-enthusiastically. She had a small, overturned hub cap and a bottle of water, and she poured him a drink, put it down in front of him and watched him lap it all up. She refilled it, leaned down to scratch him behind the ears, and started walking back to her work.
When she got around back, the other cowboys were still there, doing their job. It was lunch break in five minutes, however, so she just called "Y'all gonna eat lunch or starve?"
Mason's friend scowled in her direction and said, "It's not lunch yet and you're in an awful hurry for a break."
Willie Fae chuckled. "5 minuted won't kill nobody, and 'sides, it's hot and I've been here since seven thirty this mornin' and y'all are too strict."
About that time the lunch bell rang, and Willie Fae turned around and walked toward the front of the building again, heading for the front of the barn again. She sat down with her lunch- a sandwich Mrs. Lester has sent with her (Willie found it rather suspicious that Mrs. Lester suddenly felt nice enough to make her a lunch but she hadn't said anything) in the shade of a lone tree.
"You want to it over here in the shade or stand over there and fry?" she asked of the other two men, who were standing in the sun a few yards away.
"We like it over here." Said the friend of Mason.
"Oh." Willie Fae said a trifle sarcastically. "I s'pse you're meltin' your cheese." She chuckled to herself and took a bite of her sandwich. Juneau trotted up and lay down beside her. She glanced down at him. "I would't wanna stay over there with them either."
"For your information," Mason began, "today is a bad day to sit under a tree."
Willie Fae arched her eyebrows at him. "Is, huh?"
"Yes sir!" Mason exclaimed. "It just might fall on you."
Willie Fae chortled at that. "Any reason why it's more likely to happen today?"
"It's an omen." insisted his friend. "I read it in a book the other day. There's all sorts of things wrong with today."
Willie Fae laughed out loud. "That's stupidest thing you've said since the last stupid thing you said... which wasn't all that long ago."
"You'll see." promised the other.
Willie Fae ate the last bite of her sandwich, and gave the crust to Juneau.
She glanced at Mason. "Don't tell me that's what you've got your nose out of joint about."
"No. It's one of many things."
"Such as?"
He pulled back his sleeve on his shirt. "See this big white thing? It's called a bandage. Because I got hurt this morning because today is the 13th of the month!"
"It's Wednesday."
"It's still the 13th! And I got word my sister's in the hospital today. And I'm behind on my truck payment. And if you were smart you wouldn't got near that tree."
Willie Fae just shook her head. She didn't offer any condolences about his sister or arm... that wasn't her thing.
At this point the lady in the office came out and tapped Willie Fae on the arm. "You've got a phone call inside."
"You're in trouble now!" exclaimed Mason.
Willie Fae glanced at him with a none-to-inviting expression.
"Now you'll get some bad news." He said. "Probably somebody died."
Willie Fae cast a dark look in his direction. "Well, ain't you just a ray of sunshine."
She stood up and followed the office lady inside.
The lady asked of Willie Fae, as they stepped inside, "If you don't mind my asking, what exactly were you arguing about?"
Willie Fae chuckled. "Oh, they was just trying to make small talk about today bein' unlucky or somethin'.... nothin' important."
She took the phone from where it was balanced on top, by where the coins were put in.
"Hello?"
"Willie Fae?"
"Daisy! How'd you get this number? You weren't s'posed to talk to me until-"
"Willie Fae, can you find a way to get to the hospital?"
Willie Fae stopped short. "The hospital?"
Daisy's voice said, "Yes, Mom and Daddy are away, as you know, and Mom had a cook this month because she was tired of eating out but she went home early today and I've no one to come and get me and-"
"Woah, hold it, stop, back the truck up here!" Willie Fae interrupted. "What're you doin' at the hospital?"
"I fell down the stairs... and I broke my arm."
Willie Fae rolled her eyes, closed them, and leaned against the wall behind her. "How did I not see that comin'?" she wondered, aloud, to herself.
"What?"
"I'll see if I can get there," Willie Fae promised, and hung up the phone.
She turned to the lady at the desk. "If anybody asks, tell 'em I had to leave. It's an emergency."
The lady picked up a black form and quickly wrote the date and Willie Fae's name at the top. Then she got to the space where she had to give the reason. "Emergency at home?" she prompted.
"Nope."
"Family Emergency?"
"Nah.. just a plain old ordinary emergency." With that Willie Fae went out the door. That lady seemed efficient... too bad she wasn't in charge of counting paychecks.
"Hey, Mason!" She called to the owner of the name. "Can I borrow your truck for a while?"
"So it was an emergency, huh?" Mason's friend wanted to know.
"That ain't none of your business!" Willie Fae retorted.
Mason may have been superstitious, and sometimes even touchy, but he wasn't rude and he knew his boundaries. He didn't say "I-told-you-so" or try to rub in the trivial banter of the lunch hour, which his rather obnoxious friend had apparently taken much more seriously. He could tell that whatever it was, it was important to Willie Fae, so what else mattered?
He tossed her the keys. "Just have it back by the time we get off work... five-thirty."
Willie Fae caught them and headed for his truck, all without a word.
Willie Fae slid behind the wheel of Mason's truck, stepped on the clutch, and turned the key in the ignition. It chugged to a start. She glanced at the gauges on the dash. There was only a third of a tank of gas left... maybe Mason meant something when he said he was behind on his truck payment. But why did he have a payment? He should've bought a used truck, and he wouldn't have any money problems.
She slid it into first gear and the truck lurched forward. Hopefully there was enough gas in the thing to get to the hospital. Come to think of it, she wasn't entirely sure where the hospital was. She had a vague idea, and there would probably be signs that said if it was nearby. Probably.
It didn't take long to find it. She had not gone far before the signs saying "hospital" in capital letters with a big white arrow to direct onlookers, started popping up along the street.
It was not long after that, that she found herself sitting on the seat of Mason's pickup next to Daisy Mae, who had an arm in a cast and a sling and several bruises. Willie Fae just looked at her, shook her head, and then put the truck in gear. They rode in silence for several minutes.
Finally Daisy Mae asked, "Aren't you going to ask me how I did it?"
Willie Fae allowed her eyes to slide off the road for a few seconds, to give Daisy a sort of flat look. "I s'pose if you wanna tell me, you'll tell me, and I won't have to beg."
Daisy had a skeptical expression on her face. "Are you trying to be nice, or do you just have an extreme paranoia of begging in general?"
Willie Fae grumbled, "I don't have to answer that question," although she appeared to be biting back a smile.
"I guess I'll tell you anyway." Daisy said. "I was going from the third floor to the second floor and I got my heel caught on the rug at the top. So I fell down the whole flight and landed in a pile at the bottom."
Willie Fae just shook her head again, but she didn't say anything.
"What?" Daisy prompted, leaning closer.
"That's wrong in so many ways-" she began and then started laughing.
"You think this is funny?" gasped Daisy.
"Well, for starters, what kinda shoes were ya wearin'?"
"Umm- my heels. The ones with the four inch heels."
"If you wear those dumb things near a stairway you should be wearing bubblewrap." Willie Fae declared. "How come you had a rug in front of a staircase? Did if ever occur to you how stupid that is?"
"Well- umm, yes- but it looked so stylish in that place that I just had to leave it." Daisy looked slightly uncomfortable.
"When are you going to learn that function goes over fashion?"
"Oh, probably never," giggled Daisy, "but I will put the rug in the middle of the hall instead. It simply doesn't look as good there, though." She added with a sigh.
"Are you gonna chop about three inches off them heels of yours?" Willie Fae demanded.
"Of course not!" Daisy exclaimed. "They're very fashionable and I hear they are big thing in Paris!"
"If jumping off bridges was a big thing in Paris you'd be at the Golden Gate within the hour," her friend scoffed, in a sort of rude tone.
Daisy didn't say anything in response so the truck fell into silence until Willie Fae started to wonder what was going on in the shotgun seat, so she looked, to catch Daisy pulling her gaze off of her and to the window with a guilty expression. Willie Fae chuckled to herself at first, but she quickly found herself wanting to restart the conversation. She knew she had probably offended Daisy with the trivial remark, and it probably wasn't the most appropriate thing to say in the situation, but she wasn't the type to care about that sort of thing. But she still wasn't in the mood to have a broken-armed Daisy mad at her for the rest of the drive, so she felt somewhat inclined to repair the feelings of Miss-Paris-Impersonator.
"Does it hurt much?"
"Only when I jostle it... or bump it." Daisy said shortly.
"Bad?"
"Almost."
"Are you gonna leave a nose-print on that window or steam up something else in here?"
Daisy giggled and pulled her eyes away from the window. "Do you mean everything you say to me?"
"Aww, c'mon Dais, you don't have to ask me that by now, do you?"
Willie Fae disliked nicknames and she didn't let people use them on her, let alone use them for others (unless she found them comical) so calling her friend "Dais" cause Daisy Mae to laugh. "No," she stammered in between gasps of air, "you don't mean half of what you say to me or anyone else but I'm the only one who really knows that anyway, so I should feel lucky I guess."
"That you should," Willie Fae said softly, but the meaning of statement seemed to lead back to more than just the current conversation.
About a block from Daisy's house it started sprinkling rain, and before they made it to the door it was coming down hard. Willie Fae had hoped she'd make it before it started raining, because the windshield wipers of Mason's truck didn't work. She didn't understand why he didn't have some kind of warranty for it if he'd bought it new, but this was no time to ponder that.
"I don't think there's any umbrellas in here so we'll have to make a run for it- you ready?" Willie Fae almost shouted over the rain.
"I can't!" Daisy replied. "They said I can't get my cast wet!"
"What?"
"At the hospital- they said if it got wet it would get soft and it would make my arm heal deformed. Willie Fae, I'm too young to be deformed!" Daisy exclaimed.
Willie Fae chuckled. "I could make a comment on that but I think I'll wait till I'm not stuck so close to you..." she let her voice trail off. "Now, how can we do this?" She propped her head on her hand and her elbow on the bottom part of the steering wheel. "If it wasn't so darn hot and muggy I'd have had a jacket with me and we could've used that but I don't. If we'd had a garbage bag or somethin' like that we could-" she stopped short and leaned down under the seat, re appearing with an old feed sack. "We'll use this. It's not water proof but it should last till we make it in. Give me the key and I'll go ahead and unlock it so's you'll have a straight shot. Shut the door behind you!" She slid out with the key in hand and in a moment had the door open. Daisy, with the sack wrapped tightly around the cast, leaped from the seat of the truck, slammed the door and ran into the house.
She went into the living room and collapsed on the couch.
Willie Fae was right behind her.
"I can't believe you finally came in here!" Daisy laughed.
"Yeah, well, I'm gettin' a head ache as we speak." Willie Fae said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, as she sat down beside her.
There was a long moment of silence before Daisy said, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot."
"First promise me you'll tell the truth."
"Oh no," Willie Fae said. "That's a dangerous promise. I won't lie, but I just might not answer you at all, how's that?"
"Fair enough." Daisy smiled. "Tell me for real- why won't you settle down somewhere like other normal people?"
"'Cause I want action. I have to have somethin' different goin' on.
"Then why not settle down in the city?" Daisy prompted. "There's lots of action here."
"No... no, it's too different here... too many people, too much noise, and besides, I'd miss too many things." Her eyes drifted to the window. The rain was still falling but it only made it muggier and muddier in the city.
"Like what?"
Willie Fae said softly, "Like the country rain."
Willie Fae sat down on the swing, and looked out towards the sun set. There was no one else around; they were all inside around the table in the big dining room, talking and laughing, eating cheese and crackers, and watching a movie. It was a custom of Mrs. Lester to make everybody feel at home in that way; have a "homey" party on the evenings that people could be there. It wasn't a bad idea; except Willie Fae didn't like it. She never liked having a lot of people around. She didn't like to talk if she didn't have to. She didn't like movies. She didn't like a lot of things.
But what she did like was silence, and she had plenty of it outside, alone. Mrs. Lester couldn't have dogs inside- it was a rule that public places couldn't let in pets in Mayville- but Juneau stayed outside in a wood box, which Mrs. Lester had overturned and propped up to give him a sort of a dog house. Now, he came padding out of it to greet his new mistress. He sat down beside her, on the ground. She absently scratched him behind the ears, but she kept her eyes on the setting sun, the horizon ahead of her; she kept her mind on her various problems, and the things she needed to solve.
Then through the faint din she could hear from the dining room, there was the shrill bell of a telephone. She glanced behind her into Mrs. Lester's picture window, and saw Mrs. Lester stand up and walk over to the stand behind the couch, where the phone was. She picked it up and talked for a moment before saying, "Certainly, I'll put her on." She glanced around the room, covering the receiver with one hand, but soon returned it to her ear, saying "Well, she was here just a moment ago, I'm terribly sorry-"
Willie Fae looked in closer. Everyone who stayed at that motel was there except her; so if somebody had a phone call and was missing, it meant it was for her. She gave Juneau a parting pat and stood up to go inside. She came up to Mrs. Lester just before she would have hung up, and say, "That for me?"
Mrs. Lester jumped, turned around, clapped a hand over her chest and took a deep breath, and then said into the phone, "No, wait, here she is..." She covered the receiver again and said "Willie Fae, will you please stop sneaking around like that, you're going to give me a heart attack!"
Willie Fae just shrugged.
"Well, I don't imagine you want to take the call here, so you can go in the kitchen and use the wall phone extension. I won't hang up until you pick it up."
Willie Fae nodded and walked into the kitchen, picked up the handset of the wall phone, and said, "What do you want, Daisy?"
A very shocked Daisy Mae's voice replied, "Willie Fae, how did you ever know it was me!"
"'Cause I couldn't think of anyone I wanted to talk to- and I still can't." she added, a bit pointedly. "Well, what do you want?"
"Oh! Yes, there's this man who was asking about you here today."
"Why should I care?" Willie Fae leaned against the wall.
"Well, he asked an awful lot of questions. How old are you, and where are you from, and what do you like, and what was your name, and do you have a horse, and what does the horse look like, and what was the horse's name, and- oh, so many questions! You'd have thought he was investigating a crime."
"Was he?" Willie Fae asked in an amused tone. "It wouldn't surprise me. Maybe that dog of mine's been racking up trash can tipping fines."
"Oh, no Willie Fae, this is serious!" Daisy pleaded. "Do you want to know what I think?"
"Don't s'pose I have a choice." Willie Fae grunted.
"I think he's a secret admirer."
Willie Fae got a big laugh out of that. "Admirer of who? Me or my horse?"
"Just imagine! A man in a suit like that, he must have had money, and if he likes you, you should meet with him and maybe you'll like him and marry him!" Daisy raved.
"Let me know how that works for ya." Willie Fae said dryly. "What did he look like?"
"Well," Daisy began, "He had these handsome blue eyes, and a dazzling smile, and he had a most expensive suit, and it was so dapper looking, and he had-"
"Daisy, I didn't ask you if he had handsome blue eyes, I asked you what he looked like. If you wanna talk about handsome blue eyes call a coyote, 'cause I don't care."
"Oops!" giggled Daisy. "Sorry. Anyway, he had blue eyes, and blond hair- kinda brownish tinted maybe- and he was very tall, and he had expensive clothes."
Willie Fae thought that sounded awfully familiar. Too familiar. She wished almost wished she hadn't asked what he'd looked like- but then again, it was best she knew now.
"Huh. Well, I better go."
It seemed an abrupt end to the conversation, but Daisy was used to it. "Okay, goodbye."
Willie Fae hung up, and slipped out the back door to return to her spot on the patio. Juneau was still there.
"Well puppy, we may be in trouble." She walked off towards the road. She needed to check on her horse, and then go to bed.
That night was a clear, still one. A night bird sang here and there, and the crickets echoed throughout the silence.
A girl and a dog stood at the end of a driveway. A man faced them. Angry voices echoed; disturbing the calm of the darkness, and interrupting the crickets' song. The dog sat crouched, glaring at the man, the man stood tall, glaring at the girl, and the girl looked at him with a fire that should have melted him. Every now and then the man took a step forward, and the dog would leap up, and growl, but with a calm word, the girl would send him back to a crouched position once more.
But still, the night continued on as if it had not been interrupted- for not a soul was witness to the scene.
When Daisy Mae hung up the phone, she immediately picked the receiver up again and started dialing a different number. "Hello, Stacy? Guess what! The most handsome man was here asking me about the most un romantic person I know!" And with a giggle she began to explain the man in great detail. Stacy apparently was interested.; but if Daisy could have been one room with her, she would have seen that her friend Stacy was actually thinking very different thoughts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willie Fae went inside of the office at the Auction Barn. It was 6 o'clock on Friday- payday. She was given her pay in cash, by Mr. Salsburry, and the way she saw it, the price she had to pay to get it was paid by working hard all week, and then listening to Mr. Salsburry talk about nonsense for a whole 10 minutes while he tried to count out the money; unfortunately he wasn't a good multitask-er, and since his priority in life seemed to be talking, he usually ended up doing that instead of counting.
Today she got to hear about the time he tried to ford a small creek on a 16 HH horse and fell off. Why she should care that he fell off of a short horse and got wet, she didn't know- everyone had done it some time- but she listened dutifully till he got the pay counted, which ironically was the same time the story ended.
"How much longer are you gonna be here?" asked Mr. Salsburry.
Willie Fae shrugged. "As long as I feel like it."
"I see," Mr. Salsbury nodded. "Where do you come from again?"
"Southern Texas. By the Mexican border."
"Hmm! How'd you like it down there?"
"Too hot in the summer, and too cold in the winter." Willie Fae chuckled. "Now it ain't any better. It's too hot in the summer, and twice as cold in the winter."
"Yes, certainly know about that, sure do. There was this one feller- say, did I tell you about that cowboy I had workin' for me that hauled off to Juneau Alaska?"
Willie Fae had automatically started backing towards the door on "did I tel you" but when she heard the part about Juneau, she was ready to run. Once was about all she could handle.
"Yep, sure did, and I've got to be goin'... see ya around." She practically leaped out the door and headed for her horse. She'd ridden to work that day, because her "ride" was sick, plus Kentucky Belle could use the excercise, and she had some things she wanted to do.
She untied Kentuck and mounted her horse while she thought of how she was going to go about her task. She wanted to scope out another job before she quit this one, because common sense told her she wasn't rich and if she didn't find another right away she'd be in trouble when she quit- and she was going to quit, after her next week's pay check. She felt she needed to be moving on. Two weeks was enough for her. If she stayed much longer than that she might just acquire more animals, she thought with a laugh -thinking of Juneau- and that was the last thing she needed.
She rode up to the next town. It was small one, known as Valedale. It had a bank, a post office, 25 houses, a large house that a lady rented rooms from, the mayor's place, the town's offices, a gas station, and a general store for all your daily needs, and that was it. It had been a railroad town in its day, but with railroad quite and outdated idea in the 70s, many said the town would soon dry up. Not even the bus stopped there. The only way to get to Valedale by bus was to get off at the last stop in Mayville and walk or hitch hike to Valedale.
When Willie Fae road in, she walked up to the post office. On the wall outside was a bulletin board that served as the town's newscast. The mayor posted announcements, residents wanted ads, looking for work ads, business ads, lost animal ads, and the like, businesses posted ads for their stores such as sales or important changes to their stores. Willie Fae scanned the wanted ads, and one in particular caught her eye:
"In need of someone to care for my horses while I am away for three weeks. Call me at the number below if interested. Ask for Todd."
That would work... that would certainly work! Willie Fae copied the number and rode back to Mayville; Mrs. Lester was making quite a fuss over Mason's illness. He seemed to have the flu. Willie Fae was tired, it was getting dark, and she'd hada long day. She took care of Kentuck and Juneau for the night and went to bed. She had a plan for the next day... now if only she could pull it off.
When Willie Fae rode into Mayville the next morning, Juneau trailing behind Kentucky, she had a plan: She would ride to the park and tie her horse, and then walk to Daisy's house. It would attract much less attention that way- and for various reasons, she wanted to keep attention away from herself.
She tied Kentucky Belle and started walking. Juneau followed. She didn't really enjoy walking and didn't really relish the idea but she had to something to make sure she wasn't seen. One run in with a crazy man was enough. She couldn't handle another.
She knocked on Daisy's door and this time, Daisy herself answered. "Oh hello! What is it Willie Fae?"
"Just lettin' you know I'll be here for four more days and I'm leaving."
"Aww!" Daisy wailed. "Why won't you ever stay, Willie Fae?"
"Just don't wanna." Willie Fae said evasively. Even Daisy thought that there was some other reason than the one her friend always gave, and for Daisy to have such a thought was quite a thing. but Willie Fae never made a mistake- she always said what needed said and conveniently left out the rest.
Willie Fae said, "Look, Daisy, you 'member that guy you said was over here?"
A dreamy look came into Daisy's eyes. "Oh, who doesn't!"
"Well, if he comes back tell him you ain't got any idea where I've gone." Willie Fae instructed her.
"Okay." Daisy agreed. "Where are you going?"
Willie Fae rolled her eyes. "If I tell you, you'll know where I've gone, and I ain't gonna make a liar out of you."
Daisy's eyes widened. "You mean... you're not going to tell me?"
"No."
"Oh!" Daisy cried. "How can you? I won't know how to get a hold of you at all!"
"That's the idea." Willie Fae said.
"When'll I see you again?" Daisy asked.
"Not for a long while." Willie Fae answered. "See ya around, Daisy Mae."
Willie Fae was only going to Valedale but she wasn't going to tell that to Daisy Mae. She walked to the nearest store and purchased a few of the thing she knew she's be needing later on for her next stop, because she wasn't planning on going "out and about" again.
She carried things back to where Kentucky Belle was tied and rode back to Mrs. Lester's.
She walked into find Mrs. Lester talking to Mason. Mason was standing in the Kitchen door way. He turned around when he heard her coming up behind him.
"Hello Willie Fae." he smiled. Mason was a very friendly and polite, but Willie Fae wasn't really moved by someone who happened to be open and friendly. As long as they weren't overly rude, she regarded everyone with a rather indifferent and aloof approach.
"Well, your daily ride is back and has never felt better!" Mason grinned.
"Better?" Willie Fae repeated. It took a moment before it hit her- Mason had had the flu. "Oh, that's good." Could she help if she honestly didn't care about other people's welfare? She mentally demanded of Mrs. Lester, who cast a very disapproving glance in her direction. As long she wasn't affected, she couldn't say she cared. Or did she... and she just didn't want to?
"You gonna want a ride to work tomorrow?" Mason wanted to know.
"Sure." Willie Fae replied, as usual not bothering to even look at him.
"Okay... Be here at the door and ready by seven o'clock AM. Sharp."
"Yalp." she answered him."
Mason put on his hat and strode out the door, probably to run an errand or something, Willie Fae decided.
Willie Fae went upstairs to her own room and laid down across the top of the bed, which happened to be one of the hardest, most lumpy excuses for a bed she'd ever seen, but beggars can't be choosy, she had decided. It was only six in the evening, but she didn't have anything better to do, so she just closed her eyes.
While Willie Fae was asleep, Mrs. Lester was was in the kitchen making supper. While there was nothing to stir to watch she sat down at the table in the kitchen, the one that no ever ate at, and read magazine. But she was thinking about something else; and she couldn't keep her mind on her magazine. She knew quite well that it was none of her business, but she couldn't help but wonder about her young boarder. Willie Fae Marlyn was a strange girl, and there was no doubt about it. She was so forbidding, yet in reality she could be very affable if she wanted to be. Like she was with that "high and mighty" friend of hers, the one that was related to the mayor, Mrs. Lester thought. But why must she be so closed off to everyone? Mrs. Lester could sense that even that rich girl didn't completely know her friend.
"Better that way any how." Mrs. Lester muttered to herself, turning back to her magazine. "One'll corrupt the other yet."
Mrs. Lester had her own selfish reasons for wanting to know.... that handsome fellow who'd come by while Willie Fae was at work... the one with those blue eyes and that disarming smile. Mrs. Lester smiled at the thought. She still called herself Mrs. even though she was widowed, but she couldn't resist that man's flattery. Yes, for him she would find out more about Willie Fae Marlyn.
The next thing Willie Fae knew, the grandfather clock downstairs was striking nine o'clock. She sat up and glanced around. Her door was shut and her hat lay on the bed beside her, but why was it so cold, she wondered... oh yes, the window was open. She stood up and went to close it, intending to change and go to bed. But as she closed the window she saw a light coming towards the house. And holding the light was a man. What was a man coming so late for, unless to get a room? But there was a no vacancies sign by the road, so that couldn't be it; he must have been visiting Mrs. Lester. But it was certainly late for that.
She heard a knock on the front door and she heard Mrs. Lester open it after calling "coming!" from the kitchen. She heard her exclamation of surprise and and heard them talking. The man's voice sounded vaguely familiar but Willie Fae was too tired to care. She closed the window, opened the closet, got out a night gown, changed, and climbed into bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey! Where are you going?" called a voice. "We're not done here!"
Willie Fae glanced behind with an indifferent manner. "You can handle it."
She continued walking towards the front of the auction barn, leaving two of her co workers behind, including Mason. For some reason, Mason wasn't in a great mood that day. She really didn't care, which only appeared to annoy him further.
She walked to the front of the building and met Juneau, who was laying on the pavement in front of the entrance to the office. It was very hot that day- over 80 degrees, at least, and rather humid. He was laying there panting, and greeted his mistress rather un-enthusiastically. She had a small, overturned hub cap and a bottle of water, and she poured him a drink, put it down in front of him and watched him lap it all up. She refilled it, leaned down to scratch him behind the ears, and started walking back to her work.
When she got around back, the other cowboys were still there, doing their job. It was lunch break in five minutes, however, so she just called "Y'all gonna eat lunch or starve?"
Mason's friend scowled in her direction and said, "It's not lunch yet and you're in an awful hurry for a break."
Willie Fae chuckled. "5 minuted won't kill nobody, and 'sides, it's hot and I've been here since seven thirty this mornin' and y'all are too strict."
About that time the lunch bell rang, and Willie Fae turned around and walked toward the front of the building again, heading for the front of the barn again. She sat down with her lunch- a sandwich Mrs. Lester has sent with her (Willie found it rather suspicious that Mrs. Lester suddenly felt nice enough to make her a lunch but she hadn't said anything) in the shade of a lone tree.
"You want to it over here in the shade or stand over there and fry?" she asked of the other two men, who were standing in the sun a few yards away.
"We like it over here." Said the friend of Mason.
"Oh." Willie Fae said a trifle sarcastically. "I s'pse you're meltin' your cheese." She chuckled to herself and took a bite of her sandwich. Juneau trotted up and lay down beside her. She glanced down at him. "I would't wanna stay over there with them either."
"For your information," Mason began, "today is a bad day to sit under a tree."
Willie Fae arched her eyebrows at him. "Is, huh?"
"Yes sir!" Mason exclaimed. "It just might fall on you."
Willie Fae chortled at that. "Any reason why it's more likely to happen today?"
"It's an omen." insisted his friend. "I read it in a book the other day. There's all sorts of things wrong with today."
Willie Fae laughed out loud. "That's stupidest thing you've said since the last stupid thing you said... which wasn't all that long ago."
"You'll see." promised the other.
Willie Fae ate the last bite of her sandwich, and gave the crust to Juneau.
She glanced at Mason. "Don't tell me that's what you've got your nose out of joint about."
"No. It's one of many things."
"Such as?"
He pulled back his sleeve on his shirt. "See this big white thing? It's called a bandage. Because I got hurt this morning because today is the 13th of the month!"
"It's Wednesday."
"It's still the 13th! And I got word my sister's in the hospital today. And I'm behind on my truck payment. And if you were smart you wouldn't got near that tree."
Willie Fae just shook her head. She didn't offer any condolences about his sister or arm... that wasn't her thing.
At this point the lady in the office came out and tapped Willie Fae on the arm. "You've got a phone call inside."
"You're in trouble now!" exclaimed Mason.
Willie Fae glanced at him with a none-to-inviting expression.
"Now you'll get some bad news." He said. "Probably somebody died."
Willie Fae cast a dark look in his direction. "Well, ain't you just a ray of sunshine."
She stood up and followed the office lady inside.
The lady asked of Willie Fae, as they stepped inside, "If you don't mind my asking, what exactly were you arguing about?"
Willie Fae chuckled. "Oh, they was just trying to make small talk about today bein' unlucky or somethin'.... nothin' important."
She took the phone from where it was balanced on top, by where the coins were put in.
"Hello?"
"Willie Fae?"
"Daisy! How'd you get this number? You weren't s'posed to talk to me until-"
"Willie Fae, can you find a way to get to the hospital?"
Willie Fae stopped short. "The hospital?"
Daisy's voice said, "Yes, Mom and Daddy are away, as you know, and Mom had a cook this month because she was tired of eating out but she went home early today and I've no one to come and get me and-"
"Woah, hold it, stop, back the truck up here!" Willie Fae interrupted. "What're you doin' at the hospital?"
"I fell down the stairs... and I broke my arm."
Willie Fae rolled her eyes, closed them, and leaned against the wall behind her. "How did I not see that comin'?" she wondered, aloud, to herself.
"What?"
"I'll see if I can get there," Willie Fae promised, and hung up the phone.
She turned to the lady at the desk. "If anybody asks, tell 'em I had to leave. It's an emergency."
The lady picked up a black form and quickly wrote the date and Willie Fae's name at the top. Then she got to the space where she had to give the reason. "Emergency at home?" she prompted.
"Nope."
"Family Emergency?"
"Nah.. just a plain old ordinary emergency." With that Willie Fae went out the door. That lady seemed efficient... too bad she wasn't in charge of counting paychecks.
"Hey, Mason!" She called to the owner of the name. "Can I borrow your truck for a while?"
"So it was an emergency, huh?" Mason's friend wanted to know.
"That ain't none of your business!" Willie Fae retorted.
Mason may have been superstitious, and sometimes even touchy, but he wasn't rude and he knew his boundaries. He didn't say "I-told-you-so" or try to rub in the trivial banter of the lunch hour, which his rather obnoxious friend had apparently taken much more seriously. He could tell that whatever it was, it was important to Willie Fae, so what else mattered?
He tossed her the keys. "Just have it back by the time we get off work... five-thirty."
Willie Fae caught them and headed for his truck, all without a word.
Willie Fae slid behind the wheel of Mason's truck, stepped on the clutch, and turned the key in the ignition. It chugged to a start. She glanced at the gauges on the dash. There was only a third of a tank of gas left... maybe Mason meant something when he said he was behind on his truck payment. But why did he have a payment? He should've bought a used truck, and he wouldn't have any money problems.
She slid it into first gear and the truck lurched forward. Hopefully there was enough gas in the thing to get to the hospital. Come to think of it, she wasn't entirely sure where the hospital was. She had a vague idea, and there would probably be signs that said if it was nearby. Probably.
It didn't take long to find it. She had not gone far before the signs saying "hospital" in capital letters with a big white arrow to direct onlookers, started popping up along the street.
It was not long after that, that she found herself sitting on the seat of Mason's pickup next to Daisy Mae, who had an arm in a cast and a sling and several bruises. Willie Fae just looked at her, shook her head, and then put the truck in gear. They rode in silence for several minutes.
Finally Daisy Mae asked, "Aren't you going to ask me how I did it?"
Willie Fae allowed her eyes to slide off the road for a few seconds, to give Daisy a sort of flat look. "I s'pose if you wanna tell me, you'll tell me, and I won't have to beg."
Daisy had a skeptical expression on her face. "Are you trying to be nice, or do you just have an extreme paranoia of begging in general?"
Willie Fae grumbled, "I don't have to answer that question," although she appeared to be biting back a smile.
"I guess I'll tell you anyway." Daisy said. "I was going from the third floor to the second floor and I got my heel caught on the rug at the top. So I fell down the whole flight and landed in a pile at the bottom."
Willie Fae just shook her head again, but she didn't say anything.
"What?" Daisy prompted, leaning closer.
"That's wrong in so many ways-" she began and then started laughing.
"You think this is funny?" gasped Daisy.
"Well, for starters, what kinda shoes were ya wearin'?"
"Umm- my heels. The ones with the four inch heels."
"If you wear those dumb things near a stairway you should be wearing bubblewrap." Willie Fae declared. "How come you had a rug in front of a staircase? Did if ever occur to you how stupid that is?"
"Well- umm, yes- but it looked so stylish in that place that I just had to leave it." Daisy looked slightly uncomfortable.
"When are you going to learn that function goes over fashion?"
"Oh, probably never," giggled Daisy, "but I will put the rug in the middle of the hall instead. It simply doesn't look as good there, though." She added with a sigh.
"Are you gonna chop about three inches off them heels of yours?" Willie Fae demanded.
"Of course not!" Daisy exclaimed. "They're very fashionable and I hear they are big thing in Paris!"
"If jumping off bridges was a big thing in Paris you'd be at the Golden Gate within the hour," her friend scoffed, in a sort of rude tone.
Daisy didn't say anything in response so the truck fell into silence until Willie Fae started to wonder what was going on in the shotgun seat, so she looked, to catch Daisy pulling her gaze off of her and to the window with a guilty expression. Willie Fae chuckled to herself at first, but she quickly found herself wanting to restart the conversation. She knew she had probably offended Daisy with the trivial remark, and it probably wasn't the most appropriate thing to say in the situation, but she wasn't the type to care about that sort of thing. But she still wasn't in the mood to have a broken-armed Daisy mad at her for the rest of the drive, so she felt somewhat inclined to repair the feelings of Miss-Paris-Impersonator.
"Does it hurt much?"
"Only when I jostle it... or bump it." Daisy said shortly.
"Bad?"
"Almost."
"Are you gonna leave a nose-print on that window or steam up something else in here?"
Daisy giggled and pulled her eyes away from the window. "Do you mean everything you say to me?"
"Aww, c'mon Dais, you don't have to ask me that by now, do you?"
Willie Fae disliked nicknames and she didn't let people use them on her, let alone use them for others (unless she found them comical) so calling her friend "Dais" cause Daisy Mae to laugh. "No," she stammered in between gasps of air, "you don't mean half of what you say to me or anyone else but I'm the only one who really knows that anyway, so I should feel lucky I guess."
"That you should," Willie Fae said softly, but the meaning of statement seemed to lead back to more than just the current conversation.
About a block from Daisy's house it started sprinkling rain, and before they made it to the door it was coming down hard. Willie Fae had hoped she'd make it before it started raining, because the windshield wipers of Mason's truck didn't work. She didn't understand why he didn't have some kind of warranty for it if he'd bought it new, but this was no time to ponder that.
"I don't think there's any umbrellas in here so we'll have to make a run for it- you ready?" Willie Fae almost shouted over the rain.
"I can't!" Daisy replied. "They said I can't get my cast wet!"
"What?"
"At the hospital- they said if it got wet it would get soft and it would make my arm heal deformed. Willie Fae, I'm too young to be deformed!" Daisy exclaimed.
Willie Fae chuckled. "I could make a comment on that but I think I'll wait till I'm not stuck so close to you..." she let her voice trail off. "Now, how can we do this?" She propped her head on her hand and her elbow on the bottom part of the steering wheel. "If it wasn't so darn hot and muggy I'd have had a jacket with me and we could've used that but I don't. If we'd had a garbage bag or somethin' like that we could-" she stopped short and leaned down under the seat, re appearing with an old feed sack. "We'll use this. It's not water proof but it should last till we make it in. Give me the key and I'll go ahead and unlock it so's you'll have a straight shot. Shut the door behind you!" She slid out with the key in hand and in a moment had the door open. Daisy, with the sack wrapped tightly around the cast, leaped from the seat of the truck, slammed the door and ran into the house.
She went into the living room and collapsed on the couch.
Willie Fae was right behind her.
"I can't believe you finally came in here!" Daisy laughed.
"Yeah, well, I'm gettin' a head ache as we speak." Willie Fae said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, as she sat down beside her.
There was a long moment of silence before Daisy said, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot."
"First promise me you'll tell the truth."
"Oh no," Willie Fae said. "That's a dangerous promise. I won't lie, but I just might not answer you at all, how's that?"
"Fair enough." Daisy smiled. "Tell me for real- why won't you settle down somewhere like other normal people?"
"'Cause I want action. I have to have somethin' different goin' on.
"Then why not settle down in the city?" Daisy prompted. "There's lots of action here."
"No... no, it's too different here... too many people, too much noise, and besides, I'd miss too many things." Her eyes drifted to the window. The rain was still falling but it only made it muggier and muddier in the city.
"Like what?"
Willie Fae said softly, "Like the country rain."