Little Ann Read online

  Later, on the bus ride home, we talked about how we should do the play again next year. Well, it was a safe subject and something to look forward too.

  "You're getting closer. Let's try looking at it from another angle" he mused.

  I couldn't see what he was doing; probably still playing with his stupid watch.

  "Miss Lyndes?" the voice queried, "did your Aunt Margaret really tell you that you couldn't go to the dance?"

  "Of course she did! She never let me do anything." I fidgeted for a moment.

  "Are you sure?" His voice drifted off into the haze. I must be getting closer.

  "Ann?" Aunt Margaret called up the stairs when she got home. "Please come down here. I need to talk to you."

  Oh no! Now what? I used to think that every time she said that, we were going to move again. But I'm not going to move again, I'll run away and live with the Starks first. I shoved all those thoughts out of my head. It had been several years since we'd last moved and besides, she had bought this place. I don't think she wanted to move any more than I did.

  When I came downstairs she was sitting in the living room in her favorite chair. "I had the strangest phone call today" she told me enigmatically.

  I couldn't think of anything that I'd done wrong or who would be ratting on me if I had. She must have noted the puzzled look on my face.

  "It seems that you have an admirer."

  I was still puzzled and the blank look persisted. I felt like the butt end of the joke just before the punch line where you go "Ohh!"

  She chuckled and a look of merriment came to her face. She only looked like that when she was with Jake. "It seems that a certain Jeremy Buxton asked if you would be able to go to the spring dance with him next month." She left it hanging there.

  I wasn't sure what to do next. "What did you tell him?" That seemed safe.

  "Has he asked you yet?" she countered.

  "Ah, no. Bob Page asked me but I turned him down. I didn't think you'd let me go anyway. I haven't seen Jeremy yet."

  She studied me for a minute before replying. "Going to dances is part of growing up, and at your age you need a little more social interaction. I'm willing to allow you to go with him if you really want to."

  I considered it for a moment then had an idea. "He will have to ask me himself, and I will consider it."

  She brightened up at that. "Well spoken Ann." She looked up at the clock on the wall before getting up and heading for the kitchen. "Meals don't make themselves. Is your homework done?"

  "Almost, I can finish it later if you like." I wondered what she was up to now. A few minutes later the phone rang.

  "Would you answer it please, I've got supper going here" as she turned and opened the cupboard.

  "Hello?" I asked as I carried the phone into the living room.

  "Hello there Ann, this is Jeremy. How are you?" all in his sweet smooth voice.

  "Why I'm doing fine. Are you having trouble with your homework?" Nuts, what a lame thing to say. "Sorry, just a little humor. How are you Jeremy?"

  "I'm calling to ask if you'd like to go to the spring dance with me next month. I understand that you turned down Bob Page and thought maybe I could talk you into it."

  "Well, I don't know. I might feel out of place." Doesn't hurt to be a little coy.

  "If I can get Brenda a date would that help?" he asked.

  "If you can get Bob to ask her that would be perfect." There, I'd said it.

  "Hmm, I like a challenge" he chuckled slyly. "And I've known both of you since we were kids, let me see if I can swing it. I'll let you know tomorrow afternoon at school." Jeremy hung up and I thought about calling Brenda.

  "Made up your mind Ann?" Aunt Margaret called from the kitchen.

  "We're thinking about it" I replied.

  We ate supper in silence then I cleared the table and did the dishes while she watched the evening news in the living room. Afterwards I went to my room and did my homework. It was a week night and Jake wouldn't be stopping by until Thursday night.

  "And how did that work out?" the voice asked.

  "Well, Jeremy called me later on and said that he'd spoken with Bob and it had taken some coaxing but he had managed to get Brenda to agree to go with him." I squirmed for a moment recalling how anxious I was at trying to set them up. I wouldn't have asked, but Brenda didn't want to go unless it was with Bob."

  "Quite the match maker I see" he replied.

  I changed the subject, "I've often wondered why these dances are always on a Friday night. Probably the chaperones didn't want to give up their Saturday night. But what do I know." I could hear him chuckling in the background; probably still playing with his watch too.

  Chapter 17: - The box

  It was a Friday afternoon and the spring dance was only a few days away. I walked up the driveway just as Jake's car was leaving. I waved as he went by and went into the house. I left my boots by the door and took my books upstairs to my room and changed clothes.

  When I came back downstairs I could see that Aunt Margaret looked a little upset. I hadn't noticed the box sitting on the kitchen table at first. I wondered if Jake had left it.

  "Are you and Jake going to the movies again Saturday night?" I asked.

  For a moment I thought she would explode but she kept it in. This didn't look good so I walked back out to the kitchen. It was my night to get supper so I started gathering ingredients. After awhile she came out and sat at the table facing the box.

  I was sure this had something to do with Jake but wasn't sure how to ask.

  "Is it something I've done?" I asked timidly?

  "No!" She replied quickly. Then she paused for a minute before saying. "Ann, Jake seems to be upset over something. He won't tell me what it is and now he won't be coming around anymore."

  She had a wooden expression on her face. In all the years I've lived with her I've never heard or seen her cry, not even once. I've no doubt she was crying on the inside though, she looked really upset.

  "Is he moving away?" I asked.

  "No." she replied slowly, "We've just decided to stop seeing each other for a little while."

  When I didn't say anything more she went on. "I think it has something to do with the mine but he won't tell me what. I've asked Tom but he said that he couldn't or probably wouldn't tell me anything about it."

  "I know that Tom has been working with him some on weekends. Marty says he won't tell her anything either. Says it's confidential and not to mention it to anybody."

  I looked at the box questioningly.

  She stared at the box absently. "This box is going up in the attic. You're not to touch it or open it. Understood?" Her eyes bored into me. This was one of those times that if you didn't do as told, there would be dire consequences.

  With that said, she picked up the box and took it upstairs to the attic. That would be the last time I would see the box for many, many years. I didn't know it then, but there would come a time when she would gladly give it to someone she hardly knew; and it would have a huge influence on my future.

  "Didn't you want to look in the box?" the voice asked.

  "No silly. It was none of my business." I could hear him fiddling with his watch again. He must have his own issues.

  Me, I don't have any issues. Then, why am I here? And where is here? I wasn't restrained, just lying on a couch spilling my guts out about a date gone wrong. I sat bolt upright again.

  "Miss Lyndes?" he asked quietly. "Are you alright?"

  "I think I know what this is all about. I'll be going now." I made to get up.

  "We're not quite finished here Miss Lyndes" he commanded. "Lie back down and continue please."

  "Hrmph! At this rate I'll never get out of here."

  "You seem to have issues with boxes. What happened next?"

  "Well we never mentioned the box again. I did see it once more in the attic when I was putting some of my kid stuff away but didn't go near it. It's an amazing thing that you always seem to col
lect more stuff then you have room for. I think that's why they created boxes." I heard a chuckle and his chair squeaked. Boxes indeed!

  "Did Jeremy do as you asked him?" the voice prodded.

  Jeremy! Now why does that evoke a feeling of darkness and dread?

  I went back to the day after Jeremy asked me to the dance. He had just told me that he had convinced Bob to take Brenda.

  Chapter 18: - Spring Fling dance

  "So I guess it's a date then. Me and you going to the spring dance?" As he flashed that smile at me.

  "I guess" I said idly. I didn't know if I liked Jeremy or not. I really didn't know him that well. But he seemed nice enough.

  "I'll let you know as soon as I find out if I can borrow my dad's car. I'll pick up Bob then we'll come over and pick you and Brenda up. That be OK?" he asked.

  I nodded and he smiled and drifted off to his next class.

  On the way home on the bus Brenda was so excited about the dance, more so than I was. Jeremy had pulled it off and got Bob to ask her to the dance. I was still unsure about this but I knew a lot of the other kids that were going and they were very excited.

  "What's the matter with you Ann?" she chided me. "After being the lead in the play you're afraid of a little ole dance?"

  "I don't know how" I replied meekly.

  "John and Sheryl are going" she rambled on, "and Tracey's going with Frank, and …" she stopped suddenly. She just stared at me like she didn't even know me. "You don't know what?"

  "I never learned how to dance" I replied timidly.

  "Ann, you never cease to amaze me. Girl, we're going to do some intense lessons, starting tonight."

  There was no changing her mind either. She showed up at our front door with a box of 45's and her player less than an hour after I got home. Aunt Margaret wouldn't be home for a couple of hours yet as it was grocery shopping day; I was in for my first lesson.

  "If it's any consolation, I never learned how to dance until I was in college" the voice reassured me. "We're almost there now, please continue." I heard the chair creak as he shifted position. "Now let's go right to the night of the dance."

  "Over the next two weeks we got together and went over a few dance steps. Most of it was just flopping around in place. It was the 'one on one' dancing that was the hardest and the scariest. The dance steps were easy enough to learn but my feet didn't seem to know where they were supposed to be. Brenda mentioned something about wearing combat boots for the next lesson." I heard another chuckle from behind me.

  The dance was to start at eight with a social gathering in the cafeteria. Jeremy and Bob would pick us up at Brenda's place at seven thirty. Aunt Margaret insisted on driving me down to the Starks so she could inspect the car and meet the driver. That's not how she said it, but it's how I told it to Brenda. She also had to approve of my prom dress. Brenda and I had gotten them at the same time. At the last minute we decided to swap, I always thought she looked better in the blue than the green. Besides, the green one matched my eyes.

  Jeremy drove into their driveway only a few minutes late. There had been an accident out on 160 that had slowed them down. If it was still there on the way back through we would be about ten minutes late.

  Chapter 19: - Let the party begin

  Jeremy must have passed inspection as he and Bob escorted us out to the car. He had even asked about what color we would be wearing so our corsages would match. Both he and Bob were wearing a black tuxedo with a gray striped vest and sported a yellow rose bud pinned to their lapel.

  The accident had been cleared by the time we came by and we were only a few minutes late. The cafeteria was already full of kids by the time we got there. We grabbed a couple of drinks and some snacks and found an empty table over in the corner. I didn't know which was worse, the hallways between classes or this. The noise level was deafening.

  Then we sort of meandered through the crowd stopping and talking with this group or that one. I guess it's called mingling. It was loud and hard to hear anything with so many people talking all at the same time.

  In the background I could hear the band tuning up and doing sound checks. They would play part of a song over and over then do something else.

  At eight thirty the door into the gymnasium opened and the whole noisy herd started moving through the door. I held onto Jeremy's arm so we wouldn't get separated in the crowd. I looked around but didn't see Brenda or Bob anywhere. Just then we were squeezed against two other couples as we all tried to go through the door at the same time. We had a big laugh at it and then moved into the gym.

  I hadn't been able to get into the group that was doing the decorating, I lived to far out. But, they had done a great job with streamers and silver stars hanging from the iron rafters. The band had colored lights and as we moved around the stars would reflect their light as they rotated.

  Standing off to the sides were the chaperones, teachers and parents that had volunteered to watch over this mad herd of adolescents boiling over with hormones. I thought they looked bored as they kept a wary eye on us. Sort of like cowboys watching over a restless herd where all it would take is one little spark to set them roaring off into a stampede.

  "That's a nice simile" the voice said. "I like that. A restless herd of adolescents." He chuckled in the semi darkness. "Please continue." I heard him mention something about putting that in his next publication.

  Fine, now I'm fodder for his next publication. I should ask for royalties.

  Just then the principal walked out on the stage and up to a microphone. His tuxedo was immaculate and his shoes so shiny you could probably see your reflection in them.

  "Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen" Mr. Watkins said, "and I hope it stays that way." There was some tittering in the background but I couldn't see who it was. "Tonight is the annual Spring Fling Dance." He made an expansive gesture. He then went on to thank the heads of the committees involved. No mention of the real workers, just the teacher or parent. I guess no one else mattered.

  He continued on for longer than was necessary before adding some stuff about not doing this or that. He was still going at it when the lead singer of the band took over and drowned him out.

  "Good Lordy, gang" he yelled with a raucous British accent, "Are you ready to Rock and Roll?"

  There was a big yell from the crowd and the band kicked it off. Mr. Watkins slipped off the stage and disappeared into the darkness.

  The band played and we danced and I managed not to step on Jeremy's toes to many times when they happened to play a slow song. With all of the excitement the evening went by quickly. The band took a break at ten and the crowd meandered between the tables leaving the dance floor empty. Jeremy took my hand and said "Let's go talk to the band. I know the bass player." I looked around but couldn't see Brenda or Bob anywhere.

  "Come on" Jeremy coaxed, "We'll be back before they miss us."

  As we made our way over toward the back door I noticed that Jeremy was keeping an eye on the chaperones; I got the feeling that he didn't want them to know where we were going.

  One of the things Mr. Watkins told us was that we were limited to this part of the school building and the adjacent bathrooms. There were chaperones at both the bathrooms and the door ways but not the back door to where the band was taking their break. I don't know if that was intentional or if they didn't have enough people to cover it all; p robably the latter.

  He tried the door but it was locked. He quickly looked around to see if we were being watched then he rapped on the door with a coin. The latch clicked and a face peered out.

  "Harper! Hey it's me, Jeremy Buxton. Can we come in?" The face looked around behind us to see if anyone was watching us.

  "Kid" he said. "If they catch us letting you in here there'll be hell to pay."

  "Hah!" another voice called from behind him. "That won't be a big loss. If I hadn't kicked old Watkins off the stage we'd still be listening to him. When we get hired to play music, I want to play music, not listen to
some old wind bag." He took another swig from a bottle which didn't look like any soda bottle I knew off.

  "Come on in kids and meet the band." Harper opened up the door just wide enough to let us in. He checked again before closing it behind us.

  "Jess" Harper called, "this here's Jeremy and his date." Jess tipped his hat and took another swig. "Over there is Andy, he plays the keyboards. Back there is Tom, he's the drummer and general all around ladies man." Tom just flashed a smile that almost sparkled as much as his earrings.

  He turned around to face behind us and pointed to a dark complected figure in a plaid flannel shirt and blue jeans propped up in the corner. "That there's Gordon, pure blood Indian and the best darn guitarist in the west." I felt a shiver go up my spine, he looked familiar.

  "Harper tipped his hat to Gordon and continued, "Grew up on the reservation he did." Then he whispered softly to us "He won't let me call it the rez though." Then he laughed a little at his joke. "Hee, hee, hee." Then he made a grand gesture "And we are "Rock and Roar" he announced.

  Chapte-20: - Let's Dance

  "You guys want a beer?" Jess called, "we got plenty. Have to keep a good stock around just for Gordon. At the mention of his name, Gordon moved out of the shadows. It was Mary's older brother, the one the police took away those many years ago. I clung tighter to Jeremy's arm almost knocking him off balance.

  Gordon looked me right in the eye and he recognized me. He nodded and spoke softly. "Quiet Flower. How odd to find you here. Grandfather would not be pleased." He then spoke to Jeremy. "Be careful where you tread young one. My grandfather watches over this one. He would not take it well if you try to lead this one astray."

  I could feel Jeremy shaking a little as the color drained from his face.

  Gordon then turned back to me and smiled. "It's good to see you again. I will tell Mary that you are doing well." Then he turned and headed for the door.

  "Breaks over guys, back to work" Jess commanded as he climbed out of his chair and headed for the door to follow Gordon out to the stage.

  I could not believe that this Gordon was the same Gordon that was Mary Deering's brother. And he was also Silent Runners grandson. Wow.