Dorothy Garlock - [Route 66] (7 page)

Alvin, standing behind his wife’s chair, joined his son in harmony-singing “Down in the Valley.” It was obvious that Rusty had inherited his musical talent from his parents. The love between Grace, Alvin and their son was so poignant it almost brought tears to Margie’s eyes.

The song ended, and Rusty said, “Someone else take a turn. Tell me the tune, and I’ll see if I know it.” Silence. “How about you, Margie?”

“Not me. I can’t carry a tune in a bucket.”

“I bet that’s not true,” Brady murmured, his mouth close to her ear.

“But I heard,” Margie added quickly, “that Mr. Hoyt sings … quite well.”

“Really? That’s good news. I don’t want to hog the whole evening. What’ll it be, Mr. Hoyt?”

“Name’s Brady, and I don’t know where Margie got that harebrained idea. I sing out only when I’ve mashed my finger or dropped something on my toe.”

“Mona sings,” Jody said.

“I do not! You just hush up, Jody.” Mona stood. “I’ve got to go.”

“Don’t go, Mona,” Rusty said quickly, reaching up his hand to stop her. “You don’t have to sing.”

“Why don’t we
all
sing something? Play ‘Home on the Range,’ son,” Grace said. “Everyone knows that.”

It was Alvin who started singing the lyrics in a beautiful booming voice. “Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam, where the deer and the antelope play …”

Margie was too aware of the man behind her to sing. Then, near her ear, she heard him singing softly in a surprisingly good voice. When the song ended, it was Jody who spoke.

“Mona and I had better get back, or Pa will be after us.”

“Are you kiddin’?” Mona snorted. “You couldn’t get him out of that tent with a team of mules if both of us were drowning in the river.”

“I hope we meet up with you folks after Pa gets the radiator fixed,” Jody said, ignoring his sister’s comment.

“It’s fixed,” Alvin said. “Brady plugged up the hole with a wad of tinfoil.”

Margie felt Brady get to his feet. “I don’t know how long it will last,” he said.

“You mean we can go with you in the morning?” Jody asked.

“That’s the plan,” Alvin said.

“Hot dog! I wish you were coming along with us, Mr. Hoyt.” Jody was obviously pleased. “Pa knows the ice business, but he doesn’t know beans about a motorcar.”

“Anna Marie and I will mosey along behind you for a day or two.”

“Well, now, ain’t that nice to hear?” Grace exclaimed. “I’ll tell ya what, Mr. Hoyt. You and that little darlin’ are welcome to breakfast with us in the mornin’.”

“Thank you, ma’am. I accept on behalf of myself and Anna Marie.”

“It’ll be a comfort having you along. And I’m a-warnin’ you. I’m going to be havin’ me some time with that little darlin’.”

Brady squatted down in front of Margie and lifted the sleeping child up into his arms. She nestled her head contentedly on her uncle’s shoulder. He stood and reached down to help Margie. She ignored his hand, rolled over onto her knees and got to her feet. She looked up to see that he was waiting for her to look at him.

“Thanks for looking after Punkie. She gets pretty tired of my company.”

She nodded. “Good night, all.”

Margie headed for the truck. Jody and Mona were just ahead of her talking in low tones. She was surprised when Brady appeared beside her, Anna Marie nestled on his shoulder.

“I’ll walk you to your camp. It’s the least I can do.”

“It isn’t necessary.”

“I know that. I want to.” After a brief silence he said, “Mr. Luker and Mr. Putman asked me to trail along with you folks.”

“You said that.”

“Anna Marie needs a woman to do things for her that I can’t do. I didn’t realize that when we started out on this trip.”

“Is that why you’re going to travel with us?”

“I admit that it is. I worry about what I’d do if she got sick, or who would take care of her if something happened to me. She likes you and Mrs. Putman.”

“How long have you been on the road?”

“This is our second day. I wanted to stop over here and see my friend Andy Payne.”

“The Mr. Payne who gave us the fish?”

“Yeah. He’d rather fish than eat. I appreciate the attention you and Mrs. Putman gave Anna Marie tonight.”

“Like tying ribbons on her braids?”

He chuckled. “She’s a fussy little punkin. Wants to look pretty. Did you want to look pretty when you were a little girl?”

“It’s been so long since I was a little girl, I’ve forgotten. Anna Marie is smart and sweet. It’s a shame she lost her mother.”

“Yeah? It’s more of a shame she lost her father.”

They neared the truck, and he turned toward his camp. “Good night, Margie.”

“Goodnight, Mr. Hoyt.”

Margie climbed into the truck, unrolled her pallet, undressed and lay down, but it was a long time before she went to sleep.

Chapter 5

A
LVIN CAME TO THE CAMP
as Margie was pouring water on the breakfast fire. He had what appeared to be a map in his hand.

“Mornin’. It looks like it’ll be a fine day.”

“Yes, it does.”

He then went to the side of the truck where Elmer was putting away his tools.

“I figure that if we get on down through Tulsa to Sapulpa, it’ll be a long enough day. What do you think?”

“Fine with me, but what about Foley?”

“If his radiator lasts until Tulsa, he can get it fixed there.”

“How long would we have to wait for him?”

“As long as it takes. The agreement we made when we started was that we’d stay together. He’d have to wait for one of us if something went wrong. There are four of us now. I’m glad we ran into Hoyt. It would take a brave or a foolish bunch to mess with us now.”

“I don’t know. Something about that fellow rubs me the wrong way,” Elmer said.

On the other side of the truck, Margie became alert at the mention of Brady Hoyt’s name. She had been looking off toward the Putman camp watching Rusty shave and wondering how in the world he could use a straight-edge razor without being able to see.

“What do you mean?” Alvin asked.

“He came out of nowhere. We don’t know him.”

“I’d met you only a few times when we decided to hook up and make this trip together.”

“That’s different. I knew about you for several years. Being in the ice business, you’d probably heard about me.”

“Why didn’t you say you were leery of Hoyt last night? The three of us discussed it and agreed to ask him to join us.”

“Don’t you think it’s strange that a man would travel with a female kid that ain’t his? It don’t appear to me to be somethin’ a feller on the up-and-up would do. He could be a-kidnapping that kid.”

“Tarnation, Elmer. Andy Payne said he’d known Hoyt for years. Knew his family.”

“Another thing. How do we know that fellow was Andy Payne? ’Cause he said so?”

“Why would he lie?” Alvin stepped back and looked at Elmer like he’d not seen him before. “He didn’t come right out and say he was Andy Payne, the man who won the Bunion Derby. Rusty recognized the name and asked him if he was the racer. He and Rusty talked about stuff that only the real Andy Payne would know.”

Elmer ignored Alvin’s logic. His stubbornness began to irritate Alvin.

“Times are hard all over, Alvin. I don’t need to tell you that. Boxcars are full of hoboes riding the rails looking for work. There’s fellers out there that’d cut your throat for a dollar.”

“I know that, Elmer. I’m glad to have another man with us,” Alvin insisted. “I hope Hoyt stays with us all the way to California.”

“If the kid gets sick, it’ll slow us down.”

“If that happens, we’ll handle it when the time comes. A bank here in Oklahoma is robbed almost every day,” Alvin argued. “Bootleggers are running up and down the highway day and night, hijacking cars and trucks. Alone in a campground, we would be sitting ducks. Our trucks, with their heavy springs for hauling ice, would be perfect for hauling booze.”

“You don’t think the three of us and the Luker boy could hold off a bunch of cowardly bootleggers?”

“I wouldn’t call them cowardly. I’d call them dangerous crooks. We’ve got to keep together for the sake of our families.”

“How many more are you going to want to take in?”

“Christ, Elmer! Don’t put this on me. You could have had your say last night.” Alvin folded the map and put it in his pocket. “We should stop and noon before we get to Tulsa. Do you want to take the lead?”

“No. You’re doing fine. I’ll look for you along the way.”

“If something happens that we get separated, the next campground is west of Sapulpa after we cross the Rock Creek. The bridge has a brick deck. Turn off at the next road on your left. There’s a place where we can camp, or so the man who drew me the map said. He didn’t swear to it.” Plainly irritated with Elmer, Alvin went on to speak to the Lukers.

Margie filled her fruit jar with water and got into the truck. Not a word had passed between her and her father since the afternoon before when he called her mother a whore. This morning he appeared when breakfast was ready, picked up his coffee mug, his plate of raw-fried potatoes and the last of the white bread she had toasted on the grill, and went to sit in his usual place on the running board of the truck.

Margie had been frying the potatoes when she saw Brady and Anna Marie going to the Putman camp. A few minutes later Grace and Anna Marie had gone to the woods. How much easier it would have been for Brady, Margie thought, if Anna Marie had been a little boy. It must be difficult for a five-year-old girl just to tell her uncle she needed to go to the outhouse or the woods.

Later Margie had heard talk and laughter coming from the Putmans’ camp, and she envied the family’s closeness. To go to California had been her dream; but the first attempt had ended in disaster, and now this second attempt to get there was total misery—not the hardship of the trip, but being with a father who hated her and hated having her along.

Now, as they followed the Putmans out of the campground, Brady was tossing a ball to Anna Marie. They were waiting to follow the Lukers, who were packing up to leave. They’re always lagging behind, Margie thought, and wondered how long it would take Brady Hoyt to get tired of waiting for them.

By midmorning, after weaving slowly through the construction workers on the highway, they drove into Clare-more, the home of the famed cowboy actor Will Rogers. Margie was well aware that he didn’t live here but in California, where he made movies. She would like to see the big house where he was born and spent his childhood, she thought wistfully, but she doubted that she’d get the chance.

Elmer stopped at a gas station. After filling the gas tank, the attendant brought out a rubber hose and filled the water keg in the back of the truck. After he had paid the attendant, Elmer drove to a grocery store. He didn’t say a word to Margie when he left to go inside. He returned with a paper sack, put it in the back of the truck and continued down the street to an ice dock.

Margie had debated about letting him know that they were out of ice, but she decided not to break her silence until he did. He took a pair of ice tongs from the long box attached to the side of the truck where he kept his tools and disappeared inside the icehouse. Margie got out of the truck, let down the tailgate and put down the box they used for a step. She got back into the truck telling herself she had done that to keep him from setting the block of ice on the ground and getting it dirty.

On the way out of town they passed two motor inns and a souvenir shop with a sign proclaiming it an Indian trading post. Margie remembered that when she passed through Claremore the year before with Ernie Harding, a man at a gas station told her that Claremore had been a busy Indian trading center back in the olden days and had been named for an Osage chief. He said that Will Rogers’s home was between Claremore and Oologah, but that Will claimed Claremore as his home because nobody but an Indian could pronounce “Oologah.”

She smiled thinking about it and remembered that Will Rogers had said that he had never met a man he didn’t like. He must be a terribly nice man because she had met plenty of men she didn’t like. Ernie Harding, the man who had stolen her money, for one. And, in spite of the guilty feeling about it, her father was another.

A few miles out of Claremore they stopped behind the Putmans, who had pulled off the highway and onto a space on the inside of a curve. It was flat and grassy with timber to one side. Elmer took off immediately for the patch of brush and scrub oak.

Margie had laid out the cold fish and corn bread on the tailgate when the Lukers arrived, and behind them Brady’s black sedan.

“Margie! Margie!” Anna Marie called as she ran toward her. Then when she reached her: “Go to the woods with me … please. I gotta go … bad.”

“Sure, honey.” Margie flipped a cloth over the food on the tailgate to protect it from flies and took the child’s hand. The two of them ran for the small patch of woods. They didn’t speak until Anna Marie had hiked up her dress and Margie had unbuttoned the back flap of her drawers.

The child looked up at Margie with tear-filled eyes. “I had to go so bad—”

“Your uncle would have stopped.”

“I didn’t want to tell him. I miss Granny Maude.”

“I bet she misses you too.”

“Daddy took me to Granny Maude when … he had to work.” Anna Marie choked back a sob. “I … don’t have any … paper.”

“I have some right here in my pocket. Do you want me to help you?”

“Yes, ma’am.” More sobs. “I’m … nasty …”

Margie knelt down. “You’re just a little nasty, honey. When we get back to the truck, we’ll get inside and I’ll wash you with a wet cloth.” She wiped the tears from Anna Marie’s face with the edge of her skirt.

Brady was waiting by the truck. “I was worried when you took off like that, Punkie.” His eyes flicked to Margie, then back to his niece. He knelt down, studied her face, and saw evidence of tears. “Are you all right?”

“Uh-huh.”

He stood and took her hand. “Mrs. Putman has a treat for you.”

“I can’t go … yet.” The child looked pleadingly at Margie.

“I’ve something to show her in the truck. I’ll bring her over in a few minutes.” Margie held Brady’s eyes with hers before taking Anna Marie’s hand. “Come on, honey.” She climbed into the truck and turned to help Anna Marie get in. Brady was there and lifted the child up. Their eyes caught again and held, then he nodded and walked away.