Halley Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: Faye Gibbons
the clothes.”
“Forget it, Ma,” said Gid. “I done told you to quit trying to match me up with one of them Calvin girls.”
Ma Franklin bristled. “There’s not a thing wrong with them girls!”
Gid downed the last of his coffee and pushed away from the table. “I didn’t say there was, but I ain’t interested. Let Halley and Robbie go. The clothes are for them.”
In the silence that followed, Halley tried to recall the Calvin girls. She must have seen them when her family visited the Franklins and attended their church. Only a vague memory came to her.
Kate spoke. “Halley, reckon you and Robbie need to go see about the clothes today. But you better draw several tubs of water before you go. The wash needs to be done.”
As soon as the breakfast dishes were finished and the water drawn, Halley and Robbie set out for the Calvin house. They were loaded down with gifts from Ma Franklin—two jars of blackberry preserves, two jars of honey, and the last of the fresh tomatoes.
Halley set a brisk pace past the pasture and the orchard, but when they reached the main road and were out of sight, she slowed. The faster they walked, the sooner they would be back. They sidetracked into several of the cotton fields they came to and looked at the worms crawling on the cotton leaves. They searched for wild muscadines in the woods just long enough for Robbie to drop a jar of honey and break it. Then they had to stop at the creek so he could wash his feet and hands.
Soon after they left the creek a car came around the bend. Halley recognized it at once. It was Bootsie and Stan. Bootsie was snuggled right up by Stan’s side and when they slowed for the curve she yelled, “Hey, Halley, Robbie.”
Halley waved. It felt like Bootsie had moved on into a different world—a more dangerous world, where the rules were not clear. Halley wondered how Bootsie could trust Stan so much. I guess she’s a better person than me, Halley thought.
They came to Hopewell Baptist Church. Halley would have known it was her grandfather’s church even if she hadn’t been visiting it all her life. The cutoff to the church and the cemetery was dotted with crosses and signs. Every tree had at least one Jesus message. Some had two or three. Wooden crosses marked some of the graves too—those without stone markers.
“You want to go in and play the piano?” she asked Robbie.
Robbie nodded eagerly.
They entered the silence of the church. It was even smaller than the Ebenezer Church in Alpha Springs. Halley sat on the first bench and listened to Robbie play “Amazing Grace.”
“This old piano needs tuning worse than ours,” he said.
Halley was mystified. It was as if he could understand a language she didn’t, even though he was eight years younger. “How can you tell?” she asked.
“Can’t you hear it?” He plunked several notes to show her.
Halley shook her head, remembering her grandfather’s words about her lack of talent. Getting up, she went out to look at the graveyard.
Nobody she knew personally was buried there, but she found the graves of the two children Ma and Pa Franklin had lost in infancy long before Halley was born. The two small graves were outlined with rocks, and looked like the graves of the Owenby babies, except each had a small stone marker.
A new grave off to the edge reminded her of her father’s grave in Alpha Springs. The mound of raw earth still had a few wilted flowers on it. Like her father’s grave, it had no stone. Someday perhaps no one would know who was buried there.
Suddenly it seemed very important to mark her father’s grave—to let the world know he had lived, and that living people missed him. She probably had enough to pay for a stone, but she couldn’t buy it secretly, and if Pa Franklin discovered she had money, he would take it before she could ever buy a stone. She had to find another way.
Halley was still thinking about the stone when they left the churchyard. But when they
“Forget it, Ma,” said Gid. “I done told you to quit trying to match me up with one of them Calvin girls.”
Ma Franklin bristled. “There’s not a thing wrong with them girls!”
Gid downed the last of his coffee and pushed away from the table. “I didn’t say there was, but I ain’t interested. Let Halley and Robbie go. The clothes are for them.”
In the silence that followed, Halley tried to recall the Calvin girls. She must have seen them when her family visited the Franklins and attended their church. Only a vague memory came to her.
Kate spoke. “Halley, reckon you and Robbie need to go see about the clothes today. But you better draw several tubs of water before you go. The wash needs to be done.”
As soon as the breakfast dishes were finished and the water drawn, Halley and Robbie set out for the Calvin house. They were loaded down with gifts from Ma Franklin—two jars of blackberry preserves, two jars of honey, and the last of the fresh tomatoes.
Halley set a brisk pace past the pasture and the orchard, but when they reached the main road and were out of sight, she slowed. The faster they walked, the sooner they would be back. They sidetracked into several of the cotton fields they came to and looked at the worms crawling on the cotton leaves. They searched for wild muscadines in the woods just long enough for Robbie to drop a jar of honey and break it. Then they had to stop at the creek so he could wash his feet and hands.
Soon after they left the creek a car came around the bend. Halley recognized it at once. It was Bootsie and Stan. Bootsie was snuggled right up by Stan’s side and when they slowed for the curve she yelled, “Hey, Halley, Robbie.”
Halley waved. It felt like Bootsie had moved on into a different world—a more dangerous world, where the rules were not clear. Halley wondered how Bootsie could trust Stan so much. I guess she’s a better person than me, Halley thought.
They came to Hopewell Baptist Church. Halley would have known it was her grandfather’s church even if she hadn’t been visiting it all her life. The cutoff to the church and the cemetery was dotted with crosses and signs. Every tree had at least one Jesus message. Some had two or three. Wooden crosses marked some of the graves too—those without stone markers.
“You want to go in and play the piano?” she asked Robbie.
Robbie nodded eagerly.
They entered the silence of the church. It was even smaller than the Ebenezer Church in Alpha Springs. Halley sat on the first bench and listened to Robbie play “Amazing Grace.”
“This old piano needs tuning worse than ours,” he said.
Halley was mystified. It was as if he could understand a language she didn’t, even though he was eight years younger. “How can you tell?” she asked.
“Can’t you hear it?” He plunked several notes to show her.
Halley shook her head, remembering her grandfather’s words about her lack of talent. Getting up, she went out to look at the graveyard.
Nobody she knew personally was buried there, but she found the graves of the two children Ma and Pa Franklin had lost in infancy long before Halley was born. The two small graves were outlined with rocks, and looked like the graves of the Owenby babies, except each had a small stone marker.
A new grave off to the edge reminded her of her father’s grave in Alpha Springs. The mound of raw earth still had a few wilted flowers on it. Like her father’s grave, it had no stone. Someday perhaps no one would know who was buried there.
Suddenly it seemed very important to mark her father’s grave—to let the world know he had lived, and that living people missed him. She probably had enough to pay for a stone, but she couldn’t buy it secretly, and if Pa Franklin discovered she had money, he would take it before she could ever buy a stone. She had to find another way.
Halley was still thinking about the stone when they left the churchyard. But when they