The Night Wanderer Read Online Free PDF Page A

answers as short as possible.
    â€œUh, with her gone, I’m not making enough to support the three of us. Her job at the band office paid a lot of our bills. The last year has been tough on all of us, so I had to make other arrangements. We all have to adjust and—”
    â€œSending me underground is adjusting? ” Tiffany interrupted. “How is me living in the basement going to help? Is there a coal mine down there?”
    â€œYou know I don’t like that tone.” When Keith was young, it never would have occurred to him to talk this way to his father or mother. “We’re taking in a boarder. That simple.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you tell me? Why just leave me a message on a stupid piece of paper? This is so unfair. This is so you!”
    â€œI did tell you. This morning at breakfast. Didn’t I, Mom?” Granny Ruth nodded, saying, “ Ahn ,” Anishinabe for yes .
    Vindicated, Keith continued. “You grunted a response from inside your magazine. I thought you heard me. It sounded like you did. So don’t get mad at me if you don’t listen.”
    He did? He couldn’t have. Tiffany was sure she would have remembered. She wasn’t at all like him. She usually listened.
    Keith stood up, victorious but not particularly pleased by it.
    â€œNow, for once in your life, do what you’re told.”
    Tiffany didn’t answer. She just continued to stare at the television, but nothing on the screen was really registering. Her only response was a tight and terse “sure,” which did little to alleviate the situation.
    Still angry, Keith took out a printed email, neatly folded in his coat pocket, and tossed it at Tiffany. It landed on the floor at her feet. “As I said this morning, we’re going to have a guest. A paying guest.” Without waiting for a response, Keith turned and walked toward the kitchen.
    Granny Ruth nodded. “You read that. A smart guy, your father. He mentioned at the band office that we’d been thinking of maybe borrowing some money to renovate the basement and open one of those bread and breakfasts. And now we got ourselves a guest without even trying. Somebody up there’s lookin’ after us for sure.”
    If this was “being looked after,” she’d hate to see what not being looked after was like. Trying to comprehend this change in her world, she corrected her grandmother without being conscious of it. “It’s bed and breakfast. The bread usually comes with the breakfast. And why didn’t anybody tell me that this master plan involved my bedroom?”
    â€œI did,” Keith answered from across the kitchen. “A couple of weeks ago.”
    â€œYou did?”
    â€œHe did,” responded Granny Ruth. “But you were too busy getting ready to go out with that Tony to listen. Even in my day, Kwezens , boys always had a way of clogging up your ears.” That was Granny Ruth’s pet name for her when she was upset. It meant little girl . And she meant it.
    At the mention of Tony’s name, Keith slammed cans of corn and peas into the cupboard, far too forcibly, his cheek still twitching. Granny Ruth could hear the plates bouncing. “Careful, those plates are almost as old as I am. Well, somebody sent one of those computer message thingees to the band office saying he was coming here to the village tomorrow and needed a place to stay. So they gave us a call and—”
    â€œâ€”that’s why you’re going in the basement,” Keith interrupted. “Any more attitude and you’ll be sleeping under the deck.” He slammed the door, making Granny Ruth wince.
    â€œSo automatically it’s got to be my room.The hell with Tiffany . . .”
    Not looking at his daughter, Keith nodded, anger still evident in his voice as he mimicked her. “Yep. The hell with Tiffany. It’s always about you. There’s no way I could get the basement