The Princess Club / Family Secrets / Mountain Madness Read Online Free PDF Page B

like hours. And the more they listened, the more Ruby Mae wished they hadn’t.
    She had a bad feeling growing in her stomach faster than a spring weed. She didn’t like bad feelings. And she didn’t like feeling confused.
    Mr. Halliday had been looking for something, he’d said.
    Mr. Halliday had been near a rocky creek when Clancy had gone lame.
    Mr. Halliday was the kind of man who might have lots of cash-money. Maybe even gold.
    Clara sighed loudly. “It just don’t make any sense, Ruby Mae. If’n the gold belongs to Mr. Halliday, why didn’t he just up and say something when Miz Christy told him about it just now?”
    â€œCome to think of it, he did sound a little funny when she brought it up,” Bessie said. Her eyes went wide. “I have an idea. . . .”
    â€œUh-oh,” Ruby Mae said.
    â€œMaybe he stole the gold, and that’s why he can’t own up to it!”
    â€œOr maybe we’re just imagining things,” Ruby Mae said. “Maybe it ain’t his gold at all.”
    â€œStill,” Clara continued, “he could have been up near Dead Man’s Creek. And he was lookin’ for somethin’. It is kind of a . . . what’s the word Miz Christy taught us? A coincidence.”
    â€œHe had his chance to claim the gold just now,” Ruby Mae argued. She hated it when Clara got to thinking too much.
    â€œMaybe you’re right,” Clara said, chewing on a fingernail thoughtfully.
    â€œâ€™Course I’m right.”
    â€œSo then where did the gold come from?” Clara asked.
    â€œYou heard Mr. Halliday. Maybe God put it there for us to find. Like a miracle. You don’t go askin’ questions about miracles, Clara. You just say ‘Thank you kindly’ and feel mighty grateful.”
    â€œHow come you happen to know so much about miracles?” Bessie asked.
    â€œBecause I been prayin’ for one my whole life, that’s how come.” Ruby Mae stood, brushing off her dress. “Besides, it don’t matter who the gold used to belong to. It’s ours now. Finders, keepers. That’s the rule.”
    â€œFinders, keepers,” Clara repeated, as if she were trying to convince herself.
    â€œTrust me,” Ruby Mae said. “That gold was meant for us to have.”

Seven
    W hen Ruby Mae went down to breakfast the next morning, she was surprised to find Mr. Halliday sitting in the parlor, staring down at the floor. Photographs lay at his feet like a strange, patchwork carpet.
    â€œGood morning, Ruby Mae!” Mr. Halliday said cheerfully.
    â€œDid you take all these pictures?” Ruby Mae asked in amazement.
    â€œOh, this is just the tip of the iceberg.” Mr. Halliday hooked his thumbs in his suspenders, contemplating the floor. “I was just trying to sort the wheat from the chaff, if you know what I mean.”
    â€œCan’t say as I do.”
    â€œIt means I’m trying to pick out the good photographs from the not-so-good ones. There are things to consider, like composition. That’s the way the parts of a picture all fit together.”
    Ruby Mae knelt down. She examined a picture of an evergreen tree. “I like this one,” she said. “It’s not like you’re just lookin’ at any ol’ tree. It’s like you’re lookin’ at the tree and up at the sky, too. Like the tree and the sky are hitched up together.”
    â€œYou’ve got a good eye,” Mr. Halliday said.
    â€œFactually speaking, both my eyes work just fine.”
    Mr. Halliday gave a hearty laugh. “No, no. That’s a way of saying you look at the world like an artist.”
    â€œI
don’t mind drawin’,” Ruby Mae said, moving to another picture of a waterfall, “when Miz Christy’s got pencils and paper for us, which ain’t often. But truth to tell, I’d rather be ridin’.”
    â€œAh, yes. The reverend mentioned