Buddies Read Free Page B

stepped of in that quicksand hole behind the school house an’ I worked for hours to keep you from goin’ under. She’ll believe ever’ word, an’ that’ll be all there is to it.”
    When the boys got to Ruby Creek, they saw Banker Tolbert’s shiny surrey with its muddy wheels parked in front of the bank. They looked at each other and without a word they went home.
     
     

CHAPTER TWO  
    The next morning Mama came to the kitchen with Gloria’s best clothes. As she placed them on the back of a chair to warm them by the cook stove, she said, “Joey Frank, Gloria didn’t sleep well at all last night. Whatever she has, it’s gotten worse. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to miss school today. Go out, hitch the wagon, and we’ll go to Ruby Creek and let Doctor Black look at her.”
    The trip was cold and uncomfortable for Gloria. She kept her pale face buried against her Mama’s shoulder to keep from breathing the cold air that caused her to cough uncontrollably. Her thin legs shook so that Mama could hardly keep the blanket tucked around them.
    When they arrived in front of Doctor Black’s office, Mama stepped from the wagon, straightened her shawl, looked up at the sky, and spoke with relief “Well, at last we’re here, and I do believe that the sun is going to show it’s face for a change. Thank the Lord!”
    As Joey Frank took Gloria’s hand to help her step from the wagon, he saw Banker Tolbert’s shiny surrey pulling up in front of the bank. His concentration was interrupted and he stumbled, almost causing Gloria to fall. The surrey’s wheels had been washed clean, as though they had never been through the rough, muddy countryside.
    “Joey Frank Cooper, watch what you’re doing, for heaven’s sakes,” Mama scolded. “This is no time to be daydreaming.”
    “Yes, Mama.” Joey Frank obeyed as if to admit he were “daydreaming”, and not thinking about what the banker and his wife had done the day before.
    When Gloria stepped into Doctor Black’s warm office, she began to vomit. The doctor got up from his desk and opened the door to the examination room, telling Mama “Please bring her inside.” Joey Frank took a seat in the waiting room, feeling very worried about his sister. He couldn’t remember Gloria’s being able to stay in school a full term, but she always passed her grade with help from him to keep up her studies.
    After awhile the examination room door opened, Mama and Gloria come out. Doctor Black came out behind them with his hands full of brown bottles. He put them on his desk and took a seat. Mama stood by with her arm around Gloria and watched the doctor write on a note pad, pushing each bottle to the side, one by one. When he finished, he ripped the sheet away from the pad and handed it to her. The look on Mama’s face plainly told Joey Frank that the medicine was too expensive for her, but she opened her purse and carefully counted out what she owed the Doctor.
    Doctor Black leaned back in his chair and pushed up his glasses, he said “Mrs. Cooper, Gloria’s system is very weak. It’s very easy for her to pick up germs that infect her, like the influenza she now has. It is most important that she get plenty of the food I’ve written down for you to buy for her. With her getting those foods, her body should strengthen, she will then be able to resist such germs that she is most likely to come in contact with in the future.”
    The uncomfortable look was still on Mama’s face. Joey Frank knew there was no way she could buy the foods Doctor Black had written down on the paper. Thanking him, Mama folded the paper and put it into her purse.
    That night while Gloria slept, Mama and Joey Frank sat by the fire and talked of ways that they might raise money for Gloria’s special foods. Joey Frank suggested “Mama I could quit school an’ git a job.” Mama flatly refused such an idea by saying “That, Joey Frank, would be the last straw, when Gloria gets over the influenza and