Promises to Keep Read Free

birthday. He busted up his left leg, which sent his twin, Frankie, running off in a panic for help. The rest of the kids got stuck with Danny’s chores while he lay in bed and complained about everything.
    Mark, the oldest, chose to enlist in the Air Force right after graduation. Bobby, fourteen, lived just to irritate everyone. Annie’s twelve-year-old sister, Susan, liked to boss her around and lord it over her because of their two-year age difference.
    Susan, blond and pretty, already had tiny breasts growing underneath her tee shirts. When Annie drifted into the bedroom she shared with Susan, she caught her sister staring at her own body in the mirror and hesitantly touching herself in awe.
    Annie gaped at her. Whirling around, Susan pointed at her bare chest and exclaimed, “Look, aren’t they simply fabulous?”
    “I don’t see anything. You’re dreaming, Suze.” Annie wrinkled her nose in disgust.
    “Don’t call me Suze ! You know I hate it. And I do so have them. You’re just jealous ‘cause you know it’ll be ages until you get anything on that flat, bony chest of yours.” Susan ducked the pillow Annie lobbed at her, snatched up her shirt, and ran for the door, yelling, “Mama, Annie hit me!”
    Annie sank down on the edge of her bed and stared at her own reflection. She didn’t want to be mean to her sister, but lately she’d been wishing for more. She wanted to look like Susan, with her curling blond hair and big blue eyes. Instead, she got stuck with boring brown eyes and hair as straight as a stick.
    She’d soon be eleven whole years old, but she still looked like a little kid. Annie held up her hands. She wanted to take piano lessons, but her hands were small and so narrow. Well, it wasn’t as if her parents could afford such a luxury. With a sigh, she tore her eyes away from the mirror.
    She prowled around the room she shared with Susan, poked at the faded curtains at the window, scuffed her toe on the threadbare carpet. Being poor was no fun at all. Her daddy worked hard, long hours for what money he earned at the Interbake factory, fifty miles away outside of Harrisonburg. Every night he’d come home, worn out, and fall asleep in front of the television in the living room.
    It took Mama most of the summer to can all the vegetables they grew, spending her time in the kitchen with the old pressure cooker. Sometimes she burned her fingers when the rusty gauge acted up. Mama worked hard, too.
    Impatient with herself, Annie forced her thoughts away from where they’d wandered. She wasn’t ashamed of her large family, not one bit. They did all right. So what if she had to wear Susan’s hand-me-downs? At least her sister took decent care of her clothes.
    Annie knew why everything bothered her today, the way she looked, her house, and her life: it was Travis Quincy.
    Not only were they the richest family in Augusta County, they’d also founded Thompkin. Everyone knew the history, of how Duncan Quincy made a fortune in the silver mines during the Colorado Territory Rush, then came back to the Shenandoah Valley and built himself a town. He’d named it after his bride, Lilah Thompkin.
    It seemed a long way from her old house on Spring Street to the Quincy mansion on Thompkin Hill. And Travis came from that local royalty.
    Get a grip, Annie . She made a face in the mirror as she walked past it.
    Travis had talked to her, laughed with her. Invited her to his house, treated her like a friend. Her mouth curved into a smile when she realized she had something her dopey sister didn’t have. With a lighter heart, Annie headed downstairs.
     
    That evening, while Mary Turner supervised kitchen cleanup, Annie asked, “Mama, do you know Ruth Quincy?”
    “Well, not really. I know of her, though we’ve never actually met.” Mary glanced at Annie, who carefully stacked plates in the cupboard. Curious, she queried, “Why do you ask?”
    “I kind of met her, today. Well, first I met Travis.” While