Way Down Deep Read Free Page A

and out of the valley.
    â€œGood morning, Ruby June.”
    Way Down folks liked the sound of these two names together, and rarely used one without the other.
    â€œGood morning, Mr. Mullins.” (Or Mrs. Farmer, or whoever.)
    â€œWhere you going to, Ruby June?”
    â€œTo Shortt’s Hardware for a new mop bucket.”
    â€œGive my regards to Mrs. Shortt, Ruby June.”
    â€œWill do, and give my regards to Mrs. Mullins and Reese and Mary Nell and Susie and Pauline and Junior and Clarence and . . . who did I leave out?”
    â€œGerry Joy.”
    â€œRight! Gerry Joy.”
    â€œYou betcha.”
    Mr. Mullins owned not only the Pure Gas Station but also a snack bar called The Boxcar Grill. It was actually housed in an abandoned boxcar, with sliding doors and all, on Railroad Street, which ran parallel to the tracks on the other side of Deep Creek. Mrs. Mullins was the short-order cook on that side of the river, while Mr. Mullins pumped gas on this side. They were assisted by the seven children Ruby had sent regards to, who ranged in age from nine to nineteen.
    Miss Arbutus had charge accounts at Shortt’s Hardware Store, Mayor Chambers’s A&P Grocery Store, Morgan’s Drugs, and Rife’s Five and Dime. All thesemerchants rewarded their customers with S&H Green Stamps, and Ruby was allowed to keep the stamps for herself. When her errands were finished, she would paste them into her S&H Green Stamp book, and dream of the gifts she planned to redeem them for.

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    B Y THE TIME R UBY WAS NINE OR TEN, SHE AND M ISS ARBU tus had established several pleasant rituals in their daily life. For example, when they were finished with all the boardinghouse business in the evening, they took turns at soaking away the day’s accumulation of dirt in an ancient claw-footed tub in their private bathroom, which was tucked between their two rooms.
    Afterward they dutifully brushed their teeth up and down with Ipana, slathered their hands and limbs with Jergens, and saturated their faces with Deep Magic, as instructed in advertisements.
    Next they went to Miss Arbutus’s dressing table, where they took great pains in manicuring their nails. During this ritual Miss Arbutus might gently remind Ruby, “When you’re in the habit of preparing food for others, it is essential to have clean fingernails.”
    Finally Miss Arbutus would take her long brown hair out of its tight bun so that Ruby could brush it. This wasthe favorite hour of the day for both of them, for at this time, dressed in their long white nightgowns, they shared their day-to-day joys and concerns. Although Miss Arbutus was stingy with words to most people, she was more than generous with Ruby. The subject might be school, or the boarders, or the townspeople, or any old thing that crossed their minds.
    â€œIt’s rumored that the first Archibald Ward, who was the founder of this town, brought a treasure to Way Down those many years ago,” Miss Arbutus said one night.
    â€œWas he a rich man?”
    â€œNo, he was not. But he was a very adventurous man, and a traveler. They say he found a pirate’s treasure during one of his explorations on the coast of Virginia.”
    Ruby’s eyes grew large. “A pirate’s treasure?”
    â€œYes, gold doubloons and pieces of eight!” Miss Arbutus spoke in a whispery mysterious voice. “And he never used the money because he was afraid the pirates would find him and kill him. So he buried it way down deep somewhere in Way Down Deep, far from the coast and the prying eyes of the world.”
    â€œDo you think it’s true, Miss Arbutus? Is there really a treasure buried in Way Down?”
    â€œIt’s a legend, Ruby. All the people who have ever lived here know the story, and have repeated it to their children, so that the truth has probably been distorted. But you know what they say about legends. They are rooted in fact somewhere down the