hunk of hair was hiding her face. âCrying wonât do any good,â he said.
But of course it did. After a few minutes of listening to her sobs and watching her skinny little shouldersshaking and quivering, he sighed and said, âOkay, okay. Iâll think about it.â And he meant it, even though it didnât take much thought to figure out that one reason, even the main reason, that Jancy wanted him to run away too was because she knew aboutâ
âOh thank you, thank you, William.â Jancy interrupted his suspicious musings. And then her special talent for mind readingâat least where William was concernedâ kicked in. âAnd itâs not either because of your money,â she said. âAll that money in your running-away piggy bank.â
Williamâs snort was even louder. âMy Getaway Fund is
not
in a piggy bank,â he said.
âWell, whatever you keep it in,â Jancy said quickly. âItâs not because of your money. Itâs because you donât belong here either. Youâre not like the rest of them. Youâre not nearly as mean, and ever so much smarter and â¦â
William didnât have to listen to know the rest of what Jancy had to say. Heâd heard her say it before when she wanted to get something out of him. But he also felt pretty sure that she said it because she knew it was trueâat least the part about being smarter. But he still had a strong suspicion that his running-away money had a lot to do with it.
He shrugged. âWell, okay then, maybe Iâm in. So what are your plans? I mean like
when
âand
how
?â
âWhen?â Jancyâs smile, still tear wet, was wide andbeaming. âWell, as soon as ever I can. Tomorrow or else the next day, for sure.â She nodded again, so hard her curly mop bounced up and down. âNot a minute later.â
âOokaaay,â William drawled the word out slowly. âBut then comes
how
. How are you going to do it?â
âWell,â Jancyâs big eyes rolled thoughtfully. âI guess Iâll just â¦â Her voice trailed off to a whisper and then came slowly back. âWell, Iâll just pack up all their clothesââlong pauseââand something to eat on the way, and then â¦â
âYeah,â William prompted. âAnd then?â
Jancyâs bony little face widened into a wobbly smile. âAnd then youâll decide what to do. You will, wonât you, William?â
William shoved to the back of his mind a lot of troublesome unanswered questions concerning such things as
how
and
when
, and the even more serious one about what Aunt Fionaâs reaction might be to their unannounced arrival. He sneezed again, wiped his nose on his sleeve, sighed, and said, âYeah. Well, sort of looks like Iâll have to.â
CHAPTER 3
B ack in the crumbling remains of what had once been a large farmhouse, the plumbing seemed to be working again, so what was left of Sweetie Pie must have moved on into the septic tank. So things were back to normal. Or, if not what most people would think of as normal, at least to âas usual.â There was the âas usualâ fistfight between two of the big guys on the back porch, the âas usualâ screams from Gertie for Babe and Jancy to come help in the kitchen. And some of the usual roars demanding peace and quiet from Big Ed Baggett. Roars that made Little Ed stop yelling at Rudy or whichever other brother he was beating on, without cutting down much on how many punches he was throwing. Twenty-year-old Little Ed was Big Edâs first kid, and people went on calling him Little Ed, even after he got to be as big as a horse.
Also, as usual, Jancy was busy scooting around trying to get her hands on something she could feed Trixie and Buddy. As for William, he was on the floor behind theraggedy remains of what had once been a leather couch, eating a
Meredith Clarke, Ally Summers