Saucy and Bubba Read online

  Suddenly, the light went out. Maybe Krissy turned on the electric skillet, flipping the circuit breaker. Or maybe the house just decided it was time to act up.

  “Light’s out again?” At seven, the dark still scared Bubba.

  “The house lights are out. The play begins,” announced Saucy. Opening the drawer of his bedside table, Saucy pulled out the flashlight she had stashed there. She flipped it on and waved the light around the ceiling, the wall, and finally wound up pointing it at Bubba.

  Bubba threw up his hands to block the glare.

  “The spotlight falls on the leading man,” Saucy called. “What will he say?”

  “I don’t do words, remember? Give me that flashlight.”

  “A leading man wouldn’t say that,” Saucy protested.

  “Please.” Bubba’s voice quivered.

  Instantly, she handed over the flashlight and tried to comfort him. “Probably the circuit breaker just flipped. It’s past time for you to be in bed, anyway. I’ll tuck you in, then go and check.” She had to make sure he was safe before she left him.

  Bubba flipped the flashlight off, on, off. He yawned. “OK. As long as I have my own flashlight.”

  “I’ll leave it for you.” Saucy hated walking through the dark house, but she couldn’t take the flashlight away from Bubba. Next allowance, she would buy a second flashlight to put in his drawer.

  Saucy pressed her nose against the window. The cold north wind had brought winter. The clouds hid the moon. It would be a black night. Even now, she couldn’t see the barn. The wind was growing louder, almost groaning now. It ripped the small piñon nuts from trees, and they chattered like 22-rifles at target practice.

  Bubba didn’t seem to notice, though, because within a few minutes, he was breathing easily. Saucy tiptoed out, closed the door, flipped the hinged hasp, and pulled the padlock from her jeans pocket. She locked Bubba into his room. The big sister was making sure the little brother was safe, she thought with satisfaction. Bubba didn’t need to ever see Krissy when she was drunk. She had found the hasp and padlock in the barn, probably meant for one of the horse stalls. She put it on Bubba’s door the evening after Daddy left. Saucy had put the padlock key on a chain, and now she dropped it over her head and slipped it under her T-shirt.

  Shivering, Saucy felt her way down the hallway. The door to Daddy and Krissy’s room was shut. She pressed her ear to the door. Silence. Hopefully, Krissy was in there asleep.

  Silently, Saucy started down the stairs. Her house shoes were old, and the soles were slick. Twice she almost slipped on the polished wood floor. At the bottom, her hand trailed along the smooth hallway. Pausing at the kitchen door, she let her eyes adjust. With the electricity out, the radio was off. The air was warm and moist. Krissy must have been boiling water for spaghetti. She sniffed. French bread with garlic butter. The smell made her hungry.

  Was Krissy in bed?

  Saucy followed the cabinets around to the third set of drawers and opened the top one. She groped about for the flashlight. Gone.

  No choice. She had to check the circuit box and get the electricity back on. Last week, when the circuit flipped, she had just snuggled down in her bed and ignored it. But now, the wind whistled briskly down the chimney and blew an ashy smell around the whole downstairs. The furnace needed electricity and tonight would be too cold to leave the heat off. First, she felt the wall sockets and unplugged everything. Once she had forgotten to do that, so the circuit breaker just tripped as soon as she turned it on. She found that Krissy had plugged in the electric skillet, and that was probably what threw the circuits.

  Saucy bent low and crept into the living room. She peered around the sofa, but the dark was so complete she could see nothing. She held her breath, trying to hear Krissy breathing. Only the angry wind could be heard, rattling windows and making the rocker on the porch rock and squeak. Krissy wasn’t in the living room. She wouldn’t be in the laundry room. Maybe, Krissy was in the pantry when the lights went out.

  Saucy felt her way to the pantry and pushed open the door. Silence. No one there.

  Saucy’s shoulders sagged in relief. The downstairs was clear, so Krissy must have gone to bed while she was waiting for Bubba to fall asleep.

  Opening the basement door, Saucy crept down the steps. Dust tickled her nose. She fought not to sneeze. Krissy was probably sleeping already, but Saucy still wanted to be very quiet. At the bottom, she gripped the rough post and stretched her foot forward. If she remembered right, there was a cardboard box somewhere.

  No scrap of light penetrated the basement’s dingy windows. Last time the circuit breaker went out, the moon had been bright enough to give a tiny bit of light.

  Saucy inched forward until she had to turn loose of the post. She shuffled across the wide room, feeling as lost as if she were in the depths of a forest. The concrete floor felt cold through her house shoes. Moving her right foot, Saucy struck something hard. Bending, she felt the cardboard box. There shouldn’t be anything else to trip over. She slid around the box and was a bit more confident in walking with a normal stride, though she still stretched out her hands.

  Suddenly, she stopped. Lifting her chin a bit, she sniffed. Stinky beer and something else. Did rum smell that sour?

  Her heart drummed a frantic beat.

  Click. Suddenly, a naked light bulb blazed in front of her. Saucy threw up her hand to block the glare.

  “Been waiting for you.” Krissy leaned on the wall beside the breaker box.

  Saucy backed away.

  “Well?” Krissy’s voice was thick and clumsy. “You flip that circuit breaker? Answer me.”

  Saucy wanted to ask the same thing. “No, ma’am.” Her voice quavered. This was the real problem with Krissy. She was unpredictable. Sometimes, when she was drunk, she would just go to sleep in front of the TV. But if anything disturbed her, Saucy didn’t know what would happen.

  Krissy lurched away from the wall. Quicker than Saucy thought possible, Krissy grabbed Saucy’s arm. “I knew it was you. You little sneak. You’re just trying to keep me from cooking. I’ll teach you a lesson.” With her other hand, Krissy fumbled at the silver buckle of her jeans. “Teach you a lesson.”

  It was finally happening. Worry, worry, worry. When Krissy was drunk, all Saucy did was worry. She always knew that someday the worry would end. Someday, Krissy would really hit her.

  Saucy twisted frantically, breaking Krissy’s grasp. She dashed toward the stairway, but tripped over the cardboard box and sprawled on the floor. Pain shot through her hip. Krissy stumbled toward her and fell onto her knees. Strong hands grabbed Saucy’s ankle.

  “No!” Panicked, Saucy kicked out.

  “Ow!” Krissy put a hand to her nose and it came away red. “Why you–“

  Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. In the morning, Krissy might not even remember how she hurt her nose. But Saucy had to make it till morning.

  Krissy snaked the belt out of the loops and doubled it over. Saucy crab-walked backward. Advancing, Krissy snapped the belt sharply. Saucy flinched, but kept moving backward.

  Krissy’s hair swung like a pale pendulum, and Saucy swayed, slightly hypnotized by its rhythm. It was finally going to happen.

  Saucy backed into the stairs. No! It would not happen.

  Saucy turned and scrambled upward. Cursing, Krissy stumbled after her. Bursting through the basement door, Saucy raced across the kitchen, flung open the door and ran outside. A cold wind whipped her hair into her face.

  From the door, Krissy called, “Good! You can just stay out there!”

  Bang! She slammed the door. Creak-click. The deadbolt shot into place.

  Saucy stood still, catching her breath. Oh, what had she done?

  Light streamed from the windows. The kitchen window was always left unlocked, but Krissy was in the kitchen now. She was singing and waving a knife around, ready to cut the French bread. Shivering in the wind, Saucy decided she’d hide in the barn for a few hours. Later, when Krissy went t
o sleep, she’d sneak back into the house.

  Leaning back, she saw the lamp was on in Bubba’s room because she had forgotten to flip its switch before she left him. Her heart still pounded with fear, but relief flooded her at the thought of the padlock. With trembling hands, she pulled the chain from under her shirt and kissed the brass key. “Stay safe, Bubba. Stay safe.”

  8

  Fly Away Home

  The bantam rooster woke Saucy at dawn. She shook straw from her hair and then, when she remembered where she was, she laid back and stared at the barn’s rafters. She had slept halfway warmly, buried under the fresh straw Krissy had put in the horse stall. Saucy was surprised at how calm she felt. Never before had Krissy been mad enough to lock Saucy out of the house.

  And she would never have a chance to repeat it, Saucy promised herself.

  Last night, the line had been crossed and it was time for Saucy to force Daddy to listen. The only thing to decide now was what to do until Daddy got home. Stretching and yawning, Saucy decided to wait a while before trying to get into the house. Letting Krissy sleep late was a good idea.

  To stay out of sight, she went behind the barn where the sun was shining. She leaned against the barn wall. On a nearby sagebrush, she watched a cold ladybug–surely one of the last of the year–walking onto a branch’s tip to catch the sunlight, too. She scooped it into her right hand and covered it with the left. Whoo! She breathed warm air into the ladybird cage, and whispered, “Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home. Your house is on fire and your children are all burned. All except Ann, who crept under the frying pan.”

  Warmed by her breath, the spotted beetle flew away to check on baby Ann under the frying pan.

  From her jeans pocket, Saucy pulled out a small notebook and ink pen. She flipped almost to the end before she found a blank page. She wrote in her best cursive: Lady bug, lady bug, run away–

  She stared at the word “run,” then she stared the pen. She always wrote to find out what she was thinking, and it always surprised her. They should run away. Instantly, she thought of Daddy’s sister, Aunt Vivian, and how warm her kitchen had been when they baked sugar cookies last Christmas. Aunt Vivian liked sugar cookies better than gingerbread. If they could make it to Albuquerque, they’d be safe. Aunt Vivian would know what to do.

  Now, if she could just convince Bubba.

  Pleased she had a plan, Saucy crept back to the house and tried the kitchen window that was always left unlocked. It squeaked open. Warmth!

  The kitchen was a mess. Cold spaghetti sat on a platter with sauce dumped around it. Sticking out of it was half a loaf of French bread. Saucy raised her eyebrows in disgust. At least the stove was turned off, so Krissy hadn’t burned down the house. From experience, she knew Krissy would be sleeping it off and wouldn’t wake up until long after noon.

  Saucy microwaved two cups of hot water and dumped in hot chocolate mix. After she stirred, she pulled out the bag of marshmallows and plopped two in Bubba’s cup. He couldn’t drink hot chocolate without his marshmallows.

  Saucy tiptoed upstairs. The door of Daddy’s bedroom was open and Krissy’s blond hair streamed off the side of the bed. Passed out. Good. Quietly, she closed the bedroom door.

  Saucy tiptoed to Bubba’s room. She pulled the chain and key from under her shirt and unlocked his door. When she walked in, Bubba sat up in bed. “Shh. It’s safe now.” She handed him the hot chocolate and sipped her own.

  “She wasn’t very loud.”

  “She never is,” Saucy said darkly. The sweet chocolate was slowly warming her insides.

  “She never bothers me.”

  When Krissy first saw Bubba, she said, “I’ve always wanted a boy! I’ve got three little sisters, and they’re all trouble.” Whatever Bubba wanted, he got. Until the night Krissy had been a fox in the henhouse, Saucy had thought he was safe.

  Bubba said, “I hate it when you lock me in. I didn’t say you could do that. It’s sneaky to do it after I go to sleep.” He picked up a half melted marshmallow and dropped it into his mouth.

  “You’re safe, aren’t you? She couldn’t open your door, could she?” Saucy was proud she was doing such a good job that Bubba never saw Krissy drunk. It meant Bubba didn’t understand just how bad it was. Good. He shouldn’t have to know.

  Bubba put the cup on the bedside table, wiped his sticky hands on his pajamas and picked up his calculator. “Daddy will be home in 127 hours. Do you want to know how many minutes that is?”

  “You gotta trust me now. Will you trust me and do what I say?”

  Bubba nodded solemnly.

  “We’re going to run away.”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Krissy chased me last night. I had to sleep outside.”

  He blinked, as if he was trying to figure out what that meant. “She didn’t wake me up.”

  Saucy sighed. “She likes you. I can’t stay here. Winter is coming, and I can’t sleep out in the barn. I’ll freeze.” She finished her hot chocolate in a last big gulp and set her cup on his dresser. Her toes were just now getting warm in the house.

  “You can take my blanket. Or I could lock you in your room.”

  Saucy put her hands on her hips and glared at Bubba. “I’m the big sister, and I say we have to leave.” At his frown, she changed tactics. “I need you to come with me. I can’t do it alone.”

  “No.”

  “Look. I tried to tell Daddy about the night we walked home from the baseball game. He didn’t listen. He thinks Krissy is perfect. I need to do something big to make him listen. If we run away and go to Aunt Vivian’s, he’ll have to listen.”

  “Daddy knows about that night.”

  “He said it was all my fault. Because we didn’t stay at the ball field.”

  Bubba shook his head. “It was too cold to stay there.” He looked at his calculator. “Daddy will be home in 7,620 minutes.”

  “I can’t wait that long. If I stay here now, Daddy will never listen. I have to make him listen.” Frustrated, she wanted to jerk his calculator away. An inspiration struck: “You can be our accountant.”

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s a big word for what you do best. Numbers. You keep track of how much money we spend.”

  “Real money? Not play money?’

  Saucy nodded.

  “Maybe,” Bubba said.

  They both changed clothes, then packed a change of clothes and a jacket in their school backpacks. Saucy put in a flashlight and a compass. Finally, they crept downstairs. Saucy knew Daddy kept the key to the safe in his desk drawer. She found it and unlocked the safe behind the picture in the living room. She had to wait fifteen minutes for Bubba to count all the loose change and take exactly $100. Finally, she found a map of Albuquerque in the van. By noon, they were off, walking the two miles to town.

  When they got to town, Saucy read the map and bus schedule.

  “Where are we going?” Bubba asked.

  “Aunt Vivian’s. She’s always asking us to come and visit. Besides, we can afford two tickets to Albuquerque.” And, she thought, Aunt Vivian will know what to tell Daddy.

  At the ticket window, Mrs. Johnston was reading a movie star magazine. From behind a tree, Saucy studied her a minute and decided what to do. Going around back to the bathroom, Saucy wrote a letter to Mrs. Johnston in her best cursive and signed it with Krissy’s name. Then she wrote two more notes. Krissy was supposed to have sewed three buttons back on Saucy’s jacket, but she hadn’t had time. Instead, there were safety pins. Saucy used one to pin the note to her shirt. When she came out of the bathroom, she pinned the other to Bubba’s shirt. With Bubba as her support, she went to the ticket window and handed the last note to Mrs. Johnston.

  “Need to go see your Aunt Vivian, eh? I remember when she played basketball. Broke her foot and had to sit out a season,” Mrs. Johnston said. She pushed her wire rim glasses up and peered at Saucy. “Where’s your daddy?
”

  “Out on the road.”

  “Where’s that Krissy girl? I haven’t seen the new gingerbread house, but I hear it’s a good one.”

  “She’s home. Feeding her chickens.” Saucy hoped this would work.

  Mrs. Johnston flipped the magazine pages and mumbled half under her breath. “I’ll bet she’s feeding her chickens.” Her back straightened, as if she’d made a decision. “That’s $33.38 for two tickets to Albuquerque.”

  Bubba counted out $33.38. They sat on a wooden bench and put their backpacks at their feet. The waiting room smelled like diesel fuel and dirty socks.

  Sitting still for the first time, Saucy’s thoughts changed to worry. What would happen to them? They would miss school tomorrow. Were things really bad enough to run away? Yes. Krissy had crossed the line last night when she tried to hit Saucy. Whatever happened, she told herself, she had to make sure Bubba was happy and safe until Daddy came home. She was the big sister.

  Bubba suddenly sat straight up. “How will Daddy know where to find us?”

  Saucy shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “He has to find us,” Bubba insisted. “I know. You have to take a bunch of white rocks in your pocket. You leave one every once in a while, and Daddy can follow the trail in the moonlight. Like that fairy tale.”

  It was a silly idea. She tried to explain that Aunt Vivian would call Daddy on the road and that’s how he’d find them.

  “Of course, she’ll call his cell phone,” Bubba said. “But we need some magic, too, for this all to turn out right.”

  And Saucy had to agree with that. She filled her jacket pocket with white gravel. Then, they waited.

  The bus halted smoothly in front of them. They pulled on their backpacks. Saucy waved to Mrs. Johnston and stepped onto the asphalt.

  Bubba tugged at her hand. “You forgot.”

  Saucy took one smooth white stone from her pocket and laid it on the spot they had stood a moment ago.

  Bubba’s round face broke into a smile. He took off his baseball cap and slapped it on his crisply ironed jeans. He combed his blond hair with his fingers and put the cap back on. He put his hand in hers and they climbed up the bus steps together.