"Run, Em, run!" Laura screamed as she and her little sister hurried barefoot down the dirt driveway. "I'm running as fast as I can." Emily huffed and puffed as she struggled to keep up with her sister. They were heading from their small yellow house to the white one-room school building that sat next to the road. Laura's long, thick blonde hair flew behind her in the muggy evening air, as Emily's thin brown hair clung to her sweaty little head. The girls made a sharp contrast to the stillness of the valley and the majestic Appalachian Mountains, covered in pines, oaks, cedars, and silver maples, which surrounded and protected them as their girlish squeals broke the silence of the valley. Behind the girls came their older sisters, Mary and Martha. Although they were twins, Mary and Martha looked very little alike. Martha was a blonde while Mary's hair was brown like Emily's. Like their younger sisters, they both had large blue eyes that mesmerized anyone who looked at them, and they were light complected. Both had freshly permed hair, and both were fairly tall, at five feet and seven inches. But all resemblance ceased there. Martha was built like an hourglass and had large features, while Mary was thin and underdeveloped and had small facial features. "You get back here with that!" Martha screamed. "I'll kill you when I catch you, Laura Conn!" Mary ran along with Martha without speaking. Wearing tight blue jeans, neither of them could keep up with their little sisters. Besides, they too were barefoot because they had been inside the house before they darted out after Laura and Emily. Unlike their young sisters, they had not got their feet accustomed to walking, and especially running, without shoes. "Get under the floor. Get under the floor," Laura commanded Emily. They both ducked and scooted under the floor of the old school building, which sat on blocks. "It's dirty under here," Emily complained. She wiped dirt and tiny gravels from her knees. She looked around. "And dark." "We're safe," Laura said as she settled herself on the cool ground. "Mary and Martha can't get under here. They're too big." "Get out from under there! Give them back!" Martha screamed as she got down on her knees and peered under the floor of the building. "Them's mine and Mary's. You give them back." "No, go away!" Laura yelled. "Give them back right this minute!" Martha yelled back at her. "No! No! I ain't giving them back. Get out of here!" Laura screamed, as she kicked dirt and rocks toward Martha's face. Martha stood up. "I'm gonna kill that little snot nose when I get my hands on her." "Aw, come on, Martha. We ain't doing no good here," Mary said as she wiped sweat from her forehead. "I'm gonna go tell Mommy," Martha said. She and Mary started back toward their house. "What do they say?" Emily asked. "One says it's to Mary Conn, and one says it's to Martha Conn." "Open them, open them," Emily urged. "I'm trying," Laura said. Her little fingers clumsily tried to open the flap on one of the envelopes she held in her hands. "Here, hold this one," she said, reaching Emily the other envelope. "I can't take it. I got a booger," Emily said. "Throw it down, Em." "But it's Jack." "Jack? You name your boogers, Emily?" "He's my friend, Laura." "Take the letter in the other hand then." "But, Laura, I got Jill in that hand." "Emily!" Emily pulled her hands up close to her face. "'Bye, Jack. 'Bye, Jill," she whispered. She wiped her hands on her calico dress and took the envelope. "What's that one say?" she asked. "It says: 'My dear sweet Martha'." The girls broke up laughing. "My dear sweet Martha," Emily mocked, rolling her eyes. Then she clasped her hands together in delight. "Go on." "I love you with all my heart." Once again they broke into laughter, and continued to laugh as Laura read Martha's letter and also the letter written to Mary. "Look," Laura said, showing Emily the letters. "Look at all these X's and O's on the bottom." "What's that mean?" Emily asked. "It means hugs and kisses," Laura explained. "Look--XOXOXOXOXOXOXO." "That's a lot of hugs and kisses." Emily giggled. "Oh, and look at this," Laura said. "They put lipstick lips all over the letters." "Their boyfriends wear lipstick, Laura?" "No, silly, Mary and Martha did it. They're in love!" They laughed again. "Who are they in love with?" Emily asked, her eyes growing wider. "Let's see. Martha's is from a Luther. Mary's is from a Jim." "Luther and Jim. I don't know no Luther and Jim, do you, Laura?" "I think it's boys they met at a funeral they went to with Daddy." "Oh, I wish I could read," Emily whined. "You'll learn to read when you go to school this year, Em." "That's too long. I wanna know how now, Laura." "Why? I read everything to you." "But I wanna know how to read for myself," Emily protested. "And I wanna know how to write. I got so many pretty words in my head, they make my head hurt sometimes." Laura laughed. "You'll be reading 'fore you know it. Then you'll wish you couldn't 'cause Miss Tackett will be giving you bunches and bunches of books to read. And you'll be sorry you ever learned how to read. And you'll be sorry you ever learned to write too." "Huh-uh. I'd never be sorry I learned to write, Laura." "You know your ABC's, don't you?" "'Course I do. ABCDEFG--HIJK--LMNOP," Emily sandg, "QRS--TUV--WX-Yand Z. Now I know my ABC's. Tell me what you think of my ABC's." "No, no, that ain't right, Em. It's 'Tell me what you think of me.'" "I like it better my way." "But it ain't right, Em." "I don't care if it ain't right," Emily quipped, as she crawled out from under the floor. Laura followed her. "Do you think Mary and Martha are over their mad spell by now?" Emily asked as she knocked dirt and gravels from her dress. "I don't know," Laura responded. She pulled a cobweb from her dress and bent down to wipe it on the grass. "It ain't been very long. Let's go down and play in the creek." The little girls ran across the dirt road and down the mossy bank to the small creek dotted with large smooth stones and tiny minnows that darted here and there. "Ooh, the water's cold," Emily said as she put her foot down into the clear sparkling water. She put in the other foot. The water came about halfway up to her knees. Laura jumped in with both feet, splashing water all over Emily. "You got me wet!" Emily complained. "That was the idea, Em." She splashed Emily again. Emily bent down and splashed water on Laura with her hands. Laura returned the favor. Soon both girls were soaking wet. They played in the water for about ten minutes and then started home. "Where's Mary and Martha's letters?" Emily asked as they walked up the driveway. Laura's big blue eyes grew even bigger. "I don't know." She stood still and turned and looked around her, as if she thought the letters would magically appear along the driveway. Emily stopped walking too and glared at Larua. "What did you do with them, Laura? Where did you put them?" "I don't know, Em." "We better go back and find them or they'll kill us for sure." The girls ran back and searched around the school building but could not find the letters. They followed their path back across the dirt road to the creek, searching along the mossy bank for the letters. Still, no letters. "They ain't here," Laura croaked. "I lost them. Martha's gonna kill me. She's just gonna wring my neck like I was a Sunday dinner chicken." "Look over yonder!" Emily squealed. Across the creek, washed up on the other bank, were two muddy envelopes. Laura waded across the creek and picked them up. Water dripped from them as she held them up for Emily to see. Emily shook her head. "We're dead," she prophesied. "Dead as a door knob." Laura waded back across the creek. She pulled one of the letters out of its envelope. "Look," she said, "the ink and lipstick are all faded together. You can't read a word." "I couldn't read a word before," Emily said, shaking her head back and forth. Laura frowned. "We're dead," she repeated Emily's words. "Come on. Let's go on home." Hugs and kisses,
X's and O's--
Gag my throat!
Hold my nose! Being in love is
Silly as can be.
That's not ever gonna
Happen to me. |
