Mary and Jody in the Movies (9 page)

14

Annie’s Story

AS THE GIRLS HASTILY made their way to the lunch table, a thought suddenly occurred to Jody. She grabbed Mary’s arm in mid-stride
and slowed her to a walk.

“Mare, don’t you think we should go in the farmhouse and check on Annie first? She’s probably still scared and wondering why
no one’s come to see her.”

“Good idea!” Mary cried, suddenly looking forward to the opportunity to question Annie about every aspect of the morning’s
incident. Jody, immediately recognizing the glint in her best friend’s eye, kept her hand steady on Mary’s arm.

“We probably shouldn’t bother her with a bunch of questions,” Jody warned. “Willie wouldn’t like it, and she probably doesn’t
want to talk about it.”

“Oh, Jody, don’t be such a party pooper,” Mary retorted. “She probably
does
want to talk about it, anyway
. I
would want to talk about it, if it happened to me.”

“I’m sure you would,” Jody said under her breath, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to stop Mary from doing something once
she set her mind to it.

The sight that met the girls’ eyes when they entered the farmhouse stopped them in their tracks. Expecting to find Annie lying
on the comfortable “davenport,” as Mrs. McMurray called the overstuffed sofa in the parlor, they were surprised to see her
standing instead in the center of the roomy kitchen. Next to her, tilting the eyepiece of the movie camera so Annie could
look through it, was the main cameraman.

“See, by just changing the camera angle, you get a completely different perspective on the scene you’re shooting,” the cameraman
explained as Annie peered silently through the lens.

“Annie!” Mary cried, causing both Annie and her instructor to almost jump out of their skins.

“What?” Annie replied, turning quickly with an annoyed look at Mary.

“Sorry, Annie,” Jody said sheepishly, giving Mary’s arm an extra-hard squeeze. “We didn’t mean to scare you. We just came
up to see how you’re doing.”

“I’m doing fine. Why?” Annie asked, as though the events of the morning had left her mind completely.

“Well,” Mary sputtered, “we thought…we thought you might like to have some company and maybe also tell us exactly what happened
with Stumpy.”

“Oh,” replied Annie. Then she turned to the cameraman. “Thank you for the demonstration,” she said politely.

Annie turned without a word and walked to the parlor, seating herself on the well-worn sofa. Mary and Jody glanced at each
other and then followed her silently, each choosing a chair on either side of the sofa. They waited expectantly for Annie
to speak. But waiting for Annie to speak was kind of like waiting for Willie to speak, only worse. Finally Mary could stand
it no longer and broke the silence.

“So, Annie,” she said nonchalantly, “why do you suppose Stumpy took off like that, out of the blue?”

Annie thought for a moment more before speaking. “Out of the blue?” she finally said. “I wouldn’t say it was out of the blue.”

Mary and Jody sat wide-eyed, waiting for Annie to continue. When they realized that they were waiting in vain, Jody took over
the questioning.

“But, Annie, it seemed to us like he just took off. Did something scare him?”

“Well, of course something scared him,” Annie snorted. “He’s a nice, quiet boy. He wouldn’t just take off for no reason.”

Again they waited, and this time Mary prompted Annie to continue.

“Well, what do you suppose it was?” she asked. “And why were you riding him in the first place? Weren’t you supposed to be
just holding him?”

At this, Annie took a deep breath and looked down at her shoes.

“I know I was just supposed to be holding him,” she sighed. “But I got really bored just standing there holding him and watching
you guys ride around the ring. And I couldn’t see very well, so I thought if I just got up and sat on his back I could see
over the rail better, and I wouldn’t be so bored. He didn’t mind at all, and in fact he was just about falling asleep, when
all of a sudden I heard this weird noise from the other side of the tree, and I saw something fly up in the air. I think it
woke Stumpy up and scared him so bad at the same time that he just took off.”

Mary and Jody sat motionless, mouths open, stunned at what was undoubtedly the longest speech they had ever heard from Annie.
Mary finally recovered long enough to ask one more question.

“What do you think it was, Annie?”

Annie thought once more before replying.

“I think it was a ghost,” she said matter-of-factly. “Now, I’m hungry. Can we go eat?”

As this conversation was taking place inside the farmhouse, another was playing out inside the Mooney house trailer. After
settling the horses in their stalls, Willie had headed directly to the trailer, pulling on his earlobe and scratching the
side of his head all the way there. Now he sat at the little kitchen table across from Jimmy, while Heath played with blocks
on the living room floor. The only sound was the ticking of the old grandfather clock, one of the keepsakes that Mr. Mooney
had managed to bring with him from his own farm after his wife died. Jimmy stared silently at the tabletop, his farm cap in
his hands.

Willie took his own cap off and then spoke in his gentlest tone.

“Why don’t you just tell me what happened, son?”

Jimmy just stared, then began to shake his head slowly from side to side until a solitary tear dripped from the end of his
nose onto the tabletop.

“I didn’t mean to do it,” he said, his voice shaking. “I was just tryin’ to figure out how that thing worked, and all of a
sudden it just popped open and went flyin’ up in the air and off to the side of the tree, and when that fool horse saw it
he just took off a’runnin’. I didn’t mean to do it!”

“I know you didn’t, son. I saw you near the ring earlier on, lookin’ at that reflector and studyin’ it. After the horse took
off, I looked around the tree to try to figure out what happened, and I saw it lyin’ there in the grass, and I put two and
two together. Now the good thing is that your sister didn’t get hurt, just scared some. And if I know her, she’ll forget about
it in no time. I think the best thing is to ’fess up and just apologize and move on.”

Jimmy just stared, then began to shake his head
s

lowly from side to side until a solitary tear dripped

from the end of his nose onto the tablecloth.

“What in heck is that thing supposed to be, anyway?”

Jimmy cried, looking up for the first time.

“It’s used in the movies to reflect light. It’s made of a kind of nylon material, and it folds up into itself so you can store
it in a small space. When you want to use it, you just give it a twist and it unfolds real quick. If you’re not ready for
it, it’ll jump right out of your hands.”

“It did that, all right. Scared the dickens out of me, worse than the horse.”

Willie put his hand over Jimmy’s for an instant and chuckled. “Could’ve happened to anybody. Nobody’s gonna blame you for
it, and if they do, they’ll answer to me. Now why don’t you gather up Heath there and we’ll go up and find Annie and get us
some lunch.”

“Am I allowed? I’m not workin’ on the movie or anything.”

“You and Heath will be my guests. Lord knows they have enough food up there to feed the Confederate army.”

After Annie’s conversation with Mary and Jody had abruptly ended with the mention of a ghost, the three had made their way
to the lunch buffet. Annie had just filled her plate in line at the buffet table when Jimmy, Heath, and Willie reached her.
Mary and Jody were seated at a nearby table with heaping plates in front of them, eating as though they had been starving
for days. But when the girls saw Jimmy put his arm around Annie and lead her away from the table, they dropped their forks.

“What’s Jimmy doing up here?” Mary wondered, rising from her seat. “And what’s he saying to Annie? Maybe I should go over
there and see what’s happening.”

Jody once again grabbed Mary by the arm. “Mare, it’s none of our business. You’d better just leave them alone. You know that’s
what Willie would say.” “Yes, that
is
what Willie would say,” said Willie, leaning over between the two girls. “Now you better get to eatin’ right quick, because
we start again in five minutes. And no stickin’ your noses in other people’s business.”

Mary blushed, and Jody groaned, but they finished their plates in five minutes flat and soon were back on the horses, endlessly
going through their paces in the ring, following Vicki Beaumont’s instructions over and over again. Just as the girls thought
they would burst if they heard the words “rolling” or “cut” one more time, they heard a phrase they had not heard before.

“Checking the gate!” Mr. Gordon yelled.

Mary turned all the way around in her saddle so she could face Jody, who was behind her on Shalimar. “What does that mean?”
she whispered loudly. “Why are they checking the gate? The gate’s closed, just like it has been all day.”

Willie, who was standing near the rail, overheard Mary’s remark and actually laughed out loud. He held up his hand to signal
Mary to come to a halt, then leaned over and smiled.

“Checking the gate means they’re done shooting, Mary. There’s a part of the camera called the gate. If everything’s fine with
it, they don’t have to reshoot, and they’re done for the day.”

“Hallelujah!” Mary yelped and then clapped her hand over her mouth when several people turned to stare at her. Mr. Gordon
just laughed.

“That’s a wrap!” he shouted, and then looked directly at Mary. “Are you happy, young lady?”

“If a wrap means we’re done, yes, sir,” Mary blurted. Upon hearing the good news, Jenna Day and Krystal Warren jumped from
their saddles and fairly threw their reins into the waiting hands of Willie and Twister, who barely had time to enter the
ring. Mary and Jody and Jeff Hunt were off their horses almost as quickly.

“Now hang on just a second,” Twister called out. “Before you sign out, we want to thank you for your good work today.We know
it was a long day, but you all did a great job. If you want to stay, you can get your dinner, and then you’re all invited
to a little campfire we’re havin’ down by the barn this evening to thank you for a job well done. Your parents are welcome,
too.”

Jenna Day and Krystal Warren looked at Twister and then at each other and took off at a trot through the gate, followed closely
by Jeff Hunt. Mary and Jody were left holding Hoppy and Shalimar, while Twister and Willie gathered up the reins of Augie,
Lady, and Gypsy.Without another word, the four led the horses down to Lucky Foot Stable, ready to settle them in for the night.

15

Willie’s Past Revealed

A FESTIVE AIR PREVAILED over the bonfire that night, with everyone enjoying the opportunity to relax after a long day of filming.
Twister and Willie had spent the early evening getting ready. The biggest logs in the woodpile were dragged with chains behind
the old tractor and put into place in a circle. Rocks were gathered from around the barn and placed in a smaller inner circle
to contain the fire. Short sticks were collected for kindling and longer ones for hot dog and marshmallow roasting.Just at
twilight, Twister lit the fire, and people from the movie set began to gather.

The ever-present buffet table was nearby, but members of the film crew decided it was more fun roasting their own hot dogs
over the fire. They milled about, talking and joking, happy to have a chance to relax. Finnegan, of course, insisted on making
a nuisance of himself begging for samples, no matter how many times Twister shooed him away. Mary’s mother and Jody’s father
sat on a log together, talking quietly while roasting marshmallows over the blaze.

Mary and Jody were the last to arrive, having finally finished their chores at Lucky Foot Stable. With so many horses in the
barn, there was much more feeding and mucking to do than usual. The girls greeted their parents and then stood arm-in-arm
next to Twister outside the circle of logs. While Jody gazed at the fire, Mary surveyed the crowd with curiosity.

“Twister, where are all the actors?” Mary whispered.

“Oh, the main actors usually don’t show up for little parties like this,” Twister explained. “And I think the kids that were
in the scene with you are probably home sleepin’ by now, not bein’ used to such a long day. But you can be sure when you throw
a little get-together, the crew’ll show up, and sometimes the director.”

Mary looked away, trying to hide her disappointment. She had hoped to see Brian McVey and maybe even carry on an intelligent
conversation with him, so he could see she wasn’t the ditzy girl she appeared to be.

“What about Willie?” Jody wondered. “Is he coming later?”

Twister gazed into the fire for a moment before answering. “I don’t think Willie is going to make it tonight, Jody,” he said
somberly. “He’s still pretty shook up from what happened to Annie today. I think it kind of reminded him of somethin’.”

“Really?” Mary said, surprised. “I didn’t think Willie seemed too upset this afternoon. He usually doesn’t let things bother
him for long. And what did it remind him of?”

Twister didn’t reply but continued staring into the fire. After a long moment, he turned to the girls. “Why don’t you two
grab a couple of sticks and get yourselves some hot dogs or marshmallows or somethin’. Then come sit by me at the fire. I
have somethin’ to tell you.”

Mary and Jody looked puzzled but did as Twister said. Soon, they were settled on a log, long sticks in hand, turning their
hot dogs over the fire. Finnegan sat nearby wagging his tail, greedily eyeing the roasting dogs.

“Finney, you can’t possibly be hungry!” Mary laughed. “Everyone here has given you at least one hot dog already!”

“That dog won’t know what to do with himself when the movie’s finished,” Twister said. “He’s sure gonna miss all the attention.”

Mary and Jody nodded silently, waiting in anticipation of whatever Twister was about to tell them. But Twister didn’t seem
in any hurry to speak, concentrating all of his attention on slowly turning his stick so that his marshmallow roasted perfectly
on all sides. The girls had learned from experience with Willie that it probably wouldn’t do any good to try to rush Twister.
So they sat in silence. When their hot dogs were finally cooked, they went to the buffet table to get buns. By the time they
came back to sit by Twister, he had carefully removed the marshmallow from the stick and was juggling it from one hand to
the other to help it cool. It wasn’t until the girls were halfway through their hot dogs that he finally cleared his throat.

Soon, they were settled on a log, long sticks

in hand, turning their hot dogs over the fire.

Finnegan sat nearby wagging his tail.

“I just want you to understand somethin’,” Twister said quietly. “You don’t need to repeat this to nobody, and you don’t need
to say anything to Will about it either.”

Mary and Jody simply nodded, beginning to realize that what Twister was about to say was serious and that no reply was necessary.

Twister cleared his throat again before he continued. “You know that I worked with Will years ago on a movie set, somethin’
like this one here. We knew each other even before that, when we rode in the army together, cavalry division.”

At this, Mary couldn’t hold her tongue. “Twister!” she exclaimed. “We were in Willie’s house one day when we couldn’t find
Star, and we saw a picture of him in a uniform riding a horse. That was the cavalry picture, right?”

Twister chuckled. “Must be. I have that same picture myself. I’m the one sitting on my horse right next to Will.”

The girls simply smiled and nodded, waiting for Twister to go on with his story. “Anyway, after the war, we went our separate
ways, but just by chance ended up workin’ in the wrangler business. I worked mostly on the East Coast, but Will was out west.
So we never really worked together until one big picture came up. An epic, they called it.”

“An epic!” Mary blurted. “Twister, I bet you didn’t know that Jody and I are epic friends! That means, ‘in the grand style,
lofty in conception, and memorable!’ I looked it up in the dictionary!”

Twister smiled. “That’s what this picture was, all right. They needed lots of horses and lots of wranglers, so they called
me to go out west and work on it. That’s when Will and I caught up with each other.”

Mary suddenly shivered and linked her arm through Jody’s.

“Well, when I got out to the set Will was right happy to see me and took me around, helpin’ me get acquainted with everybody.
He was ’specially proud and happy to introduce me to his pretty new wife.”

“His wife?” This time it was Jody who blurted out the question, while Mary simply opened her mouth in shock. “We…we never
even knew Willie
had
a wife!”

“Oh, he had a wife all right. Shereen was her name, pretty as a picture, laughin’ all the time. She was a wrangler, just like
him. Willie used to puff up all proud and say that she was the only one he knew who could outride and out-rope him. And she
proved it, too, workin’ right there on the movie set, side by side with us.”

Mary and Jody sat speechlessly staring at their half-eaten hot dogs. Twister paused and cleared his throat once again before
going on with his story.

“Well, one day we were doin’ stunt work on a real tough scene, where we had to round up some cattle into a pen. Shereen was
dressed like a man, with her hair all tucked up under her hat so you couldn’t tell she was a woman on camera. She was right
in there with me and Will, like always, and we were just about done herdin’ these cattle through the gate when one of ’em,
a big longhorn bull, turned on us.”

This time it was Jody who shivered, tempted to cover her ears so she wouldn’t have to hear the rest of the story.

“That big longhorn whipped his head around, and the tip of his horn just barely caught the shoulder of Shereen’s horse. He
was a big, quiet quarter horse, but the sudden shock and pain made him rear straight up, and she came off.”

“Oh, Twister, was she all right? I’ve fallen off plenty of times, and I was all right,” Mary said hopefully, her voice shaking.

“Well, just fallin’ off, maybe she would’ve been all right, but her boot got stuck in the stirrup, and the horse took off
with her…”

“Oh, Twister, stop. I don’t want to hear any more,” Jody cried, this time covering her ears for real.

“I’m sorry, Jody. I won’t go into it except to say that Will took off after that horse, just about like he did today. He leaned
over and grabbed the reins and ended up slowin’ it down enough so he could jump off his own horse. Her horse dragged him some
and flipped him over, but he wouldn’t let go until he got it stopped. He hurt his hip real bad, and that’s why he has a limp
to this day.”

“And his wife…?” Mary whispered breathlessly.

“Will tried his best to save her, and the set doctor did all he could, but it was too late.”

When Twister finished speaking, it seemed that the whole world had gone quiet. Mary and Jody stared silently into the fire,
tears rolling down their cheeks.

“There’s one more thing, and I won’t say any more,” Twister said so low that the girls had to lean over to hear his next words.
“Will told me later that they had just found out Shereen was going to have a baby, so he didn’t just lose his wife that day.”

Mary and Jody drew in their breath at the same instant and gave in completely to the tears that flowed from the depths of
their heartache for Willie. They wanted somehow at that instant to comfort him for the tragedy that happened so long ago,
but they felt helpless.

“I didn’t know if I should tell you, but I thought you should know,” Twister said quietly. “Will thinks the world of you girls,
and I think somehow you’ve been able to fill up some of the emptiness in his heart.”

“Thank you for telling us, Twister,” Jody said, her voice breaking.

“And we won’t say anything to Willie.” Mary added, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. “We’ll just
go on being his friends.”