The Longest Road (52 page)

“There's other towns,” said Laurie, and stopped at the look in Marilys's eyes.

Give up the home they all loved, hit the road again, blown like tumbleweeds, with Redwine the evil wind that uprooted them, blew them over the plains? Slipping her arms around Marilys and Way, Laurie said, “Let's fight it out right here! If we can't stay in the salvage business, there must be something W.S. can't louse up for us!”

“I've still got my paintbrushes,” Way said. “Won't pay as steady as my pumping job but I could journey around lookin' for jobs. And with the truck, I can always haul supplies.”

Marilys's dark eyebrows drew together. “We just cashed a check from that farmer out by Woodward who bought some tanks and pipe.”

“Sho'. He aimed to use the pipe and a couple of tanks to put in an irrigation system. The other tanks'll be silos.”

“Just about every farmer left in both Panhandles must be planning to irrigate,” Marilys pointed out. “That'll take a lot of pipe. And there must be all kinds of ways to use tanks.”

The startled look on Way's face broadened to a grin. “Sweetie, you may have it! Puttin' in irrigation is probably somethin' many a farmer riggers on doing someday but he's busy and just doesn't get to it till a drouth hits. Bet I could drive around the back roads and drum up a bunch of orders, 'specially if I'll deliver.” He rubbed his jaw. “But who's goin' to tend the salvage yard while I'm doin' that?”

“Buddy's there after school now,” said Laurie. “And Marilys and I can work shifts so that one of us'll be at the yard most of the time.”

Way hugged both women. “By grannies, you gals have the trick of makin' a good thing come out of bad. Dub may plow me under yet, but it won't be because I laid down and let him.”

“He won't whip us,” Laurie vowed. “One way or another, we'll manage. And when Johnny comes home—well, W.S. is sure going to have some explaining to do.”

Next day, Laurie was minding the salvage-yard office, trying to ignore the big trucks unloading across the street while customers went around surveying accumulating rows of pipe and all manner of supplies. She hadn't had a customer all morning, not even a phone call, but maybe Way would get some orders. The crunch of footsteps made her glance up hopefully as Jim Halsell stepped inside.

“Marilys told me you were here,” he said. “That lousy, sneaking Redwine!”

“He sure is!” Laurie hadn't seen Jim in weeks. He seemed to have grown another inch and his eyes blazed in his sunburned face like sun behind a thundercloud. “Is something else wrong, Jim? You look like someone just kicked you in the stomach.”

“Might as well have.” He sucked in a long breath. “You haven't heard, then.”

“Heard what?”

“Redwine's cut Johnny out of the partnership—nice and legal—as of this morning. You know the spudder got dry holes on the first and second tries. Ev and Vance Morrow are about three hundred feet down on their third hole. When Ev went to town for supplies, he finds out their credit's shut off. He reckons it's a mistake and goes to the bank. Partnership's been issuing him a paycheck every two weeks.” Jim swallowed hard. “The standing order's been cancelled.”

“What?”

“The partnership doesn't have an account anymore.”

Dazed, Laurie steadied herself against the wall. “But—but how—?”

“Ev went out and told Vance. Vance comes in with blood in his eye. He's an old-timer and knows how to get to the bottom of things.”

“What's at the bottom?”

“Redwine.” Jim balled his fists. “Seems like Johnny signed a power of attorney over to him so Redwine could do whatever looked like a good idea while Johnny was overseas. What looked like a good idea to Dub, I guess, was to plain rob Johnny.”

She had been afraid Redwine might do something, but she hadn't thought of this. Cold to the heart, Laurie burst out, “Surely Redwine can't get away with doing this to someone who's gone to war!”

“Crystal might sue,” Jim shrugged. “But a lawyer friend Vance talked to thinks Dub can prove most of the money was his anyway.”

“But Johnny did the real work! He was always out in the field!”

“That may not cut any ice in court. What it looks like is Johnny's got those farms left, the old spudder, some drilling equipment, and his nitro truck.”

Laurie checked a bitter laugh. “Well,” she said after recovering some of her wits, “that beats nothing! Jim, we've got to manage so Johnny'll have a going business when he comes home—we've got to!”

Jim nodded. “You bet. But I'm already sinking what I can in the spudder holes.” He paused. “I've got more good news. Ev's signed up for the marines. Leaves in ten days.”

Laurie squelched the
Oh, no!
that sprang to her lips. Everett, working in a vital industry, could stay home but she could well understand that he wanted to fight. “Has he told his mother?”

“Said he'd go see her on his way to Parris Island, break the news then.” Jim took a deep breath. “So what do we do about Johnny's affairs?”

“Let's see what Marilys and Way think. Can you come over tonight after I get off work?”

“Sure,” said Jim. “But with Dub trying to wreck this salvage business, you folks are in no spot to help out.”

“We'll think of something,” Laurie said fiercely. A sudden hope struck her. Slowly, she said, “Maybe Crystal will make Dub pull in his horns. Jim, can you stay here while I go have a talk with her?”

Jim seemed to guess how much it would cost Laurie to plead with Johnny's wife. “Sure,” he said gently. “But I wouldn't get my hopes up with that woman. She's got a cash register inside, not a heart.”

“Well then, she shouldn't want her husband to go broke.”

“She and Dub are mighty thick.”

Laurie had no use for Crystal but she couldn't believe that she'd really let Redwine ruin Johnny. It was going to be hard, though, really hard, to beg. Laurie wouldn't have done it to save her own life. She straightened her shoulders. “I'll be back as soon as I can.”

“Good luck,” Jim said.

A sleek silver-green convertible Cadillac, one of the last cars made before manufactures were banned, was parked in the driveway. Crystal was dressed to go out, in spike heels, sheer nylons—no leg-paint or cotton hose for Crystal—and a clingy green dress that molded to her body.

“What do you want?” she asked ungraciously.

“Do you know?”

Crystal's lip curled. “Know what?”

“What Redwine's done to Johnny.”

“Johnny broke the partnership when he went off and left Dub in the lurch.”

“He went off to fight for our country—for you!”

Crystal shrugged. “He was a sap. He didn't have to go.”

“You don't care that he's been cheated?”

Crystal shrugged. “The way I see it, he got exactly what he had coming.”

“You're his wife!”

Crystal gave Laurie a pityingly superior look. “You're so crazy about Johnny Morrigan that you probably can't believe I only married him because Dub wanted me to.”

“What?”

“It was the best way of controlling him.” The woman's eyes glinted. “Or so we thought. Who could guess he'd throw away being Dub's heir?”

Staggered, Laurie put a hand against the doorframe. “But why—?”

Crystal's shoulders moved in a graceful shrug. “Dub wants a son, as you should know better than anybody. He was careful with Johnny, never cracked the whip. But he wanted the whip to be there in case he needed it.”

Sick realization knotted Laurie's insides. “There may be a name for you,” she said carefully, “but I never learned it in all the hobo jungles, shack towns, and boxcars I've been in.”

Crystal's eyes glittered and her mouth drew into a thin line. “Dub got me to marry Johnny. When Johnny started talking about getting into a war if it started, Dub asked me to try to get pregnant—that would hold Johnny, he thought.”

“Did—did you?”

“I did.” Crystal lit a cigarette. “But I learned for sure a week or so after Johnny volunteered. No use telling him then.”

Laurie couldn't help it. She stared at Crystal's sinuous figure. “What happened?”

A blast of smoke stung her eyes. “I had an abortion.”

“No! Johnny's baby—”

“It was in my belly. I wasn't about to waddle around and look ugly while that heel was God knows where.” She brooded. “Maybe I was crazy not to tell Dub. He'd likely have paid me plenty to have the kid and let him play daddy. But when Johnny broke his news about joining the marines, Dub wrote him off and just waited till he was sent overseas to cut him out of the partnership.”

“He won't get away with it.”

“Oh, I expect he will.” Crystal laughed. “And Dub's sort of put the skids on that junkyard of yours, hasn't he?”

“What did you get out of this?”

“None of your business, but it was plenty. I'm moving—you don't need to know where—and forgetting I ever married a loser like Morrigan.”

Laurie drew herself up, surprised to discover that she'd be as tall as Crystal if the other woman weren't wearing three-inch heels. “I hope you get what you deserve for this.”

“You ought to be grateful, stupid. If Morrigan comes home, you can have him.” She laughed mockingly. “He'll certainly have grounds to divorce me for desertion.”

She picked up her handbag and makeup case.

“What about Johnny's things?”

“Store them if you want to. It's nothing to do with me. I hope I never see this burg again.”

“Are you going to write Johnny?”

“You'll do that, won't you, Miss Priss?” Crystal's laughter sounded like shattering glass. “As far as I'm concerned,” she added viciously, “the marriage ended when he volunteered.”

Unbelieving, Laurie stood there as heels stabbed the floor and sidewalk with a staccato beat. The Cadillac roared away. Crystal apparently got all the gas she wanted.

Moving in a trance, Laurie went through closets till she found Johnny's civilian clothes jammed in a dark corner with his oil-stained boots piled underneath and his old hat on the shelf. Pressing the hat to her face, she breathed in the smell of him. She would never have wanted this to happen but now it had, a sort of relief and hope mingled with her wrath. How could she write Johnny about this, though?

What could she say? How can you tell someone you love their world has ended? He didn't have many possessions. Laurie packed them all into two boxes, placed his guitar on top, and then phoned Jim to run over and pick up Johnny's things as soon as Marilys came to mind the office. It was time for Laurie to go to work. Leaving the door unlocked, she started for the hotel.

Jim picked Laurie up at the hotel and brought her home, where Everett, Way, Marilys, and Buddy were seated at the table with a jug of lemonade and bowl of oatmeal cookies.

“So that Crystal took off.” Way shook his head. “A good thing if you ask me! But it's hard to believe even she'd let Dub skin Johnny while he's overseas.”

“You can bet his lawyers have it all according to Hoyle,” said Marilys. “How dirty can you get? This is worse than his putting in that big supply yard across from ours. At least Dub never pretended he was our friend.”

“I rounded up six orders today,” Way said proudly. “Dub may not put us out of business as easy as he figgered.” His voice dropped regretfully. “We may keep our heads above water but I don't see how we'll have the kind of money to keep Johnny's operation going.”

He was right, of course, but hearing it made Laurie feel all gone in the pit of her stomach. “We've got to try!” With an effort, she steadied her voice. “If we keep the spudder digging, maybe we can make him a few decent wells—have something for him when he comes back.”

“I'm already kicking in all I can,” said Jim. “After all, Johnny made me his partner so that's only right.” He looked straight at Laurie. “If Ev's leaving, though, and I could have his room, I could put what I'm paying my landlady into the drilling. And if you don't mind and could put another bed in the room, I know I can find plenty of decent guys who'd like to live in a nice place instead of a shack or tent.”

Everett colored guiltily. “If I was goin' to be here, I'd work for board and a little spendin' money. But I'm leavin' next week.”

“I could take over your job,” Buddy suggested eagerly. “I'm almost big as you, Ev, and—”

“You're only fifteen and you're going to finish ninth grade next year,” Laurie quelled him. “Besides, we need you at the salvage yard when you're not at school.” She frowned. “If we didn't have this mortgage on the house to pay off—”

Buddy sighed, then said in a noble, self-sacrificing tone, “I could move up in the attic. Then you can rent my room.”

Now why hadn't she thought of that? The attic was well insulated, had six dormer windows on each side plus one at each end, and though the walls slanted down at the sides, there was still plenty of room for living quarters. The floor was oak and would wax to a mellow glow.

“I can move up there, too,” said Laurie quickly to prevent herself from clinging to her pretty “own” room that she loved so much. At Buddy's protesting yelp, she said scornfully, “For goodness' sake, don't carry on! There's space up there for a dozen people!”

“I'll wall my place off with those old bureaus and wardrobes and trunks.” Buddy cheered up at the prospect. “Can I have one whole side of the attic?”

“Reckon an owner's got some say about what he wants,” said Way, twinkling.

Buddy pressed his advantage with Laurie. “And you won't fuss at me to keep it cleaned up?”

“Not if you'll toss your sheets and clothes over the barricade once a week,” Laurie conceded. “There are still some bedsteads, springs, and mattresses stored up there. Let's see, if we put two beds in the three rooms we'll empty on the second floor, that's six renters!”