The Wooden Nickel Read online

  Cliff looked up and smiled his biggest smile yet. Louise thought her heart would burst at the sight of his white, white teeth and his coppery eyes blazing in the sunshine.

  “You’d do that for me?” Cliff asked, taking her hands in his.

  Louise blushed and nodded. “Sure, I promise. I’ll say a special prayer just for you and Hank.”

  “Thank you, Louise. I think you are the sweetest girl on earth!”

  Then Cliff did the unthinkable. He kissed her hand and bowed at her like she was some sort of princess out of a fairy tale book. Oh, he was a charmer for sure! Louise didn’t know how he could have paid for charm school cause he was so poor, but he must have gone to every class or else he was just born with charm through and through. The bell began to clang, ushering the children inside. Cliff gently dropped her hand and walked her inside, all the way to her seat.

  “See you after school,” he whispered as Lily ignored them both, pretending to read, but Louise knew she had heard.

  Louise nodded and smiled before sitting down. She felt dead as a doornail. She must have died and gone to heaven and she knew right then and there that Ida was right all along. She was in love with Cliff. Oh, love was a powerful thing! Mama had said it could move mountains and Louise now knew what she meant. All of a sudden she realized she had become a woman and it was utterly glorious!

  Mrs. Crowfoot rambled on and on about nouns and verbs and something about constructing complete sentences and Louise just sat like a stone, staring at her hand. He had kissed it and she never wanted to wash it again. She looked at Lily to make sure she wasn’t looking and then she placed her hand on her lips as she was bent over her books, pretending to read. Oh, she just wanted to melt like a wax candle. She felt all gooey inside and happy, happy, happy. She didn’t care what Lily said. She was gonna let Cliff walk her home today, come hell or high water and Lily couldn’t talk her out of it, no matter what.

  ~ * ~

  “So did he walk you home that first day, Grandma?” Eric asked.

  “He sure did!” Louise whispered.

  Eric’s parents were already asleep in the next room and Louise had gotten caught up in the story once again.

  “I think you better go to bed, now, sweetie.”

  “No, not yet, Grandma!” Eric pleaded. “Tell me what happened next.”

  “Okay, just a little more, then we’ll have to save the rest for later.”

  Eric nodded as he hugged his pillow.

  “Well, sure enough, Lily was hot about it. She took Ida’s hand and let out for home, nearly dragging poor Ida all the way. Her little feet could barely keep up, but I didn’t care.”

  “Did you get in trouble?”

  Louise laughed at the memory. “No, actually, mother was happy for me and scolded Lily instead. She said it was much safer for a school boy to walk us home, especially in this day and age when there were hoboes running about.”

  “Oh, my gosh! Did she know Poppy was a hobo, too?”

  “No! That’s what’s so funny about it and I wasn’t gonna tell her. He walked us home every day and Lily just looked like an old prune and wouldn’t say much.”

  “Did he sleep on the train at night?”

  “At first he did, but we had an old barn that my Pa didn’t use any more and I told him about it one day. I snuck some old horse blankets down there and I would sneak him food, too.”

  “Wow, Grandma! You were like a secret agent,” Eric whispered, his eyes big and bright.

  “Well, not really, but I felt sorry for him and I was so in love.”

  “Are you still in love with Poppy?”

  “Oh, yes and I always will be. He’ll always be with me. Can I tell you a secret, Eric?”

  Eric nodded, hugging his pillow tighter and scooting closer to his Grandmother.

  “Poppy comes to visit me.”

  A chill went down Eric’s spine as he inched even closer.

  “Like a ghost?”

  “Not exactly. More often in dreams and he talks to me and he even asks about you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes and when I sit in the sunroom in the mornings and drink my coffee, he’s there, too.”

  “You see him?”

  “No, but I can tell he’s there. I can feel him.”

  “Is it scary?”

  “Oh, no sweetie, not at all.”

  Eric put his arms around Louise. “Did I scare you, honey?”

  Eric nodded as he squeezed her tight.

  “I’m sorry, baby. There’s nothing to be scared of. Remember when you said that Poppy is like an angel and looking out for us?”

  Eric nodded into her shoulder.

  “You were right. He’s our guardian angel and he looks out for all of us.”

  Eric sighed deeply. “Does he have wings?”

  “No. I only see him in my dreams and he looks the same, but I can promise you that he watches over us.”

  “Like God?”

  “Just like God.”

  “Grandma?”

  “Yes?”

  “That makes me happy. I’m not scared anymore.”

  “Good. You shouldn’t be, cause your Poppy loves you very much and he’d hate it if you were scared of him.”

  “Well, I’m not anymore. At first I thought you were saying he was a ghost.”

  “Oh no, honey. He’s an angel sent from God. Now, lay down. It’s way past your bedtime. Do you want to help me shell peas tomorrow?”

  “Yes, yes! Can I help you cook them, too?”

  “Yep. Now get some sleep.”

  Louise tucked her grandson in and kissed his forehead. She turned off the small lamp at his bedside and made her way down the hall into her own room where she flicked on the nightlight and picked up the music box. She opened it. Carefully unwrapping the blue cloth, she picked up her tiny treasure. A tear slid down her cheek as she kissed the old wooden coin.

  “I miss you every day, honey,” she whispered before wrapping the old coin back into the blue satin and placing it back into the music box.

  She lay in bed and rolled over to her husband’s side, hugging his pillow. His scent had long ago disappeared from the pillow, but now and then she’d get an old shirt out of the closet and stuff it into the pillow case like she had done last Sunday. Breathing in deeply, she could smell him once more, just as if he were lying on his side of the bed where he had for so many years. When she closed her eyes, she saw his brown eyes blazing down at her as he kissed her hand and bowed like a prince. When she finally fell asleep, he was waiting for her with a bouquet of wild flowers.

  “Do me a favor, Louise?”

  “Anything, darling.”

  “Don’t go scaring any more of our grandchildren.”

  Louise laughed as he slipped his arm around her shoulders, guiding them through a field of sunflowers together.

  Two

  October 30, 1933

  Dear Diary,

  I’m sorry I haven’t written in about a month, but my life is changing powerfully fast. Since I last wrote you, I’ve become a woman. And I know it’s gonna sound strange and surprising to you, but it’s true, I can promise you that. I am in love with the most wonderful boy in the entire world and guess where he lives? In our very own barn. Not the new one that Pa uses, but the old one, back further down the pasture. Yes, I know, it has part of the roof missing and it’s filled with mice and owls in the loft, but Cliff said it suits him just fine.

  I go visit him every evening before supper and one time we had an awful scare. I had forgotten how my two cousins, Arthur and Hubert, like to play in the old barn. I was taking some day old biscuits to Cliff and Hank so they wouldn’t go hungry again and I heard my stinking cousins cutting up near the rear of the barn. Cliff is sure enough a clever devil. In two seconds, he grabbed that old horse blanket I had brought and threw it over the three of us just as they were coming in. We huddled into the back shadows and blended in nicely. And can you believe it, they never knew we were there?
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br />   I am a naughty girl, though. I had a horrible wish. If I didn’t have to worry about Cliff and Hank being found out, I would have played a cruel trick on them. Lord knows they’ve done their share to me. Oh how I wanted to go on howling like a ghost and start walking toward them with that horse blanket thrown over my figure. I would have scared the pants off of them and being so close to Halloween and all. Oh, it would have been grand, but I dared not risk it, so we just waited it out and it didn’t take too long, neither. They threw a couple of rocks at the old wooden boards and then left, probably down to the creek, though it’s dry as a bone.

  Those two are an awful pair, always getting in trouble and never acting close to their age. Both of them are older than me and Arthur is older than Lily, though you wouldn’t know it at all. Mama keeps telling them to straighten up cause their childhood is almost over and my uncle is sick with the cancer. My aunt has to work days to make ends meet.

  I think mostly they come over cause it’s too sad at their house. They help out a lot more than us girls, though, cause Pa says they’re stronger, but we help Mama out in the house more. I mostly cook and Lily sews a lot. I think she’s even too snobbish to cook, cause it tends to make you hotter than hell sometimes. She just sits by the kerosene lamp or the fire if it’s cold enough and sews and sews for hours. Sometimes she acts too old for her own good, though. Like an old granny. Why, my own Mama has more life in her than Lily.

  She would hate my life, all full of venture and romance, but not me. Who would have ever thought that sweet, old Louise would fall in love with a hobo? But, he’s not really a hobo anymore, he’s just looking for work like the rest of the country. I have some good news. He found some work, but it’s not much and I’m sorry to say he doesn’t get paid in money, only food. Him and Hank found some work picking cotton at old man Johnson’s farm and they usually get two tomatoes a day and sometimes a nice sized potato if they’re lucky.

  I mailed a letter to Cliff’s Mama for him last week. Cliff wrote the letter himself, but he didn’t have enough money for a stamp. I still had some left from my Christmas cards last year and I didn’t send many at all, so I told him I would mail his letters for him whenever he needed me to. He was so sorry to write his Mama and tell her that he didn’t have any money to send. He even got tears in his eyes when he talked about it and I know he’s worried most of the time about it, so I’m hoping he doesn’t get it in his head to travel up north for work soon. He says his Mama might lose her house and he has two little sisters that he loves a whole lot.

  Mr. Johnson said his Mama can write back at his address, but he thinks Cliff is still living on the train as a regular hobo and that’s for the best I guess. I really wish Cliff would let me talk to Pa about him. I feel sure that Pa would want to help him and Hank, but Cliff looked really scared when I mentioned it and talked about leaving on the next train, so I promised I wouldn’t tell. I felt really bad about it, cause I promised to keep our secret, but I really want to help him and maybe Pa would know how to help his mama and sisters, too.

  I’m telling you, my Pa is one of the smartest men around and I know cause I pay attention to a lot. Most folks wouldn’t know it, but I watch everything around me and for good reason. Paying attention can come in handy for a person if you let it. I learn lots of stuff by just listening and most people think I’m just a kid. I’ll tell you how I know my Pa is smart. Our family is doing much better than most others around here. All you have to do is look at their clothes and look at their person. Lots of folks have even lost weight, but not us. We look pretty much the same. Mama saved our flour sacks to make us girls new Sunday dresses and Pa got powerfully mad about it. He said we weren’t that poor and the next day, he brought home a bolt of the prettiest pink cloth you’d ever seen. Mama and Lily began sewing on our dresses that night. He even managed to get a spool of the brightest blue ribbon. I can’t even imagine what that ribbon will look like around my waist. I can’t wait for Cliff to see me in my new dress.

  I have some happy news, too, dear Diary! Tomorrow is our class Halloween party and it was gonna be held in the school house after school, but Pa said we could ask Old Crowfoot if we could have it in our new barn (not the one that Cliff and Hank stow away in) and can you believe that Crowfoot said that it would be fine with her? I nearly died. Lily didn’t seem to be too happy about it though, as you could have predicted anyhow. After school tomorrow, all the kids are gonna follow us home and the party will start straight away.

  Some of the kids don’t have costumes, but I told them they could come anyways. It’s all in good fun. Mama is gonna make cookies and lemonade and cousin Arthur is gonna play his guitar (it’s a wonder, but he is really good at it). The party is gonna last a whole two hours and we’re gonna play marbles and cards and hide and seek. We’re gonna bob for apples, too. Can you believe it? Somehow Pa was able to get a whole sack of apples when the last train came in and I’m afraid to ask what he had to trade to get them. I told you my Pa was smart and nice, too. Most fathers wouldn’t do such a thing, especially since the country’s so poor and all, but Pa says we need to have fun cause we’re kids and we’ll all grow up one day. Mama says you don’t ever get your childhood back, so we better enjoy it now (they don’t know how grown up I am and that a boy kissed my hand).

  Oh, how I would die if they ever found you and read these pages. I would pray for the good earth to suck me right up and I’m not kidding, but I wouldn’t want to miss out on the rest of my life, so I guess I’d have to suffer right through it all. Oh, did I tell you what I’m gonna be? I’m gonna be a school teacher, but not like Mrs. Crowfoot. A nice one, with a pretty bun in my hair. A teacher that all the kids like. I felt like it was meant to be that I pretend to be a teacher, since I helped organize a lot of the party and I’ll sort of be in charge and all. (And I promise I’ll try not to show off too much, but I feel mighty proud about it.) Lily’s not gonna be anything. She said she’s too grown up. I don’t care if she stays in the house and sews until her eyes fall out.

  Ida’s gonna be a bunny and Mama made her some nice rabbit ears out of those old flour sacks that Pa was so fired up about. My cousin Hubert is gonna be a cowboy (he already has the hat and a rope) and cousin Arthur is gonna be an Indian. He got a bunch of those old turkey feathers in the barn and made him a really fine head band out of it. Mama’s gonna smear blackberry juice on his face for war paint, but I think it might look a little odd. I never heard of a guitar playing Indian, but oh, well. All in good fun and all. Well, I’m gonna go to bed, now, dear Diary. I’ll write and tell you how the party goes. Good night! Sweet Dreams!

  Keep my Secrets Safe!!

  Love,

  Miss Louise (I think I’ll start signing this way, since I’m a woman now)

  ~ * ~

  October 25, 1933

  Dear Mother and baby sisters,

  I’m sorry it has taken me so darn long to write. Paper and pencils and stamps are hard to come by these days. Hank and I are fine and don’t go worrying none about us. Even though times are bad, we’re getting to see the big, wide world and we meet lots of interesting folks along the way. I’m sort of ashamed to say, but I can’t lie to you, Mama. We are still in Texas, but I guess we didn’t see beforehand how really big Texas is. It’s as large as you can imagine. We rode the train for days and days and still wound up in Texas, but I’ve heard that we are a few hundred miles from Oklahoma, so I suspect we are making some sort of progress. But, Oregon seems awfully far away and the further we get, the more I miss you and my sisters. How are Mary and Cecile?

  Me and Hank have a job pickin cotton, but we only get paid in food. A couple of tomatoes a day and sometimes when we’re lucky, a nice potato. But, don’t worry, Mama, we have some good friends here and they feed us well, so we never go hungry all night. I hope the last of your money is keeping you and Mary and Cecile fed and maybe us leaving was good for that reason, cause we eat a lot more than all three of you put together. I’m hoping this cotton pickin job will
lead to something better and Mr. Johnson (our boss) says that when he’s able, he’ll pay us five cents a day and that would help a lot.

  If things don’t pick up, don’t worry, we will head farther up north. I guess we just got comfortable here, making new friends and all and it beats living on those cold trains and keeping an eye out for the bulls and risking getting kicked off or worse, maybe arrested. There’s been more and more hoboes and more and more bad stories of some of them getting shot up. Don’t let that scare you, Mama. I have a good head on my shoulders and I plan to stay put if I think me and Hank are in danger and right now, I think the best place for us is here right now.

  I listened to President Roosevelt on Mr. Johnson’s radio the other night and it gave me new hope. Did you listen to it? He’s said he’s gonna be setting up new programs that will give more jobs to us common folk. As soon as he starts these new programs, if things haven’t picked up here, we plan to apply for a government job. I hope you can hold onto the house until then.

  I will try to write sooner next time. Give my love to Mary and Cecile.

  Love Your Son,

  Clifford (and Hank)

  P.S. Hank promised to write next time. You know how he never liked schooling much.

  ~ * ~

  Cliff bit into the juiciest apple in the barrel as water splashed around his face. His long bangs fell in, turning a sandy blond. He emerged with the apple in his teeth, flipping his wet hair behind him, laughing and smiling. Even with an apple in his mouth, he was the most handsome sight Louise had ever laid eyes on. Cliff crunched into the apple as juice drizzled down his chin. It was Hank’s turn as Cliff chomped on his prize with a smile on his face. Without warning and just before Hank was able to nab one of the biggest apples, Cliff dunked him. Stifling a few curse words, Hank came up steaming, flinging his wet hair on the crowd of children waiting a turn.