that nobody else knew. Lonely had followed me around for so long. That word was always perched somewhere close, always staring down at me, waiting to pounce out my joy. But I hadn’t seen lonely near me in a while. And I hadn’t seen it near the people I loved, either.
“I love this music!” Frannie Jo hollered. And she started grabbing fistfuls of silent, summer air.
Cleo sighed and kept walking and Boone nodded andstared down at the pavement like he’d remembered, for the first time since coming here, that his family was a bunch of lunatics.
But suddenly, I stopped right on the sidewalk. I didn’t hear music, but I did hear something, and at first it was so faint I thought it was just the wind or the birds in the woods. But the sound wasn’t any of that. I heard the sound of wind chimes, far away but moving closer.
Boone and Cleo kept walking, like they didn’t hear a thing.
I heard it, though. I looked across the parking lot and into the woods. As the sound of the wind chimes faded, I remembered something peculiar Oliver had said:
“And then he told me the real story of the Brothers Threadbare and why they quarreled … or who they quarreled over, I guess I should say.”
“Well, that’s got nothing to do with me,” I said out loud to the creepy-chimey wind.
The wind didn’t answer me, but my heart sure did.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
I realize it’s not such an uncommon thing for people to have aunts and uncles, but I’d never met my family before we moved to Midnight Gulch. I’d talked to Cleo on the phone a few times, and Mama’d shown me pictures of Cleo visiting me when I was a baby. I’d never even seen a picture of Boone Harness. I always knew he was special, though, because of the way Mama said his name.
For the longest time, I thought she was calling him Boom. I finally asked her one day, “Is his name Boom, like a firework?”
“Not Boom,” she’d laughed. Then she fluttered her hand against her chest. “His name is Boone, like a heartbeat.”
And now Boone-like-a-heartbeat was sitting right in front of me in the Pickled Jalapeño.
Cleo was driving through town like a mad woman, swerving around street corners so fast that the tires squealed. Mama didn’t seem to mind Cleo’s crazy driving today. She was happy to have the day off from work, and I was happyto see her in regular clothes again, in her paint-stained jeans and a white T-shirt. She still hadn’t painted anything, but I figured the fact that she was wearing her paint clothes was a good start. Mama sat in the front seat, angled around so she could catch up with my mysterious uncle.
All of us were fascinated by Boone, Frannie Jo especially. She sat right up against him in the middle seat, blinking her big blue eyes up at him like he was the King of the World.
Suddenly, the van lurched a hard left so fast that Frannie smooshed into Boone, and I smooshed into the window.
Mama shoved her sunglasses up into her hair and glared at Cleo. “Where you going? The creamery’s downtown.”
“You don’t think I know how to get downtown? I live here. I decided to take the girls to Snapdragon Pond.”
“Oh.” Mama shrugged at the same time Boone slid down into the seat and asked, “Why?”
I rested my chin on the middle seat. “You don’t like the pond, Boone?”
Boone shook his head. “I just … I didn’t want to get out so soon. I don’t mind riding in a car, but I don’t want to be outside. I don’t want to see anybody. I need a few days to … you know … recover .”
Frannie rested her hand on his arm. Her fingernails were painted bubble-gum pink. “Are you sick somewhere?”
“Right here.” Boone tapped his heart.
“Boone,” Cleo groaned from the front seat. “There ain’t nothing about sitting all by yourself all day, crying into abucket of ice cream, that’s gonna make that broken heart heal any faster. You need fresh air and sunshine. There’s nobody at Snapdragon Pond this time of year
“I love this music!” Frannie Jo hollered. And she started grabbing fistfuls of silent, summer air.
Cleo sighed and kept walking and Boone nodded andstared down at the pavement like he’d remembered, for the first time since coming here, that his family was a bunch of lunatics.
But suddenly, I stopped right on the sidewalk. I didn’t hear music, but I did hear something, and at first it was so faint I thought it was just the wind or the birds in the woods. But the sound wasn’t any of that. I heard the sound of wind chimes, far away but moving closer.
Boone and Cleo kept walking, like they didn’t hear a thing.
I heard it, though. I looked across the parking lot and into the woods. As the sound of the wind chimes faded, I remembered something peculiar Oliver had said:
“And then he told me the real story of the Brothers Threadbare and why they quarreled … or who they quarreled over, I guess I should say.”
“Well, that’s got nothing to do with me,” I said out loud to the creepy-chimey wind.
The wind didn’t answer me, but my heart sure did.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
I realize it’s not such an uncommon thing for people to have aunts and uncles, but I’d never met my family before we moved to Midnight Gulch. I’d talked to Cleo on the phone a few times, and Mama’d shown me pictures of Cleo visiting me when I was a baby. I’d never even seen a picture of Boone Harness. I always knew he was special, though, because of the way Mama said his name.
For the longest time, I thought she was calling him Boom. I finally asked her one day, “Is his name Boom, like a firework?”
“Not Boom,” she’d laughed. Then she fluttered her hand against her chest. “His name is Boone, like a heartbeat.”
And now Boone-like-a-heartbeat was sitting right in front of me in the Pickled Jalapeño.
Cleo was driving through town like a mad woman, swerving around street corners so fast that the tires squealed. Mama didn’t seem to mind Cleo’s crazy driving today. She was happy to have the day off from work, and I was happyto see her in regular clothes again, in her paint-stained jeans and a white T-shirt. She still hadn’t painted anything, but I figured the fact that she was wearing her paint clothes was a good start. Mama sat in the front seat, angled around so she could catch up with my mysterious uncle.
All of us were fascinated by Boone, Frannie Jo especially. She sat right up against him in the middle seat, blinking her big blue eyes up at him like he was the King of the World.
Suddenly, the van lurched a hard left so fast that Frannie smooshed into Boone, and I smooshed into the window.
Mama shoved her sunglasses up into her hair and glared at Cleo. “Where you going? The creamery’s downtown.”
“You don’t think I know how to get downtown? I live here. I decided to take the girls to Snapdragon Pond.”
“Oh.” Mama shrugged at the same time Boone slid down into the seat and asked, “Why?”
I rested my chin on the middle seat. “You don’t like the pond, Boone?”
Boone shook his head. “I just … I didn’t want to get out so soon. I don’t mind riding in a car, but I don’t want to be outside. I don’t want to see anybody. I need a few days to … you know … recover .”
Frannie rested her hand on his arm. Her fingernails were painted bubble-gum pink. “Are you sick somewhere?”
“Right here.” Boone tapped his heart.
“Boone,” Cleo groaned from the front seat. “There ain’t nothing about sitting all by yourself all day, crying into abucket of ice cream, that’s gonna make that broken heart heal any faster. You need fresh air and sunshine. There’s nobody at Snapdragon Pond this time of year
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