Raintree County by Ross Lockridge Page A

Church with her father and mother. Mrs. Gaither had been a fragile, lovely woman from a Connecticut family of means and culture. She had come with her husband in the great migration West, and they had settled in Raintree County in the late thirties tothe hard existence of making a living from the earth. Nell had been the first child, and for a long time the only one. Johnny remembered how Nell had always seemed so much more ladylike than the other girls he knew, probably because of her mother’s influence. Then when Nell was seven, Mrs. Gaither had died after the birth of a stillborn child, and Mr. Gaither had sent the girl back to her mother’s family in the East. And that was the last Johnny had heard of her until now.
    â€”Where did you come from, Nell? he asked.
    â€”I’m back with Daddy, Nell said. He’s married again, you know, and I’m going to live here for a while. O, by the way, Johnny, I want you to meet a friend of mine, Garwood Jones.
    Garwood Jones was a large, sleek, florid boy, perhaps a year older than Johnny. He had a broad, smooth face, dark, wavy hair fragrant with oil, and blue eyes filled with faint amusement. He thrust out his hand and said in an incredibly big voice,
    â€”Happy to make your acquaintance, John.
    The greeting was both personal and patronizing.
    â€”Pleased to meet you, Johnny said.
    â€”What part of the County are you from, John?
    Johnny told him, and the boy said that he used to live at Waycross in the southeast corner but that his family had long ago moved to Freehaven.
    â€”Garwood is speaking on the program today, Johnny, Nell said.
    â€”Just a few patriotic recitations, the boy said with arrogant humility.
    Johnny didn’t dislike Garwood Jones, but he envied the smooth, newly razored face, the deep voice, the long trousers, and the place on the Program of the Day.
    â€”How did you and Nell get to know each other? Johnny said.
    â€”O, I get to know all the pretty girls, John, Garwood said.
    He laughed a throaty laugh. The flat of his hand fell affectionately between Johnny’s shoulderblades.
    In the old days, Johnny had never thought of Nell as especially pretty. Now he looked at her a little more closely. The thin, serious child was gone. Nell had her hair bound up like a woman’s, showing her long white neck. A sort of small crazy hat teetered on her sun-colored curls. Her face, which was rather small, was studiedly serene,the chin held high, the unusual, fleshy mouth primly closed. The very wide-apart green eyes, her most attractive feature, looked calmly down at him a little sideways past her nose, which was pert and covered with freckles. She had on a white shortsleeved dress. She had the steep breasts of a budding girl and was getting somewhat wide in the hips, although her waist was very slender and her arms were long, angular, and childlike.
    She stood, right hand on hip and left hand over right hand, dangling a parasol, while her left foot was toed out to show her new shoe.
    Johnny thought she looked a little dowdy and ridiculous, but when she spoke, her voice was very husky, grave, and sweet. He noticed especially the soft, personal way in which she said his name, as if she had practiced it.
    â€”I’ll see you at church, Sunday, Johnny, she said.
    The small lofty face smiled. Nell suddenly shot her parasol open. The interview was at an end.
    â€”Well, John, Garwood Jones said, I trust I will have the pleasure of seeing you again.
    He removed his straw hat and made a stately bow, and he and Nell walked away toward a lemonade stand. Johnny stood watching Nell walk, her hips softly moving as if revolving around a center, while her long, slender back and primly held shoulders were motionless.
    â€”Hey, Johnny!
    His brother Zeke was waving from in front of the Saloon. In the middle of a crowd there, a young man stood, white teeth flashing from a brown bearded face. In one hand he held a beermug, and with the other he