all be heading south from the big city this Saturday, and I’ve got a surprise for you. Oh, shoot! We’re out of—”
And just like that, the line went dead.
What a shame! Obviously, Aunt Bea and her friends had run out of dimes, but Holly Jean so wanted to talk with them! It had been just six weeks since she last saw them, but it seemed more like six years!
“Well, who in the world was that?” laughed Aunt Tillie. “I’m all ears.”
Of course, she always was!
“My school friends from Cincinnati, Aunt Tillie. Aunt Bea’s bringing them to visit me next weekend. Oh, I can hardly wait!” Holly Jean spotted someone else listening: Tootsie.
Handing Uncle Tom a nickel for the cold soda bottle she’d just selected from the cooler, Tootsie added, “Well, now, I can’t wait neither, Holly Jean. Yep, can’t wait to hear a whole bunch of you shrill-voiced city slickers cackling like a bunch of crows!” And still giggling, she strutted right out the front door, letting the screen bang loudly behind her.
Her aunt frowned. “Lawsy, lawsy, that gal ain’t got no manners.”
But Holly Jean grinned. So what? Shirley and Roger had plenty of manners, and they were coming to visit her that very weekend. Yea and double-yea! Carefully removing her fancy church hat, Aunt Tillie hung it up on a hook by her post office door. “So, gals, them love birds set a wedding date yet?”
“Not that we know of, Miss Tillie,” Holly’s grandmother replied. “But they all headed up to Mr. Max’s right after church today to have a family get-together, so maybe they’re working things out right now. I’m as eager to start getting ready for them wedding bells as you’uns are!”
Suddenly Holly Jean thought of her mother. How Mama Jean would have loved helping Aunt Kate plan her wedding! She would have loved meeting my friends, too. But now she’ll never get to, at least till we’re all in Heaven together. It’s just not fair!
“Granny Nanny,” she said, “would you mind if we went back by the church on our way home? I want to see Mama Jean’s grave again. I suddenly miss her a lot.”
Her grandmother hugged her. “Well, sure, child. Why, I think we passed some daisies growing by the roadside near the church. Maybe you could pick them and share them with your ma.”
Uncle Tom handed them each some thick sandwiches he’d just made. “Here’s a little something to hold you over till you make it home,” he grinned. “Jest baloney and bread, but it comes in handy when you’re hungry.”
“Thanks, Uncle Tom!” Holly Jean gave him a hug.
As they headed back down the road, they did indeed pass a patch of brightly blooming daisies. Granny Nanny helped Holly Jean pick some, then they walked on up to the church.
All was very still there except for a few birds and butterflies, but as they came to Mama Jean’s grave, Holly Jean gasped. Right on top of her mother’s grass-covered mound sat a rooster! A gorgeous red rooster!
What in the world was he doing there?
The rooster saw them too and stood up. But instead of running away, he came right up to Holly Jean and rubbed against her leg. Then he begged for some of her sandwich!
Holly Jean gave him a bite to eat and a hug. “Oh, he’s adorable, Granny Nanny!” she squealed. “It’s like Mama Jean sent him to us. You don’t have a rooster. Can we keep him? I want to name him Cocky!”
Granny Nanny scratched her head. “Well, now, ain’t that most peculiar, him being here and all? Reckon we could use him. But he must belong to someone around here—maybe Miz Johnson who lives next door to the church. Let’s go ask her.”
Cocky followed them, happily grabbing the crumbs Holly Jean tossed him. But when they knocked on Mrs. Johnson’s door, surprise! The little McCollough boys opened it!
“Well, howdy, boys!” Granny Nanny said. “Don’t Mazie Johnson live here no more?”
“Why, sure, lady,” Tim replied. “She’s our grandma. We’s just moved in with her for the duration while Pa is overseas.”
“Show your manners, boys!” yelled a voice from inside. “Invite them in!”
As Holly Jean entered, she realized that Mrs. Johnson was one of the older women she had ridden with in Uncle Tom’s truck to the big homecoming party. “Howdy, folks,” Mrs. Johnson said.
But when Cocky walked in too, Mrs. Johnson grabbed a broom and chased him back out.
“That good-for-nothing rooster!” she scolded. “Never stays out at the barn where he belongs. We got too many roosters running around here already. I’d sure like to get rid of this one. He keeps pestering us to pet and play with him. Stupid bird!”
“Oh, please, Mrs. Johnson!” Holly Jean cried. “I’d love to pet and play with him! Could we buy him, please, please, please?”
After they settled on a price—“One dollar next Sunday”—Tim and Jim took them on a tour around their grandmother’sbarn. Then Holly Jean and her grandmother once more started home—this time with a new pet.
By now the sun was so hot, Holly Jean felt like a pan of cookies baking in Granny Nanny’s oven. She tried to stay on the side of the road that hugged closest to the forest shade—what little shade there was this time of day. Sometimes she carried Cocky, and sometimes he ran alongside her like a dog. He was so much fun to be around, even her grandmother reached down to pet his silky-smooth feathers every once in a while.
The heat seemed to sizzle right up to them. Even the bees seemed too hot to buzz. Was this heat wave ever going to be over? And weren’t they ever going to reach home?
Finally, they rounded the last bend and could see Granny Nanny’s corncrib. Yea, home at last! She could even see Bear waiting for them in the front yard.
He saw them too. Barking joyously, he barreled down the road to greet them.
But when Cocky saw the dog, he squawked in panic and tried to pry himself out of Holly Jean’s arms to escape.
Oh, no! What now?
Chapter 7
What Was That?
By now Cocky was fighting so hard to get free, Holly Jean couldn’t hold him any longer. With one burst of his gorgeous red wings, he flew up and out of her arms. Then he went right up to Bear and stared hard at the big dog, his beak wide open.
Bear promptly flopped down on the ground, wagged his tail, and made soft, whimpering sounds.
Holly Jean felt around in her pocket. She still had a little bit of her bologna sandwich left! Carefully she broke it in two and handed half to each of the animals.
Cocky gulped his down while Bear waited. Then the big dog used his nose to push his piece over to Cocky. The rooster stared at it, then stared at Bear—then gulped that one down too! After that, Cocky happily stretched, fluffed his long feathers, crowed, rubbed against the big dog, and strutted off to explore his new home with Bear bounding after
