Susan Pfeffer - Shade of the Moon

“Keep walking,” Sergeant Hawkins said. “Don’t make me hurt you on your wedding day.”

Jon kept his head down, hoping no one he knew could see him. He knew it didn’t matter, that he’d never be back to Sexton, never see the people he’d shared his life with, but still he felt overwhelmed with shame. He was no longer a claver. As far as Sergeant Hawkins was concerned, he was no better than a grub trespassing on Sexton property.

At least Ruby was keeping quiet. Jon understood she’d never thank him for saving her from the mines, but he knew what he was giving up for her. And because of her.

The sergeant walked behind them and alternated prodding Jon and Ruby with his gun butt. When he had to, Jon pulled Ruby along, making her walk even faster.

They got to the gate. The sergeant showed his identification to the guard. “I’m uncuffing them now,” he said. “Then they’re out of here.”

“You can let them loose,” the guard said. “I got them in my sites.”

Sergeant Hawkins uncuffed Jon first, then Ruby. He pushed them out of the gate, out of Sexton.

“Get the hell out of here,” he said. “Don’t either of you show your faces in Sexton again.”

For a moment Ruby stood still. Then Jon grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the gate.

“Come on,” he said. “The highway’s this way.”

“What makes you think I’m going with you?” Ruby asked.

“You want to live, don’t you?” Jon said. “Come on.” He grabbed her hand and held it tightly as they began walking away.

“Hold it, mister,” Ruby said. “I can see the sun. Which way you taking me?”

“East,” Jon said.

“White Birch’s west of here,” she said. “Why ain’t we going west?”

“Because we’re not going to White Birch,” Jon said. “Now, come on, Ruby. The guard can still shoot us. We’ve got to get moving.”

Ruby stood still. “I’m going home to White Birch,” she declared.

Jon wanted nothing more than to be rid of her. But Ruby in White Birch was almost as dangerous as Ruby in Sexton. She could still talk. She could still be overheard. Jon could still be found.

“You’re coming with me,” he said. “You married me, Ruby.”

“I didn’t want to!” she cried. “You all made me.”

“Nobody made you,” Jon said. “Nobody can make a person get married. Not if they really don’t want to. A minister married us, Ruby. A man of God. And you vowed you would obey me for the rest of your life. That was a vow you made to God, and if you break that sacred vow, you’ll be damned in hell for all eternity. I say we’re going east. We’re going east.”

“What’re you going to do to me?” she asked.

Jon shook his head. “I’m not going to do anything to you,” he said. “I never did, and I’m not about to. But we have to get moving. It’s for your sake, Ruby. If you go back to your parents, the police will find you. They’ll blame you for Lisa’s death, for Gabe’s kidnapping. I’m taking you someplace where you won’t get hurt. Once we’re there, we’ll decide what to do next. All right? You know you can trust me. I’ve never hurt you.”

“You’ll be sorry,” she said, but she began walking in Jon’s direction.

“I’m sorry now,” Jon said. “Come on. It’ll be dark soon. Let’s get some distance between us and Sexton while we can.”

Ruby scowled. “Don’t come anywhere near me tonight,” she said. “I don’t care what God thinks. I ain’t gonna obey you that way.”

“Fair enough,” Jon said. “Let’s go.”

“We gotta stop,” Ruby said. “I can’t walk another step more.”

“All right,” Jon said. He estimated they’d walked about ten miles the day before, and today they’d been walking since dawn. Each step was getting harder. He hadn’t eaten in close to a day, and he had no idea how long it had been since Ruby had.

They sat on the ground by the side of the highway. Jon saw the fifth truck of the day.

A few days ago he’d waved his ID badge and a trucker had pulled over immediately. Now they whizzed by with no intention of helping.

Well, they’d help Ruby. But Jon wasn’t letting her out of his sight.

“How much longer do we gotta go?” Ruby asked, rubbing her feet.

“I don’t know,” Jon admitted. “A few more days, I guess.”

“We ain’t gonna make it without food or water,” Ruby said.

“We had water a few hours ago,” Jon said. “We’ll get food somehow.”

“Water probably poisoned,” Ruby said. “Biggest mistake I ever made in my life, letting you marry me.” She wiggled her toes. “Think we really are married?”

“I know we are,” Jon said. “The minister doesn’t do fake weddings.” He shuddered to think what Ruby might do if she decided they weren’t really married. It was the only hold he had on her, and they were still too close to Sexton for him to take any chances.

“Can I ask a question?” he said, following her example and rubbing his feet.

“You’re gonna anyway,” Ruby said. “Gotta obey you, I guess.”

“I don’t think you’ll burn for all eternity if you don’t answer,” Jon said. “What I want to know… Well, when we were at Lisa’s, you were all over me. I had to push you away. But since we got married, you won’t let me anywhere near you. Why not?”

Ruby shrugged. “You was a claver before,” she said. “Now you’re just a grub. That’s why not.”

“I’m not a grub,” Jon said.

“Well, you ain’t no claver,” she said. “If you ain’t a claver, you must be a grub.”

“That’s not true,” Jon said. “The world isn’t just clavers and grubs. Take those cops yesterday. They weren’t grubs. And teachers. They’re not grubs. They’re just not clavers. They’re something in between.”

“All I know is clavers and grubs,” Ruby said. “And I ain’t letting no grub have me. Not even if he says he’s my husband.”

“I married you to protect you,” Jon said. “You know what would’ve happened to you in the mines? You want to guess how long you would’ve lasted?”

“We ain’t gonna last too long unless we get some food,” Ruby said. “Ain’t that an exit sign up ahead? Maybe there’s a town there.”

Jon squinted. “It’s for Bellingham,” he said. The Sexton team had played them back in October. “It’s a grubtown. They won’t have any food for us.”

“We ain’t gonna get any anyplace else,” Ruby said.

Jon felt sick at the thought of begging from grubs. “No,” he said.

Ruby stared at him. “I know I promised for better or poorer until death,” she said. “And I guess God’ll strike me down if I don’t obey you, whether I want to or not. But there’s no food on this highway, and we don’t know when we’ll see water next. I say we go to Bellingham, to the church there, and do some work. Ministers are kind. They gotta be. It’s their job when they ain’t marrying people, even those who don’t want to.”

It would be different if they worked for food, Jon told himself. It would be different if they got the food from a minister. Besides, even if he could go a few more miles before stopping, that didn’t mean Ruby could. He’d made the same vows, for better or worse. Like it or not, he owed her.

“Okay,” he said. “We’ll go to the church in Bellingham and see if we can work for food. But then we start back on the road. The farther we get from Sexton the better.”

Ruby put her shoes back on and rose. “You sure do hate that enclave of yours,” she said.