Susan Pfeffer: Shade of the Moon

“I wish you could have known Sarah,” Jon said. “She wouldn’t put up with too much from me, either.”

“Well, I guess claver girls is smarter than I thought,” Ruby said.

“Could be,” he said. “Grubber girls are certainly smarter than I thought.”

“That’s ’cause you claver boys never did learn to think,” Ruby said. “Come on, Mr. Jon. I think I see a stream up ahead. Water ain’t food, but it’s better than nothing.”

“How long we been walking?” Ruby asked.

Jon looked at his watch. “About six hours,” he said.

“Not today,” she said. “How many days we been walking?”

“A week,” Jon said. “Today’s our one-week anniversary.”

“Don’t you think it’s time to honor me by saying where we’re going?” Ruby asked. “Or don’t you know?”

Jon took his time before answering. Ruby was tough—stronger and smarter than he would have guessed. But they’d put in over a hundred miles and not in a straight line. There was no way she could walk back to White Birch on her own, and she wasn’t foolish enough to take a lift from a trucker.

“We’re going to my brother’s,” Jon said. “If we’re lucky, we should get there Monday night.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother,” Ruby said.

“Gabe’s my brother,” Jon pointed out.

“That’s not the same,” Ruby said. “This brother of yours, he’s older than you?”

Jon nodded. “Five years,” he said. “He and his wife live in Coolidge.”

“Do they know we’re coming?” she asked. “You call them to let them know?”

“They’re not clavers,” Jon said. “They don’t have a phone.”

“If they ain’t clavers, what are they?” Ruby asked. “Grubs like us, Mr. Jon?”

“I’m not a grub,” Jon said. “As you perfectly well know, Mrs. Ruby.”

“Pardon me,” she said. “Is this brother of yours a grub?”

“No,” Jon said. “He’s a courier. That’s like the cops and the teachers. Not clavers but not grubs either. Like me.”

“His wife a courier?” Ruby asked.

“She’s a domestic,” Jon said reluctantly.

Ruby burst out laughing. “She’s a grub,” she said. “Marry a grub, you’re a grub, too. Right, Mr. Jon?”

“They were married before they got here,” Jon said. “Besides, what’s the difference?”

“Plenty,” she said. “What happens when we get there?”

“I’ve been thinking about it,” Jon said. “Gabe’s staying with them. I guess with Lisa dead, they’re his parents now.”

Ruby stood still. “Wait a second,” she said. “All that time the cops were beating me, you knew where Gaby was?”

“They hit you a grand total of twice while I was there,” Jon said. “And once was at our wedding. It had nothing to do with Gabe.”

“They hit me plenty before you got there,” Ruby said. “I still got bruises. They kept asking me what I did to that little boy, and every time I told them I didn’t know nothing about it, they hit me again.”

“I’m sorry,” Jon said. “Come on, Ruby. Let’s keep walking.”

“No,” Ruby said. “Not till you admit it was your fault I kept getting hit.”

“What difference does it make?” Jon asked. “It happened. It’s over and done with.”

“My life ain’t over and done with,” Ruby said. “I got family back in White Birch. My parents don’t know what’s become of me, whether I’m alive or dead. All because you lied about where little Gaby was.”

“All because you ran away,” Jon said. “Everything happened because you ran away, Ruby.”

“Mrs. Evans didn’t shoot herself because I ran away,” Ruby cried. “Gaby didn’t end up with your brother because I ran away. I don’t know what’s going on, Mr. Jon, but I know it ain’t my fault.”

“All right,” Jon said. “Things happened because of Miranda, and I guess you were a victim. At least partly. And yes, I knew where Gabe was and I didn’t tell the police, and they hit you and you didn’t deserve it. And I didn’t do anything to protect you except marry you, which is pretty big, and I don’t remember hearing you thank me, but all right. We’ll let that pass. We’re going to my brother’s, and he and my sister-in-law have Gabe. That’s what I was thinking about. Gabe was crazy about you, Ruby. You could stay with Matt and Syl and take care of Gabe for them. You’d be safe there. You could make a whole new life for yourself.”

Ruby started walking again. Jon gave her a moment then caught up with her.

“You’ll really like them,” he said. “Matt . . . well, Matt’s great. And Syl’s been through a lot, but you’ll like her, too. Think how happy it would make Gabe if you were there.”

“You’re crazy, you know that?” Ruby said. “Grubs can’t have domestics.”

“Why not?” Jon said. “There’s no law against it.”

Ruby laughed humorlessly. “Don’t need to be no law,” she said. “This—whatshername, Silly.”

“Syl,” Jon said. “S-Y-L.”

“Syl,” Ruby said. “Syl the grub. She earns enough for her own food most likely and that brother of yours earns enough for his food, and maybe if they eat a little less, there’s enough for Gaby. I work for them, no food for me. There don’t need to be no law, Mr. Jon. Grubs got to eat, too. Thought you’d figured that out by now.”

“It was just an idea,” Jon said. “Anyway, that’s where I’m going. You don’t want to go, fine. Go your own way. Just don’t tell anyone where I am. A lot of people could get hurt if you do. Gabe could get hurt.”

“Sounds like you’re the only one in trouble,” Ruby said. “How could they hurt a little claver boy?”

“He’s not a little claver boy anymore,” Jon said. “Not with Lisa killing herself. If Gabe’s lucky, they’ll give him to decent people to raise. That’s if he’s lucky. You want that on your conscience?”

“I didn’t ask for none of this,” Ruby said. “Rich people’s problems.”

“You want to hear something funny?” Jon said. “I didn’t ask for it, either.”

“You really marry me just to save me?” Ruby asked.

“Not just to save you,” Jon said. “To save me, too. Look, I don’t know what’s going to become of you. I really thought your living with Matt and Syl and Gabe was the answer, but you’re right. You wouldn’t be earning any money, and food costs money.” He wished they’d stop talking about food. It reminded him how hungry he was, how much more walking they had in store before they could begin to think about getting any.

“They really nice people?” Ruby asked.

Jon nodded.

“Well, I guess that’s as good a place as any to go,” she said. “You know anything about their enclave? What kind of work they have for grubs?”

“No,” Jon said. “Just that Syl’s a domestic.”

“I love that word,” Ruby said. “Can’t call her a grub, can you? You never had a problem calling me that, but not that sister-in-law of yours. Not family.”

“Miranda was a grub,” Jon said. “You know that.”

“Was?” Ruby asked. “What’s she now?”

“I don’t know,” Jon said, which was pretty much the truth. “We’ll get all the answers when we get there and decide what’s best for you. I promise you that, Ruby. You promise you won’t ever tell anyone where I am, and I promise we’ll do right by you.”

“Nice of you to make that offer a hundred miles from home,” Ruby said. “You’re a real gentleman, Mr. Jon.”

Jon grabbed her by her shoulders. “Listen to me,” he said. “I’m not happy about any of this, either, all right? My mother was slaughtered. My stepmother killed herself. I lost both of them in a month. Everything I had was taken from me. I’ll never see the girl I love again. I’ll never see my home, my friends. I’m as tired and as dirty and as hungry as you are. I’m probably more scared than you are because I can only hope my family is all right, that Sarah is all right. You know where your parents are, where you sisters are. Hell, you have parents. That puts you two steps ahead of me right there.”