Susan Pfeffer - Shade of the Moon

“That’s a start,” she said. “If we’re all going to be in New Harmony, I’d better learn to love him.”

“We’ll be a family again,” Jon said.

Syl nodded. “That’s been Matt’s dream for so long now,” she said. “We’ll make it work.”

“Make what work?” Opal asked, coming into the kitchen.

“Life,” Jon said. “Opal, would you like to go to New Harmony with me?”

“What’s New Harmony?” she asked.

“It’s a town about seventy-five miles from here,” Syl replied. “No grubs, no clavers. Just people working together.”

“If you don’t want to, we’ll figure out a way of getting you back to White Birch,” Jon said.

“I can’t go back,” she said. “You know that, Mr. Jon. Ruby’s taken my place and I’ve taken hers.”

“Matt and I are going to move to New Harmony, Opal,” Syl said. “But not for a couple of weeks. If you want, you can stay here until then, and we’ll see about getting you work in Dickerson. They always need girls to do cleaning.”

“So I could be a grub here,” Opal said. “Same as White Birch? Or I could go to this place and take my chances?”

“We’ll all be taking our chances,” Jon said. “I can’t go back, either, Opal. It’s not even safe for me to stay here.”

“You’d make a better grub than I ever thought you would,” Opal said. “All that walking made a real man of you, Mr. Jon. But I guess I’ll see what not being a grub’ll feel like.”

“You weren’t always a grub,” Jon said. “When you were growing up, you weren’t.”

“Oh, Mr. Jon,” Opal said. “Back on the farm the only ones who didn’t think we was grubs was the chickens. You don’t need the name to be a grub.”

“Then this is your chance not to be,” Jon said. “We’re friends, Opal. I could use some friends in my life.”

“Seventy-five more miles,” Opal said. “That’s a whole lot of walking to get to some strange place.”

“Syl’s letting us borrow two bikes,” Jon told her. “We can leave after Gabe wakes up and get to New Harmony by tomorrow afternoon.”

“I don’t know,” Opal said. “I ain’t rode a bike since I was real little. What if I fall?”

“It’s been a long time for me, too,” Jon said. “I’ll be falling, too. We’ll fall together.”

“That’s fair enough,” she said. “When do we start?”

“You sure this is New Harmony?” Opal asked as they rode their bikes down Main Street.

“I’m pretty sure,” Jon said. “Syl said the town was originally named Westfield, and that’s the exit we took.”

“We took that exit miles ago,” Opal said. “We passed lots of little towns, with no one in them. Maybe one of them was New Harmony.”

“Look,” Jon said, gesturing toward a storefront with a sign: NEW HARMONY MEETING ROOM.

“Looks empty,” Opal said. “Maybe no one’s around to meet us.”

“It’s the middle of the afternoon,” Jon said. “Everyone’s working. Relax, Opal. We’ll find out where Miranda and Alex are, and everything will fall into place.”

“Don’t say that word ‘fall,’” Opal said. “It’s no comfort to me that you fell, too.”

Jon grinned. He’d picked up a couple of bruises. But he and Opal had gotten the hang of it and made great time.

“Let’s say this is New Harmony,” Opal said. “How are we gonna find that sister of yours? You don’t even know their address. And my recollection is people don’t warm up to you much when you go asking.”

“You want to do the asking?” Jon asked.

“They ain’t my family,” Opal said. “You do the finding this time.”

“All right,” Jon said. “I’ll ask in there.”

“It says ‘Health Clinic,’” Opal said. “What makes you think they’re sick?”

“I don’t,” Jon replied. “But I bet Miranda took the baby in first thing. You stay outside with the bikes. I’ll go in and see what I can find.”

“You’ll find trouble,” Opal said, but Jon ignored her. She was scared, and that was how she acted when fear got the best of her. Not that he blamed her. It was one thing to find New Harmony. It was another to know what to do there.

He was relieved the door was unlocked. “Hello?” he called. “Anyone here.”

“Just a second,” a girl called out.

It was Sarah. Jon knew that voice as well as he knew any. Sarah’s voice.

He told himself not to be an idiot. Sarah was in Virginia. That was where he wanted her to be, safe with her powerful uncle. Protected.

But it was Sarah’s voice. And in a matter of seconds it was Sarah Jon was holding. Sarah, lost to him and now found. Sarah, whose tears and laughter he was now sharing.

“Oh, Jon,” she said. “I was so afraid for you. I thought I’d never see you again.”

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “Why aren’t you in Virginia?”

“We never got there,” Sarah replied. “We had to wait until Matt got home, and that took almost a week. Alex drove us to New Harmony, and when I got here, I found a phone and called Daddy. He said you’d disappeared, and Lisa… Oh, Jon, I’m so sorry about Lisa.”

Jon nodded. “What else did he say?” he asked.

“To stay where I was,” she said. “It was the safest place for me to be. He’ll come here when he can get a replacement for the clinic. Did you see Gabe? Is he all right?”

“I told him about Lisa,” Jon replied. “But he doesn’t understand yet. He asked me before we left when Lisa would come. But Syl’s great with him, and when they get here, Gabe will have all his family with him.”

“He’ll love it here,” Sarah said. “I do. The only thing that was missing was you.”

“I’m here now,” he said, and kissed her to prove it. “Miranda and Alex are all right?”

“They’re fine,” Sarah said. “I’ve been staying with them. Now you will be, too. Oh, Jon. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy.”

Jon didn’t want their next kiss to end. But as it did, he remembered Opal, standing outside, guarding the bikes, waiting for him.

“Come with me,” he said to Sarah. “There’s someone I want you to meet.” He held her hand as they walked out the door.

“Ruby?” Sarah said, breaking away from Jon. “You brought Ruby here?”

“This is Opal,” Jon said. “Ruby’s twin. Opal, I want you to meet Sarah Goldman. Sarah, this is my friend Opal Grubb. That’s G-R-U-B-B.”

“That your Sarah?” Opal asked. “The one you’re always pining for?”

“The same,” Jon said. “She’s living here now.”

“Well, ain’t that something,” Opal said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you… Sarah. Jon talked my ear off about you from Sexton right here.”

Sarah extended her hand to shake Opal’s. For a moment Opal didn’t know what to do, but then she reached out and shook Sarah’s hand.

“I want you to know nothing happened between Jon and me,” Opal said. “I told him he’d better not try anything funny with me, and he was a perfect gentleman.”

“I think he’s perfect, too,” Sarah said. “And I’m glad he has such a good friend.”

“Opal, would you like to freshen up?” Jon asked. “Sarah, does the clinic have a bathroom?”

Sarah smiled. “With running water,” she said. “There’s a small kitchen, too, Opal, if you’d like to have a drink of water or some food.”

“Wouldn’t mind neither,” Opal said. “And I can see the two of you wouldn’t mind if I left you alone.”

“We’ll be in in a minute,” Jon said.

“Two minutes,” Sarah said.

“Take your time,” Opal said. “You’ll know where to find me.”

Sarah waited until Opal had closed the clinic door behind her. “What happened?” she asked. “How did the two of you end up together?”