Strawberry Hill, Chapter 16

Recommended 10 and up. Raleia Pendle always wished she was from an old-fashioned family from a bygone era who would be involved in every aspect of her life, but instead, she has modern (for 1976) hippie parents who keep their distance.
Raleia gets a taste of the past in Tidal, ME which was hit by a Tidal Wave in 1911 and is a living museum to the event. She also meets Ian Rutherford a recluse who hasn't left his house since the tidal wave hit. This novel talks about many topics that younger listeners may want to discuss with the adults in their lives, including war, jail, death, and family conflict. The topics are handled with care and respect.

Transcript

Hello,

This is Ayla Faye of Silvanocity.

I'm going to be sharing chapter 16 of Strawberry Hill.

Let's begin.

Tiny sat in a lawn chair in the front yard,

Holding a cup with worms crawling out of it.

Tick kneeled next to her,

Digging in the ground.

What are you two doing?

Ray asked.

Max is taking me fishing in the ocean.

Want to come?

Tick asked.

You don't fish with worms in the ocean,

Stupid.

You don't?

Tick looked shocked.

No.

You use cut up fish and organic hooks.

Tick put his hands on his hips and asked,

How do you know that?

Zoe told me,

Raya said.

Why didn't Max tell you?

Tick shrugged.

I'll feed the worms to my frogs then.

He got up,

Took the cup from Tiny,

Then ran into the house.

Is the tub a frog pond?

Raya winced at the thought,

But Tiny nodded with a smile.

He brought in a bucketful,

But I'll make him set them loose tonight.

I don't want any froggy deaths on my conscience.

Should we tell them they don't eat worms?

Nah,

Worm deaths I can handle.

Besides,

They'll probably just shimmy down the pipes and choke on sewer gunk.

Right.

Tiny sounded depressed.

Raya started to walk toward the house,

But Tiny clasped her hand,

Saying,

You okay,

Kiddo?

Sure.

Really,

She felt all slimy inside,

But she couldn't tell Tiny that.

Tiny squeezed Raya's hand,

Saying,

We were just kidding this morning.

You know that,

Don't you?

Maybe,

But I bet you meant it,

Too.

What's that supposed to mean?

You think I would have been better off with a family more like me,

Don't you?

Raya felt like crying again,

But she didn't want to do it in front of her mother.

She yanked her hand away.

Tiny grabbed it again.

Come on,

Raya.

Tiny gave her hand a shake.

I know you think of it sometimes,

And I have to tell you,

I've caught myself wishing I could change so you'd be happier.

But you really wouldn't want that,

Would you?

She didn't know what she wanted beyond getting away from there as fast as possible.

I'm going to the library.

Raya walked off,

Not even sure of where the library was.

Tiny shouted after her.

Love you,

Kiddo.

Yeah,

But it's your brand of love,

Not mine,

Raya thought.

Getting directions from Mr.

Peters,

Raya went to the library.

A beautiful stone building sitting on top of a small hill a few blocks off from Main Street.

The place fit her image of heaven.

The smell of leather and well-aged paper filled the air.

The dimly lit aisles between the tall wooden shelves made her think of long candle-filled hallways and Victorian-style homes.

She loved the way echoes of her footsteps on the hardwood floor floated around her as she searched the stacks.

She touched book after leather-bound book with gold inlaid letters and swirly endpapers.

She didn't even need to read them.

She just wanted to stare at them a while.

Raya was in a book-induced daze when she heard a kid say,

Where are the books on spiders?

A librarian answered,

Please lower your voice.

Others are trying to read.

Sorry,

Can you show me?

The kid was quieter,

But Raya could still hear him halfway across the building.

She looked over to get a look at him.

It was chocolate.

She walked around to another aisle so he wouldn't catch sight of her.

Heading to the history section,

She grabbed a book on turn-of-the-century Boston to have some reading material and get out of there before chocolate found her and started chanting something stupid about Mr.

Rutherford.

Raya made sure that chocolate was clear of the checkout desk,

Then went up.

She thought she'd escaped until she got outside and someone said,

Hey,

Raya.

She didn't want to look up,

But then she recognized the voice of Zoe's.

So she said,

Hi.

Zoe walked the brick wall in front of the library.

Did you get the responsible young lady speech?

What?

Raya asked,

Stuffing the book she'd checked out into her backpack,

Changing her voice to imitate her mother's.

Zoe said,

You're a young lady now.

You need to act like one.

Responsible young ladies don't sneak off in the middle of the night to watch horror films.

That's improper.

Improper?

Raya laughed.

Who's your mother?

June Cleaver.

Zoe jumped down.

No,

Her evil twin.

My mom goes on and on about proper this and proper that,

And she hides in the bathroom to smoke.

My ladies don't smoke.

Nobody should.

It's revolting.

Zoe nodded,

Her lips twisted in a look of disgust.

Not that he practiced what he preached,

But Raya had to admit that Mr.

Rutherford had one thing right.

The rules of propriety that some people came up with were a little goofy.

Like,

What's the big deal about a woman showing her ankle to a man?

And why would a man need to ask a father for permission to marry his daughter?

It might be good to get your dad's advice on the guy you're in love with.

Not that that ever happened to Raya.

But why should your father decide who you married?

That would be a thousand times worse than having your mom pick out your clothes.

Raya hated it when Tiny set up the disgusting wide legged pants and suits and the wacky paisley top she was always buying for her.

Raya preferred wearing a nice dress with a long skirt and a ribbon belt.

I'd like to hang out with you,

But mom said I was supposed to take my brother to the library and go straight home.

I'm grounded.

Zoe said,

Walking backward.

What did your parents do to you?

I'm grounded for a month and I have to pay the fine and I can't drive the car anymore.

Raya lied without thinking.

It was only right that she be grounded.

All parents made their kids stay at home after they did something wrong.

No way.

You have to pay a fine?

Then I spent the night in jail.

No.

The fact that Zoe got all excited about a night in jail only proved that being grounded was the boring but normal way to go.

Raya almost felt like a regular kid.

We'd be here in a month.

I mean,

Can we do something together before you leave?

Sure.

We don't go home until the second week in August.

Oh man,

You'll miss the Fourth of July celebration.

It's going to be fantastic this year.

We're going to have so many fireworks,

They'll be able to see them in England.

Raya sighed.

Her little lie locked her into a do nothing for a month.

What an idiot.

Oh well,

They probably just watched the fireworks from the roof like they did every year after they drove to Madison to picket the Capitol.

Her parents were big on protesting.

The lack of liberty for all and all that jazz on the fourth.

Tiny said no one should celebrate their freedom if just one person is still enslaved.

Tiny said a lot of Mexicans were enslaved in the orchards of California and the fields of Texas while too many blacks were slaves to manual labor jobs because of racist hiring practices and house wives were slaves in their own homes.

Raya was all for equal rights but she didn't get how women were slaves if they stayed home and took care of their kids.

By Tiny's logic,

Cleaning the house,

Making meals,

Washing clothes,

Taking the kids to school or piano practice was the same as breaking your back picking oranges for 10 hours.

Raya didn't see the comparison.

Having kids was supposed to be one of the good things in life.

Raya?

Zoe looked at Raya as if she were a space cadet or something.

Sorry,

I drifted off for a moment.

Are you okay?

I'm fine.

I'll catch you later.

She waved as she walked away.

Zoe waved back.

Bye.

I'm sorry your parents came down on you so hard.

If Raya had told Zoe the truth,

Zoe would have hated her.

Raya knew what would happen because she'd seen it before.

In the second grade,

Raya and her classmate Prudy Layton dove off the bridge over the Cherry River on a dare.

Prudy was grounded for two weeks and her parents told her she couldn't swim all summer long.

Tiny and Max told Raya she had to go to a rehabilitation center and made her read to a girl who broke her neck while diving.

Seeing that girl lying there and knowing she couldn't even scratch her nose made Raya feel sick and so totally sorry she didn't swim again until she was 10.

When Prudy found out about Raya's punishment,

She said,

You just have to read to a sick girl.

Man,

You got off easy.

You stink.

And it was the truth.

Raya stank.

She was a social stink bomb.

Nobody wanted to hang out with her and when they did,

She made up stupid lies that meant she had to stay home for a month.

She was hopeless.

Completely hopeless.

Raya didn't feel like reading when she got home so she was just lying on her bed staring at the ceiling when Tick came into her room asking,

What are you doing?

What's it look like?

I mean,

What are you thinking about?

Tick sat on the end of the bed.

Why do you care?

Raya sat up.

Tick shrugged.

Tiny told me I should come in and see what you're up to.

She thinks you're depressed.

Well,

If she thinks that,

Why didn't she come in here?

Tick smiled and bounced with excitement.

She said you'd say that and that I was supposed to tell you.

She figured she was part of the reason you were depressed.

So she'd stay out of the solution.

Raya didn't say anything.

So Tick asked,

What kind of solution does she mean?

Is this a fly in the ointment kind of thing?

Raya shook her head.

Sometimes Tick was so out of it.

Just forget it,

Tick.

Besides,

I thought you were going fishing with Max.

One of his students called to say some high school kids messed with their title project.

Whatever that is.

Tick traced a pattern on the bedspread.

Figures.

We'll go tomorrow.

Right.

Tick kicked in the air and asked,

Do you want to play a game or something?

We could play Monopoly and deal all the property cards in the beginning so it won't take forever.

I'll even let you have boardwalk and park place.

I'm not interested.

Tick stared at the floor for a minute and asked,

Do you want to talk about Mr.

Rutherford?

I promise I won't tease you.

Did Tiny tell you to ask me that?

Yeah.

Tick nodded.

But I really do want to know.

Well,

You tell Tiny that he is a selfish old man who hates people.

He really does.

He compared them to flies.

Tick got up,

His shoulders stiff,

His eyes wide open and said,

Does he eat flies?

No.

Raya threw a pillow at him.

He doesn't eat flies or people or have any dead bodies rotting in his house.

I've been in all of the rooms.

It was at that moment that Raya recalled what she had seen in the rooms.

She had been in such a hurry to find Rutherford.

She didn't really think about it until then.

Upstairs,

There were four bedrooms and every single one of them was made up as if it were expecting guests.

Each bed had a fancy bedspread,

One of them with a rich play out that made her think of a totem.

And she recalled something lacy about another one.

The other two escaped her memory,

But she remembered the corners of the covers had been turned back and wash stands with pitchers and basins and towels.

She even recalled fresh flowers in vases on the dressers.

Who's he expecting?

Did Callista actually leave him and he was waiting for her to come back?

Every time she thought she could just about forget about Rutherford,

She found something new she had to know about him.

He keeps the upstairs as if he's expecting guests.

Guess he intends to lock up in the basement and torture?

No.

Raya scowled at her brother.

Get it out of your head that he's some kind of cruel guy who does terrible things.

He's just a guy like Max.

Well,

Not just like Max.

He likes racing cars and comedy shows and hang gliding.

An old man who hang glides?

Not now,

Stupid.

He used to do it.

That's cool,

I guess.

Raya wondered,

Did Callista find out that Mr.

Rutherford really didn't love her and leave?

Did she decide to go to college and be an architect?

Did she design their house?

And that's why he took such good care of it?

Raya had to know.

She couldn't wait until she had to deliver groceries to him the very next week.

Jumping up,

Raya shouted,

I gotta go,

Then ran out of the room.

Tick yelled after her,

Go,

Go where?

Raya didn't answer.

She marched right up the hill to Rutherford's front door.

He didn't answer at first,

So she knocked again.

Where else could he be?

He might be in the garden,

Raya thought,

But she didn't dare go down there for fear he'd exploded her all over again.

Raya,

His voice came from behind her.

She turned to see him standing in the barn door.

The sun was setting,

So he looked all gray and distant in that shadowy doorway.

Hi,

She walked to the barn.

What are you doing?

Not that it's any concern of yours,

But I'm milking the cow.

Milking a cow?

That was another thing she would have never imagined Ian Rutherford doing.

But sure enough,

He sat back down on a stool and pulled milk right out of a cow's udder into a tin pail,

Old farmer style.

In fact,

She felt a little like she was on the set of Gunsmoke or something.

What are you doing here this late?

I wanted to ask you if Callista designed your house,

He laughed.

No,

Callista never became an architect.

Oh.

He turned to her,

His hand on his thigh,

As if he were waiting.

Then he said,

Is that all?

No more secrets you'd like me to reveal?

Embarrassed,

Raya looked around.

Even his barn was tidy.

It smelled of hay dust and animals,

But there wasn't the stench of manure that always grabbed her by the throat when she visited Grandma and Grandpa Pendel on the farm.

Nice barn.

It does the job.

So now I know why you don't buy milk.

Rutherford stood up,

Milk bucket in hand.

I don't buy milk because I have a cow and goats.

I don't buy meat because I have pigs and chickens,

Which also means the reason I don't buy eggs.

I grow all the vegetables I need.

And strawberries.

Those aren't for me,

He said,

Walking past her.

Raya jumped at the nearest possible conclusion.

You sell them?

Certainly not.

Then what are they for?

Rutherford stopped.

Why all the questions?

Are you intending to write my biography?

You're interesting.

And you are nosy,

He said,

Heading for the kitchen door.

Raya followed him.

I thought we were friends.

Friends?

Rutherford asked,

Putting the milk in the sink.

In my day,

A man and a little girl couldn't be friends.

It was a little too suspicious.

This isn't 1910.

It's 1976.

And men are friends with little girls now?

No.

Raya felt embarrassed.

Most people still think it's suspicious,

But there's nothing wrong with us being friends.

Perhaps,

But I don't feel the need to answer every little question you come up with.

Why don't you answer some of mine?

You've never asked me any.

All right,

Then.

He skimmed the cream off the milk.

Where are you from?

Wisconsin.

What are your parents like?

They're hippies.

What?

He turned to face her.

Hippies,

You know.

Then she realized he wouldn't know.

So she said,

They believe in changing the government through protest and sharing everything and free love and stuff like that.

They're Fabians?

He seemed even more confused.

It doesn't really have anything to do with him.

There are a lot of rock and roll musicians who are hippies,

But he's more of a beachcomber type.

Rutherford shook his head as if she was overloading him with information.

What do rocks and beaches have to do with music?

Huh?

He was starting to confuse her.

Let's start over.

Tell me again about hippies.

Well,

America went to war with Vietnam.

He interrupted her asking.

Vietnam?

Where's that?

You don't know where Vietnam is?

No,

I don't.

Do you know what a Fabian is?

He's a singer.

No,

It's a society of socialists.

He poured the milk into the pitcher on the counter saying.

Oh,

Rutherford,

It was.

I don't suppose there exists anymore.

Tell me where this Vietnam is located.

Well,

You shrugged.

I'm not real sure.

It's in Asia.

She tried to remember the map of Asia she made in geography class last winter.

Rutherford put the milk in the ice box that went into the parlor.

He came back with a globe.

Find it.

On his globe,

All she could find were Siam and French Indochina next to the South China Sea.

Then she saw Hanoi,

One of the cities she had to mark on her map of Vietnam.

It's here she ran her finger over the eastern shore of French Indochina.

It was taken from the French?

Then Rilla remembered that the French ruled the country before the war started.

Yeah,

That's right.

Anyway,

We were in Vietnam to make sure the communists didn't get it.

Some people didn't think we belonged over there,

So they protested.

And they were called hippies?

Yeah,

They're against a lot of things,

But some of them also use drugs.

Drugs?

You remember opium,

Right?

Not personally,

But I've heard of it.

Well,

Now they have a lot worse things like LSD and cocaine,

And some hippies think it's cool to get high.

They say you see things you never would if you didn't,

But I think it's dangerous and stupid.

Your parents,

Do they think it's okay to take drugs?

No,

They're not part of that crowd,

Rilla rolled her eyes.

Tani says it interferes with her driving.

Rutherford just stared at her blankly.

That was a joke.

Not a very funny one.

He took the globe.

So we went to war in Vietnam.

Coming back into the room,

He said,

So much for the war to end all wars.

You mean World War One?

Then World War Two.

They always said it'd never happen again.

And how do you know it did?

He stared at the floor.

I'm ashamed to say the only reason I know is because they rationed food during both wars.

I had to mail off for coupons to get my staples like sugar and flour.

I even subscribed to the local news for a while,

But it was all too awful and bloody confusing to be honest.

He turned to leave and came back again.

I know it's foolish,

But I like being up here where the wars seem like they're taking place in an entirely different world.

He wandered into the parlor.

So much for her grand plans of sharing all the news of the 20th century with Rutherford.

Because she couldn't find anything else to say,

She stepped into the parlor to ask,

Is that why you stay up here all alone?

You want to avoid all the bad things that happen?

Dropping into the chair in front of the fireplace,

He took a deep breath.

Well,

It was a nice side effect until now,

He forced a smile.

To be truthful,

I enjoy being alone most of the time.

I always have.

Rhea didn't believe him.

She was getting the advertisement version of the story,

Like diet pop.

They tell you it's low in calories,

But they don't mention that it tastes like liquefied plastic.

It didn't seem right to call him a liar,

So she asked him,

Then why all the gas bedrooms?

He squinted at her asking,

Excuse me,

I saw all the bedrooms upstairs.

You went sneaking around in my house?

He stood up.

She was afraid that he'd start yelling again.

So she blurted it out.

I came and you didn't answer the door.

So I thought you'd fallen or something.

I just want to make sure you were all right.

I see,

He nodded.

No,

They aren't guest rooms,

Really.

I didn't have any other use for them.

And it seems a shame to let all that stuff just collect dust.

I keep it nice,

More for something to do than in an effort to make it ready for guests.

You could open a bed and breakfast,

Rhea smiled,

Raising his eyebrows.

He said,

And what the devil is that?

A kind of hotel,

But it's inside someone's home,

He laughed.

Now that is a funny joke.

He went toward the kitchen.

One visitor at a time is enough.

Thank you.

I'm going to make some tea.

Am I the only visitor you've had?

I mean,

Of those who didn't peek in your window and run.

Don't flatter yourself.

I've gotten to know a few of the delivery boys over the years.

Jimmy the boxer,

A bandaid boxer,

And that one with the stubby fingers who played gin,

Tapping his forehead,

He said.

What was that boy's name?

Anyway,

You're not the first.

But there were plenty of cowards,

Too.

The one before you thought I was out to get him.

My brother thought you might eat children.

His laughter echoed down the hallway.

Who says I don't?

Mr.

Fort Rutherford could be really funny.

She felt bad about bringing him the Vietnam War and hardcore drugs.

But there was no way to take them back now.

What worried her even more was that she wasn't all that different from the kids who peeked in his window.

Just like those other kids.

She was there because she wanted to know more about him,

To discover his secrets.

That didn't seem right at all.

She swore to herself then and there that she wouldn't ask him any more questions.

If he told her something,

Then fine.

But beyond that,

They were just going to be friends.

What else was she going to do for the month she was self-grounded?

It is wild how the lies that we tell to make ourselves look better or feel better often wrap us up into such a knot.

It takes a long time to get out of it.

And you know,

When I was when I started the conversation between Rutherford and Raelia about her parents,

I had no idea how tied up and confused it would make both of the characters.

But it is true that sometimes the reason we have difficulty understanding people who are from a different generation than we are is that in many ways we live in different worlds.

Kids only know the world they've experienced,

But adults have experienced more than one generation.

So sometimes they forget that kids don't have the context to understand what they're talking about because they haven't lived it yet.

You know,

It can be hard to remember that little kids have a very different experience than their parents.

And it can be hard for parents to remember that kids only know the world they've lived in.

And you know,

That's why one of my favorite reviews of Strawberry Hill was from a young reader who said,

I love this book.

It made me want to get to know my grandparents and parents for little stories.

And that really is what this story is about.

One of many things.

It's about getting to know those around you who are from different experiences,

Perhaps different generations,

To get to know them,

To hear their story,

To understand them.

So I hope you too are inspired to get to know people from different generations by sharing their stories.

I hope you've enjoyed the story I've shared with you now.

Thank you.

This has been A.

LaFaye of Silvanacity.