Strawberry Hill, Chapter 8

Recommended 8 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 by moving to Tidal, ME that 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. NOTE: Dramatic ending, prepare young readers

Transcript

Hello,

This is Ailoufé of Sylvanosity,

And today I'm going to share Chapter 8 of Strawberry Hill.

Thank you for joining me for this track and for listening to other chapters of the story.

If you haven't listened to them yet,

All chapters 1-7 are available,

And Chapter 9,

If it isn't available already,

Will be soon.

Chapter 8 As she drove up,

Ralia saw Tiny seated in front of a flower bed in the yard,

Yanking up plants and tossing them over her shoulder.

Seeing a daisy fly after a black-eyed Susan,

Ralia knew Tiny was not weeding.

Tiny was mad about something.

It certainly wouldn't help that Ralia forgot about her chocolate stars and peanut butter.

She thought about going back to get them,

But Tiny had heard the car pull up.

If Ralia left,

It would only make Tiny matter.

Sorry,

Tiny,

Ralia said,

Getting out of the car.

I forgot your treats.

Tiny spun around,

Her face smudged with dirt,

Yelling,

Then where in the beep were you?

Her voice was fierce and sharp,

Her eyes narrowed.

It was amazing how old and mean Tiny could look when she wanted to.

If she wasn't so angry,

Tiny'd look like a little kid making mud pies.

Ralia froze.

Her mom's anger always made Ralia feel as if her blood was hardening.

I went up to Rutherford's.

He needed his groceries delivered.

Using the side of the house for support,

Tiny stood up.

Who is Rutherford?

Ralia wanted to say,

Like you care,

But she didn't feel like sending Tiny into a rage.

Just an old guy who lives up on the hill.

And why did you deliver groceries?

Don't they have someone at the store to do that?

Ralia didn't understand what Tiny was so angry about,

So she asked,

What's the problem?

Problem?

Tiny slapped her gloved hands together,

Sending up a cloud of dust.

Not much.

You just left an hour and a half ago,

And all you had to do was walk three blocks to the store and back.

Tiny went weeks without even asking about Ralia's schoolwork or museum trips.

Then she'd blow her top when Ralia took too long on a simple errand like mailing a package at the post office.

Tiny didn't make any sense.

One minute she didn't give a hoot,

Then the next minute she exploded because Ralia was a little late.

All Ralia wanted was a normal mother who cared what she did from day to day.

To be there when something went wrong,

Like say,

A bike accident?

But not Tiny.

She had to do everything her own way.

You don't have anything to say for yourself?

Tiny stood with her hands on her hips,

Waiting.

The kid at the store was afraid to go up there,

So I offered.

I got paid for it.

Ralia held up her money.

She'd folded the bills around her quarters to make a tiny money pouch.

Tiny grabbed the money.

I'll use it to pay for your funeral.

She stomped into the house.

What's the big deal?

I was just a little late.

The deal,

Tiny turned to face Ralia,

Is that in the first week in this puny little town you've nearly killed yourself running into a brick wall and disappeared more times than I can count.

The deal is that every nerve in my body is tied into a knot,

Wondering if.

.

.

Tiny didn't finish.

She just froze in place.

If,

Ralia asked.

Ralia thought Tiny was worried about her,

Wondering if she was okay.

But Tiny said,

If this baby is going to be all right.

I don't need any more aggravation,

Ralia.

Ralia felt guilty and a little angry.

The children that weren't around,

Mayetta and the little one yet to come,

Seemed to get more attention than she did.

I'm sorry,

Tiny.

All this stress.

Tiny threw the money in the jar by the sink.

It's going to make this kid revolt and pop out before it's done.

Ralia imagined a baby popping out like a piece of bread from a toaster.

Ta-da!

She laughed.

You make it sound like it's a pizza or something.

Tiny tried not to laugh,

But her cheeks ballooned.

Then she burst out laughing.

That's awful!

But I do wish it were that easy.

Ralia spoke to an imaginary order clerk.

I'll take one baby with blue eyes,

Hold the pepperoni.

And no anchovies,

Tiny laughed.

Oh,

And you can leave off the spit up,

The poop,

And the raunchy smell of urine.

Yeah!

Ralia shook her head.

She remembered how awful the bathroom smelled after Tick missed the toilet.

It takes a heck of an aim for a three-year-old boy to hit the bowl.

What is NP anyway?

You got me.

Tiny sat down at the table,

Half laughing,

Half sighing.

She looked exhausted.

Her shoulders drooped,

Her face pale.

Sorry,

Tiny.

Ralia gave her mother's shoulder a squeeze.

Tiny gripped Ralia's hand.

It was nice to feel Tiny's hand on hers.

That's okay,

Kiddo.

She let go.

What's the deal with this Rutherford guy anyway?

Ralia sat down.

He's an old man who lives all by himself up in the hell.

His place has that great wooden gate we saw when we drove in.

I saw the gate,

But not the house.

Tiny closed her eyes and turned her neck to stretch and relax.

Well,

I think he's been holed up in that old house for a really long time.

He didn't even know girls wear short dresses.

Tiny's eyes popped open.

She leaned forward.

Are you serious?

Ralia nodded.

A real antique in human form?

You must be in heaven,

Tiny laughed.

Ralia felt a twinge.

She didn't understand her reaction at first.

Was it guilt?

Anger?

Embarrassment?

Maybe all three.

She did love history.

But Rutherford made her angry.

Maybe Tiny had it all wrong.

He wasn't a living antique.

He was a museum exhibit.

A living,

Breathing tour of the past.

And Ralia didn't have the option of making things up about him.

Ralia took one of Tiny's statues and picked at the glue covering one of the pieces of cracked china.

He's actually kind of hard to talk to.

Why's that?

Tiny asked.

He's got some pretty weird ideas about women.

Oh?

Tiny was speaking in her.

So tell me what you've learned,

Young lady voice.

Ralia was supposed to confess she'd learned something that Tiny had always told her.

The earliest 20th century was a repressive time for women.

Ralia used to think that that was all a bunch of hooey-fooey.

But after meeting Rutherford,

She had her doubts.

Still,

Ralia saw that period as a time when men didn't leave their wives alone when they were pregnant.

They didn't drag their families into foreign jungles or bring their children over whitewater rapids or up mountainsides.

The women and children stayed safely at home with their nannies and their playrooms and their beautiful gardens,

Complete with mazed hedges,

Fountains,

And masonry walls.

It would have been divine,

Especially if nobody got worked up about what girls can and can't do.

Sure,

The clothing was a little much,

50 pounds of extra weight on any given day,

But Ralia would go swimming a lot.

Ralia imagined a beautiful lake with a skinny tree leaning over the water like an old man.

Tiny snapped her fingers and pulled Ralia back into the cramped kitchen.

What were you saying about Rutherford?

Does he have another name?

I hate calling people by their last name.

It makes me sound like a drill sergeant.

Tiny lowered her voice and shouted,

PENDLE!

SUCK IN THAT GUT!

Ralia giggled.

His first name is Ian,

I think.

That's Gaelic for John.

How do you know that?

Ralia was surprised that Tiny would know such a thing.

I'm not a complete idiot,

You know,

Tiny smiled.

I dated a John in college.

So you did something besides protest in college?

Tiny asked Ralia that.

Tiny always told Ralia that she'd enrolled in school down in Alabama just to be in the right place at the right time to shake things up.

Tiny glared at her.

Don't make light of protests,

Ralia.

Max and I take our causes very seriously.

Ralia shook her head.

She remembered Max and Tiny's protest days,

Campus marches,

Shouting matches with policemen,

And the house full of people writing letters to senators to get them to bring the troops home from Vietnam.

Even after all the things her parents told her and all the things she'd seen on TV,

Ralia couldn't imagine what fighting over there would have been like.

Max talked about how it was a war fought in jungles against an army that didn't fight like any other.

They called it guerrilla warfare,

Which meant using the jungle as camouflage to plan sneak attacks and hide traps and bombs.

Modern wars were totally twisted.

Not that war was ever a good thing,

But at least in the old days,

You could see your enemy.

Ralia didn't understand the first thing about the war,

Really.

She'd read all of Tiny's clippings a hundred times and it still didn't make sense.

Not even the protests where people shouted and fought and got arrested.

She never understood how all that rage got anything accomplished.

Not that Ralia had any better solutions.

A protest did bring Max and Tiny together.

They were down in Birmingham to protest against segregation back in 1963.

Max was arrested for trying to disconnect a fire hose from the hydrant.

He wanted to keep the firemen from hosing down the protesters,

But the police had a better idea,

Throwing Max in jail.

Tiny was in the same jail for punching a cop.

She'd stop a cop from hitting a black woman with his billy club by clocking him in the nose.

I can't believe you really hauled off and hit a cop.

Ralia was really proud of her parents for all the things they'd tried to change,

But she only wished she could understand it.

Tiny bowed her head.

It was the wrong thing to do.

Fighting hatred with hatred just doesn't work.

Yeah,

Ralia put the statue back and tapped its head saying,

These things are pretty cool.

Might sell them.

Tiny gave one a push.

It teetered,

But didn't fall.

Howdy folks.

Max smiled as he came in carrying a bucket,

His coat covered with pollen.

Tick came running in after him announcing,

We got some fish.

To eat or raise in the tub,

Tiny asked.

Max leaned down to kiss her.

To eat,

My love.

He didn't kiss his wife like a normal dad.

There was no lip smacking smooch.

They always lip lock like it was their last kiss.

At least they only did it in public once in a while.

Good,

Tiny stood up.

I'm in the mood to play with some fish heads.

Yuck.

Ralia covered her mouth.

Just the thought of her mom dissecting another fish head to look at its brains and his optic nerves to see how they were put together made her want to puke.

I'll be in my room.

Ralia started toward the stairs.

Max came through the kitchen to meet her on the landing.

Everything going okay with you?

Ria stared at him.

This was an odd new development.

Sure.

You?

Things are going all right.

My students actually know the difference between a bog and a swamp.

It's kind of nice.

Ralia nodded.

She was waiting for the punch line.

The real reason Max was asking about her life.

Tiny had a good day.

No pain or anything.

Max looked worried.

His forehead creases always scrunched up into tiny V's when he was concerned about something.

Ralia walked up the stairs saying,

Why don't you ask her?

The last thing she wanted was to be a go between for Max and Tiny.

Plopping down in her bed,

She wished it was a raft that she could use to float down some river and just bob over the horizon.

Tick burst into the room.

Did any of your scabs stick to your socks?

What?

I want some of your scabs so I can look at it under the microscope Max brought home.

I wonder if it has any of those little tiny bugs that eat your dead skin.

Do you think there are special scab eating bugs?

Tick came so close to her that he was practically sucking up the air Ralia breathed.

You are such a creep.

Ralia pushed him away.

Tick stumbled a little then came forward again asking,

Well did it?

Did what?

Did any of your scab come off in your socks?

Find your own scabs.

Get out of here.

Ralia pointed to the door.

Tick ran out then ran back in to say,

You're a scab.

Ralia threw a pillow at him so he left chanting,

Ralia's a scab,

Ralia's a scab.

Tick tin was like a scab.

Just when it heals over and doesn't hurt anymore it starts to itch and annoy you all over again.

Ralia covered her head with her pillow to drown out his voice.

Dinner was a family affair.

Tiny grilled the fish on the barbecue and Max,

The destroyer of all foods,

Even made a great salad with water chestnuts and honey roasted peanuts.

It probably turned out because he didn't have to cook anything.

Ralia sliced cucumbers and covered them with a creamy vinaigrette sauce.

Tick chopped up a ton of onions to put in it but Ralia wouldn't let him do it.

Come on,

They're for Tiny.

He tried to body check Ralia out of the way so he could drop in the onions he held in his hands.

They stuck out between his fingers like white worms.

Ralia hated onions.

No,

She pushed back.

Here.

Max took a coffee cup,

Ladled some creamy vinaigrette sauce into a bowl,

Then held it under Tick's hands.

He dropped in the onions and said,

Thanks Max.

No problem sport,

He tousled Tick's hair.

At least I don't have to eat them,

Ralia said as she took the cucumbers to the table.

They're all mine,

Tiny said drooling over the cup like a mad scientist.

Tick laughed.

I want some.

He ran toward Tiny.

He hated onions just as much as Ralia did.

Tiny turned to keep Tick away.

No,

No,

You can't have them.

Tiny actually ran,

Baby belly and all.

She slammed into her chair then hunched over the cup,

Growling between bursts of laughter.

Tick had to give up the chase.

He was laughing too hard to move.

He slumped against the wall and held his sides.

Tiny milked it by slurping up the onions,

Letting them hang out of her mouth,

The vinaigrette dripping down her chin.

She even grunted.

It was gross,

Disgusting even.

But Ralia couldn't help it.

She laughed.

Tiny turned to her and laughed with her mouth open to show off her creamy teeth and tongue.

Max shook with laughter.

Maybe she wasn't a huggy feely mom,

But Tiny sure was funny.

But she paid for it by burping through the rest of dinner.

Max kept offering her water.

What do you think that'll do?

Drown the burps,

Tiny asked.

I'm just trying to help.

I know,

But Tiny squeezed his hand.

They didn't sit across from each other like most parents.

They sat side by side so they could hold hands and share each other's food.

Ralia had even seen them playing footsie like a couple of teenagers once or twice.

It was totally embarrassing.

Ralia usually skipped dessert when her parents went mushy,

And that night was no different.

She took a bowl of pudding outside.

Tick showed up a little later with a full chocolate beard and mustache and a mason jar in each hand.

Want to catch a flierfly?

Sure.

Ralia took a jar.

Tick tried to explain how fireflies are really beetles and not flies.

But Ralia didn't listen.

She chased up to the flies wondering just what turn of the century children thought of those magic bugs.

Were they transformed fairies cast into the form of a bug by an evil witch?

The chase energized Ralia.

She even enjoyed sitting under the open door of the root cellar by far the darkest place in the yard to watch them light up.

The best part was still watching them fly out of the jar to spread out.

It was like releasing a new galaxy and watching the stars spread out further and further across the universe.

Ralia dreamed of stars.

They blinked at her as she lay on the lawn.

Then she heard a siren.

No,

It was screaming.

A cat caught in a rat trap?

No,

It came from inside the house.

Tiny was screaming.

Ralia jumped out of bed and ran toward Tiny in Max's room.

Tiny yelled,

It's too early.

Dear God,

No.

Max cradled Tiny as she hugged her stomach.

They were both crying.

Ralia heard the sirens in the background.

What should I do?

Ralia asked.

Keep Tick calm.

Max said.

Ralia knew she should go to her brother,

But Tiny looked so scared.

Her whole body was shaking as she mumbled to herself.

Please God,

Please God.

Ralia continued to chant on the way to Tick's room.

She didn't want anything to go wrong with his pregnancy.

God had promised her it would be all right.

And she believed it would until she saw Tiny all scrunched up in her bed,

Hugging herself.

Tick was pressed against the wall in the corner of his room,

Hugging his pet snake so tightly he was liable to rip it in half.

It'll be okay,

Tick,

Ralia said,

Sitting down beside him.

She hugged him,

But he remained stiff.

He just stared at the doorway.

The ambulous people pounded on the door and made Tick jump.

Ralia shushed him,

But he started to cry.

The attendant's voices sounded like radio correspondence reporting from a war front,

Distant and crackly,

Yet confident and loud.

They couldn't get the gurney up the narrow stairs,

So they carried Tiny down.

She was shouting all the way,

Saying things like,

Don't hurt my baby.

Ralia couldn't help thinking that Tiny would lose her mind entirely if something happened to this baby.

God couldn't let that happen.

I know it's hard to end a chapter with such a scary situation.

We don't know what will happen next.

But one of the things to remember is that when scary things are happening,

It's important for us to find the calm inside ourselves.

To relax.

To turn our thoughts inward.

To listen to the movement of the wind or our breath.

And know that we can find a calm,

Still,

Gentle place where we can assure ourselves it's going to be okay.

Because no matter what happens next,

You have the tools you need to work your way through it.

You may not know what those tools are just yet,

But you will find them.

And the people around you,

The people who love and support you,

Your family,

Your friends,

They're there to help you find the tools you need and to know how to use them to get yourself through what comes next.

And who knows?

What comes next may be a total wonderful,

Splendid surprise.

I hope it is,

Don't you?

This has been A.

Le Fay of Sylvanosity,

Sharing chapter 8 of Strawberry Hill.

Thank you so much for listening.

I hope to see you again soon.

Bye.

Reviews

Ohmigosh you can’t just end a chapter like that I loved it so much make more soon pls