Page 136 of Left Behind

***

It was two days later before Linette and Wiley had another day off together. They took Ava with them and headed up the mountain.

“Where are we going, Bubba? Are we going to Grammy’s house?” Ava asked.

“No. We’re going to a different house. You’ll see when we get there.”

“Will there be kids there?” she asked.

“You’re a kid. You’ll be there,” Wiley said. “You and Pinky talk it over.”

Ava leaned back and pulled Pinky up beneath her chin and closed her eyes. The next time Wiley glanced up in the rearview mirror to check on her, she was fast asleep.

“I’m timing the drive for future reference,” Linette said, eyeing the scenery as they passed. “It’s so beautiful up here. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to grow up here.”

“Me neither. When it comes to peace and quiet, the mountain is it. Usually, the loudest thing at night will be someone’s hound baying on a trail in a far-off holler.”

Linette frowned “Holler?”

“Mountain talk for a hollow. There are hollers all over the Cumberlands, places drastically smaller and more secluded than a valley. Jubilee used to be a valley before our ancestor, Brendan Pope, came here and started a trading post. The town grew out of that, and then turning it into a tourist attraction turned it into something else yet again.”

“What’s the cell service like?” she asked.

“The higher up you go, the better,” Wiley said. “But Sean can fix us up. He runs his entire computer business from the house. Whatever we need to stay connected to our jobs, he can make happen.” Then he pointed to a red mailbox on the road ahead. “See the red mailbox? That’s where we turn.”

She shivered. “I’m full of excitement and anticipation.”

“Besides the house, the land around it is beautiful. A big open pasture at the back. Outbuildings, probably also in need of repair, but they’re built of logs that were trees on this mountain and have been standing for well over a century.”

“I can’t wait,” Linette said.

When Wiley began to slow down to take the turn, Ava stirred, opened her eyes, and then looked around.

“Is this where we’re going?” she asked.

“Yes. To the house at the end of this gravel road,” Wiley said.

“Who lives there?” Ava asked.

“Nobody now, but we’re going to. We’ll fix it up, then move your playhouse and swing set and all of our furniture to this house. You’ll have a big fenced-in yard to play in, and lots of shade trees with birds everywhere. You and Linnie can feed birds here, and we’ll get a cat who will live in the barn and catch mice, and you will have kitties to play with.”

“And we can grow a garden,” Linette said. “One for flowers, and one for vegetables, and when we go to bed at night, you can look out your window and see stars and moonlight. You will feel safe knowing there will never be cars driving by or people who would shoot into windows.”

Ava’s eyes filled with tears. “Never?”

“Never,” Wiley said.

“I will like it,” Ava whispered.

“And there it is,” Wiley said, pointing to a white two-story house with a porch that ran the length of the house. Grass had grown up in the yard, and the house looked lonesome.

“Do I get to sleep upstairs?” Ava asked.

“All of the bedrooms are upstairs,” Wiley said.

Ava heard, but said nothing, still absorbing this news, while Linette was already picturing their life there.

They walked up the rock path to the porch, then up the steps. Wiley unlocked the door and led the way, with Linette and Ava holding hands behind him.

---