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what I could sell one fer Fd be makin' about a quarter a day." Rennie ran out of breath. "And ye'd rather make 'em and give 'em away?" Johnnie smiled. "Yeah, to those that I love. The happy smile on a child's face is worth more than money." Rennie meant what she said. "I'll never understand ye, Rennie. Did ye know that ye're an exceptional woman?" There was a quiver in Johnnie's voice. "No, remind me ever' now and then," Rennie laughed. By now they had arrived at the end of the big road. "Let me out here," Rennie said. "I want to walk up the holler." "Are ye shore?" Johnnie asked as he slowed down and pulled the truck over to the side of the road. "Yeah, I'm shore. I want to get these hot shoes off and wade in the creek. I have a lot of things to think about, and there's nothin' more refreshin' than wadin' in the water. As Hank used to say, I'd druther wear out my feet than have my head bounced off." "Okey, if that's the way ye want it. You're the boss. See ye Friday." 36 It was after dark Friday when Sarah Ellen and Johnnie arrived. There were several boxes in the back of the truck that Sarah Ellen had brought with her. Johnnie offered to carry them into the house, but Sarah Ellen told him there wasn't anything that would be hurt if left on the porch overnight . "Anyway, one of those boxes is full of books that I brought Rennie, and if she gets into them I won't get a word from her all weekend." Sarah Ellen smiled at her sister. "Bring Betsy and the kids over Sunday after church fer 217 dinner/7 Rennie told Johnnie as he turned his truck. "We're goin' to have chicken and dumplin's, and there'll be a plenty fer all." "We'll be here. Anythin' ye want us to bring?" he asked. "No, jest yer appetite," Rennie told him. "I never go anywheres without that," Johnnie yelled back as he went rattling down the rough hollow. Next morning when Rennie awoke she looked over in the other bed for Sarah Ellen. She wasn't there. She was already up. Rennie went to the kitchen. No one there. She looked toward the outhouse, but the door was open. Then she searched the barn, came back to the house, and walked through and out on the front porch. Looking toward the graveyard she saw her sister kneeling by Hank's grave. Rennie thought, "I've heard it said that it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, but I don't believe that." After a late breakfast Sarah Ellen went all over the house, even up the ladder stairs into the loft, then all over the farm and garden. Rennie watched her from the front porch. At each stop she would pause and drink in the memories. Sometimes she would giggle, then laugh aloud, other times she would wipe tears from her eyes. Rennie had offered to go with her, but she had said that she wanted to go alone. After dinner they sat on the porch a long time letting the dishes get dry and cold. The scraps would be hard to get off, but neither thought about that. "Rennie, there's so much I want to ask you, and there's so much that I don't understand . Is the love one has for their kinfolks the same love they have for someone they want to marry? I loved Hank so much." She stopped to wipe the tears away. "There was a boy I met in Canada, a real nice boy. We were together a lot; I enjoyed being with him. He even took me home with him to meet his parents. I know that had I given him any encouragement he would have asked me to marry him. I liked him a lot, but I knew that he would never have been happy here in Kentucky, and I sure was not going to live there away from all my folks and Lonesome Holler. Was this love that I have for Hank . . . for I love him as much now as I did when he was alive . . . is it just because he was my cousin and we 218 [3.138.141.202...
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