The Angel,
Telegraph Creek, British Columbia, Canada.
I stared at the paper in a daze while Oscar tugged on my sleeve.
“What does she say, Jimmy.What about Cal?”
I looked up at him.
“She says Cal went off with a man to be married.”
“Oh!”
“But…but she don’t think things have worked out well because Cal hasn’t been back, and she promised she’d come to let Miss June know she was happy in her new life.”
Oscar frowned.“If she said she’d come, she would.Cal would do what she promised, Jimmy.”
“I know it…and so does Miss June.”I licked my lips and scratched at my chin with the hand that wasn’t holding the letter.“She wants us to come to Telegraph Creek.”
Oscar stared at me.“She does?”
I nodded.“She doesn’t know what to do, and she needs our help—to find Cal and do what we can.”
Oscar was silent, which meant he was thinking about what I’d said and didn’t know what to say.I couldn’t blame him.
“’Tis a long way,” he said.
“’Tis.”
“And we’re settled here, in our brand-new, beautiful house.”
I didn’t reply.I’d already decided we had to go—or I had to.But I wanted to let Oscar come to that conclusion himself.
His forehead wrinkled.“Can I see it?”
I handed him the letter.“It’s in cursive, but see if you can read it.”
Oscar’s gaze tracked Miss June’s neat writing.It took him a while, and I could see his mouth moving as he made out the words.I doubt he read every one, but he’d be able to get the gist of it.
Finally, he looked up.
“Jimmy, I’m worried about Cal.”
“Me too.”
“Do you…do you want to go?”
“I reckon I have to.But you can stay here if you want.”
Oscar gazed at the door we’d come in only moments ago, when things had been much less complicated.Then he looked back at me.
“You ain’t goin’ anywhere without me, Jimmy Downing,” Oscar said in a firm tone that brooked no argument.“Don’t even try.”
I smiled, relieved.T’would be safer for Oscar to stay here with Clarence and Irene, but I wanted him near me.I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him, even for a month or two.Anything could happen in this wilderness, and if we met up with trouble, at least we’d be together.And as dangerous as it might be to travel again, we knew we had a safe place in Telegraph Creek with Miss June.
“I wouldn’t think of it.”
I took the letter from him and folded it up, placing it in my pocket for safekeeping.
