Rass grinned and stepped back from the ladder. That told him all he needed to know about the stranger hiding out in his barn. The boy had heart. "Id appreciate that, son. "
The boy turned around and climbed down the ladder.
Rass went to the workbench and lit a lantern. Flames flickered to life in the glass globe and filled a small section of the barn with tenuous, throbbing light.
The boy peeked around the ladder, eyeing Rass spec-ulatively.
Rass walked toward him. "Im Rass Throckmorton," he said, coming to a stop.
The boy edged cautiously away from the ladder and took the plate of food from Rass. "Im Jake. " "Well, Jake, shall we sit down while you eat?" Jake glanced down at the plate in his hand. Naked hunger passed through his eyes, but he didnt take a bite. "What do you want from me?"
Rass was saddened by the question. He set down the lantern, then slowly sat down.
"Nothing," he said softly. "I just thought you might be hungry. "
Jake seemed to think about that for a moment, then awkwardly he sat down beside Rass. Pulling the plate onto his lap, he stared down at the food for a long, wordless moment, and Rass thought he saw the sheen of tears in the boys eyes. Then he dove into the sauerbraten and chewed noisily.
Rass watc
hed him eat, and once again he was filled with sadness for this boy who knew what it meant to be alone and frightened and hungry.
"How old are you?" he asked quietly, when Jake had finished.
Jake took a messy, dribbling swallow of the cider and backhanded the moisture from his mouth, giving Rass a sheepish look. "Sorry. Ive got better manners than that. Im fifteen—sixteen in March. "
Rass was surprised that the boy had even heard the word manners, much less be chagrined by his own lack. "Where are you from?"
A guarded look crept into Jakes green eyes. It looked absurdly out of place on his open, honest features. "Last place was Abilene. "
It wasnt an answer, but Rass let it go. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small leather bag and opened it. Treasures glittered in the pale lamplight: an arrowhead stone, the wispy remnants of a rattlesnake skin, a small gray wasps nest.
Jake picked up the wasps nest, studying it.
Rass saw the beginning of wonder in the boys eyes, and his chest tightened with emotion. It was like his old teaching days at Public School No. 27 in New York. It had been so long since hed had an eager young mind in his charge, since someone had wanted the useless stockpile of information in Rasss brain. Not since hed taught geology and history to the Digby boy. Now, there was a mind, he thought with a smile, and wondered whatever had happened to Larence.
"I found that in the eaves of an abandoned farm out toward town. Maybe tomorrow youd like to go collecting with me—"
Jake shook his head. "Naw. Id best be moving on. . . . "
"I need an assistant," Rass interjected eagerly. "Someone to catalog my finds and carry them for me. "
Jake stared at the arrowhead. A small frown pulled at the edges of his mouth.
"When I was a kid, I used to love rock collecting. "
When I was a kid. Rasss old heart gave a painful twitch. What a sad sentence coming from a fifteen-year-old. "Im seventy-four and I still love it. "
"My mom gave me a book about rocks. Told all about the different kinds. "
"She must love you very much. "
"Yeah. " He paused, looked down. "She did. "
Did. Rass understood the sadness now. He wanted to say he was sorry, but he knew how useless the words were, how pointless. So he said something else instead, the only thing he could. "You could stay for a while. Move on anytime you wanted. "
Jake looked at him. In the flickering golden light, his young face appeared pale, almost fragile. There was a hint of uncertainty in his eyes. "I . . . Id like that, but . . . "
He glanced down at his hands.