Crackpots: A Novel by Sara Pritchard

Author:Sara Pritchard [Pritchard, Sara]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 2003-08-17T00:00:00+00:00

1980—Viwy and I and a bunch of guys are playing horseshoes in the sandpits behind Boo's and my house-in-progress. The game's almost over, and Viwy and I are way ahead. The guys hate it. We love it. We don't even aim. I think it all has to do with magnetism, but Viwy says it's visualization. We just close our eyes and throw. I love games where you get to shoot and throw things—darts, horseshoes, quoits—but I don't like the ones like softball where things come flying at you.

"Come on, Ruby Tuesday," Nick says, pulling me away, "sing 'Someday Soon."'

"Somebody shoot for me," I call over my shoulder.

Nick is walking toward the benches—I love the way he walks—playing the introduction on his Gibson guitar. I love the introduction, but the song is hard to sing. It reminds me of Neddy. My first love, Neddy. I made him a lariat in Brownies. We were going to join a Wild West show when we grew up. I would do a balancing sharpshooter act, galloping around a ring at high speed, dressed in a satin cowgirl outfit with long blue fringe, standing, bareback of course, on a pinto pony, a six-shooter smokin' in each hand. Neddy would snap cigarettes out of my mouth with a bull whip and throw knives at me as I spun around on a giant wooden wheel. He would rope steers and ride a bucking bronco. We would have three children, also sharpshooters: Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill, and Annie.

"Come on, Ruby," Nick says, and I look at him and melt as he plays the intro over again. I start to sing, and Nick bends his head down close to his guitar like it's his lover, closes his eyes, and smiles:

There's a young man that I know, His age is twenty-one

Comes from down in southern Colorado

Just out of the service, and he's lookin'for his fun

Someday soon, I'm goin' with him, someday soon.

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