Homecoming by Voigt Cynthia

Author:Voigt, Cynthia [Voigt, Cynthia]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Family, Siblings, Social Issues, Adolescence, General
ISBN: 0449700895
Google: TxHGnAEACAAJ
Amazon: 0689851324
Barnesnoble: 0689851324
Publisher: Fawcett
Published: 1981-01-02T07:00:00+00:00

PART TWO

CHAPTER 1

The motor rumbled like hunger in the belly of the bus. The fumes that floated in through the open windows were swollen with heat. They were on their way. Again.

Dicey leaned back in her seat and tried to make herself relax. They had until evening, when Cousin Eunice got home. Unless the camps wondered why all the Tillermans were absent and called Cousin Eunice at work. She didn’t think that was likely.

James leaned toward Dicey. They were the only people sitting in the back of the bus. Nobody would hear them over the sound of the motor.

“It’s like a prison break, isn’t it?”

Dicey knew what he meant. Even so, “That’s not fair,” she said. “Cousin Eunice wasn’t a jailer.”

James shrugged. “Whadda you think?” he asked out of the corner of his mouth. “I think, if we can get to New York without being caught—we’ll be home free.”

Home, Dicey thought. She remembered the inscription on the tombstone: Home is the sailor, home is the hunter. Until she died, Dicey wouldn’t expect any place to be home. Home was with Momma—and Momma was in a hospital where the doctors said she’d always stay. There could be no home for the Tillermans. Home free—Dicey would settle for a place to stay. Stay free.

Cousin Eunice’s house wasn’t free; it was expensive. The price was always remembering to be grateful. And there was danger to Sammy and Maybeth, of being sent to foster homes or special schools; danger to Dicey and James of forgetting and saying what they thought before wondering if it would sound ungrateful. At Cousin Eunice’s house, they were kept busy so they wouldn’t be a bother, couldn’t get in trouble.

Dicey had lowered her sights. She no longer hoped for a home. Now she wanted only a place where the Tillermans could be themselves and do what was good for them. Home was out of the question. Stay might be possible, if this grandmother could be persuaded. . . .

Dicey stopped thinking. She wanted to keep it simple. Get to Crisfield and see, that was her plan. That was all of it.

“Anyway, they know where we’re going,” Dicey told James.

“How could they know that?”

“I said so in the note I left.”

“Dicey! Why’d you do that?”

“I don’t think it would be fair to leave her to worry.”

“She’ll worry anyway. She likes worrying.”

“I can’t help that, James. I can’t help what she’s like. I can only help what I’m like.”

“You’ve ruined it,” James went on. “We can’t be running away if they know where we’re going.”

“We’re not running away—we never were running away,” Dicey said. “We’re just going to see.”

James shook his head. “I’m running away. Before—we were always the ones who were run away from. This time I want us to do it. What’s your plan?”

Dicey didn’t answer.

The road flowed under the wheels. They were back on Route 1. Maybe it was her doom, always to get back on Route 1. She squeezed Maybeth’s fingers. “Maybeth? What’s the matter? You scared?”

Maybeth looked at Dicey and nodded.

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