When You Wish upon a Rat (29 page)

“What?” Marcus stared at her.

“Close your mouth while you're eating, Marcus,” Ruth snapped, then turned to her parents. “I didn't go to see Lou while her parents were at the hospital.”

“Huh, I told you they hated each other!” Marcus said. “So that makes Ruth a … liar!”

“Be quiet, Marcus,” Mr. Craze said sternly. “What do you mean, Ruth?”

“I lied,” she said again. “I went to look for Rodney.”

“For
who
?”

“For Rodney … the rat.”

“You went
where?
” Mrs. Craze was openmouthed.

“To the creek,” Ruth said, feeling her face getting hotter. She looked at Marcus. “To where we last saw him.”

“But that was … months ago! And such a long way!”

Ruth said nothing, but she wasn't hungry anymore. She gave
the rest of her ice cream to Paul, who was delighted. “Thanks, Ruthie.”

“How did you get there?”

“Bus and train.”

“Well.” Mrs. Craze frowned and put down her spoon.

“Well.” Mr. Craze nodded thoughtfully, as though trying to process the information. “That is pretty … surprising, Ruth, I have to say.” He looked blankly at his wife. “So did you
find
him?” he said at last.

“Yes.”

“Well, I suppose that's something, but …” Mr. Craze seemed baffled more than anything.

“But you shouldn't have lied about it, Ruth,” Mrs. Craze said. “That really wasn't good of you. You could have … I mean, what if we … What if something had happened?”

“I know … I'm sorry.”

“It was my idea,” Howard cut in. They all turned to look at him.

“Well, it was Ruth's decision, Howard,” Mrs. Craze said kindly, “so I don't think you are responsible.” Everyone was quiet as she stood up, collected the glasses, and dumped them in the sink. “Did you go too, Howard?”

“Yes.” Howard nodded. “It was the best day of my life.”

“Oh.” Mrs. Craze smiled helplessly, moved because he was so obviously sincere. Instead of sitting down again, she stood
behind Ruth and drew her hair back from her face the way she used to when Ruth was a little girl. “What will we do with you, Ruthie?” she said softly.

Ruth shrugged, closed her eyes, and sighed.

“Put her in a dark room,” Marcus said quickly, “with only bread and water!”

“Make her lie on a bed of nails!” Paul shouted.

In the end they were all laughing.

“Can Howard stay?” Paul wanted to know an hour later. “
Please,
Mum.”

They'd been playing a board game until Mrs. Craze announced it was time for bed. “I
need
him here in the morning so we can finish the game.”

“Would you like to stay, Howard?” Mrs. Craze asked. “Or would you like us to drive you home?”

“I'd like to stay,” he said shyly, “if it's okay.”

“Of course it is, but … I take it your father knows where you are?”

There was a moment's awkward silence. Howard shook his head. “Not really.”

Howard didn't want to ring home, and in the end Mr. Craze offered to do it. The phone call didn't last long, and Mr. Craze had a slightly stunned expression on his face when he held out the phone to Howard.

“Your dad would like a word,” he said quietly.

They all waited to see what the verdict would be. They could hear a loud voice on the other end but nothing much of what was actually being said. Howard just stood there passively, saying
yes
and
no
a few times and then a quick mumbled
good-bye.
He put the phone down and turned to Ruth's parents.

“It's okay,” he said, his face blank. “I can stay.”

Without a word, Mrs. Craze made him up a bed on the big couch in the family room.

bag and put him up on his old shelf. Once in bed herself, she looked at him and smiled.

“It's good to have you back,” she whispered. But there was no answer. Not even a flicker of an eyelid.

There was a small knock at her door, and her mother's head appeared.

“Night, Ruthie,” she said.

“Night, Mum. And thanks for … everything.”

“
Everything?
” Her mother grinned.

“Well, for being kind to Howard and …” Ruth sighed. “The rest of it.”

“That's okay.” Mrs. Craze was about to disappear when Ruth thought of something that had been in the back of her mind all day.

“Mum, can you remember the lady who gave Mary Ellen the rat?”

“Oh yes.” Mrs. Craze came back into the room. “It was Mrs. Bee next door.”

“But what was her real name?”

Her mother frowned and thought for a moment. Then her eyes brightened.

“Bridie,” she said. “She was a lovely lady. Very close to Mary Ellen. Why did you want to know, love?”

“Did Bridie have things from China too?”

Mrs. Craze turned away, looking thoughtful for a few moments. “Yes, now that you mention it,” she said. “She had lovely vases and little ornaments. Children's toys. It was Bridie who first got Mary Ellen interested in China. Bridie had these lovely exotic things around her house that fascinated Mary Ellen but … how on earth did you know?”

Ruth could hardly speak, her head was in such a whirl. “Can I tell you another time, Mum?” she managed. “I'm so tired now.”

Mrs. Craze walked over to the bed and gave Ruth a quick, hard hug.

“Good night, my one and only wicked girl.”

Ruth laughed.

“Good night, my one and only crazy mother.”

Maybe two hours later, Ruth woke up with a start, her heart hammering. Something didn't feel right. She'd forgotten to pull down her blind, and moonlight had flooded the room.
Had something happened? Had she been dreaming?
Her first impulse was to check on Rodney. Yes, there he was. She could see him sitting up there on the top shelf in exactly the same position. She didn't even have to switch on the light because of the moon. So why did she feel so churned up and … uneasy? She pushed back the blankets and put both feet on the cold floor.

She knew what she had to do.

She slipped on her jeans, shirt, and sweater, picked up Rodney from the shelf, and put him back in her bag. Carrying her coat and shoes in one hand and the bag in the other she tiptoed out into the family room.

Howard was lying flat on his back on the couch, arms by his sides and dead to the world.

“Hey,” she whispered, touching his shoulder. “Wake up.”

He opened his eyes, blinked a couple of times, and looked at her quietly. He was so
unsurprised
that Ruth laughed under her breath. It was almost like he'd been waiting for her.

“Get dressed,” she said. “We've got to do something.”

They walked through the quiet backstreets down to the river that Ruth and Mary Ellen used to walk along on their way home from the city. Scooting down the embankment, they found the right path and from there it was only a short distance to the bridge over the train tracks. Ruth knew Howard must be tired.
She was pretty tired herself. But he never complained, nor even asked what they were doing.

At last they arrived. They stood in the middle of the footbridge and looked down onto the tracks. Ruth thought of the last time she'd come to this spot with her aunt. She could see her in her red coat and black boots, her hair tucked under a felt hat and her face so pale. She'd had her first operation and was having chemotherapy. Ruth hadn't had any idea how serious it was then, but Mary Ellen must have known.

“Will you come here sometimes?” Mary Ellen had taken her arm. “When you're big?”

“Of course.”

“And think of me?”

“Yes.” Ruth had looked at her aunt. It wasn't like her to get all mushy.

“I'll be here whenever you come back,” her aunt had persisted.

“But what if you're doing something else?”

“I'll be here in spirit.”

“Okay.”

Mary Ellen had kissed the top of her head. And it was at that point that they'd heard the faint rumble on the tracks. They grinned and closed their eyes. Louder and louder it roared toward them, and then it thundered past and was gone.

They'd looked at each other expectantly.

“You first,” Ruth said quickly.

Mary Ellen laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. “Wings,” Mary Ellen said matter-of-factly. “Wings that I can fit onto my feet.”

“Wings for your
feet?
” Ruth loved the idea immediately. She could imagine them sprouting out the back of her aunt's dainty feet, just above the heel. “Would you be able to fly with them?”

“Oh, definitely.” Mary Ellen laughed again. “And still have my hands free. I could carry things up into the clouds. I could piggyback you, for example.”

“Cool!”

“Come on, kiddo, or we'll be late for your tea.”

They had turned around then and started on the walk home.

Howard watched as Ruth undid her bag and pulled out the battered rat and held him up to face the moon.

“Good-bye, Rodney,” she told the rat sternly.

“What are you doing?” Howard was alarmed. “We just found him!”

“And he's yours now.”

“What?”

“Yours.”

Ruth thrust Rodney into Howard's arms.

“But …”

“Until he stops being useful, and then … you pass him on. Is that clear?”

Howard smiled. It was a beautiful smile, unlike any that Ruth had seen him give before.

“You for real, Craze?”

Ruth nodded. She could hear a rumble on the tracks. It must be the 11:53—the last train of the night. The next would be the 5:03 in the morning. “Howard, quick! Close your eyes and make a wish.”

Ruth closed her own eyes as the train rattled past, and although she couldn't see anything, she had a very strong feeling that her aunt was on it, standing at the carriage window, looking out and smiling. Mary Ellen was glad Ruth was who she was, and no one else.

Ruth let the relief roll through her. This place had worked its magic just as she knew it would. It wasn't as if she had all her friends back or her aunt was alive again. It wasn't as though she had a perfect house or family, or that she was famous or more special than her brothers. But somehow, she did feel lucky again. And that was something. It really was.

“Okay?” Howard asked.

“I think so,” Ruth replied. “Did you make a wish?”