Ruby Holler Read online

  And so the poor man reached into the donkey’s right ear and pulled out a loaf of bread, a pot of butter, and a meat pie.

  Joe went on like this, spinning out the tale, with the poor man pulling all sorts of things out of the donkey’s ears: a stool, a pillow, a blanket, and, finally, a sack of gold.

  I loved this story, but I always listened uneasily, fearing that something bad would be pulled from the donkey’s ears. Even after I’d heard the tale many times, always the same, I still worried that the poor man might reach in and pull out a snapping turtle or an alligator or something equally unpleasant and unexpected.

  Sensing my fear, Joe would say, “It’s only a story, Naomi, only a story.” He suggested that I say to myself, “I’m not in the story, I’m not in the story”—a refrain I could repeat so that I would feel less anxious.

  And so each time the poor man would reach into the donkey’s ears, I would tell myself, I’m not in the story, I’m not in the story, but it didn’t help because a story was only interesting if I was in the story.

  CHAPTER 1

  A BODY FALLS FROM A TREE

  If you have never had a body fall out of a tree and knock you over, let me tell you what a surprising thing that is. I have had nuts fall out of a tree and conk my head. Leaves have fallen on me, and twigs, and a branch during a storm. Bird slop, of course, everyone gets that. But a body? That is not your usual thing dropping out of a tree.

  It was a boy, close about my age, maybe twelve. Shaggy hair the color of dry dirt. Brown pants. Blue T-shirt. Bare feet. Dead.

  Didn’t recognize him. My first thought was, Is this my fault? I bet this is my fault. Nula once said I had a knack for being around when trouble happened. She had not been around other kids much, though, and maybe did not know that most kids had a knack for being around when trouble happened.

  All I really wanted to do that hot day was go on down to the creek and hunt for clay in the cool, cool water. I was wondering if maybe I could deal with the body later, when the body said, “Am I dead?”

  I looked at the body’s head. Its eyes were closed.

  “If you can talk, I guess you’re not dead.”

  The body said, “When I open my eyes, how will I know if I’m dead or alive?”

  “Well, now, you’ll see me, you’ll see the meadow, you’ll see the tree you fell out of, so I guess you’ll know you’re alive.”

  “But how will I know if I’m here or if I’m at Rooks Orchard?”

  “I don’t know anything about any rook or any orchard, so I can pretty much guarantee that you are here and not there. Why don’t you open your eyes and have a look around?”

  And so the body opened his eyes and slowly sat up and looked all around—at the green meadow, at the cows in the distance, at the tree out of which he had fallen, and at me, and then he yelled, “Oh no!” and fell back on the ground and his eyes closed and he was dead again.

  About the Author

  SHARON CREECH is the author of the Newbery Medal winner WALK TWO MOONS and the Newbery Honor Book THE WANDERER. Her other work includes the novels THE UNFINISHED ANGEL, HATE THAT CAT, THE CASTLE CORONA, REPLAY, HEARTBEAT, GRANNY TORRELLI MAKES SOUP, RUBY HOLLER, LOVE THAT DOG, BLOOMABILITY, ABSOLUTELY NORMAL CHAOS, CHASING REDBIRD, and PLEASING THE GHOST, as well as three picture books: A FINE, FINE SCHOOL; FISHING IN THE AIR; and WHO’S THAT BABY? Ms. Creech and her husband live in upstate New York. You can visit her online at www.sharoncreech.com.

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  Other Works

  ALSO BY

  SHARON CREECH

  Walk Two Moons

  Absolutely Normal Chaos

  Pleasing the Ghost

  Chasing Redbird

  Bloomability

  The Wanderer

  Love That Dog

  Granny Torrelli Makes Soup

  A Fine, Fine School

  Fishing in the Air

  Heartbeat

  Who’s That Baby?

  Replay

  The Castle Corona

  Hate That Cat

  The Unfinished Angel

  Credits

  Cover art © 2012 by Zdenko Basic

  Copyright

  Ruby Holler

  Copyright © 2002 by Sharon Creech

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  www.harpercollinschildrens.com

  * * *

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Creech, Sharon.

  Ruby Holler / by Sharon Creech.

  p. cm.

  Summary: Thirteen-year-old fraternal twins Dallas and Florida have grown up in a terrible orphanage, but their lives change forever when an eccentric but sweet older couple invites them each on an adventure, beginning in an almost magical place called Ruby Holler.

  ISBN 978-0-06-056015-7

  EPub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2009 ISBN 9780061972508

  Version 07272012

  [1. Orphans—Fiction. 2. Twins—Fiction. 3. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 4. Wood carvers—Fiction. 5. Country life—Fiction. 6. Voyages and travels—Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.C8615 Ru2002 00-066371

  [Fic]—dc21 CIP

  AC

  * * *

  12 13 14 15 16 CG/BR 28 27 26 25 24 23 22

  Revised paperback edition, 2012

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