Read Online Northward to the Moon by Polly Horvath - Free Book Online

backstage.
    “I tole you a hunred times, check to see he’s arrived before you start!” yells Hal. “Save yourself a ride.” And you can hear him guffawing loudly. He alone seems to be having a delightful time.
    She dangles there a bit longer and I am thinking that Hal isn’t a very nice guy when suddenly she drops, landing with a thunk on her rear on the stage.
    “Hey, WATCH IT!” she yells belatedly into the wings and then a man in a suit comes onstage and says, “Show’s over.” Just that. No apology. No explanation. He leaves without even helping her up.
    “I guess they don’t apologize because they know the show is free anyway,” I say to Ned.
    “Free, ha!” he says. “These Cokes are costing me ten bucks.”
    “And look, no one is even listening. They’re not even moving. They just sit there drinking. No wonder he doesn’t bother showing up half the time.”
    “Come on, let’s get out of here,” says Ned. “I’ve got an idea.”
    We go outside and he leads me around the casino until we are in back of where the stage is. There is another parking lot with a few cars and a back door to the casino.
    We start to go in but the girl in the sparkling blue outfit comes out. She hasn’t even changed. She’s with a man but Ned pulls her aside anyway.
    “Listen, you gotta help me,” he says. “I’m looking for John. I’m his brother.”
    “Oh yeah,” she says, squinting at Ned’s face. “You know, I can sorta see a resemblance.”
    “No one will tell me where he is.”
    “Well, jeez, no one knows,” she says. “You know, I think he might be gone for good this time. I gottaget a new job ’cause that rat dog isn’t coming back. Sorry, I guess no one wants to hear their brother called a rat dog.”
    “Never mind that,” says Ned, waving his hand airily as if calling someone a rat dog is of no consequence and in fact is encouraged in some cultures. “What makes you think he’s gone for good?”
    “ ’Cause last night after the show he says to me, ‘Shirley, this time I’m going to disappear for good.’ I guess I thought he meant the trick. Or something.” She frowns, puzzling. “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure what I thought.”
    I think this may be Shirley’s major problem but I don’t offer this insight.
    “But now, with this new evidence, I think, I mean, like, I can see a different meaning, if you get my take. Like, he meant, like, he was going to take a powder. You think?”
    “I don’t know,” says Ned. “What do you think?”
    “Well, gosh, maybe,” says the woman in a wondering tone as if no one had ever asked her for an opinion before and it is a momentous occasion. “ ’Cause I think he’s in a bit of trouble.”
    “Oh no,” says Ned.
    “Don’t worry, he’s always in a bit of trouble.”
    “Any idea where he’d go?” asks Ned.
    The woman gets some lines between her eyes as she puzzles this out. This is a very big night for her. Twice someone has wanted to know what she thinks. She is clearly racking her brain for any and all help it can give her.
    “Well, gee, he said to never tell no one but his mother lives up somewhere by Elko and sometimes he takes off there. She’s got a horse ranch.”
    “Mom has a
horse
ranch? In
Nevada?”
says Ned. “I don’t believe it.”
    “Oh yeah. I been there. Near Elko,” she says again helpfully. Then she stops and she gets those funny lines over her nose again as she has another lightning-quick flash of genius. “Oh yeah, she would be
your
mom too.”
    “And you say John goes there?”
    “On account of you’re brothers.” She circles back to this in case Ned is having a hard time keeping up with her deductive reasoning.
    “Yeah, I know,” says Ned. “Now, you say that John goes to my mother’s
horse ranch?”
    “Near Elko. Well, I only know he went the one time, ’cause he took me there. He couldn’t help it, we were between shows and he thought it would be a good place to