Read Online Summer In Iron Springs by Margie Broschinsky - Free Book Online

laughing?”
    Billy held up a finger. “Just a second.” He gave another long giggle. “Okay. Okay. I’m done, I promise. You were saying—van Gogh?”
    “I like him. I mean, I have always liked his work. But, did you know that he painted over nine hundred paintings in less than ten years? Nine hundred! And then he only sold one painting in his lifetime.”
                  Billy shook his head. “I didn’t know that but it doesn’t surprise me. Most artists are kind of kooky. Present company excluded of course.” He started laughing again but stopped himself when Phoebe gave him the evil eye.
                  “Be careful Billy. You might just find out that I have a couple crazy bones myself.”
                  “Wait a minute.” Billy thought for a second. “Isn’t he that insane guy who cut off his own ear?”
                  “He wasn’t insane. And it wasn’t his whole ear, just a small piece of his earlobe.”
                  “Oh, well that’s different. He’s completely normal then.”
                  Even Phoebe couldn’t help laughing at that. “I didn’t say that.” She and Billy moved around the perimeter of the gallery as they talked. “I just wanted to clarify. Most people think he cut off his whole ear but he didn’t.”
                  “Okay, so you’re infatuated with Vinnie and you paint his picture on the wall and you get caught and what? Did they throw the cuffs on you?”
                  Phoebe rolled her eyes. “No, I’m not infatuated with him. And, no, they didn’t handcuff me. They just held me until my dad came. Then he took me home and made arrangements for me to come here. But get this.” She gave Billy a serious stare. “My principal and the cop both thought the painting was good.”
                  “That’s great, Feebs. Maybe you and Vinnie can get married and smoke pipes together.”
                  “Whatever. You’re a weirdo.” She gave Billy a playful shove.
                  “Hey, I’m not the one getting arrested for graffiti,” he teased. “But seriously, you are really talented. I’d love to see something you’ve painted. I bet you’re as good as . . .” he pointed to the signature on a painting of a meadow, “. . . as Frederick Dubois.”
                  Phoebe laughed at the way Billy pronounced the artist’s name. “I think you say it, Doo-bwa , it’s French. And, no I’m not even close to that good. But I’d like to be someday.” She glanced at her watch and moved slowly toward the exit. “We better start heading to meet Jenna.”
                  Billy followed behind her as she made her way to the gallery’s exit. “So, because of that, he wouldn’t let you bring your paints?”              
    Phoebe shook her head. “That’s what he said but the truth is that he has never wanted me to paint. He’s an attorney and I think he would rather I show interest in something more serious. But he won’t come out and admit that so he used the graffiti as an excuse to take away my art supplies.”              
                  “Your dad sounds a lot like my dad. See, I told you, we’re two peas in a pod.”
    Phoebe shook her head and was about to repeat the same lecture she’d given him earlier about using the weird phrase when a cameo brooch on display in a glass case caught her eye. The case held hand-crafted pieces of jewelry. Phoebe loved jewelry almost as much as she loved art. For her, the jewelry she chose to wear was art. She liked unique pieces that every other girl in school wouldn’t be wearing. She especially liked jewelry that showed a lot of detail.
                  She was certain that the brooch’s unique design was one of a kind. It was oval with beautiful lace, forged from white gold, looping around the entire