Free Peter and Veronica by Marilyn Sachs Page B

said slowly, “Could I come here sometimes, even if you’re not here, and weed? Would that be all right?”
    Mr. Franklin didn’t answer her question. He just said quickly, “I’m sorry about the skates. You go ahead and put them on.” And then he hurried away.
    “I’m not going to put them on. Are you?” Peter asked.
    Veronica shook her head. Then she turned away and said, “If I was dead, would you forget about me?”
    “What kind of stupid question is that?” Peter said uncomfortably. “You’re not going to be dead.”
    “Someday I will.”
    “Not for a long time. Gee, why are you thinking about dying? Let’s get out of here.”
    “But if I did die. Say I got hit by a truck or got polio, would you forget me?”
    “But you’re not going to die.”
    “But if I did. Would you?”
    “Would I what?”
    “You know—forget me.”
    “No,” Peter said, “I wouldn’t forget you. Now, let’s go.”
    Veronica looked at him then and she said, “Peter, if you die, I swear, I’ll never forget you. I’ll talk about you all the time. I’ll tell people how you used to wear a blue sweater and how smart you were in school. And I’ll come all the time to where your grave is and I’ll plant lots of rosebushes and take care of them.” She clenched her fists. “I won’t let anybody forget you. When you care for somebody it doesn’t stop when he’s dead. I won’t let it. Ralph Peterson, the snake, he’s dead, and Mr. Bailey threw him out in the garbage, but I’m not forgetting him. And you know what I’m going to do? Every day when I take care of my snakes, I’m going to tell them about Ralph Peterson. I’m going to whisper to them about how smart he used to be, and about that long white stripe he had down his back. I’mgoing to remind them. And I’d do the same for you, Peter, only more. So swear, if I die, you won’t forget me either. Go on, swear on his grave!”
    She put her hand on Martin Franklin’s tombstone, and Peter looked at her wild face and thought, I mustn’t laugh, I mustn’t laugh.
    So he put his hand on Martin Franklin’s tombstone too, and he said, “I swear to God I’ll never forget Veronica Ganz if she dies. And if I do, may I fall down dead!”
    “And I swear,” said Veronica fiercely, “that if Peter Wedemeyer dies first, I’ll remember him and make everybody else remember him or may I be struck down dead!”
    And then they were strolling along through the cemetery, carrying their skates over their shoulders, as if nothing important had happened. They began looking at the inscriptions on the other tombstones.
    “Hey, look at this one,” Veronica shouted. “It’s for a lady—Martha Prendergast, 1856-1932.
     
    If heaven is the reward for a life
    Passed in innocence and usefulness
    Then she was a favored candidate
     
    Veronica read slowly. “I’ll bet she was nice.”
    “Listen to this one,” Peter said, bending over a very old, weathered stone. “It’s another lady, Sarah T. Carey, 1806-1847.
     
    Behold my friends as you pass by
    As you are now, so once was I
    As I am now, so you must be
    Prepare for death and follow me
     
    Brr! That’s not very cheerful, is it?”
    “What do you think of this one?” Veronica cried. “It’s a man, Matthew Lukes, 1850-1903.
     
    To live in hearts
    We leave behind
    Is not to die
     
    That’s beautiful.” She sat down next to the tombstone and began pulling weeds. There were many of them, and Peter, watching her, suddenly began chuckling. “I see you’ve got a new occupation.”
    “Oh, shut up!”
    Peter moved off and began inspecting some of the other stones.
    “Peter!”
    “What?”
    “Did you ever think about what you’d like them to write on your tombstone?”
    “No—did you?”
    “No—but I’m thinking now.”
    Peter looked at her sitting on the grass, grinned, and said, “I’ve got one for you.”
    “What?”
    “It’s an old one.”
    “Well, what is it?”
    “You remember when we were enemies,