Free Anybody Shining by Frances O'Roark Dowell

how she was going to keep them from spilling over. But Ruth put her hand on Lucille’s shoulder and said, “That’s a lovelydress, Lucille. It would certainly be a shame if it got torn or dirty.”
    Lucille sniffed a couple of times and looked shyly at Ruth. “Maybe we could stay here? I could show you my doll named Chandelier. Ain’t that the prettiest name? I heard it in a book.”
    Ruth smiled, but she did not smirk, and that made me like her a little bit more than I’d been inclined to. “I would very much like to meet Chandelier. Why don’t you change your dress, and then you could bring her with us to Mrs. Campbell’s house? I do so want to meet Mrs. Campbell.”
    So off we went tramping through the woods to Miss Sary’s, James and Harlan leading the way, followed by Ruth and Lucille dressed once again in her everyday clothes, holding Chandelier in her arms. I stayed to the back with Tom, who moved slower than the others on account of his leg.
    â€œThis is the greenest place I’ve ever seen,” Tom said, looking all around him in wonder.“Everywhere you look, it’s trees and leaves and bushes and vines. I wish I knew the names of things so I could write them down in my book.” He pointed to a bush with white flowers. “Like that!”
    â€œThat’s mountain laurel,” I told him, proud to have this knowledge, even though it’s common to everyone around these parts. “It grows all over the place. It’s nice, because the leaves stay green and shiny all year, and—”
    Before I could finish, Tom quick put a finger to his lips, so I shut my mouth. He nodded his head in the direction of the left side of the path.
    Well, maybe my eye caught a flash of light, like the wind had blown up the skirts of some low-hanging leaves, but I didn’t see nothing other than that. “I missed it, whatever it was,” I said.
    â€œI could have sworn I saw somebody over there,” Tom said, but he sounded doubtful about it. “A little girl in a white dress. She was—well, she was shining.”
    Oh, how I wished I could tell Tom I seen theexact same thing he did. I would have lied if I thought it would make him be my friend, but I’m an awful poor liar, so he might not have believed me. “I might have saw something,” I told him. “At least I think I might have saw something. Only I couldn’t say what.”
    â€œIt was probably just a bird,” Tom said with a sigh. “Not exactly front-page news.”
    â€œIf you saw something, then you saw something,” I insisted, and then I had a right good thought. “Maybe it’s Oza Odom you seen! They say she wanders up here. I ain’t never run across her myself, but it might could have been her.”
    â€œWho is Oza Odom exactly?” Tom asked.
    â€œAunt Jennie Odom’s little girl. Well, except that she’s a ghost now. She died a long time ago. I don’t rightly know from what.”
    Tom grinned, his spirits clearly lifted. “You didn’t tell me there was a ghost up here!”
    I shrugged, like I was used to seeing such things. “There’s ghosts all over these parts. Dime a dozen.”
    We started up the path, both of us looking left and right for another glimpse of Oza, and when we reached Miss Sary’s house, the others had just climbed the porch steps and were standing in front of the door.
    â€œWhat took ya so long?” Harlan asked. “We was starting to think you got et up by a bear.”
    â€œWe was admiring the scenery,” I explained in my fanciest voice, trying to sound smart for Ruth. “There are so many lovely views in these parts.”
    Harlan give me a curious look. “You sound peculiar, Arie Mae. You ailing?”
    Lucille leaned over and pinched Harlan hard on his arm. “Arie Mae has put on her company manners, and I expect you best do the same, Harlan