Page 60 of Resilience on Canvas

“Henry Sherwood! Shouldn’t you be in church?” Joe teased.

“I could say the same to you,” Henry replied before tilting his head. “Why’re you home?”

“We’re headin’ out to Alva!”

Alva? Why were they heading to Alva? While Alva was bigger than Guymon—a small city with maybe four or five thousand folks living there—Henry couldn’t think of a reason why Joe and Rose would be traveling the four or so hours to visit. Maybe for work?

“What’s out there?”

“Dancin’!” Joe exclaimed.

Henry’s eyebrows shot up, and he reeled back a bit. “Dancin’?”

What the heck?

Rose’s soft, bubbly laughter floated into Henry’s ears as she made her way out onto the porch.

“Joe,” Rose scolded in a playful tone, placing her hands on her hips. She turned to Henry. “We’re traveling to Alva for a competition.”

“Oh!” Henry said. “One of them dancin’ competitions? Like the, uhm, the ones where folks have to try to stay on their feet for a real long time?”

“That’s right,” she confirmed, shimmying her shoulders back and forth, like she couldn’t even wait to start. “Grand prize is seven hundred dollars!”

Henry sucked in a fast breath. “Seven hundred?!”

Holy heck, that was a whole ton of money! Gosh, with that kind of money, Robert could pay Henry’s parents backandafford the train tickets to California. And there’d be enough left for them to start some kind of life out there. Maybe rent a place like the one that Rose had had back when she’d lived in New York.

“Isn’t thatfantastic?” Rose said, clasping her hands together.

Joe threw one of his arms around her shoulders. “Me and Rosieknowwe can win.”

“When’s the competition?” Henry asked, his heart fluttering with hope.

“It starts tonight. I think four o’clock?” she said, and Joe confirmed with a nod.

“Four,” Henry repeated, thinking this over. “Four o’clock in Alva.”

Covering his mouth with his hand, Henry began tapping his cheek with his index finger. He remembered hearing stories about these competitions. Sometimes they could last a couple of days. He could have sworn he’d even heard of one lasting for a whole week. He couldn’t leave Robert here for a week. But, well, that particular competition had been a big one. One that had taken place in one of the bigger cities. Alva’s wasn’t likely to last that long. Goodness, hehadto try to win that money!

“Mind if I come?” Henry asked, pressing his palms in mock prayer. “Please?”

“Well, sure, if you want,” Joe said.

Rose’s eyes went wide. “Henry can partner with my cousin Audrey!” Letting out a happy shriek, she hopped on the balls of her feet a few times. “She wanted to come, but I was having the hardest time figuring out who she could enter with. She’ll be thrilled!”

Half of Henry’s excitement rushed out of him in one long exhale. It made sense that he’d have to have a partner. But that would mean splitting the winnings. He’d only be left with three hundred fifty if him and Audrey won. It wouldn’t be enough for everything. Train fare plus one sleeping berth (or two) plus meals for Robert, Clara, and the kids plus storage for luggage would come to... oh, maybe seventy or eighty. Or more! On top of that, they’d need money to start over in California. Dang, that meant that Robert would still owe Henry’s parents for at least one ticket if not more, especially if he paid his parents back for the remainder of the funeral expenses. Still, Henry supposed winninganymoneywould be an improvement over their current situation. Maybe Robert would be more likely to want to start a life with Henry out west if it meant that he’d only owe Henry’s parents a fraction of what he owed them now.

Henry had to try to win.

“Uhm, yeah, I suppose I can be her partner?” Henry said, mustering as much enthusiasm as he could, which, really, wasn’t so much.

Rose smiled warmly. “Don’t worry, Henry. Audrey issosweet. And she’s only seventeen. It’s not like she’ll be expecting something romantic with you.”

“Aw, yeah, Henry, she won’t be no trouble for you,” Joe said.

“Uhm, okay.” Henry faked a smile. It wasn’t like he had a choice in the matter. He couldn’t exactly find someone else to enter with right now, not with there only being a few hours left before the competition. “Are we leavin’ soon?”

“Mm-hmm. I just need to pack the last of my things,” Rose confirmed.

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