Ruby (Landry 1)

allowed my eyes to meet hers briefly before they fled

to stare almost blindly at the passing scenery, which

right now was a blur of dark silhouettes and an

occasional lit window of a solitary house.

"Well, honey, New Orleans is a bit bigger than

downtown Houma," she said, laughing. "You got their

phone number at least, don'tcha?"

I turned back and shook my head. Numbness

tingled in my fingertips, perhaps because I had my

fingers locked so tightly together.

Her smile wilted and she narrowed her

turquoise eyes suspiciously as her gaze shifted to my

small bag and then back to me. Then she nodded to

herself and sat forward, convinced she knew it all. "You're runnin' away from home, ain'tcha?" she

asked. I bit down on my lower lip, but I couldn't stop

my eyes from tearing over. I nodded.

"Why?" she asked quickly. "You can tell Annie

Gray, honey. Annie Gray can keep a secret better than

a bank safe."

I swallowed my tears and vanquished my throat

lump so I could tell her about Grandmere Catherine,

her death, Grandpere Jack's moving in and his quickly

arranging for my marriage to Buster. She listened

quietly, her eyes sympathetic until I finished. Then

they blazed furiously.

"That old monster," she said. "He be Papa La

Bas," she muttered.

"Who?"

"The devil himself," she declared. "You got

anything that belongs to him on you?"