Housekeeping Page #3

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It was red.

No, it wasn't.

Ruthie...

Oh, let me take that.

Must be heavy, dear.

Oh, so cold.

You walked?

You're Ruthie, and you're Lucille.

Lucille has lovely red hair.

Take off your coat, my dear.

You'll warm up faster.

Erm, I'll poach you an egg.

Or I could boil one.

Either way would be fine.

Oh, my, what a lovely dress.

Yes. You look

very nice, my dear. Very well.

So, was Mother's

funeral nice?

Oh, yes, very nice.

Very small, of course.

You should've seen the flowers,

the house was full of them.

Oh, she didn't want flowers.

She'd have called it a waste.

She didn't want a service.

I see.

We'll put you

in the hall bedroom.

It's a little close,

but that's better than a draft.

Oh, thank you.

Do you remember

Danny Rappaport?

No.

Well, he died.

I don't know how.

The newspaper didn't say.

Just a photograph.

Not a recent one, either.

He looked barely nineteen,

not a line on his face.

The next morning,

Lucille and I were up early.

We shouldn't

wake her up too early.

It felt

a little like Christmas.

And we always prowled

the dawn of any significant day.

We can take her

coffee at nine.

It was nicer

with the light off.

Isn't that nicer?

D'you want a cracker?

Sure.

Thank you.

I can hardly believe

I'm here.

You know, I was on

the train for eleven hours?

We just crept along,

through the snow,

for hours and hours.

Have you been on a train?

You haven't?

Oh...

I love to travel by train,

especially the passenger cars.

Maybe I'll take you

with me sometime.

Where to?

Wherever.

Where would you

like to go?

Spokane?

Oh, someplace better

than that! Farther away.

Like maybe, erm...

Like Seattle?

Oh, but that's

where you used to live.

With our mother.

That's right.

Will you tell us about her?

Well, er...

She was nice.

She was...

She was pretty.

People liked her.

But what was she like?

Don't you remember?

We were little. Grandma wouldn't

talk about her.

Nobody would.

Well, she was very quiet.

She...

played the piano.

She collected stamps.

I dunno, it's...

It's hard to describe

someone you know so well.

I didn't really see much of her

after she was married.

Tell us about the wedding.

Oh, that was very small.

She just did that

to please your grandma.

All right, erm, let's see...

She wore...

a sundress

made of eyelet lace,

and a straw hat.

See, she'd already been married by a

Justice of the Peace somewhere in Nevada.

Your father was from Nevada.

What was he like?

Erm...

He was tall.

He wasn't bad looking,

it was just that he was...

awfully quiet.

I think that he was shy.

I think he sold some

sort of farm equipment.

I don't know.

I, I only saw him that one day.

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