by Tess Hilmo
The dogs out front began barking as the doorbell chimed.
“Excuse me.” Aunt Elise left the kitchen for the front door.
Jade yanked her bowl off the table and placed it on the floor where Copernicus was stretched out, lazily thumping his tail against the sun-drenched linoleum. He lifted his head, sniffed the stew, and turned away. “So you agree,” Jade said to the cat. She ran to the trash can in the corner and scooped the stew into an empty Cheerios box, being certain to close the lid and place a few crumpled napkins and wrappers on top. Then she put the bowl back on the table.
“Jade Landers, as I live and breathe. Coming to join us in the paradise of Wyoming.”
Jade looked up to see a boy with a round, freckled face standing at the back door. He was in full cowboy gear—a wide-brimmed hat, pointy-toed cowboy boots, worn-out Wranglers, and an oversize silver belt buckle. “Do I know you?”
“Roy Parker. It’s short for LeRoy, after the famous LeRoy Parker.” He yanked off his hat and turned sideways, offering up a profile.
“And that is…?”
A flash of shock passed across his eyes. “LeRoy Parker?” He was clearly distressed. “Better known as Butch Cassidy? Surely you people in Philadelphia have heard of Butch Cassidy!”
“How old are you?”
“Twelve, just like Elise told me you are.”
Jade thought he looked short for twelve. “She’s at the front door.”
“I know. I rang the bell because I wanted to meet you on my own.”
Understanding lit Jade’s mind. “Oh, Roy. You must be the one who made all of this.” She waved her hands up toward the dazzling ceiling art.
A smile pulled across Roy’s face. “Like it?”
“It’s not bad.”
Roy tilted his head at the Crock-Pot full of stew. “You didn’t eat that, did you?”
“Pure poison.”
“Hungry?”
“Famished.”
Roy tugged his hat back on. Then he pulled a Butterfinger candy bar from his back pocket, stripped off the wrapper, and snapped it in half. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my great-great-uncle Butch Cassidy, it’s that a real cowboy should always help a damsel in distress.” He lined up the halves of candy bar side by side and handed Jade the larger of the two. “Welcome to Wyoming,” he said, warm as the day. “You’ve come just in time.”
Jade shoved the Butterfinger into her mouth.
“That’s strange,” Aunt Elise said, coming back into the kitchen. Then she saw Roy. “Have you been up to your tricks again?”
“Roy was saying I came just in time,” Jade said.
“Just in time for what?” Aunt Elise asked.
“That’s what I was wondering.”
Roy glared at Jade and then turned a smile on Aunt Elise. “Oh,” he said, “you know.”
Both Aunt Elise and Jade looked blankly at Roy.
“Just in time,” he continued, stuttering and stumbling over his words, “to see the Wilsons’ heifer calve. She’s about to pop any day now.”
“Gee. Glad I won’t miss that,” Jade said, sarcasm dripping.
Roy gave her the stink eye and mouthed something that looked like later.
“Well, you be sure to come tell us when their cow goes into labor,” Aunt Elise said. “A person should see something like that at least once in her life. Wouldn’t you agree, Jade?”
“At least once.”
Aunt Elise stirred the stew in the Crock-Pot. “You want some chow, Roy?”
“Nah.” He was tucking his already-tucked shirt into his jeans—clearly trying to show off his belt buckle. “I’ve got official business to attend to.”
“Will we see you for stars tonight?”
“I wouldn’t miss it!”
“What are stars?” Jade asked.
“You don’t know what stars are?” Roy laughed. “You’re more city than I thought.”
Aunt Elise put a lid on the stew. “I think she was talking about the event more than the objects.” She turned to Jade. “I have an observation deck on my roof.”
“Nine-thirty?” Roy asked.
“Sharp,” Aunt Elise said. “Bring your parents. We’ll make it a party.” She gestured up to the paper stars and Styrofoam planets that filled her ceiling and said to Jade, “If you think this is beautiful, you’ll love the real thing. A night sky is the best Wyoming has to offer. Remember when you asked how I knew you’d love it here? Come up on my roof and see the stars, then you’ll understand.”
4
Jade had only climbed a few ladder rungs but she felt worlds closer to those early-evening stars just starting to poke through the slate-gray sky.
“I’ve never been on anyone’s roof before,” she said, stepping off the ladder.
“Most folks haven’t, I suppose.” Aunt Elise jostled two plastic beach loungers into the center of the flat roof. Jade noticed a small retaining wall along the perimeter. “But what fun is a vacation without some adventure?”
Jade eased onto one of the loungers.
“After I bought the house, I had this observation deck built,” Aunt Elise continued, stretching out next to Jade. “From the street it may look like any other pueblo-style home, but come around back where the ladder is and you’ll see it has a little more to offer.”
The two settled in and stared silently at the sky as a silvery dusk fell into navy darkness.
When the last trace of daylight was gone, Jade took in the view above. “Wow.”
“A tad different from below, right?” Aunt Elise scooted over and, under the softness of the sky, whispered, “Do you see the bright one off to the left? Now look slightly up and to the right. Can you see the one with the coppery-red glow?”
“Yes.”
“That’s Mars.” Aunt Elise leaned in and pressed her warm cheek against Jade’s. “So I can see your vantage point,” she said. She took Jade’s hand, folded her fingers into a point and reached it outward. “And this star over here marks the corner of the Big Dipper.”
“My mom taught me about the Big and Little Dippers.”
“That’s a good start,” Aunt Elise said, guiding Jade’s finger to a specific star within the constellation. “Do you see how the handle of the ladle on the Big Dipper arcs over?” She was moving Jade’s finger across the sky. “Follow that arc away from the Big Dipper to the brightest star you see. That is called Arcturus. You can remember it by saying, The Big Dipper arcs to Arcturus. It is one of the brightest stars north of the equator this time of year.”
Jade was breathless. They had night skies in Philly, even pretty ones, but nothing like this. The stars in Philadelphia towered high above the buildings and seemed impossible to reach. These were right at her fingertips. “I think I could grab that ladle if my arm was a little bit longer.”
Aunt Elise let out a quiet laugh. “And that’s how you get hooked. I came out to Wyoming to visit a friend seven years ago. One night, we found ourselves up on the roof of William’s hardware store, looking at the stars.”
“William?”
“Roy’s dad. That was the night we met. A few of us had gone to see a play and when it was all over, he led us back to his store and invited us up onto the roof.” She got all quiet, lost in memory. “I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life under this sky, so I finagled my way out of the law firm I was tied to and started new.”
“Never looked back?”
Aunt Elise paused. “No,” she said. “I looked back plenty. There was good in both places.”
Jade couldn’t get over the view. “It’s gorgeous.”
“If you spend your whole life with your feet firmly rooted to the ground, you miss out on these moments. I’m telling you, Jade, skies like these make you believe you can do anything.”
Just then, the dogs on the far side of the yard started barking.
“Parkers are here,” Aunt Elise said.
“Yodel-ee-yo,” a woman called out, coming over the top of the ladder and onto the roof.
Jade sat up and saw a tall, thin woman with yards of filmy fabric draped about her shoulders. Jade could see her clearly because she held a lantern in one hand, illuminating her sharp nose and chin and showing the purple and green of her wide, breezy shawl. Behind her, a short man with a round face and rectangular glasses stepped onto the roof. Then Roy came up behind his parents.
The moment they were all up the ladder, the woman passed the lantern to her husband, clapped her hands, and exclaimed, “Jade!” She ran over to the lounger, gauzy fabric flowing, reaching both arms out in greeting. “Elise has told us so much about you. How wonderful to have you here.”
“Hi,” Jade said. The word seemed hollow and thin next to Mrs. Parker’s grand welcome.
It was quiet for an awkward moment before Mr. Parker said, “We’re so thrilled Elise was able to talk your parents into letting you spend part of your summer with us.” He turned to Aunt Elise. “How long have you been trying to get Jade here?”
“Since the day I left Philly.”
“What made them decide this was the year?” Mrs. Parker asked.
Aunt Elise looked up to the deep purple sky. “The right set of circumstances, I guess.”
Jade was grateful her aunt didn’t elaborate on that right set of circumstances. She actually wondered how much her aunt knew about that morning, two Saturdays before, when her mom had been cleaning out the top shelf of Jade’s closet and came across her “What I Did Over My Summer Vacation” papers. Jade didn’t know what had possessed her to save them through the years. And worse, to put them into one binder so her mom could accidentally stumble across it and see what she had been writing every September, from Mrs. Minshew’s first grade all the way through Miss Maybury’s sixth grade last year.
But she guessed Aunt Elise knew something about it because, twenty-four hours after that discovery, Jade was presented with a round-trip plane ticket to Wyoming and a promise of real adventure. What Jade’s mom didn’t understand, however, was the fact that Jade liked her Philadelphia summers. She made up stories for those assignments because it was easier than standing in front of the class and admitting she had spent another summer watching Addams Family marathons on TV Land or writing the city council about when they were going to get off their rumps and enforce the No Skateboards on City Sidewalks ordinance. The rule had been on the books forever but no one cared about it because politicians rode around in their fancy cars with their drivers and never actually had the pleasure of getting mowed down by Phillip Turnbill or Chase Saunders.
Aunt Elise looked over to Jade and smiled, bright as the stars above. “I guess they figured twelve was old enough to strike out and have an adventure.”
Mr. Parker smacked a hand on Aunt Elise’s back. “We’re all grateful for it, too. Isn’t that right, Joshua?”
Roy twisted in his cowboy boots. “Dad! I told you to call me Roy.”
“Oh, right. I sometimes forget that one. Isn’t that right”—he paused and took a deep breath before finishing—“Roy?”
Roy looked thoroughly dejected. “Yes,” he mumbled.
Now it was Jade’s turn to give Roy the stink eye. What was he up to?
The adults clustered around a telescope off in one corner and Roy took Aunt Elise’s lounger next to Jade.
“Hey, Joshua,” she said, trying not to laugh.
“Very funny.”
“Why the fake name?” It was surprisingly easy to talk to someone while lying on your back in the dark. No face-to-face pressure.
“It’s not fake. They would have named me Roy if they had known our heritage. They settled for Joshua because they didn’t have all the facts.”
“And now you’ve enlightened them?”
“That’s right. I’ll make it legal when I’m old enough. In the meantime, it’s what I go by.”
“Like a nickname?” Jade asked.
“I guess, though I’d consider it more than that. We have the same last name and I can feel Butch’s blood running through my veins. Some days he seems so close I swear he’s right with me. Like an angel.”
“An outlaw angel, now that’s a concept.”
Roy’s voice grew tense and hard. “Butch Cassidy was the Robin Hood of the West. He was a hero!”
Mrs. Parker turned from the telescope. “Go easy on her, son. Poor Jade doesn’t understand your unusual interest in that old-time cowboy.”
“He’s not just an old cowboy, Mom, and it’s not unusual to want to know about where you come from.”
Mrs. Parker flicked a thin hand in the air. “Whatever you say, dear.”
“That’s right,” Jade said, once the adults were busy chatting again. “I only know about how old Butch stole people’s hard-earned money from banks and held up stage coaches full of innocent passengers.” The truth was, Jade had known next to nothing about Butch Cassidy before Googling him that afternoon on Aunt Elise’s computer and asking her mom about it when she called home to let her parents know she had arrived safely. She remembered her dad watching a movie by the same title and her mom explaining how Butch was a long-ago cowboy. After Roy’s wisecrack about her not knowing what stars were, she figured she should be better prepared. “That’s why he went by a fake name,” she continued, reciting information from Wikipedia. “Because he was a crook. Still, if you say that’s being a hero and you’re related to him, I guess I won’t argue.”
Jade was half teasing so it surprised her to hear the quiver in Roy’s voice when he responded. “Soon enough I’ll have proof he’s my great-great-uncle, for you and everyone else who doubts me. For your information, Jade”—he got all snotty on the Jade part—“I’m saving up to get my full genealogy.”
Jade could see on Roy’s face the pain she had caused him. “One thing you should know about me is that I’m lousy with jokes. I think I’m being funny, but I usually get it all jumbled up and wrong.”
Roy’s expression relaxed. “So that was your idea of a joke?”
“Sort of,” Jade said.
“And you don’t think Butch Cassidy hurt people? Because he didn’t, you know. Can I tell you a true story?”
Jade shrugged. “Go for it.”
“All right,” Roy began. “One time Butch was passing by a ranch outside Heber City, Utah. By chance, he happened to have a satchel full of cash.”
“How’d he get that cash?”
“Just listen, will you?”
“Fine,” Jade said. “Continue.”
Roy settled into his lounger. “He was tired so he asked the poor widow woman who owned the place if he could stay there for the night. She kindly obliged. In the morning, over breakfast, she told Butch he was lucky he’d come the night before because later that very morning, the banker was coming to take her ranch. She couldn’t afford the back taxes and was about to lose it all. Can you guess what Butch did?”
“I have a feeling you’re going to tell me.”
“Dang straight, I am. He went to his satchel, pulled out that cash, and gave it to the woman. Just gave it to her!”
Jade had to admit she was impressed.
“Now the best part is still to come. Butch, being smart, left the ranch. He hid out in the brush, waiting for the banker to come along. Well, the banker man came, the widow paid him off, and then Butch jumped out and robbed the banker soon as he cleared the property. Whoeee!” Roy swung his arm in the air. “He done secured that woman’s land and kept his loot in the process!”
“But the bank lost their money,” Jade said.
“Who cares about the stupid bank? They’ve got tons of cash and those taxes nearly crushed the poor homestead ranchers.”
“Interesting,” Jade said, not wanting to argue. “How do you know so much about Butch Cassidy?”
Roy turned back toward the winking heavens. “When I was in kindergarten, my teacher read a book about him to the class. I would watch the clock every morning, waiting for story hour to come. Then we’d all sit on the carpet in a half circle as she settled into her big blue
chair in the corner and read another chapter. I suppose that’s when I first wondered if there could be a real connection. Over the years, I’ve made it a point to learn as much as I could. Then for spring break this past April, I talked my parents into driving me to the town of Cody to visit Butch’s Hole in the Wall Cabin. That’s the famous hideout he and his gang used when they were on the run from the law. I tell you, when I stepped across that threshold it was like I was coming home, and I decided right then and there to take his name as my own.” Then his voice got all wistful. “Now can you see how Butch Cassidy was a real hero?”
“If you say so, I believe it.”
Roy smiled under the stars. “I say so.”
They stayed up on the roof deep into the night, taking turns peering through the telescope and counting the shooting stars, which Aunt Elise said were not stars at all, but meteorites. “Meteorites are ice and rocks smashing into the Earth’s atmosphere,” she explained. They were tiny smears of light flashing through the blue-black sky and, by Jade’s count, they had seen fourteen.
Mrs. Parker floated across the rooftop deck, pointing out constellations and chattering on about how Mr. Parker had spent the day pouring a concrete wheelchair ramp for someone named Angelo.
“What was that you were talking about earlier, when you said I came just in time?” Jade asked Roy.
Roy glanced over to the adults and shook his head. “When we’re alone.”
“It better be more than looking at some pregnant cow.”
“Don’t worry,” Roy assured her. “It’s more.” There was a shadow of something outlining his words.
Aunt Elise suggested they call it a night and everyone gathered around the edge of the rooftop.
“How high are we?” Jade was looking at the driveway below.
“Are you afraid of heights?” Mrs. Parker asked.
“Not exactly,” Jade said, “but I’ve never stepped backward off a roof onto a ladder before.”
“It can feel intimidating at first,” Aunt Elise said. “Take it one step at a time.”
Mr. Parker gave a few pats to his round belly. “Let me go first. That way you’ll have something soft to land on should you fall.”