I looked up from the map just in time to see the Red Eye Truck Stop. Over the roof was a giant neon eyeball, and it was, in fact, lit-up blood vessels. A big, bloodshot eyeball looking right at me.
“This is it,” I yelped, but Angie had already started to slow.
She pulled in by a gas pump, put the car in park, and turned to me. “Do you want to go in and ask where she lives, or shall I do it?”
I wasn’t ready. I didn’t have a story for why I was there looking for a nun. I folded the map and pulled Bunny back into my lap.
“Why don’t you do it, would you please? But don’t tell anybody about me, okay? I should be the one to tell Eleanor, whenever we find her.” The truth was, I’d just as soon never tell her. I didn’t want her kicking me out before I even found her. In a perfect world she’d let me live there like Oliver Twist and I’d get Mother out of jail and we’d be on our way.
Angie had already swung out of the car. “Sure thing,” she said, and walked inside.
Through the big glass window, I could see her talking to a shadowy figure at the counter. Bunny started wiggling, trying to stand up, his hooves stabbing my legs.
“Okay, okay.” I opened the door and out we spilled. I had to jump for the lasso and put it around his neck before he poked his snout in a puddle of gas. Around he went, snorting and sniffing. I looked up and down the road in both directions. Nothing but sprawling ranch land. I was from a small place, but what kind of town has one intersection and one store?
I hoped that meant it would be easy to find the nun.
Angie was still inside talking. How long does it take to get directions?
I picked up Bunny and headed inside.
There I saw that the shadowy figure was a big friendly lady at the cash register.
She threw open a smile and said, “Got yourself a nice pig, Sugar Foot.” The lady hurried around the counter and bussed Bunny’s chin, “Love a pig. Yes I do.”
Angie told me the lady’s name was Frank. A lady Frank?
All I could think was there we were: a lady Frank, a boy pig named Bunny, and a tomboy named Ruby Clyde. It kept me from thinking about the real problem at hand. Finding Eleanor Rose.
But that was settled right away when Lady Frank said, “Sister Eleanor’s a friend of mine. She’s down at Lake Travis visiting her benefactor, Mr. Gaylord Lewis.”
I made a mental note to look up the word benefactor. It sounded kind of churchy.
Frank kept on. “She’ll be back later this afternoon.”
I got real worried, wondering who said what about me. Angie had promised she’d let me tell.
“How about this,” Lady Frank said to Angie. “I’ll show you the way to Eleanor Rose’s ranch.”
“We don’t want to impose,” Angie said.
“No bother,” Frank said, and held out her arms. “I’ll take the pig while you grab a bag of feed for him and put it in my truck.” I handed him over and Bunny snuggled into Frank’s big upper arm.
I was glad somebody thought of getting real pig food. I picked up a heavy bag and wobbled out the door.
* * *
Her huge pickup truck had some kind of fence strapped to the front. I’d never seen such a thing. I used both arms to fling the bag into the back of the truck, then walked around front eyeing the thing. Frank and Angie came out, ready to go. Frank said, “Haven’t you ever seen a deer guard before? Deer jump right out in front of you. Every day. It’s kill or be killed around here.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Not after all I had been through, the shoot-out and all. But we were close to finding Eleanor Rose and that was something.
Frank held on to Bunny protectively. “Hey, Sugar Foot, this pig is riding with me. Want to join us?” I thought that was a little forward, but she was teasing me, and clearly Bunny liked her. Frank turned her wide face to Angie, asking permission to give me a ride. Angie made a quick assessment as to whether this was a good idea.
“Sure,” Angie stepped back into her car. “But I have no idea where we are, so don’t lose me.”
“Couldn’t lose you if I tried,” Frank said. “It’s right down there, turn at the ditch, then go past that thing, until you come to the gate. That’s that.”
I scrambled into the passenger seat. Frank handed over the pig and off we went in a swirl of dust. Ready to whap those deer! Oh boy, Texas was a tougher place than I had imagined. I hoped Eleanor Rose didn’t whap me with a Ruby Clyde guard.
As we bumped down the road, Frank started talking. “You should know that Sister Eleanor is a bit … odd. Don’t get me wrong, I love Sister Eleanor, we all do. She is a very devoted woman. All of the solitaries are.”
“What’s a solitary?” I asked, but Mother had already explained it to me. I launched a half-baked lie. “I mean, tell me more about being a solitary. I’m here to write a school paper on nuns.” That was a bad lie but it just fell out of my mouth.
Thankfully, Frank stopped me. “Look, girl, you’re in Texas, the land of the free. You don’t have to explain yourself in Texas.”
Well yeah, I liked that. Texas was sounding pretty good.
Frank said, “Anyway, a solitary, it means they live alone. They don’t talk much. But they are pretty flexible about it, doing work in the community. It is just that they value being alone and praying.”
Frank hummed while she drove. It wasn’t far, like she had told Angie, just down the road, when we slowed at Eleanor’s crossbar, which Frank explained is a kind of door frame at the beginning of the driveway. A plank dangled from the crossbar with PARADISE RANCH painted on it.
We turned and drove right under it, into Paradise Ranch.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Angie in her yellow box, following right behind us.
Frank made her way up the driveway, which curved toward a distant spread of trees, peach trees, Frank said. Right in the middle of the peach orchard sat Eleanor Rose’s house, firmly on the ground.
“This is it?” I blinked a couple of times like it might disappear. “Sister Eleanor Rose lives here?”