Jaybird's dad was alone tending the store when the telephone rang. The phone rang so infrequently that for a moment he did not realize what the ringing was. At last he picked up the receiver attached to the massive phone box on the wall by a short cord and held it to his ear. "Hello?" he shouted into the bell-shaped transmitter extending from the front of the box. There was no immediate answer, all he heard was crackling static. "Hello?" he repeated, shouting louder. Then he heard a female voice that sounded as if it were coming from a great distance. "This is the operator," he heard, "am I speaking to Cottage Farm?"
Jaybird's dad looked at the phone in front of him as if it were a person and shook his head. "Yes," he said loudly, "this is Cottage Farm."
"Hold the line please," he heard. He waited for what seemed like a long time until finally he heard a voice that sounded like it was shouting like him, "Hello?"
"Hello," repeated Jaybird's dad, "who's calling?"
"Is this Cottage Farm?"
Jaybird's dad shouted impatiently, "Yes, yes, this is Cottage Farm, who's calling?"
There was a burst of static on the line, but Jaybird's dad heard the word Jaybird before the line went dead. He stared at the receiver in shocked disbelief; he shouted hello several times into the transmitter before slamming the receiver back into it's holder on the side of the oversized phone box. He stood fuming before the box as Jaybird's mom came into the store. "What's all the shouting about?," she asked.
Jaybird's dad pointed accusingly at the phone. "It's that ...that ... something about Jaybird," he sputtered.
"Jaybird? What about Jaybird?"
Jaybird's dad picked up the receiver and turned the crank on the side of the phone box. "The line went dead," he said, "I heard somebody say Jaybird and then the line went dead. I'm calling the operator."
Jaybird's mom came to stand next to him. "Does it mean Jaybird's okay?" she asked.
Jaybird's dad shook his head, "Jaybird's okay," he said, repeating what he had convinced himself was true, phone call or no phone call. "Operator? Hello operator? This is Cottage Farm calling. ... Yes, Cottage Farm. Listen, operator, the line went dead ... yes ... can you re-connect me?" He turned to Jaybird's mom, smiling. "She's going to re-connect me." He waited, hearing some clicking sounds on the line, then some more static, then a persistent buzzing. "Damn!" he said, slamming down the receiver.
Jaybird's mom was alarmed. "What is it, Coach?" she asked.
"The line is busy," he said.
"The line is busy," said Dr. Land, replacing the receiver on its hook. Dr. Land stood in front of the only phone in Grubville located in King's General Store and Post Office in the middle of town. He looked around uncertainly. "Guess we'll have to wait a bit."
Jaybird was feeling good. After two days recovering in Dr. Land's clinic, pampered with chicken noodle soup, fresh baked bread, and apple pie by Dr. Land's wife and number one nurse, he was on his feet and ready for the next round. He had had time to think about things... he thought a lot about Jennie Wren ... he wasn't sure he wanted to go back to Cottage Farm just yet. Also he wanted to see Phil again. But Phil was nowhere to be seen; probably out scouting the enemy thought Jaybird.
Jaybird loved to nose around General Stores, like King's here in Grubville. Jaybird had never been in this store and yet he felt at home here. The store was an exact copy of the one in Ware that Jaybird had visited often with his dad and Uncle George. The store smelled of oil and old leather and was just like the one familiar to millions of radio listeners around the country who listened everyday to Lum and Abner tell about the Jot `Em Down store in Pine Ridge, Arkansas. Approaching it over the main street of Grubville, already dusty in spite of the recent rain, Jaybird saw that the store was built on the corner of the town square over a stable and buggy garage, and next to a Blacksmith shop. A wide wooden staircase led to a broad porch that framed the store on two sides. An old man wearing a broad brimmed black hat sat in a wicker-backed rocking chair, chewing tobacco while he whittled and watched the people coming to the store. It was Saturday morning and farmers were coming to town from all over the area to exchange their produce for the things that came from far away to King's General Store ... sugar, salt, Horlick's Malted Milk, hammers, saws, nails, wires, ropes, sickles, scythes, pumps, screens, flypaper, belt buckles, harnesses, buckets, chocolate candy, milk of magnesia, toilet paper, tobacco, leather shoes and boots, pots and pans, porcelain dishes, yard goods, fabric, dry goods, needles and thread, panes of glass, guns and ammunition, and a whole display case full of knives. And what Eb King, the owner, didn't have in his store he could soon enough obtain through the Sears and Roebuck catalogue; Grubville was connected to the world by the Santa Fe Railroad company. A train heading west stopped on Tuesday, and a train heading east stopped on Saturday.
Jaybird stared at the rifles and pistols displayed in the glassed-in case before him. Equally fascinating were the boxes of ammunition. His imagination raced thinking about what these scary weapons might be used for. He knew his Uncle George liked to shoot at targets pinned to trees. He remembered Phil shooting squirrels and rabbits. He thought of the wild west movies with settlers battling Indians. He thought of bank robbers and sheriffs with big black pistols. He thought of Father Stoltzfus who said they were inventions of the devil. Thoughts of Father Stoltzfus and the devil veered quickly to thoughts of the divine Jennie Wren. Dr. Land of course had never heard of Jennie Wren, and Jaybird's attempts to describe the Stoltzfus farm were of little help since he could have been talking of half a dozen families and farms not that much different from each other. Jaybird strolled through the sawdust covered aisles, checking out the merchandise. Coming down an aisle that was like the spoke of a wheel pointed to a hub, he came to the hub at the exact center of the store. It was marked by a large pot-bellied stove, cool now in the heat of summer, but clearly a place where men could gather in the cold winter months to tell stories, to re-hash the harvest news, to complain about the weather and the price of hogs, to exchange the latest gossip, to regroup for the coming season. Jaybird stood looking at the circle of chairs placed several feet away from the stove, and felt the glow of camaraderie emanating over the years from these comfortable surroundings.
He walked on. He saw a large wedge of cheese under a glass cover on a counter next to the great gray ledger book where Eb King kept his accounts. He watched flies wriggling to escape the sticky flypaper hanging down in coils from the ceiling. He picked up a horseshoe magnet and tested it with a handful of nails from a nearby barrel. And then he spied something that made his heart jump: a tray full of spectacles.
Dr. Land came along just in time to see Jaybird trying on the glasses and testing them by reading a Quaker Oats poster hanging on the wall near the front of the store 20 feet away. "Is there something wrong with your eyesight, Jaybird?" he asked.
Jaybird nodded. "Yes sir," he said, "I'm short-sighted. I lost my glasses down on the river."
"I see," said the doctor, smiling at his unplanned witticism while beginning to check out the tray of spectacles himself. "It might be time for me to find a new pair for myself," he said. He chose a pair from the jumbled collection and held them up to his eyes.
Jaybird looked through a pair held at arms length, and was pulling them close prior to putting them on when Jenny Wren came through the double screen door at the front of the store. When she came into focus Jaybird drew in his breath sharply and managed to gasp, "It's her!"
Dr. Land looked where Jaybird was pointing. "Oh," he said, "it's Ruth Stoltzfus."
"It's Jenny Wren," said Jaybird and headed in her direction.
Jaybird looked different wearing a pair of spectacles, and Ruth Stoltzfus had other things on her mind as she came into King's General Store trailing her mother and father... she was trying to decide which of the two Fisher brothers she had passed on the way in was the better looking. She did not immediately recognize the eager young boy approaching her.
Expecting a warm greeting, Jaybird was momentarily stopped by the cool and disdainful look he received from Ruth Stoltzfus. "Jenny Wren," he said, " ... it's me ... Jaybird."
Ruth's face softened, "Jaybird," she said, "where did you go?"
Jaybird held up his bandaged hand. "Phil took me to Dr. Land," he said, "he saved my life."
Ruth looked perplexed. "Saved your life," she repeated.
Jaybird nodded. "Dr. Land had to cut off my finger," he said, " ... to save my life."
Ruth winced. She echoed Jaybird. "Cut off your finger ... to save your life."
Jaybird smiled. "But now I'm okay," he said, "Dr. Land says my curve ball may be better than ever."
Ruth smiled uncertainly. She looked away, searching for her mother. "Well, I have to go," she said.
When she started to walk away, Jaybird grasped her arm. "Wait," he said.
Ruth turned with an annoyed look on her face. "What?" she asked.
"I'm going back to Cottage Farm," he said.
Ruth looked puzzled. "Cottage Farm?"
"It's where I live," said Jaybird.
"Oh," said Ruth, and started to walk away.
Jaybird seized her arm once again. "Wait," he said.
Ruth wrenched her arm free, and turned with a hint of anger in her eyes, "Now what?"
Jaybird was becoming desperate. "Don't you want me to stay?"
Ruth turned to face Jaybird. She placed her hands on her hips and looked him up and down. What she saw was a skinny, barefooted boy in tattered short pants and faded T-shirt, about an inch shorter than her, wearing large wire-rimmed spectacles, his right hand encased in a large white bandage. She began to laugh. Jaybird was left standing in embarrassed mortification as the beautiful Jenny Wren, laughing merrily, turned her back and walked away. A popular tune crossed Jaybird's mind: "Have You Ever Seen a Dream Walking?"
Dr. Land came to stand next to Jaybird. "Why is she laughing?" he asked.
Jaybird had no answer for that question. "Maybe you should call Cottage Farm again," he said.
Jaybird's dad answered on the first ring. "Hello," he shouted, "this is Cottage Farm, don't hang up."
"This is Dr. Land calling from Grubville. Does anybody there know a young boy named Jaybird?"
Jaybird's dad put his hand over the transmitter and shouted at Jaybird's mom who was standing right next to him looking anxiously at the phone box, "It's about Jaybird."
"I'm Jaybird's dad," he shouted, "is Jaybird all right?"
Dr. Land nodded at the phone. "Yes," he shouted, "would you like to speak to him?"
Jaybird's dad was stunned. Would he like to speak to Jaybird? If the kid was all right he would like to tan the kid's hide for causing his mother so much grief. He held the receiver away from his ear and looked at it as if it were a foreign object that had just transmitted a weird and unwelcome message. He handed the receiver to Jaybird's mom and walked away, shaking his head.
Jaybird's mom eagerly grabbed the receiver, held it to her ear, and shouted into the transmitter, "Hello? I'm Jaybird's mom, is he all right?"
Dr. Land repeated. "Yes, he's all right," would you like to speak to him?" He looked around for Jaybird but did not see him.
Jaybird's mom was thrilled by the prospect of hearing Jaybird's voice again. "Yes," she shouted, "let me speak to him."
Jaybird was nowhere to be seen. Dr. Land shouted into the phone. "Hold on, I'll get him." He let the receiver dangle from its wire and went to look for Jaybird.
But Jaybird was gone. Dr. Land looked frantically all around the store, finally stopping to ask Eb King, the store owner, "Eb, have you seen that boy I came in here with?"
"Yep," answered King.
"Do you know where he is?"
"Nope... He walked out a few minutes ago with Crazy Dan."
Dr. Land started for the door, but was stopped by a question from King. "Oh Doc," he said, "you gonna pay for them specs that boy was wearin' when he walked out of here with Crazy Dan?"
Doc Land nodded. "Sure," he said, "put it on my bill. How much do they cost?"
King took a pencil from behind his ear and opened his big gray ledger book. "That'll be 50 cents," he said.
Doc Land winced. "You sure about that Eb?" he asked. "Last time I got specs here they was only two bits."
King smiled. "Good try, Doc," he said.
Doc Land asked, "Can you give me two for 85 cents? I could use a new pair for myself."
King sighed. "I'll tell you what, Doc," he said. "Since you're such a good customer, I'll give you two for 90 cents. That's my best offer." He started to write in his ledger.
Doc Land grumped, "Okay, but I think it's a holdup." He walked onto the porch looking for Jaybird and Crazy Dan on the street below. They were gone. He returned to the phone. Picking up the dangling receiver, he shouted into the transmitter, "Hello. Are you still there?"
Jaybird's mom was startled, she had almost given up hope ... the longer she waited, the more her mind raced. Was Jaybird there but didn't want to speak to her? "Hello," she cried, "I'm still here. Is Jaybird there?"
Doc Land said, "He's here somewhere but I can't find him just now, he left with Crazy Dan."
Jaybird's mom wasn't sure she had heard right. "Crazy Dan?" she asked.
Doc Land did not try to explain. "I'll go find him and call you back," he said, and hung up the phone.
Jaybird's mom stared at the dead receiver for only a moment before yelling, "COACH!"
Jaybird's dad was no more than five feet away. "You don't have to yell, Sis," he said calmly, "I'm right here. What happened?"
"We have to go to Grubville," she said, continuing to speak several volumes above her normal tone.
Jaybird's dad nodded. "Take it easy, Sis," he said, "calm down. What did the guy say?"
Jaybird's mom stuggled to contain her concern. She was on the verge of tears. "He said ..." she paused to collect herself. "...He said ... Jaybird left with Crazy Dan."
Jaybird's dad exploded. "I'm goin' to tan that kid's hide," he shouted.
"We have to go get him," said Jaybird's mom, "we have to go to Grubville," she paused thinking, "... where's Grubville?"
Jaybird's dad furrowed his brow. "I'm not sure," he said, "I think it's across the river. Somewhere over there." He waved in the general direction of the farming area to the west beyond the river.