Evelyn steered clear of Ruth as if she suspected she wanted to talk with her and went to bed early. And the Wilkersons had all gone out when they got up the next day. Hopefully, they were holding auditions somewhere.
The Texas heat was being its miserable self today. It wasn't a terrible humid heat, but neither Ruth or Kid wouldn't have been surprised if it was in the 100s, so they decided to take advantage of the river.
Isaiah hated the water though. He was much more content to sit on the bank and stuff whatever he could find into his mouth, so while Kid and Mercy played in the river, Ruth sat with him just letting her feet dangle in the water.
Mercy eventually came out to play with Isaiah on the bank, trying to teach him to like the water with playful, little splashes from the bucket. Judging from the mean looks and the fact he kept pulling away from her, it wasn't working.
"Why couldn't the Lord have called us to share the good news in a colder climate?" Ruth asked. "Like Canada."
Kid chuckled. "Canada does sound real good right about now." Resting his hands on her thighs, he tried to entice her into the water. "You know though you wouldn't be so hot if you were down here with me."
"But I didn't bring a dress for bathing and this is one of my good dresses."
He moved his hands a little further up her legs in answer.
"Stop. You're going to get me wet," she said with a laugh as she planted her hands in his hair to playfully hold him back.
He grinned wickedly. "That's the idea."
"So help me if you-"
He straightened and peered over her shoulder.
"What?" she asked, thinking the kids were into something and turning with him, but his eyes were on an advancing young man.
"Looks like company," Kid said.
With her bare calves exposed and no shoes, she quickly pulled her feet up out of the water and hid them beneath her skirt.
The man brought with him one of the two posters Francis had put up when they'd first arrived. "I've been looking for you both everywhere," he told them. "I knew you had to be around here somewhere. Can you sign this?" He had brought ink and a pen too.
Kid dried his hands on Ruth's skirt, so he wouldn't get the poster wet and signed. Then Ruth signed. The man went on and on about the melodrama and how great they were in it. They remained polite, but Kid finally suggested that he get Francis to sign it too to be free of the talkative fan.
"Why did he want ya'll to put your names on the paper?" Mercy asked, having quietly watched the exchange.
"Oh, people do that sometimes," Ruth said. "I guess it helps them remember what a good time they had watching the play. I reckon we better see about getting lunch."
"Oh, good. I'm starving. I haven't eaten in years," Mercy exclaimed dramatically.
"I think you've been spending too much time with actors. You had a pretty good breakfast just this morning as I remember it," Kid, in the middle of putting his dry shirt on, said with a smile.
The Wilkersons were still gone. "That's a good sign, I guess. Must be meeting with some luck," Ruth said. "I'll go ahead and make a big lunch in case they come back. We can always have it for leftovers if they already eat. But first," she said, turning to her daughter, "you need some dry clothes, missy, and your brother needs a dry diaper."
"I'll get them," Kid offered. He came back with more than just the items sent for, but he waited until Ruth had gotten the kids situated to show it to her.
He held up a clear, corked bottle half-filled with dark liquid inside and a label with the words 'Tincture of Opium' in large letters.
"Laudanum?" she asked. It was a common enough medicine. "Maybe they just keep it for emergencies."
"No, I knew something was off about Francis and so did you. This explains it."
"I guess it does," she said with a sigh, not wanting it to be true, but knowing it was. It explained so many of his daily habits.
Kid asked if they could speak with him alone that evening, which he agreed to and Kid confronted him with it by holding up the bottle.
"Why do you have my tincture?" Francis asked.
"Because you seem to be a healthy man." Ruth said. "What's ailing you that you think you need to take it regular?"
He saw no reason to deny the truth. "Do you have any idea what it's like to constantly be on the road?"
"As a matter of fact, we do," Kid said.
"Then you know how tired you get, how tedious all the continuous travel can be. And how helpful it is to have something to help you cope."
"It's not always easy," Ruth agreed, "but drugs are only going to make it harder on you and your family."
"I haven't heard my sister or my wife complain. And I know it makes me feel good," Francis argued.
"Feeling good and being good are two different things," Ruth said.
"That sadness you feel afterward?" Kid said. "That's a part of the effect it has on you. Is that good? It's why you had trouble breathing too."
"And how do you know so much about what it does?" Francis asked.
"I know people who have been hooked on it. Sister Ruth tried to help a woman suffering from that dependency once, but she ended up dead. She didn't even mean to kill herself with it. She just took more and more of it to get the same short-lived happiness she felt at the first until it was just too much at once. You don't control it. It controls you. And I also know about addiction on a more intimate level. I used to drink quite a bit and sometimes I still want to, I'll admit, but by the grace of God, the pull it has on you can be overcome."
"Well, I appreciate your concern, but it's too helpful for me to want to give up. I didn't find anyone here in Austin who wanted the life of an actor, so get ready. It's on to the next town or city tomorrow." And he walked off.
They were disappointed that they weren't free of the acting, but they were even more disappointed that Francis didn't even acknowledge that he had a problem for there was no way to help a person who didn't want to be helped.
"Well, we can always pray for him," Ruth said.
"Pray for some other actors while you're at it."
She grinned. "I already have been. From day one."
