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Back Come Again No More Save as PDF
Chapters (55)
  1. Cover
  2. Back Cover
  3. Title Page
  4. Contents
  5. PART I 
  6. 1.
  7. 2.
  8. 3.
  9. 4.
  10. 5.
  11. 6.
  12. 7.
  13. 8.
  14. 9.
  15. 10.
  16. 11.
  17. 12.
  18. PART II 
  19. 13.
  20. 14.
  21. 15.
  22. 16.
  23. 17.
  24. 18.
  25. 19.
  26. 20.
  27. 21.
  28. 22.
  29. 23.
  30. 24.
  31. 25.
  32. 26.
  33. 27.
  34. 28.
  35. 29.
  36. 30.
  37. PART III 
  38. 31.
  39. 32.
  40. 33.
  41. 34.
  42. 35.
  43. 36.
  44. 37.
  45. 38.
  46. 39.
  47. PART IV 
  48. 40.
  49. 41.
  50. 42.
  51. 43.
  52. 44.
  53. 45.
  54. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  55. Touchstone Reading Group Guide

She threw up again the next morning, and the morning after that. After a week, she got Jim Lindquist to drive her in to see Doc Baker. The doctor confirmed what she already knew. She was carrying Jake’s child. She cried all the way home.

When she told him, Jake threw his straw hat ten feet in the air, whooped and hollered and talked about what a fine prizefighter this boy was going to make. He wanted to throw a wingding on the spot, but Emaline persuaded him to hold off until the crops were in.

After that, her days took on a clarity she had never known. Everything now was for the baby. Each day, the child inside her grew, by how many fractions of an ounce she did not know, but surely it weighed more than it had the day before. Her hopes grew with it, until it seemed that her aspirations spanned the universe. This would be her magical baby, her salvation, a child of such wondrous talents that its ability to alter the known world for the better would be without limit. She would become a doctor and cure terrible diseases and write symphonies as a sideline. Emaline knew that her dreams for the baby were giddy with excess, but they took her away from this brown, dusty place. She was as happy as she had ever been, all her being now functioning like her body, at the service of this unborn infant.

Even Jake seemed to change. He was quieter, less explosive, less rough when he took her. He tried to do the heavy lifting around the farm so she wouldn’t have to do it, and his hopes were every bit as large as Emaline’s, although they lay in a different direction. He bragged to anyone who would listen, telling them that Jake McCloskey Jr. would be heavyweight champion of the world.

In late May, Emaline said maybe it was time they had that wingding. They had survived drought and dust storms and crop prices that wouldn’t keep a hummingbird alive. Farms were still going under by the thousands all over America, but they had staggered from one dry season to the next. A week of rain was a sure sign that they were about to be blessed. They would invite all the neighbors for a potluck. They would sing and dance and laugh and forget the hard times. She would feel the baby move inside her and hold her hands over her belly and feel as happy as she had ever been.

26.