"She's fine as silk!" Mama held my homemade doll out at arm's length, looking first at her purple dress and the freckle dots on her face, and then at her long, soft legs. Sookie's legs were turned up at the ends and made black so she'd look like she had on Sunday shoes. "Bandershanks, this is the kind of girl you want to be: one who wears her smile all day long!" She handed Sookie Sue back to me. Mama stood up straight again and started toward the kitchen. I followed her. "Me and you've got lots to do today, Bandershanks." "What?" "First thing is to finish working up the light-bread dough, else it won't have time to rise once, much less twice." "Mama, can I shake the sifter?" "Sure. Soon as I dip the flour outta the barrel. Hon, you better lay your doll on the bed, or you'll get her all mussed up." I had hardly put Sookie to sleep and crawled up on the end of Mama's cook table when the phone started ringing—two longs and a short. "Mama, it's our ring! Lemme answer it! Lemme, Mama! Please!" "All right. Hurry. I'll be in there soon as I wash this sticky dough off my fingers. I can't imagine who—" I couldn't wait for Mama to finish whatever she'd started to say. I dropped the sifter, jumped off the table, and streaked up the hall toward the front room. The phone kept ringing. As soon as I could push a chair over to the wall I climbed on it and started jerking at the cord on the ear piece. That stopped the ringing. Then, by standing on tiptoe, I managed to yank the hearing thing all the way off its hook. "Hello!" I hollered up into the mouth cup. "Hello? Hello? Who's this?" "It's me!" "Who?" "Me! I mean—" "Call your ma to the phone, honey. This is Mister Hawk Lumpkin. I gotta tell her somethin'." Grandpa had said lots of times that Mister Hawk couldn't hear it thunder. "Here's my mama," I screeched. I handed Mama the ear thing, but she didn't put it against her head. Mister Hawk was yelling so loud she didn't even have to hold it close. "Hello! Mister Hawk? This is Nannie." "Nannie? Say, Nannie, send one of your young'uns out to Thad's house and tell him if he wants to see a automobile to get down to the road. One just passed, headed that way! Tell Thad he'll have to make haste 'cause that fellow must be hittin' twenty or twenty-five miles a hour!" "Yes, sir, Mister Hawk, I'll tell Pa." He must have hung up, for Mama stopped talking. "Run out to Grandpa's and tell him Mister Hawk called and said—" "I heard him, Mama. I'm going." "Don't you make a lotta racket and bother Grandma Ming. I'll go call Wiley." I didn't want to use the front doorsteps; it was easier to run to the end of the porch and jump off. Besides, that put me right at the gate between our yard and Grandpa's yard. In a second I was on his porch and standing right by his rocking chair. Grandpa was sitting in the hot sunshine, his hat tilted down over his eyes and his _Gazette_ spread out across his knees. I could hear him snoring, loud.