Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth Read online

  Miss Sizemore's setting on the far side of the room beside a papier maché glacier. "You're back!" she shrieks. Everybody's cheering.

  Herschel shows me some pebbles he's brought in for a glacial moraine.

  ***

  Sunday at church, me and Granny sing a song we wrote together—"Holy Father Bring Me Joy." Everybody's a-clapping on the chorus. It's Granny's last Sunday here. Her blood's down, the doctor says, so she can go back home.

  We set down, and Sister Coates asks who would like to give thanks.

  Jonathan Safer says his uncle's helping him build a racer for the Soap Box Derby.

  "Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!"

  Wilma Tatters says, "Hallelujah, I got me a brand-new Exercycle."

  I stand up. "I'm grateful my granny's been here with us for these last two months. And we've had so many good times."

  "Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!"

  ***

  Sister Coates preaches on the Beatitudes, all them "blesseds." Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. She runs through the whole list, explaining each one. It's like a list of playground rules, only you don't get just a rule, you get a blessing and a promise.

  ***

  Now I ain't all them things, that's for sure. I ain't meek, because I'm always asking questions. But I am pure in heart. At least I try to be. And with Granny going next week, I hope to be comforted. I got my guitar and Granny's music. I got Mrs. Noah setting on my dressing table, and I got my fossils all lined up on a shelf Daddy made for me that's hanging on the wall. I'm always adding to it, and I keep it dusted because Mama wants it clean up there.

  * * *

  Since 1988, the time of this story, three museums within the Cincinnati-northern Kentucky-southern Indiana area have opened.

  To see trilobites and other Ordovician fossils, visitors may tour the following sites:

  The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal

  1301 Western Avenue

  Cincinnati, Ohio

  and

  The Falls of the Ohio State Park Interpretive Center

  201 West Riverside Drive

  Clarksville, Indiana

  When the river is low, visitors may walk over the fossil beds just as Mary Mae did.

  To view exhibits that depict the earth as no more than six thousand years old, visitors may tour the following site:

  The Creation Museum

  2800 Bullittsburg Church Road

  Petersburg, Kentucky

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  Acknowledgments

  My deepest gratitude to the following:

  My parents, Henry and Jeanne Hipkins, who long ago read my sisters and me the Old Testament Bible stories.

  My husband, Wayne Sheridan, maker of gourmet dinners and always First Listener. And my sons, Dominic and Maxwell.

  Mary Pinkham, Betty Hughes, and Pat Brunell, Boothbay Harbor librarians. And to Barbara House and Diane Dorbin, library program directors. I thank you for all your help and enthusiasm.

  Jane Randall, former children's librarian at the Crescent Hill Public Library in Louisville, Kentucky, who left us far too soon.

  My editor, Erica Zappy, who believed in Mary Mae from the start.

  My agent, Jennie Dunham, and fellow writers Amy MacDonald, Robin MacCready, Karen Allen, and Patricia Murray. Also Rebecca Bond at Houghton Mifflin. Wonderful readers, all. And Kirsten Cappy, a great fan of trilobites.

  Glenn Storrs, director of Science Research and Withrow Farny Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Cincinnati Museum Center. When I asked Dr. Storrs where one might dig for fossils in Norwood, Ohio, he said, "If you can find a construction site or road cut anywhere it should be hopping with fossils. Norwood, like Cincinnati, will be rich in Ordovician fossils wherever the bedrock is exposed."

  And Marjorie Behrman, my fifth grade teacher, who showed me where the Ohio River used to flow.

  * * *

  Sandra Dutton grew up the daughter of two Sunday school teachers in Ohio. She was just as curious about Genesis as she was about the limestone fossils in her backyard. She says, "I wrote this book for kids like me who love discovering things, whether in the Bible, the backyard, or a history book. I want them to have the courage to ask questions."

  In addition to teaching English at the college level, founding her own literary magazine, and exhibiting her paintings, Sandra has published several books, including Dear Miss Perfect: A Beast's Guide to Proper Behavior with Houghton Mifflin, described by Kirkus Reviews in a starred review as "a witty collection that entertains while subtly conveying information."

  Dutton has two grown sons and lives with her husband in Maine. You can visit her at www.SandraDutton.com.

  Houghton Mifflin

  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt • www.hmhbooks.com

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