The Winnebago Mysteries and Other Stories - Excerpt

Ruth is in one place, after seven hundred miles non-stop, a short foray in the Sierras, another thousand, and then the Grand Canyon. Everywhere coldness, wind, hot coffee, blue snow. She has wrinkles about her mouth now and a face full of irregularities. On the counter, in front of her, are several Yogo peg board games meant to entertain the customers. The men coming in are farmers and loggermen who talk about sheep and trees.

Outside, the hummingbirds are zooming among the red feeders. Someone like her mother hung the feeders there, but she has not met this person. Every day the large man who runs this place fills them with sugar water. He sells similar feeders at the cash register, as well as Moo Cow Creamers and the peg boards. He wants to avoid boredom in his restaurant. Ruth has been playing Yogo so long that she gets Genius every time now, so that for one or two seconds she feels okay.