My Country Road (a working title)

Chapter One




Alabama - September 1945

The body found in the shallow grave behind Henry’s gas station was twelve-year-old Cadie Mae Johnson. She lay in it all balled up and wrapped in an old potato sack. Jake Harris, a local boy with his daddy’s money to get him out of trouble, had chased her into the woods. It had been many months since nobody’s seen her, til now. Mr. Harris, rumor had it, paid off the sheriff to keep Jake’s record clean and him out of jail.

Cadie Mae’s family blamed the sheriff for not doin’ his job. Her mamma and papa came to fetch her, not lettin’ nobody know about the funeral. They buried her in Shelby County, not far from where they moved to months after she’d gone missin’.

Cadie Mae was a quiet little girl who didn’t cause no trouble. She was sweet and gentle, not even hurtin’ a fly. That’s what I couldn’t understand is how this could happen to a girl like her. Her mamma said she’d seen Jake lurkin’ around the school but I ain’t never seen him.

Lately, it seemed I was next on Jake’s list of girls to chase after. He had followed me after school, keepin’ his distance so I wouldn’t see him. It didn’t take to long to notice him behind me; he wasn’t real quiet.

“Come on Mary Ruby! I just wanna talk to ya!” Jake called out. “Don’t you wanna know what I gotta say?!”

“No I don’t!” I ran behind Chester Williams’ barn, down the hill toward the creek. “Leave me alone!”

The rust and orange colored leaves lay on the ground, wet from the rain that had fallen earlier in the mornin’. The canopy of trees above the creek held out the bright sunshine. The smell of wet leaves and dirt rushed up my nose as I ran closer to the creek.

“Mary Ruby, where are you goin’? I’ll catch you!” He taunted, sendin’ chills down my spine.

“Go away, Jake!” I tried to jump on the stones in the creek before he reached me, but I wasn’t fast enough.

“Come on Mary Ruby. I just want to talk.” He grabbed and pulled me against his chest. “Let me show you somethin’.” He whispered in my ear, his stale breath hot and smelled of old beer.

“Let go of me, Jake. I wanna go home.” I squirmed, pushin’ against him. I was so afraid of what he’d do.

“I think ya wanted me to catch ya. What do ya think I’m gonna do to ya?” He licked my ear like an old dog. “God, girl. You taste just like honey.”

“Jake, leave me alone!” I screamed. “NO!”

It happened in slow motion. I lost my balance on the wet moss next to the creek. I pushed against Jake, causin’ him to stumble backwards. He tripped over a old tree root stickin’ up, causin’ him to fall back. That’s when he hit his head on a rock.

“Ohmigod!” I continued to scream.
The blood ran out of his head just like the old hog Papa killed last year. Blood streamed down over the ground, runnin’ into the creek.

I tried to pull him back to Mr. Williams’ barn to get help, but he was too heavy. I kept slippin’ on the wet leaves, causin’ Jake to slide down into the creek. I got blood and dirt all over my good dress.

“Jake, ya gotta wake up. I can’t pull you no more.” I pleaded with his limp body, hopin’ he’d hear me. “Come on Jake, wake up!”

I gave up on tryin’ to get him to Mr. Williams. I felt tears fallin’ down my cheeks, scared of what would’ve happened if I hadn’t pushed him. Killin’ him wasn’t my idea of gettin’ away from him, but I just didn’t want to end up like Cadie Mae Johnson.

As I got closer to Mr. Williams’ house, I noticed he wasn’t home. I didn’t know what else to do by run home.

* * *

My torn, dirty dress lay across the end of my bed, stained with grass and blood, it looked worse than it was. My shoes had dried mud and blood crusted around their edges. I tried to clean myself up after I got home, but all I did was make a bigger mess. I knew Mamma was gonna be mad when she found out what I did to old Jake, so I hid under my bed.

I knew I’d get in trouble for what happened. The sheriff would be wantin’ to ask questions. He’d be wantin’ to know how a twelve year old little girl could do such a thing. All I know is I shouldn’t have left old Jake there, but he was too heavy for me to carry. Draggin’ him wasn’t easy either, bein’ dead and all.

There’d been so much blood; I didn’t think it’d ever stop. I kept thinkin’ of that old hog. With Jake fallin’ on the ground and hittin’ that rock, I didn’t know I’d pushed him that hard. I felt sorry for ‘em, but he had it commin’.

“Mary Ruby, what in the hell have you done now?” Mamma yelled. “Girl, where are you?”

I heard Mamma stompin’ through the house lookin’ fer me. Afraid she’d find me, I stayed hid under my bed, not that it’d make a difference.

“For God’s sake, Mary Ruby, where are you?” She bent down beside my bed, lookin’ under it. “Get your ass out here right now!”

“Yes’um.” I whispered, my voice shook like my body did.

“Where’d all this mud on your shoes come from?” She grabbed my shoulders, pullin’ me through my bedroom into the hallway. “What happened?” She pointed to my shoes. Then she noticed my dress.

“Jake’s dead, Mamma.” I shrugged, not knowin’ what else to say. “I killed ‘em.”

“What?!” Her mouth dropped open.

“He chased me into the woods behind Chester Williams’ barn, and I pushed him or I really think he slipped on the wet leaves.”

“What are you talkin’ about, Mary Ruby? You pushed him?” She shook me.

“He trip over a tree root, Mamma, but I had to push him off of me. He was gonna kill me like he killed little Cadie Mae.”

“What’re you thinkin’ girl? Why didn’t you just go to Chester’s house fer help?” Mamma shook her head. “What am I gonna do with you?”

“I tried, but he wasn’t home.” I shrugged, not knowin’ what else to say.

“Get this mess cleaned up and throw that dress in the fire. I’m gonna go talk to Chester about this.” Mamma turned as she walked out the front door leavin’ me alone again. “If the sheriff comes here, tell him what ya told me. Ya hear?”

* * *

The sheriff drove down the dirt road toward me as I sat on the front porch. I didn’t want to run off cause he’d probably shoot me. He was always wavin’ his gun around, showin’ people that he was the one in charge.

I sat on the old porch swing, waitin’ for him to stop his car. The dust from the road blew up causin’ a cloud around me. The smell of his cigar reached my nose before I saw him step on the lower step. His dog, Buck, was with him. Buck’s an old bloodhound with his left eye missin’. Sheriff said he lost it when Buck went chasin’ a coon up a tree. With a low branch stickin’ out, it stuck’em. He didn’t just lose his eye, he lost that stupid coon, too.

“Hey Sheriff. Mamma’s not home right now.”

“That’s alright. I came here to talk to you, little girl.”

“Oh?” I stared at my feet.

“Mary Ruby, what do I hear you killed Jake Harris?” Sheriff Dilbert pushed his hat back off his forehead, leanin’ on his bent knee. “Why don’t you tell me what’s goin’ on here, girl?”

“Well, sheriff. I was walkin’ home from school when I saw Jake followin’ me. He was chasin’ me in the woods behind Mr. Williams’ barn. I ran to the creek and Jake grabbed me. I told him to let me go, and I pushed him. He trip over an old root, and he fell. His head hit a rock. He bled like that old hog Papa killed last year.” I bowed my head as tears welled up in my eyes. “I tried to pull him back to Mr. Williams, but I got as far as the edge of the creek. I got his blood all over my good dress and my feet. I ran home, but I was too scared to tell anyone.”

“So what you’re tellin’ me is you left Jake Harris by the creek bleedin’ to death.”

“I think he was dead before I left him there. He didn’t move or nothin’.”

“Well, I checked out there and he ain’t at the creek no more. Where did he go?”

I felt the blood drain from my face. All I could think was “Oh Shit!”

“Do you know where he is, Mary Ruby?”

“No sir.” I shook my head. “I left him at the creek.” I began to shake, and tears streamed down my face.

“I think you need to come with me, little girl. No use in cryin’ over it.” He handed me his handkerchief. “Here.”

“Am I goin’ to jail?” I wiped my eyes, and blew my nose. I heard what they do to children in jail and I didn’t want no part of it.

“We’ll have to find out where Jake is first. Then we’ll figure out what to do with you.”

He pulled me to his car, puttin’ me in the back seat with Buck. I didn’t know what to do or think. All I knew was I left Jake at the creek and I didn’t look back. I didn’t think he would just jump up and walk away. He was stone dead, or at least I thought he was.



Chapter 2


The sheriff and his deputy had gone through the woods for a week lookin’ for Jake Harris’ body. They tromped through the cow pastures and turned over every rotten log from one end of Saint Clair County to the other. With dried leaves on the ground, they had to search with the dogs. It was as if the ground just opened up and swallerd him whole. He was nowhere to be found.

Sheriff Dilbert told Mamma not to go nowhere, just in case he did find a body. Mr. Harris wanted the sheriff to send me to some jail for bad children in Atlanta, Georgia, but Mamma promised she’d make sure I didn’t run away. Mr. Harris started stoppin’ by the house to talk to Mamma, wantin’ to see if I had said anything to her.

I didn’t have no place to go, except for school. Only reason I started goin’ to a real school is ‘cause Mamma wanted me to have a real learnin’. Before my Papa was killed, he’d told me, “Learnin’ was for fancy folks, not us. We had to work for what we wanted, and goin’ to some fancy school wouldn’t get us nowhere.” Mamma said she wanted me to get out of bein’ poor and learn somethin’ so I could have a good life.

As for Papa, the sheriff found him floatin’ in the lake last summer with a bullet hole in the back of his head. Mamma said Papa was in trouble with Mr. Harris and some of his business folk. All I can remember of Papa was he stayed liquored up on sour mash every other day. When he wasn’t drunk, he ran liquor across the county line whenever he got the chance. Afterward, he’d buy me and Mamma somethin’ pretty.

“Girl, you hear me?”

“Ma’am?” I shook my head of my thoughts of Papa.

“Mary Ruby, what are you doin’? Mamma yelled from the kitchen. “You need to get in this house and clean up!”

“I’m just sittin’ out here on the porch.” I sat in the swing, pushin’ the dirt on the floor with my feet.

“Well, get in here now!”

As I walked into the kitchen, the smell of Mamma’s fresh bread cookin’ made my mouth water. I saw Mamma doin’ her sewing for Mr. Williams. He was always bringin’ Mamma stuff to mend. I couldn’t understand why he didn’t just do it himself.

“Mamma, what do ya want me to do?” I leaned against the wall beside the icebox. “I ain’t done no messin’ up. I’ve been outside all mornin’.” I played with the dishcloth tied to the icebox handle.

“I know, but Mr. Williams is due here to pick up his shirts. I don’t want him thinkin’ we keep a messy house.” She pushed her dark sable brown hair out of her face. Mamma looked like she never aged. I prayed every night I’d stay just as pretty when I got older.

“Alright, Mamma.” I shrugged, and walked down the short hallway to my bedroom.

Mr. Williams had been courtin’ Mamma since my Papa died. Mamma says he helped her deal with her griven’ for Papa. Here lately, Mr. Williams seemed to be doin’ more than courtin’ her. She’s always makin’ herself pretty and dressin’ in her Sunday church clothes when he’d come to visit.

I guess it would be nice to have a new Papa, but I didn’t think Mr. Williams liked kids. He was always tellin’ me to go play outside so he could be alone with Mamma. Once I walked in the livin’ room when they was kissin’. He got so mad; it looked like smoke was comin’ out of his ears. Mamma told him not to worry about me cause I had seen her and my Papa kissin’ before. That made him mad even more.

As I looked around to find somethin’ to clean, I heard a car door shut. I didn’t think Mr. Williams was comin’ over so soon. I went to the window and saw Mr. Harris talkin’ to Mamma. They seemed to be arguin’ about somethin’, probably me.

Mamma started back to the house when Mr. Harris grabbed her arm. I was surprised Mamma let him touch her. She didn’t seem to fight back, just stood there. Mr. Harris was talkin’ but I couldn’t hear what he said. So I walked in the livin’ room to hear what was goin’ on. The window opened behind the couch let a whole lot more in than just a warm Alabama breeze.

“Just what do you think you’re doin’, Caroline? I thought I told you to stop seein’ Chester Williams.” Mr. Harris gripped Mamma’s arm a little tighter from what I could see.

“Robert, you ain’t got no hold on me. Ya hear!” Mamma tried to pull away from him this time, but didn’t get nowhere. “Now if you don’t mind, let go of my arm!” She struggled against his hold.

“Damn it, Caroline! I don’t want you seein’ him!”

“I don’t care what you want. If you would’ve married me years ago, we wouldn’t be havin’ this argument.” Mamma turned her head toward the house. The wind whipped her hair in her face.

“Marry you? We aren’t going though this again.” Mr. Harris shook his head. “You know I couldn’t marry you. You got yourself knocked up with Armstrong’s brat.”

“Robert, she’s yours.”

“You lying bitch!” Mr. Harris slapped Mamma across the face.

“No!” I screamed from the window. “Mamma!” I ran out the front door.

“Mary Ruby, stay back!” Mamma cried as I ran up to her.

I didn’t know what came over me. I torn into Mr. Harris like a person gone mad. I kicked and hit him, leavin’ red marks on his face.

“Get your bastard off of me, Caroline!” He pushed me away. “If you don’t, I’m going to kill her too!”

I froze, feeling the blood drain from my face.

“Mary Ruby?” Mamma pulled me to her, wiping my hair out of my face. “Tell Mr. Harris you’re sorry.” She sniffled.

“He’s not my papa!” I screamed. “And I ain’t sorry!”

I pulled out of Mamma’s grasp and ran toward the house. I didn’t want to think of Mr. Harris bein’ my papa. Mamma didn’t know what she was talkin’ about.

* * *

The revelation of Robert Harris being my real papa was more than I’d expected. Mamma had said once she wished she could tell some secret, but I didn’t think it was somethin’ like this.

It had been a week since Mr. Harris came to the house. Mr. Williams hadn’t stopped by either. Mamma had been keepin’ to the house, just sittin’ in her rockin’ chair. I didn’t know what to do or say, but I knew I had to do something.

“Mamma, do you wanna go walkin’ with me to see Granny?”

“No, baby girl. I need to stay home.” She continued to rock and stare out the front window. “You go on and find Lucille. She’ll go with you.”

“Lucille don’t like to go to Granny’s. She says Granny scares her.” I tilted my head, puttin’ my hands on my hips. “I don’t know what she’s so scared about.”

“Honey, I don’t know. Just go on by yourself.” She waved her hand as to shew me away.

As I walked down the dirt road to Granny’s house, the wind had picked up off the mountain. The smell of winter was in the air. All the trees that lined the road had shed their leaves and stood naked for everyone to see. The ground under the trees was covered with dead undergrowth of ferns, leaves and saplings. I often gathered up the fallen leaves in a pile then lay in them lookin’ at the sky.

As I neared Granny’s house, I noticed there was somethin’ in the underbrush. I wasn’t too sure I wanted to find out what it was. The closer I got, the more I felt an odd feelin’ in my stomach, like I’d seen this before.

The smell of blood hit me before I got a few feet away from the large mound. I couldn’t make out what it was, except for the blond hair that wasn’t covered with brush. I knew at that moment that it was Lucille Alexander, my cousin on Mamma’s side.

“No, Lucille!” I screamed as tears streamed down my face. “I’ll go get help!”

I ran the short distance to Granny’s house. Granny was sittin’ on her porch shuckin’ corn.

“Granny! Help!” I screamed, as I got closer to her.

“Mary Ruby, what’s wrong?”

“Lucille.” I gasped. “She’s dead.” I grabbed my side because of the sharp pain that shot through me.

“Lord have mercy.” Granny grabbed her old doctorin’ bag from the table next to the front door. “Show me.” She pushed me back in the same direction I came from.

We found Lucille’s body curled up in a ball just like Cadie Mae was when they found her a few months ago, except Lucille wasn’t buried.

Granny sat and laid Lucille out to look like she was sleepin’. Lucille didn’t looked like herself. Her face usually full of life now looked like a pack of dogs had tore her to pieces. There was black and blue bruising and cuts on the side of her neck.

Her arms and legs cut and bruised with dirt on them. In some places, you could see all the way to the bones. A part of her skin was missin’ from her upper legs, too.

“Mary Ruby, I want you to run get the sheriff!” Granny tried to wipe the blood off Lucille’s face as she yelled at me. “Go on, now!”

“Yes ‘um.” I continued to stare at Lucille’s dead body.

I took off in the direction of town. It would take about twenty minutes if I took the main road, so I cut across Mr. Henry’s cow pasture. The ground was soft and wet from the rain we got the night before. It took me about ten minutes to make it to the sheriff’s office. Sheriff Dilbert was sittin’ on the bench in front of his office when I came runnin’ out of the woods. He had his feet propped up on the raillin’ and his hat pushed down over his eyes.

“Sheriff!” I gasped for breath. “Help!”

“What’s happened, girl?” He spit a stream of chewin’ tobacco from his mouth as he pushed his hat up off his face. “You gone and done somethin’ wrong?”

“No, it’s Lucille!” I coughed, still trying to catch my breath. “She’s dead!”

“What!?”

“Me and Granny found her just down the road from Granny’s house.” I wiped the back of my hand across my eyes.

“How do you know she’s dead?”

“She’s covered in blood!” I yelled. I wanted to tell him she looked like Cadie Mae did when they pulled her out of that hole, but I didn’t want to stir up any trouble about Jake still missin’.

The sheriff put me in his car and drove down the dirt road to Granny’s house. As we got closer to where Lucille’s body was, I could see Granny still sittin’ with her.

As we got out of the sheriff’s car, Granny turned toward us.

“Sheriff, looks like she got herself attacked by that pack of wild dogs I’ve seen around here.” Granny pushed Lucille’s hair back, revealing the torn skin and blood that used to be Lucille’s beautiful face.

“Yep, that’s what it looks like.” Sheriff Dilbert walked back to his car, not givin’ Lucille a second look.

“Where’s he goin’?” I pointed to the sheriff. “Don’t he want to look at her?”

“He’s probably callin’ them people to come get this poor child.”

The sheriff returned to stand next to me and Granny. “Seems to me, she’s out where she ain’t got no business.” He tipped his hat back, and spit a stream of tobacco next to my foot.

“Her people live just past that large oak down the road a ways.” Granny pointed. “Maybe she was goin’ home from somewhere.”

“Don’t know. I guess I need to let her mamma and papa know what’s happened.” Sheriff Dilbert acted like it weren’t no big deal, Lucille bein’ dead and all. He went back to his car, and drove down the road to Lucille’s house.

Deputy Lewis drove up in his car as the sheriff left.

“Do you think them wild dogs will come back?” I stepped closer to Granny.

“I don’t know, Mary Ruby.” Granny shook her head. “I think you best be gettin’ back home before it gets dark.”

“Mary Ruby, what happened?” Deputy Lewis asked as I walked past him.

“I’m goin’ home. Granny can tell you.” I said as ran down the dirt road, leaving my footprints in the mud.




Chapter 3


As I walked through the back door, I heard Mamma scream. I ran to the front door, just as Mr. Harris slapped Mamma across her face. I didn’t know he’d come by.

“You bitch! Who do you think you are?” He slapped Mamma again. “I’m not giving you a damn penny for that bastard of yours.”

“She’s yours, Robert!” Mamma cried.

“How do I know that?” Mr. Harris yelled in her face. “You’ve screwed everything in the county!”

“You were my first.” Mamma coward against Mr. Harris’ anger. “I loved you.”

“You loved me! Ha!” He laughed. “You don’t know what love is, you lying bitch! Is that why you married that bastard Armstrong?”

“He loved me enough to take care of me.”

“He didn’t love you either. He wanted between your legs like I did.”

“You’re lying!” Mamma clawed at his face.

“You damn bitch!” His hands wrapped around my Mamma’s arms to hold her back. “I’m going to kill you!” Robert let go of Mamma’s arms and grabbed for her neck.

“Don’t hurt my Mamma!” I ran toward them. “Get away from her!”

“Having your little bastard taking up for you again, Caroline?” He pushed Mamma toward me. “Don’t either of you learn your lessons from before. I should kill both of you.” He walked to his car and got in.

“I hate you, Robert!”

Mr. Harris drove off with a spin from his tires, spraying a dirt cloud around me and Mamma.

“Baby girl, don’t worry. He ain’t worth cryin’ over.” She pulled me toward the front porch, holdin’ me tight against her.

I didn’t know I was cryin’ until I wiped my face, findin’ my hand wet from my tears.

“Mamma, why did he say those things?” I looked into her sad and tired eyes.

“Oh honey.” She whispered. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner he was your papa.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” She wiped the tears from her eyes. “I was young and stupid. Robert showed me the wonders of the world. Well, the world that we lived in.”

“I don’t understand.” I tilted my head, resting it on her shoulder as she sat us on the porch swing.

“It started years ago when I was about your age. Robert was my brother, Johnny’s, best friend and I thought he was the best-lookin’ boy in the county much less the state. My papa and mamma had gone to Granny’s house because mamma was due to have my baby sister. Johnny was keepin’ an eye on me and Lilly Bell here at home and Robert came over for a visit.

“Robert could sweet talk the dead back to life. He’d sit with me on the front porch swing and tell me how pretty I was and that he really liked me. I fell for him so hard and fast I didn’t care what happened as long as he was with me. He told me he loved me from the start.”

As Mamma talked about the past, her eyes filled with tears.

“One day while Johnny went to look in on Mamma and our new sister, Janey Lynn, Robert came to see me. He wanted to go swimmin’ in the pond, down the by the covered bridge.”

Mamma looked at me as I played in the dirt with my toes, trying to pay attention.

“I knew I’d get in trouble with Johnny if I wasn’t home but I wanted to be with Robert. So we went to the pond and skinny-dipped. When Robert held me close, I thought we were the only two people in the world.”

A breeze blew through the porch and loosened a strand of hair out of Mamma’s ponytail, makin’ her look like a little girl again.

“He’d told me he loved me and we’d be together forever. Before we got out of the pond, we. Well, we kissed a lot and I got pregnant with you.” Mamma’s face turned red.

“How do you know you was pregnant with me?” I tilted my head looking up at her.

“I just did. And I didn’t say nothin’ to Robert until I was sure. By then, he was gettin’ married to Laura Hudson from Perry County. I was so hurt I didn’t know what to do. I decided I needed to find you a papa, so I told Peter Armstrong I wanted to marry him.”

Mamma wiped her eyes as she began to cry again.

“A couple of weeks later after we got married, I told him I was pregnant. I never told him you weren’t his. I didn’t want to break his heart with the truth of who your real papa was. He loved you with all his heart and soul. We named you after his mamma, who died before you was born.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell Papa who I really belonged to? Was you afraid of what he’d say?”

“Mary Ruby, I knew in my heart that your papa would love you no matter. But it would’ve broke his heart if he knew any different.”

I looked at Mamma, seeing her in a different light. I never knew how she’d felt about Mr. Harris or Papa. I knew she and Papa loved each other, but I guess it was out of desperation to keep me safe.

“Robert didn’t find out about me marryin’ Peter until he started runnin’ shine through Shelby County. Robert’s business partners didn’t like it none that your Papa was takin’ money from folks they took care of. Robert claimed your Papa owed him money from some gamblin’. The only gamblin’ your Papa ever did was runnin’ shine across the county lines.”

“Why didn’t Papa stop runnin’ shine?” I pushed the floor, causing the swing to sway.

“We needed to have the money to buy food and pay the note on the house. Your Papa was a good honest man. He only ran shine if we were runnin’ low on money.” Mamma patted my leg.

“So why did Mr. Harris kill Papa?” I didn’t want to make Mamma sad, but I wanted to know.

“Robert was jealous of your Papa. He was mad I married him and that Papa treated me good.”

“But Mr. Harris was married too. Did he not want to be married to his wife?”

“Honey, I don’t know. His wife was a little thing, not much bigger than you are. After Jake was born, she died from bleedin’ too much. Robert hadn’t been the same since.”

Mamma looked at the old well with tears streaming down her face.

“Do you love him, Mamma?”

“I used to think I did. I was in love with him years ago, but now Robert’s grown hard and hateful. I feel sorry for him.”

“So Jake was my brother. I’m sorry he’s dead, now.”

“Don’t be. He was gonna hurt you, Mary Ruby. He deserved what he got, no matter if he was your brother or not.” Mamma sighed. “Jake had grown up learnin’ his papa’s anger.”

As we sat on the front porch, we watched the sun go down over the mountains. It was so pretty and peaceful; I never wanted it to end. The sound of the crickets and frogs was like a lullaby singin’ me to sleep. There was a faint smell of someone burnin’ wood mixed with the rain that was beginin’ to fall.

I was sad Mamma had kept the secret of my real papa but it didn’t matter. Peter Armstrong would always be my papa and not even Mr. Harris can take that away. I just hoped that Mamma wasn’t gonna get hurt anymore.

* * *

As I headed for school the next mornin’, I felt like someone was watchin’ me. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, makin’ me shake wit a cold chill. I walked as careful as I could, tryin’ not to get my new shoes dirty.

The road between my house and town was kind of deserted since no one lived on it but me, Mamma and Granny. Mr. Henry’s cow pasture ran up the east side, with the creek runnin’ to the north of Granny’s house. Past the creek was Mr. Williams’s barn with his house down the path from it.

As I reached the end of our road, I still felt like someone was watchin’ at me. I ran the rest of the way toward the school hopin’ I could get there before gettin’ grabbed and killed like Cadie Mae and Lucille.

“Mary Ruby, whatcha runnin’ for?” Deputy Lewis called out to me as I ran past the sheriff’s office. “You act like somebody’s after you.”

“I felt like someone was followin’ me as I walked down the road.” I stopped in front of him, trying to catch my breath. “I didn’t see nobody, but I felt them.”

“It’s just your imagination, Mary Ruby. You’ve been through a lot in the past few weeks with Cadie Mae and Lucille’s death and Jake’s disapearin’. No wonder you’re as jumpy as a new colt.”

“I don’t know. I need to get to school.” I smiled the best I could so I didn’t look like I was really scared.

“Tell Miss. Taylor I said hello.”

“Yes sir. I will.” I waved, still with the odd feelin’ someone was watchin’ me.



Chapter 4

Alabama – Twenty-five years later

Driving down the dirt road toward the house I grew up in seemed to take no time at all. I guess when you were a little girl; everything seemed larger. It had been twenty years since I had been back to Harrisville, not that it had changed any.

Mr. Henry’s gas station wasn’t the only one in town anymore. The town had put in a self-service gas station on the corner by the sheriff’s office. Deputy Lewis was now the sheriff, because Sheriff Dilbert retired ten years back. Mamma had written that Robert Harris and Sheriff Dilbert had fought over continuing the search for Jake. Neither one of them seemed to think the same thing. Sheriff insisted that Jake was dead and Mr. Harris argued he wasn’t. After all these years, Mr. Harris never gave up the search.

Chester Williams’ legs had been crushed in a farming accident about four years back, leaving him crippled. Mamma said she’d heard rumors that Robert Harris had paid someone to tamper with the farming equipment. No one has come forward with any more news about it. Deputy Lewis, I mean, Sheriff Lewis signed it off as an accident.

When Mamma suffered a stroke, the doctors at the hospital in Birmingham put her in the new nursing home built on the site of Granny’s old house. Granny had left the property to Mamma, so she sold it to a developing company. The nursing home was built about a year before Mamma was placed in it.

The stroke had her left side paralyzed. With my own family, I wasn’t able to take care of her. I hated myself for not coming to see her sooner than I had, but I had moved out of state and I had to start a new life.

I parked my car in front of the old house, making sure I had the key to the front door. As I searched through my purse, I got the oddest feeling that someone was watching me. After all these years, I thought I wouldn’t feel that anymore.

“Mary Ruby, quit thinking someone’s watching you.” I scolded myself.

As I walked up the front steps, the wood creaked under my adult weight. I didn’t realize the stairs were so narrow. Some of the nails that held the pieces of wood together were missing from years of neglect. The front porch swing dangled by one side, attached by the old chain to the ceiling.

“Granny, can you see what’s happened to the old house?” I spoke as if she were still living. “Mamma would be heart broken if she saw the house in such a mess.”

Wondering around, I noticed some of the windows were broken out and boarded up to keep out any animals from wondering inside. The screen door was missing, leaving the front door to weather over the years. The old paint had chipped off, giving the door a haunted look.

I unlocked the door, and then pushed it opened. There was a thick layer of dust covering everything in sight. The sheets draped over the furniture gave a ghostly feel to the house.

“Oh, how disgusting!” I held my hand to my face when I saw the rat droppings on the floor. “Now I know Mamma would fall over dead.”

As I walked around the four-room house, the memories of my childhood flowed back into my mind. I saw Mamma and Papa sitting in the living room, laughing and talking to each other. The love that they shared was untouchable or at least I had thought. I guess they had that special relationship that even Mr. Harris couldn’t even imagine.

* * *

After looking through the house, I decided to take a walk around to the old shed. It looked like it had seen its better days, with its roof falling in and the door hanging on one hinge. I remember when papa built that old thing.

“Sorry to see it in such bad shape, Papa.” I walked toward my car.

I decided to grab my camera out of the backseat of my car so I could save some memories. Walking toward the shed, I started snapping shots of various things. The old shed, with its sad personality, was standing as a shrine of the past. The wheelbarrow turned up on its end, a bird’s nest lay in the notch of the wheel. The wild flowers that had taken over the ground and the kudzu vine creeping up the weathered wall of the shed.

“It’s a shame, Granny, how everything’s wasted away.” I shook my head.

I continued taking photographs of numerous other things. The old house with its weathered clabbered boards and tin roof looked like an old dollhouse long forgotten. The hill behind the house, with the wild flowers scattered with bugs in flight, seem to be a scene out of a fairy tale. I could picture Jack and Jill tumbling down the hill.

I walked farther into the woods, taking advantage of the sun light. I had often thought of photographing the woods and creek when I was in college.

As I continued to walk through the woods, I found the path that led to the creek. I wanted to take a few photos of the way the water ran over the water.

“Mary Ruby.” A whisper of the wind caught my hair as I topped the hill.

“Whose there?” I looked around to see if I could find who was talking to me.

“Mary Ruby.” The wind whispered my name again.

Goose bumps crawled up my arm and fear froze by feet to the ground. I didn’t believe in ghosts, so I didn’t think it was that. Someone was just playing a trick on me.

“Whose there?” I called out. “This isn’t funny!”

Still no one answered.

I knew I had to get out of the woods, so I willed my legs to move. The closer I got to the creek, the more uncomfortable I felt about being in the woods. I wanted to reach the edge of the woods as fast as I could without falling.

The wet smell of the earth, with the leaves and underbrush, caused memories of Jake casing me to engulf my mind. I could feel him closing in on me, trying to pull me closer. I had to get away. I wouldn’t let him catch me.
I ran as fast as I could. The closer I got to the pasture, the more I felt someone was behind me. As I looked over my shoulder, I hit a solid object. Arms wrapping around me, hard and strong.