Light to the Hills: A Novel (80)

They stopped only once, just to rest and eat. Amanda gave Beady a leg up on her tall mare before she mounted Junebug, and they set off again, eager to be on their way. The temperature climbed as they rode, the late-spring sky a piercing blue studded with high white clouds. Birds called to each other in the trees, and a pair of cawing crows followed them for miles, curious or hoping for a dropped morsel or something shiny to collect.

At Amanda’s, Beady fussed over Miles and gave him two books she’d stashed in her satchel. She told him his grandpa would visit soon and promised to be back in a day or so, and they’d make a special cherry pie. Mooney had had a high time with her crowd of visitors and clapped her hands when she heard they’d be staying an extra day.

“Why can’t we come with you now, Mama?” asked Hiccup.

“I’ve got something to do up on the mountain just now, but soon as I can, I’ll send for you.” She planted a kiss on top of Hiccup’s head.

“We’re catching crawdads in the creek later on,” Miles told her, and Hiccup brightened.

“Will there be dragonflies?” she asked. “Butterflies, too?”

“Tons.”

Hiccup nodded and skipped off to make a net with Cricket out of an old screen door and a stick he said he could carve for the purpose.

Rai lingered over Sass and tipped her chin up with a finger. “If Finn and your daddy get done with their business, they’ll come through town in a day or so. I wager they’ll stop for some goods at the store while they’re here. Mooney’ll leave word, and y’all can come on back with them. Plain Jane can pull the wagon back up.”

“You really think Finn will come back?” asked Sass.

“I’m hoping and praying. The rest isn’t up to us.”

“What do you have to go do?” she asked.

“Miz Wick and I need to take care of something important,” she said. “It’s one of those loads mamas carry. Be sweet while we’re gone.”

Amanda put a hand on Sass’s shoulder. “How about you go with me to the WPA office, Sass? I’ve got a lot to catch up on, and you could be a big help.”

With that, Rai and Beady nudged Maxine onward. The mare was plenty docile but wasn’t used to logging so many miles in a day. She pinned her ears back to show she expected extra corn at the end of this. Once more, they picked their way over trails, through creeks, and up and down narrow sloping hills to get to the MacInteers’ home. This late in the day, clouds of gnats started to form and caused Maxine to toss her head and swish her tail in aggravation. Crickets and tree frogs had already begun their dusky trills when, finally, Beady pulled Maxine to a halt outside the MacInteer barn.

She pulled off her box of supplies, along with the saddle and the bag she’d brought with her. Maxine got a rubdown, an extra helping of corn, and a clear bucket of water before Beady jumped to help Rai finish up the chores that had been left undone for the two days she’d been away. Farms weren’t meant to be left for long. The hens had already gone to roost by the time Rai scattered their feed and filled their water. They sat on eggs long overdue for collecting. They could hear the goats’ bleating across the yard; they needed milking straightaway.

Once all the immediate chores had been done, they took a moment to wash and rest with some tea and warmed corn pone by the stove inside.

“All’s I could think there and back was a ready pistol,” said Rai. “It would be a fitting end to him, but an obvious one. Someone’s gotta pull the trigger.”

“I got a better idea,” said Beady.

Rai waited. The cabin had grown warm with the stove going. She fanned herself with an old newspaper, the front page full of news about war fronts overseas. At least her boys weren’t mixed up in that, she thought. One less thing.

“That box of supplies I brought from the church,” said Beady, “happens to be full of timber rattlers.”

Rai’s jaw fell open. She recalled the service they’d attended and the snake wrapped around Jack’s arm at the front as a display of his faith. “Beady Wick”—she smiled slowly—“that may just be the best idea for mountain justice I ever heard.”

“I was hoping you couldn’t smell ’em along the way or hear ’em moving around in there. I put some mint on top to cover the musk. I remembered when Gripp was attending years ago, he never could abide no snakes. Gave him the willies through and through. He could hardly stand being in the building with ’em. Guess he saw one or two folks get bit by and by, and you know that’s never real pretty. Fortunately, we had remedies and could get to the mine doctor if it came to that, but way up here on the backside of the mountain in the dead of night, it’s plumb impossible to find a doctor.”

“How can we make sure?”

“Nothing sure but death and taxes, but way I see it, the Lord’s on our side here. It’s not like we’re pulling a trigger. We’re just enlisting the Lord’s own creatures to do His work if He wants it so.”

Rai nodded, following the logic.

“Most of the ones Jack keeps he don’t feed regular to make ’em sleepy. These ’uns are newer, and he fed ’em ’fore he left, so they’re apt to jump at anything. Plus, they ain’t been used to handling. I threw in some lemon balm and valerian root ’fore we left to take the edge off ’em, but that’s long gone.”