The Saints of Swallow Hill(84)

“I’m trying, I got to do it right. Can’t afford to stall or flood it. It don’t help none it’s pitch-dark.”

She sat in the seat and tried to recall where she’d put the key. She fumbled around searching on the floorboard until fingers brushed across it near her left foot. She jammed it into the ignition, while remembering she had to adjust the fuel cutoff. She pulled the choke out and turned the knob as Warren had shown her to allow a certain mixture of gas. His voice was in her head, directing her. They’d done it time and again, and as she moved through the steps, all he’d taught her started to come back. She put the truck in neutral, made a couple adjustments to the throttle. Finally, she turned on the ignition, one foot on the clutch and the other on the starter button. She adjusted the choke again, and unbelievably, it started. It wasn’t noisy. It only made a soft putt-putt-putt, but to Rae Lynn, it might as well have been a jackhammer. Cornelia bounced on the seat, hand over her mouth, as she stared over her shoulder at her house.

Cornelia said, “We got to go! He might hear this thing!”

Rae Lynn glanced over at Cornelia and said, “I need to let it warm a bit before I—” She froze, her wide-eyed gaze on Cornelia’s front porch. Cornelia looked, then grabbed Rae Lynn’s arm so tight it hurt.

“Go, go!”

Rae Lynn fumbled with the gear stick, while Cornelia squeaked out, “Oh, dear Lord. He’s coming down the steps!”

Rae Lynn moved the gear into reverse, pressed the clutch, once, twice, and they backed up. She prayed she’d find first, and second . . . and the truck acted like it wanted to stall, coughing and spewing smoke when she forgot to double clutch as she managed to get it into first.

She mumbled to herself, “Come on, remember what you been taught! Pay attention!”

The truck jolted forward and rolled along, cooperating under her clumsy adjustments, but a man with good legs could still outrun them. Rae Lynn didn’t know if Otis had good legs or not and when she dared to look again, he was closer, the angle of his head and his posture telling her he was trying to make them out. She saw the moment recognition struck, his mouth a gaping maw, before he started running for the vehicle. She managed to slip the gear from first into second and as they whizzed by, he grabbed at Cornelia. She squealed and leaned to the left against Rae Lynn, while Otis’s fingernails left long scratches along her forearm. He slapped his hand on the back end of the truck as they picked up speed.

He bellowed, “Cornelia! What the hell you doing!”

Rae Lynn dared to look over her shoulder, and he was still running. Meanwhile, Cornelia was bent forward, head down, hands braced on the dash.

She screamed, “Faster, faster, don’t let him catch us!”

Rae Lynn looked back again and saw not only Otis but another figure running right behind him. She thought it was Del Reese, but she wasn’t sure, and she had to drive. She adjusted the advance, increased her speed, while Cornelia, scared to death Otis had somehow hitched onto the back, couldn’t, wouldn’t dare look. The headlamps shone on the wiregrass, pines, and scrub brush as they sped away.

They rounded a bend, and she said, “Nellie. We’re going too fast for him. You can sit up. Can’t even see him no more.”

Cornelia lifted her head, appearing dazed as she stared out the windshield. Then, she turned in the seat and stared over her shoulder. When she faced forward, she smacked her hand on the dash.

She shouted, “We done it! We done it, Rae Lynn!”

Rae Lynn smiled at her. “We sure did.”

She pressed on the gas and they left Swallow Hill behind.





Chapter 29


Del


It dawned on him what Cornelia had signaled in that heartbeat-like double pulse of her four fingers as he was gathering his things to leave. He quickly threw some food together and left the woods rider’s house, not looking back. He was headed for the single men’s quarters when a faint voice came from out of nowhere, and he was forced to stop.

“Have you seen him?”

Crow’s wife. She stood in his way, holding a flickering lantern, waiting for him to speak. The light did nothing to soften her features.

He lied, of course. “Naw, I ain’t seen him.”

Impatient, he waited to see what else she’d say. She dropped the lantern so it lit their feet instead of their faces.

She said, “He does this. Disappears sometimes. He didn’t show up for supper.”

Del made helpful noises, for no other reason than to escape. “If I happen to see him, I’ll let him know you’re looking.”

“Ain’t hardly worth the trouble. If he ain’t here by morning, I’m leaving. I’m fed up.”

She appeared to be in despair, though he couldn’t really tell. She moved on, swinging the lantern left and right, searching, as if Crow might jump out of the weeds. Del went on his way, putting Crow and his wife out of his mind. He’d already concluded he had nothing to lose. He was going to tell Rae Lynn he was of a mind they had a future together, of some sort. If she rejected him, at least he’d tried. The rumble of an engine turning over caught his attention. Only one person in the camp had a truck. He reversed course and ran, and was just in time to see the truck take a sharp turn and Otis trying to grab—Cornelia? Rae Lynn looked over her shoulder right at him. Then they were gone, the truck fading around the bend. Del’s heart sank. Otis, fit to be tied, plowed a furious path, back and forth.