A Tale from the Hills (12 page)

He had no idea what time it was, but he was hungry and thirsty, and he needed to pee like a racehorse. He eased out of the hay just enough to make sure that he was alone in the barn. When he was satisfied that he was alone, he jumped up quickly and was down the ladder before the loose hay even hit the floor. He looked for a way out besides the big sliding door, but the only windows were nailed shut from the outside. The big sliding door was his only means of escape unless he decided to jump from the loft door that was much too high off the ground. He walked over to the sliding door and peeped outside through the cracks. Luckily he did not see anyone. He opened the door again barely enough to squeeze through and made a dash around the barn as fast as he could.

The hateful man was waiting for him with his shotgun raised into the air.

“Stop!” the man shouted to him. “Stop trespasser!”

William ran like his pants were on fire. He never slowed down until the hateful man and the barn were well out of sight. He forgot about being hungry and thirsty, and the trickle of pee that escaped from his bladder when he saw the hateful man with the gun, was enough to hold him for a little while longer. He was running for life and limb.

He must have ran for at least a mile before he finally stopped long enough to relieve himself behind a tree and drink some water from the jar that was in his homemade knapsack. He would need to refill the jar just as soon as came to a fast moving stream. He tore a piece of bread from the larger piece that was also in the knapsack, and chewed on it as he walked along. He felt comfortable now moving at a slower pace. The hateful old farmer would make a good story to tell his grandchildren someday.

*********

Tom Hill found the note when he got up the next morning. He immediately woke Josh, but he had slept so soundly that he had not heard William leave either. Josh got ready for work as usual, and Tom decided to look for his run away son. They left the house at the same time, but parted company at the trestle. Josh headed toward the mill, and Tom walked toward the school. He decided to wait until the school opened so that he could maybe find out just why William had left so suddenly, and where he might be going. One of William’s young friends might have some useful information.

Mr. Rosenbaum was the first person to arrive at the school. He did not act surprised when Tom told him the news about William. He showed Mr. Rosenbaum the note, but that was not a surprise to him either. Mr. Rosenbaum explained what had happened at the school the day before, and that William and three of his comrades were all suspended until further notice. He did not mention Angie Sims by name, but he said that a new girl at the school was the target of the voyeurism. Tom had heard William speak of the girl named Angie often enough to know that she was the new student that the Principal was talking about. He knew where the Sims’ lived, so he decided to apologize to her parents for his son’s actions.

Tom thought that maybe one or two of the boys might have runaway with William, and as concerned and hurt as he was that his son had committed such a shameful act, he hoped that William was not alone. He knew that William was prone to emotional outbursts and he could not bear the thoughts of him being all by himself in the cold cruel world that stretched beyond Jewel Ridge Mountain. Tom planned to visit each of the boys after he apologized to Angie and her family.

By the time that Tom had reached the Sims farm Angie had already left for school. Her parents and grandmother were at home. When he explained what hisson and the other boys had done, Mr. Sims became very angry. Tom apologized profusely for their actions and assured Mr. Sims that the guilty parties were being punished. He also showed Angie’s family the note that William had written. They were not very sympathetic toward Tom, but he understood their anger and resentment. He apologized again and began his trek to talk to each of the other boys. In the meantime Mr. Sims decided to pay a visit to the school during lunch to have a talk with Mr. Rosenbaum. He wanted to make sure that his daughter was safe at Mountain School.

Tom’s visit to William’s friends was unproductive. None of the boys had any idea that William was thinking about leaving or where he might be going. They were as puzzled and concerned as Tom. Tom mentioned that he had apologized to the Sims family, and the other boys’ parents decided to do the same. The boys would also have to go along to apologize in person. They hoped that the apologies and relatively short suspensions would satisfy the Principal’s disciplinary rules and procedures.

Mr. Sims stopped farming at 11:30 a.m., so that he could pay a surprise visit to the school at noon. He wanted to talk to the Principal before he discussed the situation with Angie. Obviously she did not know what happened at the school the day before, because she did not mention anything about the sorted episode when she got home. She would have been very upset, and he did not want to upset her now if he could help it.

When Mr. Sims arrived at Mountain School the Principal was not in his office or in the classroom. Everyone appeared to be outside having lunch in the beautiful sunshine. He walked around to the back of the old building and instantly spotted the toilets off in the distance. He thought that they were too far away from the school building, and that made him unsure about his only daughter’s safety. He did not see Angie anywhere, so he decided to walk toward the toilets.

Mr. Sims walked quietly around to the back of the outbuildings, and so his surprise, a grown man was on his knees and peering through a hole in the toilet wall. Only moments later Angie exited the toilet. Mr. Sims grabbed the largest stick that he could find and immediately confronted the peeping Tom.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

“Sir, I am Mr. Rosenbaum, the Principal here.”

“What in the Hell were you doing just now on your knees?” shouted the very angry father.

“Uh, uh, I was checking out a problem with the toilet wall here.” stammered the Principal.

He knew that he had been caught.

“I should beat the mortal Hell right out of you, right here on the spot!” screamed Mr. Sims. “You were gawking at my little girl.”

“No, no I wasn’t. I did not see anyone in there Mr.

Sims.”

“Then how the Hell do you know that I am Angie’s father? You have never met me. Her mother and grandmother enrolled her in school. You were watching Angie just like those boys. I am going to report you to the Sheriff and then to the School Board. And if you are still here when I get back, I am going to beat you to within an inch of your life. I should kill you right now!”

Mr. Sims walked over to where Angie was eating and whispered something to her in a low voice. She started to cry and her father put his arm around her. They walked toward the school. Mr. Rosenbaum came out of the bushes brushing off his pants. He had only a few minutes to gather his belongings and make a run for the state line. No one at

Mountain School was ever to hear from him again.

**********

By late morning William was hungry for something more substantial than bread and water. He had been walking for hours and he did not have a clue where he was. He decided that as soon as he saw any kind of sign of activity such as a community or town, that he would leave the tracks and investigate. The Sun was well into the skybefore that happened. He recognized the name of the town because it had the same name as one of the Presidents. This was his first visit to Jefferson, North Carolina, and it seemed like a pretty nice place to be. He checked his pockets to make sure that he brought his money. He had saved three dollars and sixty cents over a period of several months. There was a group of people standing in front of a sign that spelled Diner, and it looked like the only place in the little town to eat. He had never been inside of a restaurant before, so he sat down at a table close to the door. A middle aged lady who reminded him of his teacher, Mrs. Smith, brought him a list of the things that the restaurant was selling. She called it a menu. He figured that he could get what he wanted to eat and drink for about twenty cents. He thought that was a lot of money but hell, he was hungry. He ordered the special which included his meal, a drink, and dessert. He ate everything on his plate, along with two glasses of milk. The lady was pleased that he ate it all. She said that she liked to see people not wasting food in these hard times. She asked William where he was from and he said Jewel Ridge Mountain. She said that she knew some people from there. She mentioned the family’s name but he did not know them. She did not know it but the people had been dead for years, and someone else was living in their old house. She began to ask William a lot of questions. Who was his family? Why was he eating all alone? Where in the world was he going?

William finally decided that she was asking way to many questions. He made up a story about being in town with his daddy. He told her that they left home early that same morning, and that his daddy was waiting for him just outside of town. She was satisfied that he was not all alone in a strange town. He paid his bill and left the diner quickly. He walked through the town and when he got to the other end, he looked for the railroad tracks. He was ready to continue on his journey, but where in the hell were the tracks? He finally figured that he would come to them eventually, and at least he would be leaving Jefferson with a full stomach.

***********

At about the same time that William was eating at the diner in Jefferson, at Mountain School the students were puzzled at old man Rosenbaum’s behavior. He was rushing about like a chicken with it’s head cut off. He was grabbing things off of the wall, and dropping books, and scattering papers everywhere. He practically ran out of the front door of the school with as many things as he could carry, and a few moments later the sound of his car starting filled the air. A few of the students ran to the door just in time to see him scatter gravels all over the school yard.

With no supervision in Mr. Rosenbaum’s classroom, the students got loud and rowdy. Finally one of the other teachers had to intervene. She split her time between the two classrooms until the School Board sent a replacement for Mr. Rosenbaum.

Angie went home with her father for the rest of the day. She was so embarrassed about what had happened that she decided to quit school. Her mother talked her out of it. Her only condition for returning to school was that she would have a woman teacher for the rest of the school year.

News traveled fast in the community about Mr. Rosenbaum’s sudden departure from the school. The boys in the group that had been suspended were totally shocked and surprised to hear that the Principal had been caught doing the same thing that had gotten them in so much trouble. They were pleased that the School Board was going to grant them permission to return to school in a week or so. They would be under strict supervision and probation, however. It was a shame that no one could reach William to give him the good news. He was in places unknown by that time anyway. Tom Hill had no way of knowing in which direction William was traveling. All that he could do was gohome and wait, and worry.

**********

Soon after William left the town of Jefferson, he came to an intersection where he would have to choose a direction to take. He still had not found the railroad tracks and his sense of direction was not refined enough to make the determination of North or South, or East or West. His instincts told him to go to the right. That seemed like a logical direction to find the tracks again. For some unknown reason he felt safer on the tracks than on the road. He guessed that it was because the tracks had always been an important part of his life.

If he had taken the road to the left, he would have passed by his grandfather Hart’s small farm. William remembered that his mother was originally from Ashe County, but he did not remember her family name. His daddy never talked about them in any great detail and there had not been any contact between the families anyway. William could have passed some of his Hart relatives on the street in Jefferson and not even have known it. Family support could have been a comforting touch at that time in his young life.

The road that William chose was known to the people in Ashe County as Mulatto Mountain Road. The descendents of freed slaves had settled there after they gained their freedom. William had not seen too many people of color in his life because there were none living in the Jewel Ridge Mountain area. He saw a few blacks in Abingdon when he visited his brother, but that was only one time. William did not feel uncomfortable or threatened in any way by these strangers. They spoke or threw up their hand as he passed them on the road. After he walked for a couple of hours he decided to ask someone for directions to the railroad. He met a man who looked friendly enough to talk to, and asked him if there were any tracks nearby. The man told him that the closest tracks were about ten miles away in Alleghany County. He gave William directions but suggested that if he followed the New River instead, that he might get there faster.

The man seemed to be concerned as to why William was traveling alone. Nightfall would be coming soon andthe man was sure that the white boy did not have a place to spend the night. Although he was a man of modest means, he offered to let William spend the night with his family. As tempted as William was to take the man up on the offer, he decided to keep going. He was determined to get as far away as possible each day. They parted company with a shake of hands and a nod of heads. William felt mature carrying on an adult conversation with a grown man. The man was impressed with the white boy’s independence and determination.

When the man was out of sight William felt pangs of loneliness, and suddenly he wished that he had taken the man up on his offer. But he kept going because the river was supposed to be about a mile and a half away. He wanted to get there before dark so that he could find a place to sleep for the night. The black man told him that sometimes travelers would sleep in an old abandoned house at the great river. William decided to stay there to if he felt safe enough. If not he would continue on.