Fair and Tender Ladies (11 page)

 

IVY ROWE.

Dear Victor,

 

I will send this letter to the Frank Ritter Lumber Co., I do not know wether it will ever reach yor hands or not. We got the monney and thanks. We know you are doing good. We know you are out West learning the business it is the chance of a lifetime, we are so proud of you too, but Victor, I wish you wuld come home. I implore you, as it is the dog days here and things is going from bad to worse. We have got some meal and we are eating outen the garden rigt now but it is so dry that we are not putting up a thing, we will not have a thing come fall, we are halling water to the corn I have bruses on my hands from halling buckets but it dont seem to do no good. The creek is not but a trickle now.

They was three men on horses come up here yesterdy looking for Babe, they was awful mean looking men too, forreners Momma said, and she said, Why Clarence Wayne is not here, I do not know where he is nor when to expect him nether, and they rared up and rode off but one of them shot at the bell as they past. It has rang in my mind ever since. It goes on and on in my head like a warning of things to come. I hope you will recive this letter and come on home for I remane yor devoted sister,

 

IVY ROWE.

My dear Daddy,

 

I think of you often, I miss you so. I am coming up ther to see you tomorry with Granny Rowe, she is coming after herbweeds, what all she needs. She says it will be pretty flowers and mountain grass now grown around yor gravehouse. I hope so. We have left yor pallet laying rigt up agin the fire, we culd not stand to move it, nor your shaving bag nether wich has hanged on the strop by the washbowl ever since you left us, now Babe has taken the razer I think. Oh Daddy, it is awful what all he does. And this is why I am writting to you, I do not know who to turn to, Momma has closed up her hart agin us all it seems. She dont care a thing for none of us and will not even kiss the littluns Johnny nor Danny whose so sweet nor even Beulahs baby John Arthur, named for you. And he is doing fine Im proud to say, he is a big large helthy baby whose the joy of Beulahs hart. Beulah is not as big as a minit now thogh, it is like that fat helthy baby is drawing the life rigt out of her. Beulah and Momma and me has liked to work ourselves to death, but ever day is as hot as the one that come before it, and this is not the worst by a long shot.

For Daddy, they is something terible going on here.

I do not know what it is nor how it comenced nor what to do about it nether, may be I am relly crazy myself like Tenessee or Mrs. Looneys daghter that stays in ther backyard all the time down in Majestic, you know we used to see her when we wuld go into town.

But Daddy, it is Silvaney.

She is hiding more now, she gets up of a morning and runs off in the woods and hides, I sware she is like a wild animal. She will grab up a bit of pone or a cold tater or something else crazy to eat and run off laghing, you can not ketch her nor slow her down, nor ax her a thing when she is like this. And talk! Lord she will talk to herself out loud, this is the scarriest part, and then she will cock her head just like she is listening to somebody, and then she will anser them back! Only aint nobody relly ther Daddy, and you cant understand a word she says. When I tell Momma this, she just says, Oh hush your mouth Ivy, you know how you embroider, honey, just hush.

And Silvaney has got a ligt in her eye now like a reglar fire, it is like her whole face is lit up from inside, like they is a fire in her head shining throgh, and its not long I think before this fire is going to burn her up.

Oh Silvaney Silvaney. She has that pale smooth skin you know and them big blue eyes like lakes, and it is like, rigt under ther is flames, flames. It is so scarry.

Momma says, Dont be so silly Ivy you are just full of notions, Silvaney is fine, fine, hush yor mouth, shut up shut up Ivy. Hush, just shut up for gods sake.

But Silvaney is not fine. And Daddy I see this, and I do not know who to turn to, nor what to say.

For it is all hooked up with Babe someway, I can not say. Silvaney has got worse since Babe come back. Somehow Babe is more than she can stand, you know Silvaney is dellicate. When did it all start I wonder, when Silvaney was little or when they was borned, them twins, Silvaney and Babe, do you reckon it culd of started that long ago? Granny Rowe allus said that Babe come out helthy with a big head of black hair but Silvaney was real tiny and come out blue and had to be shook upside down till she brethed good.

Do you reckon it started so far back? Or may be when they was five years old and Silvaney took the brane fever, Momma said she was out of her head for a week sollid and her head was as hot as a skillet on the stove and it burned out part of her brane. Oh Daddy were you ther when Silvaney took so sick, did you watch by her side? For I feel that I shuld watch her now, but I can not. I can not keep up with her now, sometimes I can not ketch her at all, I will heer her voice talking, talking in the woods, but when I come where she was, she is gone. Only a footprint or a broken leaf or her voice on the hot dry wind. Oh Daddy they is something terible hapening now, I can not say what it is. Were you ther when she walked in the fire? For Silvaney is doing these things agin now, I feel it, I can not keep up with her nor watch her ever minit wich I shuld.

Listen Daddy. The other nigt Babe come in drunk in the middle of the nigt. We had not seed him in days. He went out of the house to pee and fell offen the porch wich wuld of been funny if he hadnt of been so mad. So he just layed ther by the steps hollering and then he quit hollering and we knowed he had past out. But sometime later in the nigt, and I dont know what time it was but I know it was relly late, I woke up all of a sudden and sat up strate on the bed. I didnt know what had got into me. I was wide awake. So I got up out of the bed, I culd heer everbody brething around me, and gone over and pushed the door, and law you have never seed such a flood of moonligt in your life, all acrost the yard, it was nearabout ligt as day but a pale flat kind of ligt, the moon. And of coarse it was hot too, even up here, and not a breth of air stirring. I walked out on the porch.

And what did I see but Babe laying out ther drunk in the dirt, his head flung back and his mouth wide open. But the awful part of this is that Silvaney was out ther too, in her white shift with her hair hanging wild and ligt down around her sholders, bending over Babe, watching him sleep.

Silvaney honey, what are you doing out here? I asked her, and Silvaney said, Why hello Ivy, how are you?

I am doing fine, I said, now come on in. Finely she got up and come in the house and went to bed, but ther is something relly wrong Daddy, for it is like she does not need to sleep nor eat now, ether one. And ever after this nigt it has been in my mind, Silvaney sitting in the moonligt watching Babe, it was like she was part of him truely, like the other side of Babe who has so many plans and schemes, but she has none. Silvaney is so fair and he is dark. It scarred me to death and Ill sware it, I cant get it out of my mind how they looked in the moonligt like a statue in Mrs. Browns art book from France, how Silvaneys hair looked in all that ligt. Oh Daddy I miss you so much do not think I am crazy because I feel they is something terible starting to happen and you know it is dog days so whatever it is will go on happening, but I remane yo

My dear Molly,

 

Babe is dead.

He was shot in the back of the head by a man named Arlen Snipes, or so everbody says, we do not know it for sartin.

This is what all happend.

Babe had been gone from here upwards of a week, over to Kentucky trading or so he said, of coarse we never knowed where Babe went when he left nor what he was up to nether. I wuld like to know what he had to trade. He was up to no good, I reckon it is fair to say, and I dont care iffen I speak ill of the dead or not. Some men had been up here after him about some monney, while he was gone. But they say he had got in a whole nother ruckus over at Pineville about a mans wife that he had been messing around with for some time, and she run off from her husband after him, left two little old babys ther at the house, but when she got up with Babe he wuldnt have her, and sent her back to her old man, now this was Arlen Snipes. And so then Arlen Snipes come out after Babe, telling everbody in Pineville goodbye and that he wuldnt be back afore him or Clarence Wayne Rowe was dead, one. And his pretty blackhaired wife come out in the road crying and twisting her hands and begging him not to do it but he said,
Gussie, get on back in the house now
.

Who knowed what Gussie had in mind, or what she wanted to happen? Can you imagine this Molly I can not!

But the first thing anybody over here knowed about it was Tuesday after supper when it was just coming on for dark, and Granny Rowe was over here visiting, and we was all sitting out on the porch with the littluns, and all of a sudden we heerd a shot ring out in the nigt over the treefrogs and crickets, real close by. Then a horse started winnying.

Well did you heer that? Momma says, sitting strate up, and Granny Rowe says, It sounds like a shot to me, and not far off nether.

Oh no, Beulah says. Beulahs baby is sucking at her titty.

Sounds to me like it was rigt down the hill ther, says Granny Rowe. She is smoking her pipe on the porch, she has got smoke all around her head. The horse was down ther squeeling bloody murder at the creek.

Im going down ther, says Garnie who is morbid as you know, and he jumps off the porch and runs down the holler and Momma says, Ivy, go after him. He ougtnt to go alone. I have to say, I wanted to go down ther anyway, you know how I am so curios! So I took off running after Garnie, hollering
Garnie honey, wait on me!
But he wuld not wait for a thing. I ran along throgh a whole bunch of lightning bugs, it was like I was running throgh stars.

Then I heerd Garnie.

Ivy, Ivy,
he hollered,
Oh lord, Ivy come here,
and I follered his voice acrost Sugar Fork to where he had come upon Babe laying on the creekbank down from the trail. This old horse he was riding had got itself all tangled up in a thornbush, it was raring and plunging and winnying, and culd not get away, wich was lucky for us as I will relate direckly.

Babe was laying half in and half out of the creek, it was so dark we culdnt hardly see him. The bullfrogs was making a racket all along the creek.
Babe, Babe,
I said and I pulled at his shirt and tryed to turn him over. When I got a good look at his face it was nearabout gone, nothing but blood, but when I layed my head on his back I thoght I culd heer his hart.

Garnie honey, I said to Garnie, you go on back to the house and get Granny Rowe and see can she do anything for Babe, and I am going to get on this horse and ride him down to Home Creek and get some of the neghbor people, it looks like a murder to me.

Ivy you cant ride that horse, Garnie said. Garnie was hunkered down looking at Babe, it was getting dark real fast.