Will O Wisp (12 page)

“
Shana, did you hear me?”
Gracie barked.

“
Yes, Aunt Gracie,” Shana
answered and pushed May Jean out of the room. “Good night,” she
called over her shoulder.

As Shana shut the door, May Jean said,
“They sure get grumpy when they get woke up sudden
like.”

Chapter 9

The rest of the week was uneventful.
The girls played with the kittens. Shana declared that was one of
her chores assigned by Abigail. She had to keep the kittens tame so
Abigail could play with them when she came home without the kittens
hissing at her. May Jean grumbled that she would like fun chores
like this one at her house.

One afternoon, Shana asked May Jean if
she wanted to see the remains of the soddy where Gracie lived when
her parents homesteaded Three Oaks farm. As they walked down the
lane, Spot followed but only for a few minutes. He stopped, sniffed
the air and took off through the brush. Barking and yipping, he
jumped under a bush and flushed out a rabbit. After that, he chased
the rabbit through the trees until the rabbit hid. Shana tried to
call Spot back, but the dog kept going. He thrashed through the
undergrowth and yipped as he trailed that rabbit or some other
animal.

By the time the girls walked back
home, Spot was there to meet them. The girls tried to pat him, but
the dog was covered in cockle burrs.

Shana went to the barn and found the
horses curry comb. May Jean took turns with her, combing Spot until
they retrieved most of the burrs out of his fur.

Another afternoon, Shana asked if May
Jean would like to see the pond where they fished.

May Jean was all for that. “Think we
can go wading?”

“
Maybe. Aunt Gracie said I
had to be careful not to fall in around the edges of the bank. She
didn't say I couldn't wade in the pond. I think the lower end is
shallow enough,” Shana said. “We have to come back in time to
gather the eggs. That's part of my chores.”

Spot took off after the girls. He ran
around them, and when he got too far ahead, he ran back to meet
them. Shana said, “We got to do something about Spot. He don't stay
close to us good enough. He will be covered in burrs again. I'm
going back to the barn and get a piece of rope I saw hanging on a
nail.”

Shana ran back to the barn while May
Jean kept her arms around Spot's neck. Shana put the loop end of
the rope over Spot's head.

As they walked through the pasture,
Spot was forced to stay with them. Shana tied the dog to a chock
cherry sprout while they wadded in the pond. He barked and tugged
on the rope hard enough to bend the sprout, but he couldn't get
loose. When the girls had enough of wading and splashing water at
each other, they rolled their trouser legs back down and headed
home.

By the time Gracie saw them at chore
time, their clothes had dried. Shana and May Jean came across the
pasture with Spot in the lead, pulling Shana along at a fast clip.
Gracie waited until they came in the barn yard.

“
Youngun, what you doing to
that dog?” She asked.

“
Spot follows us everywhere
we go,” Shana said.

“
So what is the rope for?”
Gracie asked.

“
The rope tis what helps
him follow me,” Shana answered.

“
Unhuh, looks to me like
the other way around. You're following Spot,” Gracie said. “Just
see you don't be mean to that dog.”

“
Yes, ma'am,” Shana said
quietly.

By Sunday morning, May Jean didn't
show any signs of being homesick yet. At breakfast, Gracie said,
“We're going to Locked Rock for church this morning. Plan on eating
dinner at Moser Mansion. You going with us, May Jean for the whole
day, or you want let off at home as we go by?”

May Jean said quietly, “I think I'd
like to go along.”

“
Do we need to tell your
mother where you're at?” Melinda asked.

May Jean nodded slowly. “No, she has
so many of us to take care of she ain't missing me. Besides, she
knows I'm in good hands.”

“
You do need a change of
clothes, dear. You've worn those trousers and that shirt all week,”
Melinda said. “We might ought to stop by your home, and let you
change since we're going to church. You need to wear something
nicer than what you have on.”

“
Do we have to stop at my
house?” May Jean fretted.

Shana said, “She can wear one of my
dresses. I brought two.”

“
I can,can't I?” May Jean
said, brightening up.

“
Well, all right, if that
is what you want to do,” Melinda assented.

“
Before you girls put on
clean dresses, wash up good,” Gracie ordered.

The ride to Locked Rock was a pleasant
one. The feel of the light breeze on their faces was refreshing.
After a week on the farm, Melinda thought it felt good to be going
somewhere again. she prattled on. “It's too quiet on the farm. I'm
glad we're going to church this morning. I miss hearing the
neighbors' conversations and laughter from my rocker on the front
porch. Always some action with riders or buggies going by. More
places to go then just to the pond to fish or over to see the
Graves family. Stores to shop in, and church to go to.”

Gracie grunted. “That's the whole idea
of living on the farm. It's peaceful.”

When they sat down to eat Sunday
dinner, Melinda declared it would be good to eat Agnes's cooking
again. She was getting tired of eating her own.

As they passed the bowls, Gracie
handed Shana the meat platter. “This fried chicken sure smells
good, don't it, Shana?”

The girl gave the platter a sad look.
“Mama Molly, did any of these chickens have names?”

“
I don't think so,” Molly
said slowly. “Why did you ask?”

“
The Sawyer hens have
names. Aunt Gracie introduced me to some of them. I don't want to
be eatin' any hens I know personally,” Shana said.

Orie chocked on a drink of water. He
coughed before he spoke. “Don't worry, Shana. These chickens are
safe to eat. They were all strangers.”

That remark made everyone
laugh.

Gracie and Melinda were eager to find
out if anything interesting had happened in town while they had
been gone.

After lunch, Gracie said she was going
over to visit with Earl and Sara Bullock a few minutes. She asked
Melinda if she'd like to go along to say hello. Melinda was all for
that.

Sara invited them to sit at the
kitchen table. While Sara and Melinda talked about the latest
gossip, Gracie said to Earl, “I need to talk to you about
something. I wondered if you could pass it on to Sheriff Logan for
me.”

“
Sure, what's wrong?” Earl
said, puffing on his pipe.

“
I'm not real sure, but I'm
uneasy. We've been going for walks around the farm so I can show
Melinda and Shana where I grew up. We visited the family cemetery
at the end of the lane next to the road. Someone has been digging
in it. A small spot right next to my baby brother's grave has been
disturbed.”

“
That is odd.” Earl stuck
his pipe in his mouth and puffed faster.

“
We're thinking it might be
a fresh grave,” Gracie said.

Earl straightened up. “By gum, the
sheriff would like to hear about this.”

“
O
dder yet was when we saw a woman, all dressed in white,
wandering through my timber one night with a lantern. We went to
see what she was up to and found her in the cemetery. She was
standing over the turned up dirt. She even bent over and patted the
soil.”

“
Really!”

“
Yip, looked to us like,
she was mourning over someone buried there. Thing is, no one has
asked to bury a body in my cemetery. The spot is a small one like
the size of a baby's grave. Has someone lost a baby or young child
and reported it to you?”

Earl nodded and took his pipe from his
mouth. “No, haven't heard a thing.”

“
Could you check with,
Sheriff Logan? If he hasn't heard anything about a death, I'd like
him to come out and look around.”

“
You did recognize the
woman?”

“
Nope, we weren't close
enough, and it was dark. When I yelled at her, she put out the
lantern, climbed over the fence and disappeared in the trees before
we could get close,” Gracie explained.

“
I'll call the sheriff's
office in the morning and tell Logan all about this,” Earl
said.

“
Thanks, Earl. That sure is
a load off my mind,” Gracie said.

That afternoon when they drove by Neff
Graves's place, one of the boys, Boomer, waved them down. When
Gracie whoed the horse, he said, “Mama's wondering when May Jean is
coming home?”

“
What she want me home
for?” May Jean bristled.

“
Don't reckon for any
reason, but Papa has missed you,” Jeb said, giving her a meaningful
look that only May Jean understood.

“
Oh. May Jean shrank in the
seat beside Shana.

Melinda said, “Maybe you better get
out now, dear. We don't want your parents mad at us.”

“
What about Shana's dress
I'm wearing?”

“
Just give it back to Shana
the next time you see her,” Gracie said.

Reluctantly, May Jean climbed out of
the buggy and waved goodbye to them.

In the middle of the night, a thunder
storm came up. Lightning flashed and cracked. Thunder boomed. The
wind howled around the house as hard pelting rain beat on the tin
roof.

Melinda sat up in bed. “That sounds
awful outside.”

“
And you're the one who
said the country was too quiet. Go back to sleep, and hope this
storm blows over soon so it gets quiet around here again,” Gracie
mumbled as she turned over on her side.

Shana crawled out of bed and looked
out her window at the storm. A flash of lightening lit up the sky
and the yard. Near a tree by the lane, Shana saw a small figure
dressed in white. The figure walked slowly across the lane. Whoever
it was stopped and turned to stare toward the house, before
disappearing into the timber.

Shana gripped the sill and stared at
the timber. It was a will o wisp just like the ones her folks
talked about in Ireland. This one was roaming about in a rain
storm. That wasn't good. It being this close to the house was bad,
too. Shana debated about waking Gracie. She decided that was a poor
idea, knowing how crabby the women were when they were waken out of
a sound sleep. They wouldn't believe her story anyway without some
proof. She'd keep what she saw to herself and go back to
bed.

Monday morning, Gracie asked if anyone
would like to go mushroom hunting with her. Shana was all for the
outing, but Melinda declined. She said she wanted to bake a cake.
She could work on lunch while they were gone.

When Gracie and Shana walked into the
timber, Shana stopped and her eyes scanned to the top of the trees.
“Sure and the trees are tall.”

“
This is an old timber.
Been growing here since the beginning of time, I expect,” Gracie
said, following the girl's amazed eyes.

“
Sure and it tis, the trees
are so tall they seem like climbing posts to heaven,” Shana said in
awe.

“
Nicely put, girl,” Gracie
said, impressed.

Deeper into the timber, Gracie showed
Shana what to look for when she found a cluster of morels peeking
out of the dried leaves. “Don't move, youngun, until you look all
around your feet once you spot a mushroom. When you see one morel,
there's usually more around you.”

She handed Shana one of the old pillow
cases they brought along. “Move over so we can cover more
ground.”

Gracie stopped walking and stared at a
large hickory nut tree. She patted the rough bark and smiled to
herself, like greeting an old friend.

Shana saw the gesture. “Sure and what
is it you're thinkin' about, Aunt Gracie?”

“
I was just remembering
back in time when I was younger. This is my thinking tree,” Gracie
said, looking through the leaves to patches of blue sky.

“
What is a thinkin' tree?”
Shana asked, coming over close.

“
When I had a problem
bothering me, I came to this tree and sit down to think over my
problem. I had the whole place to myself, and no one to bother me.
Everyone should have a secret place that is private. Somewhere to
get off to when something is worrying them,” Gracie
said.

“
Can I have a place like
that?” Shana asked.

“
Sure you can. Just pick
you a tree you like, and it's yours,” Gracie said. “Now we best get
back to looking for them mushrooms.”

As Shana watched the ground, Gracie's
attention turned to a tree. “Lookee, there, girl.”

“
At what?” Shana asked as
she stared at a snaggled, dead tree.

“
The bees sure are out in
full force today. See them going in that high hole in the crotch of
that tree,” Gracie said excitedly as she pointed out the
spot.