by Tony Nalley
“And then they went back down there to where that cat was supposed to be a layin’ at and that cat was gone!” Grandpa continued. “They never did find out where that cat went to or what had happened to it. But Daddy and all of them said, “They realized then you know what it was.”
“If they had left that cat alone Uncle Wes would’ve gotten well.” Grandpa concluded. Because he said, “A Friday when that cat came up there he was so weak that he couldn’t even drink water. You would have to hold the cup and things for him. And on Sunday when they killed that cat he done got enough strength that he was sittin’ up in the bed by his self.”
“If they’d let that cat alone a couple more days he’d have been alright.” Grandpa stated.
“Back in them days that’s when they believed in witchcraft too!” My dad said.
“Back in them days there was Witchcraft!” My Grandpa stated matter of factly.
Some of my younger cousins burst into the room just then and causing me to miss a bit of my grandpa’s storytelling! But once they had been ushered back outside by their mama’s, I turned my attention and focus back to what my grandpa was saying.
“Along about ten o’clock at night that damned board would come loose.” Grandpa stated leading into a story I had only caught the tale end of. “You could drive it all the way down, spiked nails and everything in it anything; you could find in it. Along about ten o’clock that damned board would go to squeaking and the nails and boards would come up!”
“It was in that house that you lived in?” My dad asked.
“Yes sir! And it’s been doin’ that for’ …twenty years I reckon.” My grandpa said. “They never could figure out why it won’t nail down there. I know how it really is, by god I sat there and I watched that summbitch board!”
“Did somebody die in that house?” Mama asked.
“I don’t know whatever happened to it. I don’t whether that was it or whether a damned witch put a spell on it or what it was!” Grandpa answered.
“Is that that house that you were tellin’ me about? About that woman …where those cats come up there and he chopped that…?” Mama asked.
“No …that was a different house.” Grandpa replied.
“Now I think about that sometimes.” My mama went on to say. “When I see a cat and its dark, I think about that woman.”
“No …they’ve got too smart now. They’ve broke that stuff all up!” Grandpa said. “But there really used to be witches!”
“There used to be witches?” My dad questioned him.
“Yes sir! Because Grandpa, he had a little Mare that he worked with a buggy all the time.” Grandpa said. “Well, he’d work her anywhere’s. And they moved down here on Snake Crick. You know Dad followed the Sawmills up you know?”
“Who are they, your daddy and your mama?” Mama asked.
“Well …Grandpa too! Well ya see …well Dad did too up until Jasper died. Cause he sawed for him all the time.” Grandpa answered.
“They kinda went around together? They just all kinda went around the Sawmills together?” Mama asked.
“Yeah.” Grandpa answered.
“I just wanna keep track of who they are.” Mama replied.
“And anyhow they were supposed to live in a house up from there, when they moved there; just an old man and woman. And every Sunday that woman was gonna borrow Grandpa’s horse and buggy.” Grandpa said. “Well …he’d lent it to em’ a dozen times!”
“That was Jasper?” Mama asked.
“Yeah …Jasper, Grandpa …that’s the only Grandpa I know. I never did know my Grandpa.”
“Okay.” Mama stated.
“So, one week there they’d been hauling logs and things all week, and he’d been using that Mare to the grocery and buggy and things. You know for a ‘snatch team’? So …on a Sunday morning Grandpa and all of them went out here to CedarCreekChurch …the Church in Louisville. He went home and turned the Mare out in the field. And they hadn’t been home but half an hour and there come that woman and man up there and she wanted to borrow his horse and buggy. And he told her he wasn’t gonna let her have it.” Grandpa said as his words painted the pictures.
“He said, “I let you have her...” he said, “…every Sunday now” he said, “…for a month or more.” And oh, it made her mad! And she kept groanin’! And he told her “No!” he said, “No you aint gonna get her!” he said. “She’s gonna rest! She’s gonna rest the rest of the day!” he said. “She’s gotta go back to work tomorrow.” he said. “That old man and that old woman got mad. And she went to goin’ back out the walk.”
“Then everybody had a yard fence ya know. And she was walkin’ backwards! And man she was a mumblin’ somethin’ to herself you know and shakin’ her finger at Grandpa and things!” Grandpa continued. “And she told him she said, “I’ll tell you one thing…” said, “…that horse’ll never do you no more good!”
“Well it made Grandpa about half mad. He never thought you know, about her being a witch nor nothin’. Cause he said, “By god she won’t!” he said, “She belongs to me!” And Dad said that, Dad and all of them said that “she went on home...” said, “…the horse run out there in the barn lot and things all that evening.” And he said, “That night when he put em’ in the barn to feed em…’, And by god Dad said, “You could walk up to that horse, that Mare you know and catch her any place.” said, “Hell a half a dozen could ride or anything!” he said. “It was one of the damndest things you ever saw!” Grandpa said. “And he said, “When he went over there in that field where she was at that evening to put her in the barn.” he said. “You never saw a wild stallion by god like she was!” And then Dad said, “She never had a bridle or nothin’ on. But from the time that woman left there until Grandpa traded her off...” he said. “…you couldn’t do it!” he said. “That Mare will kill ya!” And he said, “You never knew of her jumpin’ the fence or anything until after that Sunday.” And then when they’d take them other horses and hook em’ up to a wagon and leave the barn locked and shut the gate, said she’d hop that there fence just like a deer! She’d follow them every damned place they went! But you couldn’t put your hands on her!” And Dad said, “She done that for two months or longer.” And he said, “One day they were coming up the road with a load of lumber on the wagon. She was runnin’ along up there beside em’; run up a piece you know and stop to eat until they’d catch up and then she’d run again.”
“You’ve seen …like one these little ole’ colts with their father and mother and things will do. “ Grandpa related. “And Dad says there was a man they met comin’ down the road a ridin’ a horse. And he stopped there and was talkin’ to em’.”
“And he asked Grandpa, “Whose Mare is that?” And he said, “She’s mine.” he said. “I’d like to have her.” And Grandpa told him he said, “That Mare is by god …you don’t want that Mare!” Cause he said, “That summbitch kill ye!” he said. “She’s went crazy or somethin’.” he said that man “Got off his horse and walked up there and walked around that Mare and looked at her.” And he asked him he said, “What you take for her?” he said. “How would you trade her for this one I’m ridin’?” And Dad said Grandpa told him he said, “I’ve done told you …that you didn’t want that damn Mare!” he said. “That Mare will kill you!”, and he said like I told him and he said, “That’s all right.” he said. “I’ll buy her from ya…” he said. “…or I’ll trade that one he was ridin’ for her.” Grandpa said.
“And Dad said Grandpa said, “Well fool … if you’re that big a damned fool!” he said. “Tie your’n around the back of the wagon here!” he said. “She’s your’n.” he said. “You gotta go up there and get her.” he said. “Cause by god I aint gonna touch her …you gotta do it!” And Dad said, “He put a rope around that horse he was ridin’ neck and he tied it to the back of the wagon, and he took the bridal off and the saddle; and walked up there to that Mare like she was a damned old milk cow or somethin’. He put the bridal
on her, put the saddle on her and stepped up on her, and took off.” Grandpa said.
“And they swore that was the god’s and honest truth!” Grandpa related. “It broke the spell you see it didn’t belong to him you see that broke the spell. And Dad said, “Grandpa wouldn’t have taken three hundred dollars for that Mare! Horses were high back there in that time! And man she’d have worked any place to a buggy or wagon or anywhere you wanted her to work at.” Grandpa said.
“What about that thing you shot in the middle of the road that time?” I asked.
“I don’t know what that thing was.” Grandpa answered me. “The only thing I know is every time I’d shoot it another eye would pop up there!”
“Was the one that put the hex on the horse, was she the one who lost her finger?” Mama asked.
“Naw.” Grandpa answered.
“That was a different one?” Mama asked.
“Naw …that was a different one.” Grandpa answered again. “That was old Ms. Dickerson, naw! Naw, that one that lost her finger …that was a merchant’s wife that was in town. She was a witch and this man married her and he didn’t know it. And he wanted to get out of town.” Grandpa said. “Cause he bought him a big place out at the edge of town. He had a big farm house and things. But she didn’t want to move out there. So she put a spell on the house.” Grandpa continued.
“On the old house out at the edge of town?” Mama asked.
“Yeah, on the one he bought. And after she wouldn’t go out there he tried to rent it out. And hell, she’d send those cats and things out there and run everybody out of that house by god that went in to it. He couldn’t get nobody to stay in there; and hell, it been sittin’ up there for six or eight months and nobody livin’ in it.” Grandpa said.
“Then this feller come through town one evenin’, you know to sell stuff? And he wanted to know if there was a place where he could stay overnight. And he told him he said, “Ya know the farm out the end of the road?” he said. “I own a house up there.” he said. “You’re welcome to stay all night.” he said, “If you can stay in there.”
“And the man asked him what was wrong with it and he said, “Well.” he said. “The damned things haunted.” And by god he said, “Everything happens up there.” Grandpa related. “And the man told him he said, “Well I reckon I’ll try it”. So he went on up there and it was time for him to fix his supper. And he cooked him some bacon and somethin’ on the stove and cooked two or three things and set em’ out there on the table and he sat down.” Grandpa said.
“Then, I don’t know I believe it was sausages I believe that’s what he had cooked, had one sittin’ there, one sittin’ one place, and one sittin’ here and he had maybe some pork and beans or somethin’ there sittin’ there in front of him.” he said. “He sat down there and started to eat. And he said, “This gray cat come in there and jumped up on this end of the table.” Grandpa said. “And he said, “Hell.” he said, “In about a minute there was two more come in and jumped up there on that right up on the table there.” he said. “I sat there and I looked at em’. And he said, “I don’t know what you mean to do. But as long as you sit there.” he said. “It’s all right.” And he started to eat and there was a black cat ...goddamned pretty black cat …she come and jumped up on the table down on the corner there.” And he said, “I looked over there at her.” And he had his fork and knife here like this. And he reached over there and got him one them piece of sausages and you know he was fixing to cut it up. And that goddamned black cat reached over there, was gonna get one too! And when he done it goddamned he wacked em’ with that knife! And he cut two of its toes off!” Grandpa said.
“The other one right, damn right they were littler than that too.” Grandpa continued. “And as soon as he done that those cats disappeared like that! And when he looked on …that was a woman’s finger; two fingers layin’ there! And one of em’ had a weddin’ band on it here!” he said showing his ring finger.
“It came off it just like that. So he picked em’ up …and wrapped a rag around em’ and put em’ in his pocket. And from that time forward by god he went on to bed. And no cats or nothin’ bothered him again that night.” Grandpa related.
“Next mornin’ he came down there to the man that owned it. And the fella asked him he said, “How’d ye make out?” he said. “Did ya rest? And he said, “Yeah.” he said. “Yeah I rested all right.” he said. “You mean you didn’t have any trouble?”And he said, “Well I had a little bit.” he said. “When I started to eat my supper,” he said, “a bunch of damned cats come in there and tried to take my stuff I was eatin’ away from me.” And he said, “I put a stop to that.”
“He said, “What’d you do?”
“And he said, “I cut one of em’s damned paws off! Or part of em.” he said. “I cut two toes off!”
“And he said, “You did?”
“And he said, “Yeah.”
“And he said, “What happened then?”
“He said, “They left there.” He said, “I aint seen em’ since.”
“He reached his hand in his pocket and got that rag out and un-wrapped it. And there were those two fingers; one with that weddin’ ring and things on it.” And he told him he said, “Now here. This is the cat’s paw that I cut off.” And he said, “By god …it’s a woman’s two fingers!”
“And he looked at it. And by god he knowed the ring! And he went up to the house and his wife was in bed. She had never got up. And he asked her what was the matter with her and she said she felt bad.” Grandpa said. “And he told her he said, “Hand me your hand.” And when she handed him the right hand he said, “I want to see your other hand.” And she wanted to know what he wanted to see it for. And he said, “I wanna know.” he said. “I just want to see it!”
“So she stuck her hand out there and her two fingers were cut off! And then he handed them to her.” Grandpa said.
“Did he leave her? Bein’ as she was a witch?” Mama asked.
“Well I don’t know. I imagine that must have broken the spell on her though. You see …any time you can make a witch bleed or anything …it’ll break the spell on em’. Cause it’s so damned hard to do it!” Grandpa said.
“Now you see, what that woman was expectin’, if she’d have been prepared for that guy then he’d have never cut her fingers off. But she scared the rest of em’ to death and she thought he was gonna jump up and run when she done that. And she was gonna scare him and reached over there to get that piece of sausage out of there. And instead of him scarin’ by god he wacked her with that knife! Before she had realized what was goin’ on.” Grandpa said.
“Well that one, the spook you seen on that horse that time.” Mama asked.
“I aint never yet found out what that was!” Grandpa answered.
“Was that when you were goin’ to the doctor?” Mama asked.
“No.” Grandpa answered. “That was before we married.”
“Oh this was before you married?” Mama said.
“Out on Hubbard’s Lane down there, right out here?” Grandma asked.
“No …that wasn’t Hubbard’s Lane either! That’s uh, what they call Hardin Lane now. It goes down here, goes back in there towards that one Highway and Park you know where it’s at? I used to go back there to the old John and Will’s Farm.” Grandpa answered.
“Are they related to our people?” Mama asked.
“Yeah, they’re kin to them, yeah.” Grandpa answered. “His dad and mother, Will’s dad and mother, and that road used to go back in there three miles. It was out in the damned woods! It had a little gravel on it in places you know. And …who was that guy that aunt Nellie married? George? He had a farm back in there and Uncle Johnny was livin’ on that farm, raisin’ tobacco and things for him. And I was goin’ down to Uncle Johnny’s.”
“Johnny was your daddy’s …?” Mama asked.
“Yeah ...he was my Uncle; my Mama’s brother.” Grandpa answered. “And by god I got about half way back
there and I was ridin’ that there little Mare of Nell’s. And all at once I could feel her clinchin’ up you know. And I knew she was actin’ funny, but I couldn’t see nor hear a damned thing!”
“And I stopped …and I still couldn’t hear nothin’.” Grandpa said. “And I started on up the road. And, well I could tell she was scared, you know? And by god she got up! And she was walkin’ on her tip toes, you know? You’ve seen horses get on ice; you know how they try to walk? Well that’s the way she was doin’.”
“And I says “Hell fire, there’s somethin’ wrong! I thought it was somethin’ she smelled or somethin’ you know that scared her. So I got off and took hold of her bridle. I told her ‘Come on!’ By god, I was in front of her. And I reckon I walked well kinda around a little curve in the road, as far as here to that tree I reckon. And boy that Mare, by god she was shakin’ just like that! Damndest thing I’d ever seen in my life! And there was somethin’ right there in the road. And by god he had eyes as big as that cup! And I could see them things a shinin’ without a light! “I said, “Well what in the hell…” I said, “…is that? And I knowed it was something but I still didn’t know what it was. And boy that there Mare, she was scared to death! Man she was shakin’, just a tremblin’! And I said, “By god I’ll move it!” I reached back there and got my .38 and I pulled down on it. And every time that gun would pop, by god there was another eye popped up there! And I’m gonna tell ya somethin’. I don’t know what that was but I do know one thing, back there at that time I didn’t miss what I was shootin’ at! But it didn’t do no good! And by god and that Mare she …Lord I’m gonna tell ye! And I emptied that .38. And listen, I could shoot that thing! Cause I could cut a squirrel off’n from that limb with it! And by god it was time for me to be someplace else! And every time that gun would pop, there’d be another’n pull up there! And by god there was a bunch of them eyes that big around! And man I turned that Mare around and she didn’t wait for me to get on her! And boy when I headed her out that other way I had on to that there saddle and she made a leap and I hit the ground up there and then I went up in that saddle! And I never stopped her until she got up here to this road that goes around CedarCreekChurch! That’s three and a half miles before I could stop that Mare! And boy she was runnin’ just as hard as she could lay her feet to the ground! And not to yet, I don’t know what that was!”