A Tale from the Hills

by Terry Hayden

  Not too far up the tracks another family was grieving for a lost son. The Halloween pranks that unknowingly cost one family a precious daughter and sister, had cost this family a mischievous but loving son. A son who was doing what teenagers do on Halloween. Pranks that went a littletoo far had caused two families to pay the ultimate price.

  Monday started like any other day for Mrs. Boatwright at Mountain School. She was always first to arrive and last to leave each day. She made routine checks to the grounds, turned on lights, and built a fire, if needed. If Carl and the other boys had been there to witness the toilet check, and the mailbox check, they would have been disappointed. The snake had crawled through a hole in the mailbox, that was made by a Halloween prank several years ago, and the rats had escaped through a crack in the floor boards.

  Carl and Sam did arrive at the school earlier than usual, but it was to inform Mrs. Boatwright about Jay’s untimely death. She became very upset at the news, and she could tell that Carl and Sam had been crying. Deep down she suspected that the tragedy would make the boys finally realize that delinquent behavior could only hurt everyone involved. She decided that she would contact the minister, in hopes that his words might somehow comfort the students.

  The minister had not been as lucky as Mrs. Boatwright in regards to the blacksnake. When he opened his mailbox door, the snake became startled. It struck at him, and even though it was not poisonous, and even though it missed its target, it did however, fulfill its purpose. The minister saw the serpent as a sign from God that he was slipping from the fold. He practically ran back into the house and kissed his wife for the first time in months. While she was running errands, he threw away certain items that only God knew that he owned.

  When the bell rang for classes to begin, the teachers noticed that none of the Hill children were at school. Since cold and flu season had arrived it was not unusual for students from the same family to be absent together. However, Miss Coalson knew that Alice would not miss school, especially with the results of the contest to be announced. She spoke to Mrs. Roberts and finally Mrs. Boatwright, who agreed that something must be wrong. They decided that at the end of the school day, they would visit the Hills. If all of the children were sick, Mrs. Boatwright was sure that Alice’s prize for winning the contest would, at least, make them feel a little better. All of the children loved books and Alice’s first prize was a storybook.

  The walk after school was uneventful until they reached the footbridge. Although the broken eggs were dried by then, the three educators could tell that the bridge had been treacherous earlier in the day. Their worst fears were realized when they reached the tiny house. News of Alice’s disappearance and sure death was overwhelming to them. Through her tears Miss Coalson could tell that little William was in shock. He was pale and listless and trembling as if he was very cold. She could not imagine what was going through his mind.

  Along with being grief stricken, William felt guilty for his sister’s death. He thought that only if he had been walking with Alice, the tragedy might not have happened. Why did he listen when the kids at school teased him about always being with her? Some of the older boys called him a ‘sissy’, and even though he did not even know what a ‘sissy’ was, he knew that it had to mean something bad. He reasoned to himself that if he was not with Alice so much, the other boys would leave him alone. At that moment he decided to start walking with his brothers to school. Alice understood William’s situation, so on that Monday morning she pretended not to mind when he told her that he was going to walk to school with his brothers.

  He was asking himself now, why did he care what the other boys said? Why did he let her walk by herself? Why did his only sister have to die? William had not made a sound since he saw his sister tumble from the footbridge. He suffered his grief and guilt in total silence.

  Tom asked Mrs. Boatwright to step outside while the teachers were comforting his children. He told her that Alice’s tiny body had undoubtedly washed downstream, and that he was beside himself because he could not leave his boys to look for her. Mrs. Boatwright had never felt as much compassion for anyone in her life. She assured himthat she would notify the authorities. She also made it clear to him that the boys would need a sufficient amount of time to grieve, and that she would see them back at school only after that time had passed.

  When they returned into the house, Miss Coalson was talking softly to William. She tried to pick him up, to hold him, but he resisted. Under any other circumstances he would have melted to her touch, but now he felt ashamed to be touched by anyone. His world had turned upside down, and he did not have the will to try and hold on for dear life.

  Miss Coalson cried uncontrollably on the way back to the school. She had become very attached to Alice and William in the short time that they had attended her class. She was going to miss Alice’s smile every day, but she was deeply concerned about little William. She had wanted desperately to comfort him but she knew deep inside her heart that something was seriously wrong with that little boy. She wished that she could get inside of his head to try and understand his true feelings. He was hurting and it worried and frustrated her that nothing she said or did seemed to help him.

  Mrs. Boatwright was deep in thought as they walked along the tracks. As sympathetic as she was to the families of the dead children, her mind drifted back to her own tragedy. These two deaths brought her husband’s tragic end as painfully fresh into her mind as when it happened many years ago. Now she was not even sure that she could handle these tragedies without going over the edge herself. She had moved to Jewel Ridge Mountain to escape tragedies, not to be engrossed into two of them at the same time.

  **********

  While they were still newlyweds of less than one year, Alex and Sarah Boatwright moved to Fairfax, Virginia from Richmond. She was a teacher fresh out of college, and he was a recruit with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She had the job that she always wanted and it was very excitingfor Alex to be part of a relatively new government agency. The boundaries and limitations of his job had not yet been established, but he was looking forward to a promising career.

  In those early days, most of Alex’s training was on the job. Experience in the field was the best teacher. Although he was not allowed to tell Sarah very much about the cases that he was involved with, she could tell that he loved his job.

  After only two years of marriage, tragedy struck. While working on an interstate kidnapping case, Alex was fatally shot by a ruthless kidnapper who was never caught. Several children were killed by the same kidnapper over a seven year period. Sarah always thought that Alex died in vain and that true justice was never served. Frustration and deep sorrow convinced her to leave Fairfax. She moved back to Richmond and taught while she continued her education.

  When the position of Principal opened in southwestern Virginia, she applied. At the interview she was discouraged from taking the position. She was told that men were more suited for the job because of the location of the school, and the many demands that were put upon the Principal. She maintained that she could do anything that a man could do, and all that she needed was a chance to prove it. She got the position, and up to that day she had done an exemplary job. These two tragedies would ultimately test her determination.

  After they arrived back at the school, Mrs. Boatwright contacted the county Sheriff in Abingdon to report the accident at the footbridge. He told her that since the water was so high and treacherous, that it could be several days before the little girl’s body was found. He also extended his sympathy for the loss of the student who died from snakebites. They agreed to keep in touch and said their goodbyes.

  The atmosphere at Mountain School was solemn for several days after the accidents. It was difficult foreveryone, including the teachers and Mrs. Boatwright to concentrate on the day to day activities. But the sooner that life got back to normal, the better for everyone.

&nb
sp; The following Monday after Halloween, the three older Hills returned to school. Miss Coalson could not help but breakdown again when Joseph brought back the coat that had been given to Alice. Tom and the boys talked about what Alice would have wanted, and they decided that she would wish for another little girl to use the coat. William did not join in the conversation because he still had not spoken. He was as withdrawn and lethargic as the day when Alice disappeared. Tom kept William at home when the other boys returned to school. He reasoned that William needed more time to heal.

  Days turned to weeks, and weeks into months, with no change in William’s behavior. He ate very little, and slept most of the time. But when he slept, he was with Alice, and they were playing and singing and laughing together. His dream world was so real and his conscious world was like a bad dream.

  The county nurse came to visit two or three times, but his condition was always the same. She was so concerned about William that she wanted his daddy to put him in the mental hospital in Marion, which was about thirty miles away. Thirty miles might as well have been three hundred for Tom. The suggestion was completely out of the question. He would keep his son at home where he belonged.

  William would be with the people who loved him when he was awake, but mostly when he was asleep.

  The End of Part Two

  Part Three

  Chapter One

  Five years passed before a sound came from William’s voice. He remained in a sort of suspended animation since Alice’s disappearance. He was happy when he was asleep because he lived in a fantasy world. As long as he was awake he was a tormented child. His outward expression was blank, but inside he was writhing in pain.

  William looked like a normal eleven year old boy. He ate whatever his father sat before him, and he grew. Anyone who looked at him would see a bright eyed, healthy child. Closer examination however would reveal a child with no expression on his face. The world was quickly passing by, and he remained silent and still.

  William’s family tried many things to bring him out of his self imposed exile from the world around him. They read to him. They told him stories. They showed him picture books. They took him outside to listen to the birds, and watch the trains go by, but nothing worked to unlock his mind. He put an invisible shield between himself and everything around him. Nothing could penetrate that shield and hurt him or his fantasy sister. He would never let that happen again.

  It might have helped William if somehow they had found little Alice’s body. In the five years since her certain death, her remains were never recovered. The Sheriff determined that her tiny body washed into the lake from the heavy rains, or vanished inside a cave or crevice along the rugged stream. The family mourned her death in their own way, but without a funeral or burial, there was no real closure for them. It was almost as if she left and might one day return. Of course for William she was still there, in his secret place that only the two of them shared.

  Miss Coalson never gave up on William. She wouldvisit him at least once a week even if the weather was bad. She talked to him in a soothing voice, and she read to him about the world outside of Jewel Ridge Mountain. She used all of the techniques that she learned in college, to try and stimulate his mind. Her years of teaching experience, however, had not prepared her for a child like William. She could not break through his shell to reach the tender William inside. She knew that he was still in there, and she wanted to help him to reenter the real world. Regretfully, she never saw that happen. She moved back to Richmond a year before he finally spoke.

  While William was dormant his brothers moved on with their lives. All three of them completed the grade levels at Mountain School, and entered the work force in the community. Joseph who was fifteen, and Josh who was fourteen, worked at the lumber mill, and Alan, thirteen, had a job at the general store, which was located just passed the railroad supply house. They spent as much time as they could with William and their daddy, but each of them had lives outside of their home environment. All three of them were talking to girls now.

  Tom remembered that he was about the same age as Joseph when he got married. He was sure that all of his sons, except William, would be leaving the nest soon. He was also sure that no matter what happened, he would never treat his children the way that his own father treated him. They had gone through so much together, there was nothing that could tear them apart. The boys knew that too.

  One day the older boys were talking about their childhood and how they survived those harsh years. They conceded that their daddy did the best that he could. He could not have left them alone to go to a job because they were too small. There was no one around to help with them, and they agreed that he did exactly what he had to do under the circumstances. They were all working now, so he did not have to visit the railroad supply house any more. Hewas still house bound, however, because of William.

  ************

  When the stock market crashed in 1929, the community remained basically the same. The lumber mill rarely slowed down for more than a day or two at a time, and Alan’s job at the general store remained constant throughout the Great Depression. If a stranger were to ask how the residents of the community survived the Depression, the residents would more than likely reply that they survived the same way that they did before the Depression, and after the Depression, with very little money. The person most affected in the community was April Coalson. When the news came over the radio in her bungalow that the stock market had crashed, she was very concerned about her father. His banking business was closely correlated to the market, and his losses were great. Bad news came from April’s mother about a week after the crash. Mr. Coalson suffered a stroke probably as a result of stress. He was paralyzed on one side of his body, and the only thing that he was able to say was his daughter’s name. The doctors did not know how permanent the condition was, but April should come home as soon as possible.

  April quickly packed her bag and arranged for a bus ticket to Richmond. Her resignation from Mountain School was one of the saddest days of her life. Her eyes were red and swollen when she explained the circumstances of her decision to leave to Mrs. Boatwright. Mrs. Boatwright understood and as much as she would miss April, secretly she would enjoy taking over her class until a replacement was found.

  April Coalson left Abingdon Bus Station that same day, bound for Richmond. Her father was so glad to see her that half of his face smiled brightly. His condition was much worse than anyone realized, and a week after his daughter returned home, he died in his sleep. After his funeral April decided to stay in Richmond to be with her mother.

  **********

  The circumstances leading up to William’s return to the real world were almost as bizarre as the circumstances which caused his departure. After the severe Winter of 1930, Spring weather came into full bloom by early May. Along with the birds and flowers and green grass, came severe thunderstorms with powerful lightning and earthshaking thunder. Old timers claimed that the lightning was the worst that they had ever seen. The mighty oak tree whose shade cooled the Hill’s tiny house every Summer was struck. It was the same tree that Mary Hill loved to sit under at night. It was the same tree that Tom chose to be her headstone after she died. The giant tree could have fallen into their house but it fell across the railroad track. It took two days for railroad employees to finally clear enough of the tree for the train to pass. The Hills had enough firewood for two Winters from that singletree.

  William had trouble sleeping at night because of the storms. He tossed and turned until the storms passed. His expressionless face seemed to be changing from day to day and storm to storm, to a look of concern and dread. The person who saw him the most, his father, had a feeling that William was about to reach a plateau in his life. Always in the back of his mind was the suggestion from the county nurse that William should be placed in the mental hospital in Marion. Tom swore to himself that William would never be placed
in that horrible place as long as there was a breath left in his body.

  As the Summer progressed the storms became worse and William became more and more upset. Finally in late August William made a breakthrough. He was in a peaceful sleep, dreaming about an outing with Alice. They were playing among a group of trees when a storm came up. The wind blew hard and lightning danced all around them. Alice was startled by the lightning and began to cry. William tried to comfort her but she kept on sobbing harder and harder. She did not want William to see her crying, so she turned her back to him and began walking toward the railroad tracks. William shouted through the wind and rain for her to come back, but she kept on walking. When she reached the footbridge, she stopped. She seemed to be waiting for him to come to her. When he finally got to her, she stopped crying.

  She turned to him and said in a soft voice, “It’s time to wake up Will. The storm is almost over, and you need to wake up. I want to be with mother. She needs me and I need her. Help me find her Will.”

  She walked across the footbridge and disappeared into the trees.

  William screamed for her to stop.

  “Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t go!” he repeated over and over, out loud.

  He awoke to see his father and brothers standing over him. Tears filled his eyes and he cried openly for several minutes.

  The storm had passed and crickets were chirping loudly under the rickety steps of their tiny house.

  **********

  William’s rebirth was the topic of conversation in the community for several days. Coworkers of Joseph and Josh congratulated them on their brother’s recovery. Customers at the general store asked Alan many questions about his brother’s so called ‘awakening’. There were rumors circulating about all kinds of mysterious circumstances surrounding the event. Many of the residents of the community were as superstitious as they were curious.