A Tale from the Hills

by Terry Hayden

  “Sure I guess so.” he said. “That’s what everybody wants. But I hardly ever see anyone except you and Sam. That is unless I go with you somewhere like right now.”

  There were not too many places for people to meet except church or school. The only people at the hardware store were old farmers and a grouchy old storekeeper. The store was located just outside of town and the entire trip was over rural roads. They never saw anyone except maybe a farmer or two, all the way to and from the store.

  “I know,” suggested Eunice. “Why don’t you start going to church? There is a little church just down the road from home, and you might just meet someone your age there.”

  “I don’t know, I’m not much good at meeting people.” he replied.

  “You will never know unless you try. Just go one time. If you like it fine, if not, that’s fine too. It might be worth a try.” she added.

  “Maybe.” he sighed.

  He thought about Eunice’s suggestion from that day until Saturday afternoon. He made a bold announcement to the two women at the supper table that same night.

  “You will need some Sunday go to meeting clothes.” said Eunice. “Let’s go upstairs to see what we can find.”

  Eunice remembered that her brothers had some nice clothes that they brought back from Europe. She did not know if William would like them, but she realized that he had not been too choosy so far in their relationship. He like herself, was not that hard to please when it came to his appearance. Samantha cut his hair and he never complained about a gap here and there. He was a very good looking boy who was quickly becoming a handsome man.

  Ever since he began staying downstairs, William felt uncomfortable about going upstairs. Eunice sensed his discomfort and rummaged through her brothers’ trunks as quickly as she could. She found a white shirt easily and a nice leather belt. She remembered that the jackets and pants were hanging in the large wardrobe in the room that was beside of her parents. As she moved her hand over the hangers she felt sentimental. William did not see her wipe the tear from her eye. She found a suit that reminded her so much of her dear brother John that she started to cry. William patted her shoulder to let her know that he understood her sorrow more than she would ever know.

  The suit was a nice color. It was a dark blue wool with a tiny black stripe. William could not wait to try it on. Eunice thought that she might have to alter the hem of the pants, but that was an easy task. She left the room so that he could have a little privacy while he tried them on.

  William felt very elegant when he slipped his naked leg into the pants. The waist was a bit too large but they were exactly the right length. The belt would surely take up the slack around the waist. He tried on the jacket without the benefit of a shirt. The wool itched a little bit but the jacket was a nearly perfect fit too.

  He found a surprise when he rummaged through thepockets of the jacket. Hidden inside one of the breast pockets were several pictures. The backs of the pictures were designed for mailing, but the fronts were provocative photographs of naked women. He had never seen pictures like those before. They almost took his breath away. He was glad that Eunice was not in the room because he would have been embarrassed for her to see the things that his lower body was doing as a result of the pictures.

  “Is everything all right in there?” Eunice asked, startling him.

  “Fine, fine. They fit fine. They won’t have to be altered at all.” he answered breathing hard and fast.

  “That’s great then. I’m going back downstairs.” shesaid.

  “Ok.” he answered almost too quickly.

  The cards were more exciting than he could look at right then and there. He would need some quality time alone to fully appreciate the curves and nuances of the naked women’s bodies. He hurriedly dressed back into hisold clothes and headed to the barn as fast as he could.

  ************

  Sunday morning William had coffee ready when Eunice and Samantha got up. There were not as many chores to do on Sunday morning, so they got an extra hour or so of sleep. William got up earlier than usual though, because he wanted to take a bath and prepare for his trip to church. He made doubly sure that the pictures were hidden in a very safe place. He never wanted to lose the treasures that one of his uncles had posthumously given to him.

  After breakfast he decided to get an early start on his long walk to church. It was located about two miles from their house and he wanted to take his time getting there. Who knows, maybe he would get there in time to meet some girls before church started. While Eunice and Samantha cleared the table and washed the dishes, he went upstairs to get ready. Even though he had been livingin the house for three years, he had never looked in any of the rooms except the room that used to be his own. Since he had a few minutes to spare, he decided to take a quick peek. The room beside of his old room was practically empty. There was a bed frame, and a chest of drawers, but there was no rug on the floor and the closet was completely empty. He figured that it used to be the girls’ bedroom, and now Eunice was using the furniture downstairs. The room next to that one contained several cot like beds and a huge wardrobe closet in the far corner. He suspected that it was full of old clothing too, but he did not bother to look inside. The room at the end of the hall was so full that he could barely get the door open. It looked like an interesting room to prowl in, but he would have to wait until Eunice and Samantha were gone somewhere to do that. He hoped that he would be lucky enough to find a few more photographs of naked women or a family treasure or two.

  “Hey up there, what’s up?” Eunice shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

  “Nothing, I’m just getting ready for church.” he answered as he hurried back to his old room.

  He dressed quickly because he did not want Eunice to get suspicious about his movements in the house. He held a position of trust and he did not want to do anything to jeopardize that trust. Sometimes he wondered why the two women trusted him so much anyway, and why they took him in when he was on the run. He was not sure that he would have given the same consideration to a total stranger. He knew that they were better human beings than he would ever be, or even hope to be.

  It was a beautiful day for a walk. William felt like the King of the World in his dark blue suit with the little black stripe. He had never been dressed up before in his life. It was a good feeling. He would never want to do it everyday, but once in a while it was nice. He whistled a made up tune as he walked along the quiet gravel road.

  When he got within view of the old church he could see a few people standing out front. It reminded him ofmornings before the school bell rang at Mountain School. He did not see a single girl though. He saw old women and men but he did not see any young people, boys or girls. Just as he was about to turn around and go back home, a wagon passed and he assumed that it was on its way to the little church. He stood there and watched to see where it was going and it indeed pulled into the church yard. He was glad that he had not turned around and gone home. There were two, count them, two girls on that wagon. One of them looked to be about his age and she smiled at him as they rode past him in the road.

  By the time that he had reached the church, everyone had already gone inside. He had been hoping to get there before everyone went inside because he did not want them to turn and look at him when he opened the door. He gently pulled the old door open and walked slowly and quietly down the aisle. Not a single soul turned to look at him.

  He sat through the service without going to sleep although he was practically bored to death. He saw a few heads nodding and bobbing before the minister finally finished with his sermon, but he kept his eyes focused on the girl who had smiled at him from the wagon. But she was sitting on the very front row. The man driving the wagon was the minister and William assumed that the girl was his daughter. He had heard stories at school about preacher’s daughters, but he automatically assume
d that they were lies.

  Although he was not an experienced church goer, and he did not even presume to know how people were supposed to act in church, he decided that those people were not friendly at all, and especially to him. They had barely acknowledged his presence. As he was leaving the building, he thought that he heard two of the women whispering about Eunice and Samantha. Finally the minister came over to where he was standing.

  “How are you son?” the minister asked coldly.

  “Fine and you sir?” he replied.

  The minister did not even bother to answer.

  “Where are you from son?”

  “I was born in Virginia sir.”

  “No, I don’t mean that.” he snapped. “I mean where did you come here from today?”

  “I live up the road at the Hill farm sir.” William replied.

  “Do you mean that you live with those two women in that sinful house? If that is the case, then you are not welcome here. Those two women are Sodomites and fornicators, and if you live there too, then they rub their filth in your face. We don’t want that kind of filth here. We don’t want you here. Do you understand?”

  This time it was William who did not bother to answer. He was confused, sad, and very angry at the same time. He did not even know what those hateful words meant, but the minister had made it quite clear that he was not welcome there. And all that he had wanted to do was to socialize and maybe meet s few nice young people. That man was hateful and vicious. How could he even call himself a man of God? It that was the way that Christians behaved, then he would have no part of it.

  As he was walking back to the road, he saw the girl who had smiled at him earlier. She smiled at him again. Her daddy saw her smile at him this time.

  He backhanded her and shouted, “Praise the Lord”, at the same time.

  A chill ran up the back of William’s neck. The man preached Heaven and a merciful God, and beat his own child at the same time. It had quickly become a day for revelations.

  William decided that he would not mention the events that had just taken place at the church to Eunice and Samantha. They already knew what bigotry was and he did not want to ruin their peaceful Sunday. He realized that his first real experience with so called Christians was about as much as he wanted for the rest of his life. He felt sad for the girl who was slapped and he was never going back to church, that one or any other.

  *********

  Soon after William left for church on that beautiful Sunday morning, Eunice made her way upstairs to the back bedroom. She wanted to be able to show William the family’s old keepsake Bible when he returned from church. Samantha realized that Eunice did not like to go to her parent’s old room, so she volunteered to accompany her up there. Eunice insisted that she would be all right and suggested that Samantha go ahead and start lunch instead. Reluctantly Samantha agreed to do that.

  Eunice was not upstairs very long when the tears began to flow. She missed her mother. She wished that her mother could have known Samantha, because she was sure that her mother would have understood about the relationship that Eunice and Samantha shared. Everything that Eunice saw or touched in the dusty old room reminded her of a distinct memory of her mother. She finally found the old Bible under a stack of doilies in the trunk. When she picked the Bible up, she also spotted a picture of her mother and father in a small metal frame. She dropped the picture in her apron pocket to show to her housemates after lunch.

  When William got home from church he did not say a word about the service. The two women could not understand why he was being so quiet. But lunch was ready so Eunice suggested that he go ahead and wash up. First he went back upstairs and changed into his work clothes. He had made up his mind that he would never wear that suit again until he got married or buried, which ever came first.

  He told them over lunch that he did not like the little church down the road. He said that there were no young people there and that the service was boring, and that the seats were much too hard. Eunice told him that she had found the old family Bible and if he wanted to, that maybe they could read from it on Sundays. He thought that was a pretty good idea and that was all that was said about his experience at the little church down the road. Eunice forgot to show them the picture. She showed it to Samantha that night just before bed and she made a mental note to show it to William at breakfast.

  ***********

  That night the world that William had known for a little more than three years came to a crashing end. He, Eunice, and Samantha all went to bed within an hour of each other. The last light in the house was blown out well before ten p.m. William was always the first to go to bed because he wanted to give the women some privacy. He could hear them talking quietly in the kitchen before he finally nodded off. The last sound that he remembered was the sliding bolt lock on the kitchen door.

  Another reason that he usually went to bed early on Sunday nights, was because Mondays were always busy on the farm. Chores that were skipped on Sunday were made up on Monday. Checking fences and making sure that hobos were not using the tobacco barn were always the first priority. It was a routine that Eunice never neglected. William remembered that all too well. Nowadays he went along with her every Monday just like clockwork.

  The sound of breaking glass woke him from a sound sleep. Then he heard men shouting and horses snorting from outside the front of the house. He jumped out of bed and stepped into his bibbed overalls without even bothering to put on a shirt. He rushed to his bedroom door and opened it just in time to meet Eunice face to face.

  “Where’s the shotgun Sam?” Eunice shouted.

  “Behind the closet door. I put it there yesterday after I cleaned it.”

  It was the same gun that Eunice always took with her to check the fences and shoot at four legged varmints.

  A booming voice suddenly came from the front yard.

  “Hey in there you Sodomites!”

  William recognized the voice immediately. He heard it plainly from the pulpit of the church yesterday morning.

  “Come on outside. We want to show you what we do to the likes of people like you around here! We got us some tar and feathers to dress you up with!”

  Eunice rushed over to the closet, quickly opened thedoor, and grabbed the shotgun. The bullets were in a box on the top shelf. She quickly loaded the gun and was about to go to the front door when a flaming torch came bursting through the door’s glass panel. It landed in the floor at the foot of the stairs, spraying fire and bits of broken glass everywhere. Samantha and William scrambled to put out the tiny fires that seemed to be all over the hallway. William cut his big toe without even noticing.

  “What do you want?” Eunice screamed through the new hole in the door. “Get the Hell off of my property!”

  A giant cross at least ten feet tall suddenly burst into flames in the yard next to the front porch. The flames illuminated all of the area around the entire front of the house. A group of men on horseback were just outside of the brightness of the flames. Their shadows were grotesque and inhuman. They wore the uniforms of terror and intimidation. Their heads were hooded and pointed toward the night sky. Crosses were sewn on the fronts of their white robes, and they resembled priests from some ungodly church in Hell.

  “We are here to escort you out of North Carolina.” It was the same voice that William recognized from yesterday.

  “You get the Hell off of my property!” Eunice shouted.

  She stepped out the door and onto the front porch. She aimed the shotgun above the riders’ heads and fired a shot into the night sky. A few of the horses raised their front feet into the air and snorted and pissed all over the yard. A rider in the back of the ungodly pack almost lost his footing from the stirrup.

  “Drop that gun girl!” one of the riders shouted.

  She aimed in the direction of the voice and was
about to pull the trigger when another shot echoed into the night. The sound and flash came from just beyond the hooded riders. It was a signal for the group to disburse. The leader of the group took the time to shout one last warning to the people on the front porch.

  “Break up this buzzard’s nest or we will burn it downthe next time! You have just two days to settle your business!”

  The riders were gone as quickly as they came. William thought that he had survived a few bad experiences in the past, but this one topped them all. All three of them were shaking uncontrollably.

  “Who were those bastards?” he asked, barely able to speak above a whisper.

  “I have never been so scared in my life.” Samantha declared. “What is their problem?”

  Eunice took a deep breath before she spoke.

  “That was the infamous Klan. It has been a long time since I even heard anything about them. I wonder what has stirred them up?”

  William knew the answer to her question.

  “I recognized the leader’s voice. It was the preacher from the church that I went to yesterday. He practically ran we off when I told him where I lived. He said bad things about the two of you. I wish that I had never set foot inside that church.”

  William thought about his friend Hank in Ashe County. Now he knew why Hank was so afraid of the Klan. It was an experience that no one should have to witness firsthand.

  “What are we going to do?” asked Samantha.

  “I don’t know yet.” Eunice replied.

  William thought that the three of them were lucky to still be alive. He did not know what the two women were going to do, but he decided then and there that it was time for him to be moving on. That was a little secret that he was gong to keep to himself at least for the time being.