by Mary Salyers
The four of them walked rapidly down the dirt road. “It’s a good thing Johnny Ray ain’t with us, or we’d be late. He’s such a slow poke.”
“Don’t say ‘ain’t.’ It sounds ignorant.” Maggie frowned at Jeannie, who stuck out her tongue at her sister. “This makes ten days Johnny Ray’s missed already this year. If he keeps this up, he’ll fail second grade. But when he coughs all night like he did last night, I guess it’s best if he stays home, especially when it looks like rain.” Maggie looked at the overcast sky. “He’d really be sick if he got wet.”
When they reached the highway, the other children from the holler waited for the bus. Maggie noticed the Ryan children had clean clothes and carried lunches. She barely had time to ask Judy Ryan about her mother before the bus came.
Judy smiled at Maggie. “I think she’s doing better. Aunt Lucy’s staying with us. She took Mommy to the doctor yesterday, and he gave her some medicine.”
Once on the bus, Maggie found a seat, opened her shorthand pad to practice. I don’t care what Mama thinks, I’m going to be a secretary and get a good job. I’m not going to be some man’s slave. She made two more rows of shorthand then gazed out the window. I hope Bud speaks to me today.
* * *
On Saturday morning when Maggie returned from milking, Corie Mae had prepared a big breakfast. JD had killed some squirrels and brought them over. They sizzled in a big iron skillet. “What else are we having?” Maggie carefully raised the lid on the other skillet and savored the aroma of fried apples bubbling in the sweet syrup formed by the butter and sugar. “Umm. I do love fried apples.”
All the family sat around the large kitchen table enjoying the special breakfast. They ate all the biscuits and gravy and most of the apples. But Johnny Ray had eaten only a few bites. “I can’t eat no more.” His voice trailed off into a series of hacking coughs. Maggie noticed his cheeks looked red and feverish. Corie Mae had him take a sip of her hot coffee to sooth his throat, but his coughing continued until he finally drew in a breath with a whoop. His eyes filled with tears as the spasm of coughing began again.
Corie Mae sent Stuart to get Grandma Campbell to doctor Johnny Ray’s cold. She put Johnny Ray in Junior’s bed in the downstairs bedroom and sat with him, wiping his face with a damp washcloth.
Betty Lou and Maggie had finished the breakfast dishes when JD knocked at the front door. He looked troubled as he stepped into the front room. “I’m taking Kenny to the hospital. His foot’s swollen twice its size, and there’s a big red streak running up his leg almost to his knee. Aunt Lillian thinks he might be getting blood poison.”
“Is Aunt Lillian going with you?” Maggie asked.
“That’s why I stopped. She’s broke out with something on one side of her face. She thinks it’s shingles. It’s even in her hair.” JD looked at Maggie. “I wondered if Aunt Corie Mae would let you go with us. I’ve got to go to Honey Valley to get Mama because the hospital won’t treat him unless a parent’s there. I ain’t talking to her, so I need you to go explain what’s going on.”
Corie Mae came from the bedroom. She nodded her consent to Maggie and asked if Lillian seemed very sick. When JD said she had complained for several days about not feeling well, Corie Mae said, “I hope she don’t have too much trouble. Sometimes shingles can make a body real sick with a lot of pain. When my Grandma Campbell had them, she complained of pain for over a year.”
Maggie looked at her mother, surprised that she asked about Aunt Lillian. The two women hadn’t spoken since Maggie got her hair cut. She ran upstairs to change her skirt and blouse and grab a sweater. When she got to the car, Kenny sat sideways in the back with his bandaged foot resting on the seat, fever flushing his cheeks and burning in his eyes. He looked at Maggie and barely nodded.
JD lit a cigarette and started the car. When they got to the highway he turned south toward Honey Valley. “I wish Grandma didn’t think she was a doctor. I couldn’t believe it when I got home from work the other night, and here was Kenny with his big toe almost cut off, and what does she do? Puts cobwebs and soot on the cut. No wonder he may have blood poison.” He blew smoke toward the window which he cracked open. “I can’t believe she thought she could treat such a deep cut. I tried to talk her into letting me take him to the doctor, but she insisted her cures always work. Now look what’s happened.”
“Grandma’s cures do work most of the time,” Maggie protested. “Junior’s burns healed up with no trouble at all.”
“Well, they sure didn’t work for Elsie Mae, now, did they?”
That idea shocked Maggie into silence. She stared out the window. Bright sunshine lit the mountain sides where the fall leaves made a kaleidoscope of color. Many of the houses they passed had rows of colorful flowers. Blood red dahlias as large as dinner plates grew beside a fence. Another house had a lovely rose garden as pretty as a picture in a magazine. Soon a heavy frost would turn all the wonderful fall colors to various shades of brown and grey. Maggie felt depression weighing heavily.
It never crossed her mind that Elsie Mae had died because Grandma’s treatments did not work. Maggie had never been treated by a doctor. Neither had most of the rest of the family. If they got sick, Grandma gave them some home remedy, and they got better. Now she began to wonder if it was a mistake to have Grandma treat Johnny Ray’s cold with her onion plasters and various home-made cough syrups. Maybe they should have taken Johnny Ray to the hospital.
Since it was Saturday, no doctor was on duty. It took quite a while to locate Dr. Herman. Maggie watched as a nurse cleaned up Kenny’s wound as well as she could. She said, “In all my born days, I’ve never seen the likes of this!” She gave Kenny some aspirin, and he slept while they waited for the doctor to come.
JD, Opal, and Maggie waited in the area near the emergency room. JD stretched out on a couple of seats and shut his eyes. After a few moments of silence, Maggie turned toward Aunt Opal. “How’s Mrs. Scott doing?”
“She’s really gone downhill these last two weeks. It won’t be long now. Poor thing. She’s a real sweet old lady. The doctor give us medicine for the pain. She mostly just lies there with her eyes closed.”
“I guess you’ll be glad to get back home after being away so long.”
“I’d like to be home for a few days, and then I hope I can get another job. Being home right now is hard on my nerves.” Aunt Opal raised her eyebrows and nodded her head in JD’s direction. JD didn’t open his eyes, but Maggie noticed that he shook his right foot as he often did when agitated.
Maggie picked up a magazine and began to page through it. Aunt Opal got up to find a ladies’ room. Finally, the nurse called Opal to the examining room. Maggie could hear the doctor’s angry voice through the curtains that separated the examining room from the waiting area. She had never heard such cursing.
“Damn it, woman, what the hell were you thinking? Were you trying to kill him?” Aunt Opal protested that she was not home when it happened, but the doctor kept up his tirade.
“Just look what this dad nab quackery has done. I never saw such a mess in my life. He could lose his foot if we can’t get this confounded infection stopped, or he could die with lockjaw.”
Aunt Opal burst into tears. JD had sat up when the doctor began swearing. Now he locked eyes with Maggie as Aunt Opal rushed through the waiting area on the way to the restroom. They heard the doctor ask Kenny to explain how the injury had happened. Kenny said his grandma had put something on the cut that burned like fire. He thought maybe it was turpentine. Then she had gathered cob webs from the smoke house and scooped up soot from the wood stove in the kitchen. The doctor said the blasted soot was a problem.
“See, it’s so discolored from the soot, I can’t tell how bad the injury is. It’s possible the bone is nicked or even broken. We’ll have to x-ray it.”
Maggie ‘s eyes teared when she heard Kenny ask the doctor if he was going to die. The doctor said they would do everything possible to keep that from happening, but i
t would be touch and go before they got there.
“Boy, he doesn’t mince words, does he?” Maggie looked at JD.
“At least he’s honest. He ain’t promising some miracle he can’t pull off. I should of loaded him into the car and took him to the doctor when I got home that night. I knowed it was a real bad cut. Sometimes Grandma can be too bullheaded.”
“It’s not your fault. You tried.”
JD’s eyes filled with tears. “Did you hear the doctor say he could lose his foot or even die?”
After what seemed ages, the doctor came into the waiting room and explained he had admitted Kenny. They would not stitch up the wound until they took some x-rays. Meanwhile they would fight the infection with penicillin and soak the foot in disinfectant solutions. Hopefully, we have caught it in time to prevent tetanus. His demeanor was calm and even kind, but he made it clear it would be a few days before they would know whether Kenny was out of the woods.
Aunt Opal said she would stay at the hospital. JD should come back on Sunday afternoon to pick her up. If Kenny seemed better, she would go back to Honey Valley.
They got home in late afternoon. Already late for work, JD dropped Maggie at her house and sped back toward the highway. Maggie checked the kitchen for something to eat, having eaten nothing since the fabulous breakfast. Fortunately, Betty Lou had saved some lunch in the warming closet of the stove. But before she could eat, Maggie went into the bedroom where Johnny Ray rested. Corie Mae said Grandma’s onion poultices had broken his fever, and he had slept for several hours. Maggie murmured a “Thank you, Lord” under her breath and sat by the bed holding his hand. He opened his eyes and smiled at her.
“Maggie, ‘member that shiny thing we found in the ditch that time?” Maggie nodded. “What happened to it?” Maggie explained how she had given it to Audie Lee.
“Do you think we could get it back?”
“I talked to Daddy about that, and he said to let Audie Lee keep it.”
“I wish I had it. I thought it was real pretty. It was a heart, wasn’t it?”
Maggie nodded. “You better rest some more.” She straightened the covers and patted him on the head.
* * *
Betty Lou had surprised everyone when she played the piano for church. Maggie had chosen a different seat from her usual place so she could watch her father as he focused on Betty Lou. As the service progressed and Betty Lou’s accompaniment became even more confident, Ray’s eyes filled up, and his Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed. Maggie could not decide which pleased her more–her sister’s excellent performance or her father’s obvious pride.
Kenny stayed in the hospital for a week. The infection had gradually cleared up. He would always have a big black scar just behind the joint of his big toe, but fortunately, he had no broken or nicked bones, but he would always have some numbness in his foot due to damaged nerves.
The congestion in Johnny Ray’s head and chest had broken up, and his temperature seemed normal most of the time. He continued to complain of a sore throat for a few days, but after a week, Corie Mae decided to let him go back to school. He still looked pale and seemed to have little appetite. Finally, on the Friday before Halloween, Johnny Ray, even more lethargic than usual, ate very little breakfast and dallied about getting dressed for school. When Corie Mae scolded him, he whined, “Mama, I don’t feel good.” He ran for the back door where he vomited over the edge of the porch. Corie Mae decided he should stay home.
The next Sunday, Larry Collins showed up in his usual place beside Ray on the second pew. He had not attended church for weeks, since Herbert Ryan and his buddies had dumped him in the creek. Maggie had overheard her father telling Corie Mae the pastor and some of the deacons had visited with both Larry and Herbert hoping to reach some sort of reconciliation before Larry’s anger turned to revenge. Few people in the congregation that morning realized that Herbert Ryan had also come, as he had slipped into the back pew just before the sermon.
Reverend Lewis gave the usual invitation inviting sinners to give their hearts to Jesus, urging backsliders to rededicate their lives, and encouraging nonmembers to join the church. He added that if people needed to confess their sins and ask for forgiveness, they should come forward. The congregation stood and began singing “ Jesus Calls Us.”
Maggie watched Mr. Collins, who stood with bowed head, staring at the floor. Finally, on the last verse, Herbert Ryan walked down the aisle. Herbert and the pastor talked quietly for a couple of minutes. Then Reverend Lewis asked if Larry Collins would also come to the front. Larry hesitated for several seconds. Ray laid a hand on his shoulder, and spoke softly to him. Larry finally nodded and went to stand on the opposite side of Reverend Lewis.
The pastor asked the congregation to be seated. “Herbert comes this morning confessing he has committed a wrong against a brother, and he wants to ask for God’s forgiveness and for the forgiveness of the church. But most of all he wants the forgiveness of Brother Collins. I want all the deacons to join us in the pastor’s study where we can pray with these estranged men. Mr. Worth, lead the congregation in singing and prayers until we come back.”
They sang a couple of songs and after a time of silent prayer, two people prayed aloud. Then they sang three more songs and more people prayed. Maggie enjoyed singing hymns, but she began to get antsy as more and more time passed. Mary Ann, sitting beside her, began to weep softly. “What if they get in a fight? Do you think those men can keep them apart.”
When the men finally returned, Reverend Lewis explained that Herbert Ryan had given his apology and asked for forgiveness, and after conversation and prayers with the deacons, Larry Collins had received the grace to offer pardon. Someone at the back of the church shouted, “Amen! Thank you, Jesus!”
The pastor asked the congregation to sing “Amazing Grace” and invited everyone to come to the front and shake hands with these two brothers who had taken Jesus’ words seriously. Maggie hugged Mary Ann, feeling a heavy load had lifted from her shoulders, as the congregation gathered in the altar, wiping tears from their eyes.
Later that afternoon, Maggie went to the woodshed where Ray gathered kindling to fill the kitchen wood box. “Daddy, what did you think about Herbert Ryan’s confession?”
“Glad to see it. The longer it went on, the madder Larry got. You know he comes from Kentucky stock, too. I guess feuding is in our blood. Anyway, I’m glad they could come to a understanding before something really bad happened, and I give the preacher the credit. I know he’s worked with both of them for weeks.”
Maggie picked up an armload of wood and followed her father into the house. Johnny Ray came into the kitchen where Corie Mae prepared supper. “Mama, my neck hurts, and my knees and elbows hurt.”
Corie Mae asked Ray to get an aspirin from the bottle on the chest in the bedroom. When Ray returned with the aspirin, Corie Mae said, “I hate to ask JD to miss school, but I think we should take Johnny Ray to the doctor tomorrow. This aching in his joints seems like a bad sign. Reminds me of how he felt when he got rheumatic fever four years ago.”
Corie Mae realized her worst fear when the doctor told them Johnny Ray had rheumatic fever again and sent them home with instructions for two months of bed rest. The doctor emphasized the importance of careful administration of aspirin every four hours, and a penicillin tablet every six hours, adding it would be some time before the extent of damage to his heart could be determined. Within a few days, Johnny Ray began to enjoy having so much attention. He took great delight in ordering Junior to do his bidding. “Bring a drink of water.” “Get me a toy.” “Tell Mama I’m hungry.”
Maggie remembered the conversation she and JD had about Grandma’s home remedies, and she wished she had told her mother how seeing Grandma’s treatment of Kenney’s foot had made the doctor so angry. Maybe she could have persuaded them to take Johnny Ray to the doctor sooner. It’s my fault. Johnny Ray may have permanent heart damage, and now we’ve got the doctor to pay and we still owe fo
r Elsie May’s funeral. It seemed to her they took one step forward and two steps back.
.
CHAPTER 5
Campbell Holler–December 18,1886 Excited about Christmas. Going to town to shop tomorrow. New baby girl–Helen Margaret. Harvey ready to build 2 upstairs bedrooms.
(Diary of Mary Louise Campbell)
December 1949
Maggie sat in study hall half asleep when Miss Erickson tapped her shoulder. “I need to talk to you.” She led the way to the conference room beside the principal’s office. Once seated across the table from each other, Miss Erickson asked Maggie how Thanksgiving vacation had gone.
“Awful!” Maggie propped her chin in her hands.
“What happened?”
“We always kill hogs on Thanksgiving Day. It’s a awful lot of work. I’m just plumb tuckered out, I guess. You caught me half asleep.”
“I’ve never seen a butchering, so I guess I really don’t know much about it. It’s easy to think ham comes naturally wrapped in cellophane, ready to eat. How many hogs did you butcher?”
“We did four–two for us, one for Grandpa, and one for my aunt. We have this special place fixed up in Grandpa’s barnyard where we work, and I thought my hands would freeze and fall off from the cold.”
“I’m sorry to sound so dumb, but like I said, I’ve never seen animals butchered.”
Maggie smiled and tipped her head to one side. “Maybe next year you can come out and help us.”
“I don’t know about that,” Miss Erickson laughed. “You do seem tired today. Did it take all weekend to butcher the hogs?”
“The hardest part’s cutting it up and canning the meat. We worked on that all weekend. We didn’t even go to church yesterday. Actually, Mama, Grandma, and my aunts is–uh, are–still canning meat today.”