Nadine Tillman, meanwhile, finally got around to letting her mother know where in the world she was. Her postcard arrived from Los Angeles, with a picture of the H-o-l-l-y-w-o-o-d L-a-n-d sign on the front (thirteen huge white letters planted on the side of Mount Lee, publicizing the new real estate development). Nadine had written a few lines on the back, saying that she was well and happy and hoping for a career in the movies. But she was broke and would really appreciate it if her mother could send a money order for ten dollars so she could pay her rent.
Maxwell Woodburn had no telephone, but Myra May was finally able to locate an address for him. He was very, very sorry when he learned about Bunny’s death. They had been corresponding for several years, he said, having met through the Baptist Sunday School Pen Pals list. He was a little surprised to hear that Bunny had been practicing her signature as Mrs. Maxwell Woodburn, for he was serving four years in the state penitentiary (he was truly a “pen pal,” he joked) and would not be able to marry anybody until he got out. But he appreciated the thought and wished that Bunny was still alive so he could tell her so.
Which leaves the mystery of Bessie Bloodworth’s ghost, the one she fired at with her twelve-gauge shotgun. Bessie was right, of course. The cloaked figure with the shovel was no ghost. He was Beatty Blackstone. He would not have revealed himself, except that he was wounded in his encounter with Bessie—not because she shot him (she really did shoot over his head when she discharged her gun) but because he somehow managed to slice his leg quite badly with the sharp edge of his shovel when he was trying to get away from Bessie’s twelve-gauge.
Beatty (who never liked to admit to weakness and didn’t like to spend money on doctors) put off treatment for several days. But when his leg became seriously infected and he could no longer walk, his wife Lenora insisted on taking him to the doctor. Doc Roberts scolded Beatty for not coming in earlier, then cleaned and stitched the wound and painted it with iodine. He had done all he could, he said, but Beatty would be lucky not to lose his leg. It was touch-and-go for a couple of days, but gradually the leg improved, and after a while, Beatty could get around again without too much trouble. But forever after, he walked with a limp.
This ghostly misadventure might not have come to light if it hadn’t been that Beatty, out of his head with pain, told Doc Roberts that he’d been injured when he was digging under the cucumber tree in Mrs. Blackstone’s garden. When Doc Roberts asked him why he was doing such an outlandish thing, Beatty, by that time rambling and incoherent, told him the whole story. Doc Roberts’ assistant, Maureen Wiggins, was helping the doctor sew Beatty up and overheard the tale.
Maureen told her mother-in-law, Leticia Wiggins, who had witnessed the ghost-bagging episode from the window of the Magnolia Manor.
Leticia told Bessie Bloodworth.
And Bessie told the Dahlias, when they met at the clubhouse the following Sunday afternoon.
“Dressed up like the Cartwright ghost!” Aunt Hetty Little exclaimed. “Why in the world?”
“And what was he looking for?” Earlynne Biddle wanted to know.
“He was looking for the Cartwright treasure,” Bessie explained. “Cornelia Cartwright’s mother’s family silver, which Cornelia buried in the garden when she thought that the Yankees were about to overrun the place and steal her blind.”
“I thought it was a baby she buried,” Mildred Kilgore said.
“She did bury her baby,” Bessie replied. “But she buried the silver, too.”
“But why was Beatty digging under the cucumber tree?” Lizzy asked, puzzled. “What made him think he’d find it there?”
“Because he had inherited a big box of papers from Mrs. Blackstone. Most of it was Blackstone family letters and diaries. But one of the items was a letter that Cornelia Cartwright wrote to Colonel Cartwright, telling him that the family silver was buried under their favorite cucumber tree. The poor woman died before the letter could be sent, and nobody ever saw it—until Beatty discovered it. He was hoping to find the Cartwright treasure.”
“Maybe that was why Beatty was looking at the plat books!” Verna exclaimed. “He must have been trying to determine the bounds of the property, to locate the tree.”
“Well, he obviously didn’t find the silver,” Myra May said. “Yesterday, his wife telephoned the grocery with an order. Mrs. Hancock reminded her that they owed four dollars, but Lenora said they could only pay half because it cost so much to doctor Beatty’s leg. If he had found what he was looking for, they’d have sold it to pay the bills.”
Aunt Hetty Little cleared her throat. “Speaking of paying bills,” she said, “we’d better talk about how we’re going to fix the roof on this house. We have a serious situation here, ladies. This afternoon, I mopped up a big puddle of water on the kitchen floor. That roof can’t wait”
“We could hold another plant sale,” Ophelia suggested hopefully.
“We only made two dollars and thirty-five cents at the last one,” Bessie replied. “It was a lot of work, too.”
“How about a rummage sale?” Mildred Kilgore asked.
“The Methodist ladies are planning two rummage sales this summer,” Beulah Trivette reported. “They wouldn’t take competition kindly.”
“We could raise the dues,” Mrs. Johnson proposed.
A collective sigh ran around the group and several shook their heads. But nobody could come up with any more ideas. Mrs. Johnson looked pleased.
“I move that we raise the dues,” she said.
“Let’s table that motion while we give the matter some more thought,” Aunt Hetty Little said, and the motion passed.
“Well, then,” Lizzy said, “if there’s no other business, the chair will entertain a motion to adjourn, so we can go out front and plant our sign.” Zeke still hadn’t gotten around to it.
A few moments later, they were all gathered out front. Bessie brought a shovel. Lizzy had her Kodak. Beulah and Verna placed the sign where it was supposed to go, and marked the spots where Bessie could dig the holes. Everybody else stood around and offered suggestions and encouragement as Bessie began to dig.
“Well, that was easy enough,” Bessie said, when the first hole was completed. She had dug about eighteen inches down. She handed the shovel to Lizzy. “Your turn, Liz.”
“Sure,” Lizzy said, and gave her Kodak to Verna to hold. She pushed the point of the shovel into the dirt, then cut out a small circle of turf. That done, she began to dig the hole, dumping the dirt off to the side. The job went easily until her shovel struck something. She put her foot on the shovel and pushed harder. It didn’t budge.
“A rock,” Alice Ann suggested.
“Doesn’t feel like a rock,” Lizzy said. “It’s a root, I think.”
“Probably a cucumber tree root,” Bessie said fondly, looking up at the tree overhead.
“Magnolia acuminata,” Miss Rogers corrected.
Lizzy got down and began to pull the dirt out with her hands. “Yes, it’s a root. Must be huge.”
“Oh, dear,” Beulah said distractedly. “Will we have to put the sign somewhere else?”
“Maybe,” Lizzy said, still digging. “Or maybe—” She looked up. “I don’t think it is a root, after all. It looks like a box. A wooden box.”
“A box?” the Dahlias exclaimed, in unison.
And that’s what it was. The hole had to be enlarged, which required quite a bit more digging. Verna took over from Lizzy and Mildred Kilgore took over from Verna, and by the time Mildred handed the shovel over to Earlynne, they were nearly ready to lift it out. It was square, about two feet by two feet, and about eighteen inches deep.
A few moments later, the box, rotten and splintering, was sitting on the grass. Eager hands were opening it—carefully, for it was obviously very old. And when the lid was lifted, there was a collective chorus of awed ohs and ahs.
“Why, it’s the Cartwright silver!” Bessie cried in great excitement.
That’s exactly what it was: a set of t
hirty-six place settings of sterling silver flatware, Gorham’s Chantilly pattern, engraved with an ornate C. It was stained black from nearly seven decades underground but otherwise undamaged. And when they began to look more carefully, they found several pieces of old-fashioned jewelry—a bracelet set with a square-cut emerald, a pair of pearl earrings, and a small diamond ring—and a bag of twenty-dollar gold coins. Ten gold coins. Two hundred dollars’ worth of double eagles, still as perfect as the day they were minted, in 1852.
“Yankee money,” Earlynne Biddle said, and sniffed. Earlynne’s mother had been a charter member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and Earlynne had inherited her distaste for all things Yankee—even money.
“It’s Cornelia’s legacy,” Bessie said in a reverential tone. “Right where she said it was. Under the cucumber tree.”
“It’s Magnolia acuminata,” Miss Rogers said sharply.
“It’s our roof,” Aunt Hetty Little said happily. “Glory be, it’s our roof!”
Makin’ Do: 12 Ways to Stretch Whatever We Have
Compiled by the Darling Dahlias
May 1930
1. Save all your bits of bread, the heels, crusts, etc. Use them for bread pudding, in stuffing, and to bread catfish. With the right care and attention, you will never run out of bread crumbs. (Lizzy Lacy)
2. Don’t throw away old feather beds or feather pillows. You can wash the feathers and they’ll be good as new. Take out the feathers and wash in a tub of real hot suds. Then spread them in the attic to dry, in a single layer. Do not dry in the wind, or you will have feathers all over the place. (Bessie Bloodworth)
3. If you have old woolen coats that have already been cut up for children’s wear and will no longer serve as garments, cut the fabric into strips and braid for doormats and rugs. Children love to help with this. Worn-out tablecloths can be hemmed and made into nice napkins. (Ophelia Snow)
4. After you’ve done your laundry, throw the soapy water on your bushes and young plants. They will appreciate the suds, but the bugs won’t. Also, pour the soapy water into a bucket and wash your brooms. A clean broom sweeps better! (Mildred Kilgore)
5. Keep moths away from your woolens by packing them in a tight box with pepper, cedar chips, tobacco, santolina, wormwood, or lavender—or a mix. In fact, almost anything with a strong, spicy smell will work. Camphor is good, too, but some people object to the way it smells—and you can’t grow it. (Miss Dorothy Rogers)
6. Save old letters and envelopes and use the backs for notes and lists. But be careful not to use a letter you don’t want someone else to read. (Myra May Mosswell)
7. Do not turn up your nose at hand-me-downs. Give an item to someone else if you can’t use it. (Aunt Hetty Little)
8. You can have a supply of horseradish all winter. When you dig the roots, grate them, put the gratings into a bottle with a good lid, and cover with strong vinegar and a tight-fitting lid. Do the grating outdoors—you’ll know why if you’ve ever tried it. (Earlynne Biddle)
9. Don’t spend money on expensive hair-setting lotions. Simmer 1 cup flaxseed in 3 cups water for a few minutes. Strain the flaxseeds and add back enough water to give the desired consistency. Comb through your hair and roll in rags or curlers as usual. (Beulah Trivette)
10. Be a string saver! Wind it into a ball and you’ll always have some handy. Buttons, too: keep them in bag or a box, so you’ll know where to go when you want one. (Mrs. George E. Pickett Johnson)
11. If you have cockroaches, don’t spend money on expensive bait. Boil up some poke-root and mix it with molasses, then set it out in the kitchen and the pantry in saucers. Be sure and keep the cats and the kids out of it. (Alice Ann Walker)
12. Keep a soup pot going on the back of the stove. That’s where you should put all the bits of food left from the day’s dinner. By supper time, you’ll have a thick, rich soup. Add some of those saved bread crumbs to thicken it up some more. (Verna Tidwell)
The Dahlias’ Favorite Recipe
Verna Tidwell’s Molasses Cookies
Morasses is a by-product of the sugarcane refining process. The cane is crushed to remove the juice, which is then boiled and the sugar. crystals extracted, The syrup become molasses. Its flavor and color depends on whether it is extracted early or late in the process. Until the 1880s, it was the most popular sweetener in the United States, because it was cheaper than refined sugar. Now it its more expensive.
¾ cup butter or lard, melted
1⅓ cup white sugar, divided
1 egg
¼ cup molasses
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, 1 cup sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in the molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg; blend into the molasses mixture. Cover, and chill dough for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Roll dough into walnut-sized balls, and roll them in the remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until tops are cracked. Cool on wire racks.
Euphoria’s peanut Butter Meringue Pie
The peanut (not a nut, but a legume) came to America from Africa, via the Caribbean, It became an important crop in the South after the boll weevils devastated the cotton fields. Peanut butter was a locally produced food until the 1920s, when it began to appear on grocery stole shelves.
CRUST
½ cup peanut butter (modern cooks may use crunchy)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 9-inch pie shell, baked
FILLING
⅔ cup brown sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups milk, scalded
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
MERINGUE
3 eggwhites
3 tablespoons sugar
⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
Combine peanut butter and confectioners’ sugar, blending well. Spread all but 3 tablespoons over the bottom of the baked pie shell.
In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Slowly stir in scalded milk. Cook over medium heat until smooth, stirring constantly. Stir about ⅓ of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks. Add this mixture back to the pan, along with the butter or margarine. Continue cooking and stirring until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour into prepared peanut butter crust.
Preheat oven to 300°F. Beat egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar until stiff but not dry. Spread over filling. Place in oven until meringue is lightly browned. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Refrigerate the leftovers.
Beulah’s Tomato and Eggplant Pie
The eggplant (a member of the nightshade family, related to the tomato and the potato) was grown in Virginia as early as 1737. The Virginia House-wife (1824), by Mrs. Randolph, included a recipe for fried eggplant, A warm-weather plant, it became a favorite in the South, perhaps Because of its use in Creole and Cajun cookery,
Salt
1 small eggplant, peeled and sliced thin
1 large tomato, sliced ¼-inch thick
½ large onion, sliced thin
Melted butter (modern cooks may wish to use olive oil spray)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried summer savory
Pepper
Crust for a 9-inch pie, unbaked
¼ cup grated yellow cheese
3 eggs, beaten
¼ cup milk
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
Generously sprinkle salt over both
sides of the eggplant slices. Place in a colander for 15 minutes to drain the bitter juices. Rinse and pat dry. Brush both sides of the eggplant, tomato, and onion slices with melted butter (or spray with olive oil). Arrange eggplant on a cookie sheet, leaving space for the tomatoes and onions. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and add the tomatoes and onions. Sprinkle with herbs and pepper and return to the oven until lightly browned. Remove and cool slightly. Layer the eggplant slices on the crust. Cover with grated cheese, reserving a few tablespoons, and the tomato and onion slices. Mix the eggs, milk, and mustard and pour over the slices. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake at 350°F until the egg/milk mixture is firm (about 35 to 40 minutes).
Florabelle’s Soda Bread
Cornbread, hoe cakes, spoon breads, biscuits, and other forms of non-yeast quick-cooking beads were popular throughout the South, However, the “light” bread made with baking powder and baking soda was baked in a loaf and could be easily sliced, making it more suitable for sandwiches and toast.
The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree Page 27