Tennessee Waltz

by Simmons, Trana Mae

  "But it's illegal, Wyn. Ain't been no revenuers 'round the last few years, but that don't mean they won't come again. It wouldn't bother me none if Robert would get a job at that place in Lynchburg, but I suppose they've got all the help they need and their own recipe. And besides, Robert doesn't really want to leave the mountains. He only went to West Virginie to look at the mines because he figured the living there would be something like it is here, with the mountains and all."

  "From what I hear, he wouldn't get to spend much time anywhere except deep inside those mountains, Sis. Look, you're gonna have to trust Robert to take care of you and the young'uns. He's a proud man and he won't let you down. We all approved of him when he first started courting you."

  "I love him, I do, Wyn. I just hope I don't have to keep our love alive by writing him letters in prison."

  Not knowing what else to do, Wyn patted her hand. "Why don't you get down there and take advantage of being able to show Robert you love him by dancing with him right now? I'll stay up here a while and keep an eye on Baby Sarah. I'll come down and get you in an hour or so, when it's time to put the twins to bed, and help you do that too."

  "That would be nice. Bobbie's asleep, too, in his trundle bed. Is that all right?"

  "Go."

  She gave him a radiant smile. "Let me check my hair first."

  A few minutes later, with another thank you to Wyn, Sissy headed down to the party. Wyn stirred up the fire, and after checking on Baby Sarah, although her mother had checked her less than a minute previously, he sat down in the rocking chair in front of the fireplace. He kept one ear cocked for Baby Sarah, jumpy as a cat on a summer hot roof over being left in charge of that tiny being. He'd no sooner settled in the chair than she snuffled and gave a little squeak. He immediately leaped to his feet to rush into the bedroom.

  Sissy had turned the lantern low, but he could see Baby Sarah on her stomach in the cradle. Her little rosebud lips were pursed and making a sucking motion. Lordy, maybe she was hungry again already! But he didn't want to drag Sissy up here to feed her this soon unless it was necessary.

  He held his breath and watched her. She curled one tiny hand into a fist and stuck it in her mouth. After a couple slurps, she relaxed completely, her breathing evening into sleep again. He tucked the blanket up around her shoulders and went back to the fireplace.

  He wanted children of his own some day — children like his brothers and sisters. Well, maybe not exactly like the terrible twins, he considered with a smile. But he wanted children. And he wanted a mountain woman to have them with — a woman who understood his love of the mountains and lack of desire to live anywhere else.

  The time he spent in Washington, D.C., had shown him nothing could compare to Sawback Mountain. Mind you, he wouldn't object to going back there and visiting now and then. His young'uns should have their own options as to whether to stay here or roam the rest of the world and look it over before they decided where they wanted to spend their lives. He'd taken several trips with the Senator himself during those two years, but he hadn't even had to think twice about where he wanted to be when he'd received word of his ma's death and his pa's paralysis.

  Sawback Mountain was home. Always had been and always would be.

  The pitch of the background noise to his thoughts changed, and Wyn frowned. Rising from the chair, he went over to the window at the front of the living area and looked out. The porch overhang blocked most of his view, although he could see a few people running toward the store. Then he heard a woman scream.

  With only a quick glance at the bedroom, he raced over to the stairwell and pounded down the steps. Rushing through the store as much by instinct as sight in the darkness, he careened out the front door. He found Mairi and Pris huddled behind his pa's wheelchair and grabbed Pris by the arm.

  "Get upstairs and watch Baby Sarah," he ordered sternly.

  She nodded and took off, with Mairi following her.

  "What the hell's going on, Pa?" he asked.

  "A fight," Dan said in a grim voice. "Someone went against my orders and snuck some 'shine in. The two are out there on the edge of the crowd somewhere."

  "You know who they are?"

  "Jedediah and Elias. Elias put his banjo down for a couple songs and figgered he'd dance with Sarah. Jedediah figgered it was his dance."

  Wyn shook his head in wonder. Dang, that woman got around. "She was in her cabin with Kyle Jackson a few minutes ago!"

  He didn't even realize he'd spoken aloud until his pa answered him.

  "She's been back here long enough for this to happen. You better get out there and keep an eye on things a'fore someone gets hurt bad."

  "Hell, if they're both drunk, they won't be hurtin' until tomorrow."

  But Wyn stepped down from the porch and headed across the yard. The people had formed a circle just outside the area of light cast by the lanterns, and he shouldered his way through, knowing what he'd find in the middle of the circle. For a moment he stood there and watched the two of them — Jedidiah and Elias — circle each other. Elias made a wobbly right jab at Jedidiah, and Jedidiah stumbled backwards, barely keeping from falling on his ass.

  The two of them were fairly evenly matched — both in their early twenties and both around the same weight. And from what Wyn could tell, both on about the same level of drunkenness. No wonder Elias had laid down his banjo. He probably couldn't remember which chords to pluck.

  Someone shoved through the crowd and shook his arm.

  "Stop them!" Sarah said. "They'll get hurt!"

  He glanced at her, then back at the fighters. "Maybe. But I doubt it."

  "They're fighting!" she cried.

  "They're trying to," Wyn said. "But I haven't seen any blows landed yet."

  Jedediah lowered his head, let out a roar, and charged Elias. Elias tried to jump aside, but his foot slipped in the grass and he went down. Unable to stop his forward impetus, Jedidiah crashed into a couple of other men on the edge of the circle.

  "Uh-oh," Wyn said, tensing in anticipation of a free-for-all if the men Jedidiah ran into took offense.

  But the men only grabbed Jedediah by the arms and shoved him back inside the circle. By then, Elias was back on his feet. He curled his fists and held them up in front of his face, shaking them at Jedidiah.

  "Come on, Mr. Casanova!" Elias yelled. "I'm a'gonna beat your face in, then I'm a'gonna dance the rest of the night with Miss Sarah! Come on!"

  Sarah gasped and hung her head. Wyn noticed several people look over at her, and he'd be willing to bet her cheeks were flushed in that high color that made the gold dust in her eyes glow brighter.

  "Maybe you ought to get back on the porch with Pa," he muttered.

  Her head came up. "No! Since you won't, I'm going to put a stop to this foolishness."

  He barely caught her arm before she surged out at the fighters. "Whoa! I told you to get back on the porch."

  "You suggested I get back on the porch," she said, jerking at her arm to try to free it. "And I'm refusing."

  The crowd let out a roar, and Wyn looked at the fighters. Jedidiah had Elias in a bear hug, but the banjo player was beating on Jedidiah's head. Elias finally landed a hard enough punch that Jedidiah released him, backing away and shaking his head like a plow horse fighting flies. Elias pulled back an arm and landed a haymaker to Jedidiah's jaw, and Jedidiah crumbled to the ground.

  Elias stood there swaying, with blood dripping from his nose. Wyn guessed he must have missed a punch somewhere, since he hadn't seen the one that landed on Elias's nose.

  "There, you sorry S-O-B," Elias said. Then he raised his head. "Where's Miss Sarah?"

  Sarah turned away from Wyn, this time heading in the opposite direction, back through the crowd. Elias must have caught a glimpse of her, because he came toward Wyn on wobbly legs. Wyn stepped out to meet him, grabbing him by the collar.

  "You and Jedidiah are done dancing for the night," he said. "Both of you are gonna get on your horses and head
home. And if either one of you bring 'shine around my family again, you're gonna have a headache and sore body a lot worse than the one you're gonna have tomorrow, after I get done with you."

  "Didn't bring it," Elias denied. "Got it here."

  "From who?" Wyn snarled.

  "Hell, I got mine from Jedidiah," Elias said, wiping a shirt cuff at the blood beneath his nose. "You know him and me's friends. Jedidiah didn't tell me where he got it, but it didn't taste like Robert's."

  The crowd was breaking up around him, most of them realizing the party was over for tonight. Wyn didn't worry, anyway, about what Elias had said. Everyone in the mountains knew Robert made and sold 'shine, and they'd sooner drown one of their prize coon hounds than turn Robert in to the authorities. The 'shine must have initially been made by Cabbage Carter, the other local moonshiner, but he hadn't seen Cabbage at the wake.

  The person he wanted was the one who had passed the 'shine around to his friends and neighbors at a gathering where they knew the family had strict prohibitions against drink being consumed. When she was alive, his ma had made it known she wouldn't tolerate drinking in front of her children, although she didn't mind the adults having a few drinks later on in the evening, after the children were in bed.

  The rule was as much for the protection of the children as anything else. The fight just now had been more or less of a farce, with Elias and Jedidiah too drunk to do much damage to each other. But now and then a more deadly confrontation took place, fueled by a belly too full of 'shine. Last summer, they'd buried Heddy MacPeters when her husband, Mack, had shot and killed her. The neighbor who'd heard the shot had run over to find Mack passed out, with his finger still on the trigger of the empty double barrel. He'd also found Heddy's six-month-old little girl lying beneath her mother unscathed.

  As soon as Mack woke up, they'd brought him in front of Pa. At Pa's direction, they'd sent Mack down to Razor Gully to wait for the circuit judge, and Wyn had heard later that Mack's only defense was that he didn't remember a thing.

  He sighed as he scanned the crowd. The trouble was, the same loyalty that protected Robert from someone ratting on him about his 'shine making would protect the person he was looking for now. Elias hadn't had any problem telling Wyn that Jedidiah had given him the 'shine he'd consumed, because Elias knew danged good and well, even in his drunken state, that Wyn wouldn't blame either one for sharing what they'd already found on the premises. Both his and Jedidiah's butts were in trouble for the fight, not drinking the 'shine.

  And with Jedidiah passed out right now more from the drink than the slight beating Elias had given him, Wyn probably couldn't question him until the next day. All he'd have to do then was say he didn't remember who he got the booze from.

  First things first, though. Wyn walked over to Jedidiah and managed to get him over his shoulder. He carried him along the line of horses and buggies at the side of the road until he found Jedidiah's gray mare. When he flung Jedidiah over the saddle, he could have sworn the mare gave a long-suffering sigh. Maybe she did, because Wyn had heard of Jedidiah going home more than once the same way he was fixing to go home right now.

  He untied the mare's reins and looped them around the saddle horn. Leading her out onto the trail and heading her up the mountain, Wyn turned her loose. She plodded along slowly, not even jostling Jedidiah. Had it been winter, Wyn would have followed to make sure Jedidiah got home all right. But it hadn't been cold enough at night these past few days to bother Jedidiah if he ended up sleeping outside his door rather than inside his cabin. Especially with a belly full of 'shine to keep him warm.

  As he walked back toward the store, he looked toward Sarah's cabin. A light glowed in the window, and he thought about going down there to make sure she was all right after her embarrassment. But that would have to wait until he said good-bye to all his neighbors and thanked them for coming. While he was doing that, he'd also keep in mind that one of them had brought in the 'shine that had started the trouble. But he had little hope he'd find out who it was.

  A family with the mother and father each carrying a child in their arms paused to say good-bye, and Wyn politely chatted with them for a moment. It was a full half hour before he finally made it to the porch, since he helped a few of the families lug their sleeping children out to the wagons and buggies. By then Sarah's windows were dark.

  Chapter 12

  Early the next morning, hands sweaty and stomach jittery, Sarah was nevertheless determined to accept her punishment from Dan for being the cause of the altercation at the wake. He surprised her when he only waved her away when she went to see him at the store.

  "Weren't your fault," Dan said. "I'd blame it on both Elias and Jedidiah being young pups, but at times I've seen grown men act just like male dogs a growlin' at each other, same as those two did. Don't you worry none about it. Some of the folks will be back this mornin' for church, since Kyle's here. You watch. Won't none of them care a whit about what happened. If anything, they'll let those two young whippersnappers know they was the ones in the wrong if either of them is able to come today."

  He proved right when soon the trail was filled again with wagons and buggies, this time with people attending the church service. In fact, she realized, some of the wagons had spent the night on the trail in front of the store, and the people began waking up and cooking breakfast over fires they built. She took her courage in her hands and walked out among them, offering them the use of her cabin to wash up before church. Many of them took her up on it, as well as the offer of use of the outhouse behind her little cabin when the line in front of the one Dan and his family used grew over long.

  Kyle conducted another service, this time at the schoolhouse, and after that the day flew by. When the sun was halfway through its afternoon path, people began leaving. Sarah was waving at the wagon carrying Carrie's friend, Patty, and her family when she heard someone clear a throat behind her and turned to see Kyle Jackson.

  "Haven't had even a chance to talk to you today, Sarah," he said. "And I've got to get on the way myself now if I want to make it to Baker's Valley tonight. As it is, I'll be traveling until well after dark."

  "I sincerely enjoyed chatting with you, Kyle," she said, offering him her hand. "Please say hello to your sisters and mother for me when you write."

  "I will. Uh . . . Sarah, I may be out of line here, but . . .well, how long do you intend to stay here and teach?"

  "I don't know why you'd think you were out of line, Kyle. But truly, I only agreed to stay until Dan can find another teacher. I'm sure he'll be getting some letters back in answer to the inquiries he sent out soon, but no one will want to come out here until the fall term starts. I assume I'll be leaving at the end of April, when this term is over. That's what? About five weeks from now?"

  "Yeah, on my calendar it is," he said with a laugh. "I supposed everything will be all right."

  "Am I doing something wrong, Kyle?" Her brow furrowed and she felt a stab of uneasiness. "Dan said no one would think the fight that happened last night was my fault."

  "They won't," Kyle assured her. "It's just that . . .well, I noticed you had a lot of drawings up in the classroom, and they were on a better quality paper than Miss Elliot had for the children to use."

  "Oh, I bought Mairi some drawing pads in New York, to keep her busy while she was recovering. She brought them with her, and I asked her if I could borrow them for the children. I have some more pads coming that I ordered to replace Mairi's. They'll probably arrive on Jeeter's next load."

  "I see. Well, I'm sure the children enjoy having that nicer paper to work on. Supplies are pretty scarce here, but the people do the best they can for the school, Sarah. Each family will give Dan as much as they can spare after the fall crops are in, so he can get a few things for the new school term."

  Something about Kyle's demeanor kept Sarah from telling him what she'd done. Surely the mountain families wouldn't mind a little help for their school, especially from people who wouldn't mis
s it at all. But she sensed a warning in Kyle's voice, which he didn't expand upon.

  She gave him a brilliant smile, ignoring the jittery feeling in her stomach again when she remembered how politely the mothers had declined her offer of the use of her tub and rose-scented soap for their children that morning before church. Those who had decided to wash up a little used their own scratchy lye soap, which they'd brought with them, and their own flour sack towels. The only thing they had accepted from Sarah was warm water from her stove, and then they made sure they carried enough water from the creek to replenish her water barrel out back before they left.

  Kyle mounted a huge black stallion, then tipped his hat to Sarah. "I'll try to make sure I see you again before you leave, Sarah," he said. "I try to have church over here at least once a month when the weather suits."

  He urged his horse forward, and she waved at him until he disappeared, then started back to the store. He was the last person to leave, and she really wanted to get back to her cabin and rest. She felt like she'd been on display for two days — which in a sense she had been — and even her mouth ached from smiling. But she saw Wyn on the porch, and he indicated for her to approach.

  Then he must have decided he could talk to her as well out in the yard, because he walked down the porch steps and met her halfway across the yard.

  "The families will expect you to start making your calls to them this coming week," he said without preamble. "Do you think you can be ready to go as soon as school is out each day?"

  "I'll be ready," she assured him. "Should I bring a gift for each family, or anything like that?"

  "No!" Wyn said in what she considered a voice louder than necessary. "All you're doing is making a duty call to them, to show them you aren't above them. Even Miss Elliot managed to keep her nose from turning up on her calls to each family."