by J. L. Salter
“Probably hurt like crazy,” said Mitch.
Kelly continued. “Despite the whippings and warnings, Belva took more food to H.H. the next day. Here’s where the banana reference appears, matched with the heart symbol, though just the black outline. On April ninth, William made a threat, presumably that he would kill the Reb if he found him.”
“Hold on,” Mitch interrupted. “Did she specify William threatened to kill the soldier? Maybe he just threatened to report the Reb to the Yankees.”
“No, too dangerous, in case the Rebel let it slip that the Butlers had helped him. They would’ve been arrested.” Kelly continued. “Belva didn’t learn much from her previous whippings, because she slipped away again with more food for the Reb. There’s another heart symbol — the only one colored in red, which I think signifies their first physical union.”
“So where do you figure they slept together?” asked Mitch.
“Likely near the banana stalactite formation. You didn’t see that part of the cave, but it was a nice sized room with a low limestone shelf along one side. With a blanket or two, it could have been a tolerable bed if you’re young and in love.”
“You know, it seems like it’d be easy enough for somebody to follow Belva when she left the cabin.” Mitch walked his fingers. “A nearby cave would be a logical hiding place anyway.”
“True. Maybe other things were going on in or near the cabin which allowed her to sneak out. But it does seem odd nobody put two and two together.” Kelly went on. “On April twelfth, Belva’s Reb departed. By April nineteenth H.H. had been gone a week. Four more days are blank.”
Mitch nodded without comment.
“On April twenty-fourth, it appears Belva missed her period, which was clearly alarming.” Kelly paused briefly. “On April twenty-eighth, it appears Belva had morning sickness, though it seems rather early for that in a normal pregnancy.”
“I bet she was scared to death,” added Mitch.
“No doubt. Well, on April thirtieth, William was furious about something and whipped Belva badly. Belva spent the next two days in bed, and Mary tended her, probably not yet realizing she was pregnant. Belva’s still in horrible pain on May third, the same date as Mary’s letter, which has no mention of a possible pregnancy.”
Mitch nodded solemnly.
“By the last entry on May fourth, Belva has clearly had a miscarriage.” Kelly gulped. “This was the day after Mary’s incomplete letter and possibly when Mary also learned her sister had died.”
As she had when she first read the final diary entry, Kelly grew quiet, and her eyes were wet. Mitch got up and busied himself elsewhere on the long porch, which gave her a moment alone.
He returned and sat close to her. Mitch took her hand, moist from fresh tears. “It happens, Kelly. In Belva’s case, most likely due to the terrible beating from her father.” Mitch softly stroked her hand. “But sometimes, it just happens.”
Kelly’s shoulders trembled slightly. Mitch hugged her, sideways because of the chair arrangement, and waited for her to compose herself.
“It’s so sad. Belva falls in love with this soldier after helping with his wounds and his meals. While Union patrols are hunting for stragglers from the battle, she hides him where they wouldn’t know to look. She visits him at great danger to herself and gets repeatedly whipped by her angry father. She and H.H. have a few moments of comfort and intimacy during a time when the war brought only misery, death, and privation. And the poor, stupid girl gets pregnant.”
“Are you pretty sure William didn’t know his daughter was pregnant when he beat her so badly?”
Kelly’s eyes still red, she did not reply.
Moments later, thunder in the distance caused both to notice the southern sky. It sometimes rained in the south part of town when the air merely stayed heavy that far north.
“Kelly, why do you suppose old William was such a harsh disciplinarian?”
“Well, to be fair to him, he probably figured — and rightly so — that Belva was endangering the lives of his whole family and all their property. If the Yankees had a mind to, they could’ve imprisoned them, or shipped them away, and commandeered their house, land, and stock. Martial law, remember.”
Mitch nodded.
“Plus he was eighty-five by then, or nearly so. He might not have known he was dying, but his wife described his health as poorly. Maybe he was thinking ahead to how his family would survive without him. Surely they’d be a lot better off without any trouble from the occupying Union forces.”
“Yeah, didn’t think of that.”
****
It was middle afternoon, hot and humid outside. Mitch dozed inside, scrunched up on the loveseat with Perra as company and lying on his side because of his tender back.
Mitch awoke when Perra started whimpering in her sleep, halfway underneath the loveseat, where she’d later moved during Mitch’s nap. He surveyed his surroundings as if he’d been on a mission into deep space, and some situation had overridden the automatic timer.
“Something wrong?” Kelly dabbed sweat from her face with the back of her hand as she entered from the porch. She’d slipped away for an errand while he was snoring. She dropped her carryall on the little table near the door and placed a box of dog food pouches on the floor.
Mitch yawned. “Uh, guess I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep.” He also started to stretch, but obviously remembered his tender back. “Then it took me a second to figure out where I was.”
“Right here in Oz…” The door still open, Kelly turned and stepped back onto the porch.
Mitch stood, moved to the porch, and tightly hugged her.
She placed her arms low, nearly at his waist. “Listen to the sound.” Kelly’s face indicated the direction.
“Sounds like thousands of really mellow bees.”
“Rain’s coming in,” she said quietly.
At first, it was just the massive, dark gray cloud. Then, in less than a minute, slight diagonal lines of rain peppered the fields and hills to the northeast. It came at them like a creeping barrage. Some forward observer called in to continue the advance and rain for effect. Both watched as the heavy curtain of rain swept toward them, the thin sunlight overhead quickly retreating to the southwest behind them. “At this angle,” said Mitch, “we’re gonna be wet in a minute.”
“I don’t mind.”
He knew Kelly liked the rain. Plus, everybody said they needed it. Mitch didn’t mind either, as long as he could hold Kelly close. He knew it wasn’t the right time, it never did seem to be, but he wanted to talk with Kelly about something he’d felt after their cave-in escape. Something seemed to have changed, but he couldn’t be certain. He was on the verge of asking about it when Kelly had broken their embrace.
After barely five minutes, the downpour had left a wet sheen on the entire porch surface. Kelly sighed and introduced a completely different topic. “Guess who I bumped into just now, next door to the grocery, going into your favorite sandwich place?” She preceded him into the cabin.
Mitch shrugged. “My favorite movie actress?”
Kelly lightly swatted his arm. “No, your second true love — Ellie, without her sister or sister-in-law.”
“I’ve only seen her with Emma and Till. Didn’t think she went anywhere by herself. Besides, Ellie doesn’t strike me as the fast food type. I figured her for a real stove body.”
“I expect you’re right. Speaking of body, Diane Sutton told me she’s spent some time with Ellie at a scrapbook event. Anyway, she said Ellie was quite an athlete as a young lady.”
“A regular Babe Didrikson, huh?”
“Maybe not that athletic, but she was star hitter on her high school softball team. Nearly state champions, I gather.” Kelly paused, evidently remembering something else. “Diane also said she found out how come Ellie was divorced.”
Mitch made no comment but figured she’d continue.
“Her husband was a drinker, it seems — mean drunk. Ellie pu
t up with it for a few years, then one day she finally realized she’d just had enough. So one night Ellie’s drunk husband came at her. No definition what that meant, but I think I’ve got the picture. Ellie locked the bedroom door and warned him to stay out. He smashed down the door. So she whacked him on the head with a softball bat. Knocked him cold.” Kelly paused, apparently savoring the imagined scene. “Isn’t that something?”
Mitch didn’t know how to respond to such personal revelations about Ellie. Those were likely family secrets.
Getting no reply, Kelly continued. “Anyway, like I was saying, Ellie was getting something for Pop to eat.”
“Oh?” At least this family secret was about food.
“Well, if you listen to such things, some folks say Ellie and Pop are an item these days. I even heard she’s moved in.” Kelly whispered those final two words even though nobody else was around.
“Moved in. Wow, big step.”
“Well, they’re saying she’s his housekeeper and a nurse of sorts. I told you Pop’s doctors had said he ought to move to a place with assisted living.”
“No…” Mitch didn’t remember hearing about that.
“Yeah, Pop let it slip one day when we were talking about Belva living on her own for so long. Anyway, after a while, Ellie got wind of this and she began taking him a supper plate most every evening. You know, whatever she’d made at her place. Then she took to staying on a while after supper, to clean and straighten a bit. Before long, she was cooking Pop’s supper over at his house, and she’d eat there with him. One thing led to another, I suppose.”
“Maybe it’s all she’s doing — cooking and cleaning. He’s got a big house there. Pop could live at one end and Ellie at the other.”
“Maybe so. But my buddy Sallie has a different notion.”
“Nah, doesn’t fit. Ellie’s got that long denominational hair. She wouldn’t be one who’d live with a man, even though he’s widowed and she’s divorced.”
“Um, maybe not.” Kelly paused. “Well, anyhow, what Ellie said just now was, ‘What did y’all do to Chet in the cave?’ I knew he’d hit his shoulder and it was bruising, but I didn’t think it was really bad.”
“He must have hit harder than he let on.”
“Ellie said he was bruised all over his shoulder and the side of his chest. She put ice packs on him and he squealed like a girl.”
“Ellie said that?”
“Well, not those exact words. But she did say ‘He was a Bless George meh-uss’.” Kelly chuckled.
“You do Ellie’s voice better than Ellie.”
“Well, she’s the only person I can imitate.”
“You sure are a lot prettier than Ellie though, and a lot cuter figure, too.”
“Hmm, you’ve got that gleam in your eye, Mitch.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Monday, May 21
After a quick early run to the library, Kelly was back at her cabin by midmorning. Sunday’s rain had perked up the flowers, bushes, and the grass, but it also made Monday seem even hotter.
Kelly started to walk through the woods up to the big meadow, but the heat and humidity instead rerouted her down the hill to the farm house where she found Diane at the rear cellar doorway. Perra seemed puzzled but agreeably shifted direction also.
“Oh, hi.” Diane looked up from a small book stand she was staining on top of a portable shop table just outside the cellar door. “Your little dog needs additional exercise this morning?” She put her brush on the edge of the can and motioned to a pair of folded canvas chairs stacked against the dryer inside the basement.
As Kelly carried the chairs outside and set them in the shade of the huge black walnut trees behind the house, Diane wiped her hands on a towel scrap which was partly tucked into the waistband of her jeans.
“How come you’re home today? Feeling all right?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I had arranged to take the day off when I thought the grandkids were coming in.”
Kelly glanced around for the children.
“No, they had to cancel. But I already had the vacation day scheduled and kind of felt like getting away from the office anyway, so I figured I’d just piddle. It’s, uh, restorative I guess.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Kelly nodded. “I get refreshed by piddling also, only I don’t do much in the crafts mode, like you do.” She pointed.
“This book stand? Got it at a garage sale before we moved up here. Very nice wood, but somebody had painted it magenta. Can you imagine?”
Kelly couldn’t.
“Joe helped me strip it and sand it, but he draws the line at using a brush for anything except his teeth.”
“Well, painting is the creative side of things — stripping and sanding is more of the destruction mode. Men are better at demolishing stuff… women make it nice again.” Kelly wrinkled her nose. “Or so it says in supermarket tabloids.”
Diane smiled. “Well, I needed a break anyhow. Plus, I’ve been meaning to ask you about your cave episode. Joe ran into Mitch somewhere yesterday. Mitch said something about having to dig through a wall of fallen rocks or some such. What on earth happened?”
“The ceiling just caved in on us. All the blasting for the highway had loosened a big section, and a freight train’s vibrations apparently were the last straw. Boom!” Kelly’s hands illustrated.
Diane spotted another spot of oak stain on her fingertip and rubbed it on the rag. “And you dug yourselves out?”
She nodded. “Roger and I worked from the inside while Mitch dug from the outside.”
“You know, some people might have just scurried outside the cave and waited for the fire department or somebody to arrive. I’ve known some gutless schmucks like that.”
“Not Mitch. He tugged away at those boulders like his life depended on it.”
Diane’s brow wrinkled. “Maybe it did.”
“Huh?”
“Maybe his life did depend on getting you out.” Diane peered into her eyes. “You are his life, Kelly. Everybody who knows you two can see it. Mitch is, uh, swallowed up with you.”
“Swallowed up? What a curious expression.” Kelly had not known Diane for very long so her rather direct insight was surprising.
“I’m not sure how to explain it. It’s almost like he’s struggling for life unless you’re breathing.”
“You didn’t make it any clearer, Diane.” How could she know that? Or think she does?
Diane inspected the soiled rag in her hand. “Okay, try this. Mitch is so head-over-heels in love with you that he can barely function without you.”
“You got all that from a few of Mitch’s sentences repeated by Joe?”
“No, you ninny! I’ve seen the expression on his face when you two are together. Don’t you see it? Can’t you tell when someone’s completely intoxicated with you? You know what I mean. At least I think you know, but sometimes I feel like you’re deliberately down playing it.”
Kelly shrugged. This is about to become meddlesome.
“Let’s do a little, um, exercise I think will illustrate my point.”
Kelly wished she were somewhere else.
“Okay, here goes. Kelly, did you find what you were searching for in the cave?”
“We found numerals, a shape, and a row of other markings.” Kelly’s finger mimicked the nine scratches. “They were all near the banana-looking stalactite, which is where the soldier stayed according to Belva’s diary entries.”
“Okay, you’ve illustrated my point.”
“What?” Kelly scanned the area, almost hoping for reinforcements.
“Well, I didn’t know anything about the soldier’s cave art, but it seems to me you really found something else while you were underground.”
“Huh?”
“Kelly, there’s a different look in your face when you talk about Mitch. I think you found something more important in the cave than a dead soldier’s scratchings. I believe you’ve finally found your man.”
“Maybe not. But you probably should’ve been.”
“Honestly, Diane, sometimes you act more like a prying shrink than…”
“Than a mirror? Look for yourself, Kelly, in your heart. Examine inside there—” Diane pointed, “—while you’re thinking about Mitch currently. Since he helped you climb out of that deathtrap.”
“You’re reading too much into him moving some big rocks.”
“Maybe so. But I think it’s more likely you’re reading too little into it. In serious situations, some people run, some panic, and some argue. Mitch didn’t. He just ripped his back to shreds running in to help you, and then nearly broke his back hoisting boulders. Emergencies either tear people apart or bring them closer together.”
Kelly was genuinely confused. “I don’t know, Diane. I think I feel something, though I’m not sure what it is. But you’re putting words to it that I’m not comfortable with. I’m not sure I’ve got it sufficiently sorted out yet.”
“Okay, I’ll drop it. It’s not my epiphany anyway. But just give it some thought. I believe I’m right. Your awareness of Mitch is much deeper than it was the day before the cave-in.”
“Deeper? Now there’s a dark pun.”
“Okay, how about richer?”
Kelly gazed northward in the direction of her cabin and, without realizing it, closed her arms tightly about her bosom. Richer and deeper? She wondered.
Diane rose from the chair and walked the short distance to the table where her project was drying.
Kelly remained seated for a moment before she went over. “Okay, I understand Mitch took a risk in helping get me out of the cave, and I realize not everybody would’ve done that. Certainly it showed courage on his part, but you’re implying it’s much larger than ordinary bravery.”
“Exactly. Like he realized if he lost you, he’d lose his own life. It’s a lot bigger than an ordinary rescue of an unfortunate cave-in victim. The issue is why he came back and what you mean to him.”