“Tell you what,” the preacher said, “you find yourself a thicket somewhere to do your work in, and I’ll come looking for you.”
Tom grinned. “Maybe we could set up inside that ol’ brash tabernacle, if it ain’t all blowed down by now, Pa. Preacher Taylor never would think to look there.”
“You’re right, Tom,” the preacher said. “I’d never suspect anyone would make chairs so near the mission.”
Tom and Pa walked to the gate with the preacher and stood looking after him as he rode away. “You know, Pa,”
Tom said thoughtfully, “Preacher Taylor ain’t near as bad as he used to be.”
“He never was bad so much as just plain misplaced,” Pa said. “It took him a while to learn his way ’round here in the hills.”
The hills. Tom raised his eyes to the stark ridge where the bare trees bristled up against the November sky. Then he turned to Pa and said, “Since I ain’t gonna be makin’ the best whiskey in these hills, I guess I’ll just have to make the best chairs.”
CAROLYN REEDER is the author of several acclaimed books for young readers, including the much-praised Shades of Gray. She is a teacher and lives in Glen Echo, Maryland.
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