by Joel Baker
After about an hour, Hattie came into the living room, a concerned look on her face.
“Jesse,” Hattie said. “Sarah’s resting as comfortably as she can. We’re going have a baby because her water broke. That little thing needed another month or so to cook in her mama, but God says now, so it’s now.”
“Anything I can do to help?” Jesse asked.
“Just stay out of the way,” Hattie said. “I’ve brought over thirty babies into this world. There will be one more after tonight. You could get me something though.”
“Name it,” Jesse said.
“I need a length of barn rope,” Hattie said. “The big thick kind. I need about six or eight feet of it.”
“What for?”
“We tie it to the end of the bed. It gives Sarah something to pull on when she gets tired of pushing on her own.”
Jesse ran to the barn as fast as he could and cut a length of rope and rushed back to the house. He knocked timidly at the bedroom door. Hattie came out.
“You can’t bring that dirty thing into that bedroom,” Hattie said. “You got a pot of water boiling yet?”
“Yes,” Jesse said.
“Well go put that rope into the boiling water,” Hattie said. “After a while, fish it out and you and Franklin pull and twist it to get as much of the water out of it as you can. Then bring it back.”
The men washed their hands as if they were going to perform surgery. They boiled and stretched the rope. Franklin and Jesse almost knocked each other down, as they both tried to wedge through the kitchen door at the same time. Hattie was waiting for them, took the rope, and disappeared into the bedroom.
An hour later they heard the unmistakable cries of a newborn baby, coming from the bedroom. Jesse stopped pacing and fell into a chair. Hattie came out a short time later.
“Mother and baby doing just fine, Jesse,” Hattie said. “The baby girl is a mite small, but she’s got all her fingers and toes. You come on in now, but be quiet and gentle cause Sarah been through a lot.”
Jesse followed Hattie back in. Sarah lay in bed with a little pink bundle in her arms.
“It’s a girl, Jesse. I named her Jessica,” Sarah said sleepily as she closed her eyes.
Jesse peeked at the pink little baby’s face. Her hair was the color of Sarah’s and she had a little frown on her face. She sucked on the tiny little knuckle of her right hand with great purpose.
“She’s beautiful,” Jesse whispered. “Just like her mother.”
Sarah smiled for a response, without opening her eyes. Jesse kissed her and the baby on the foreheads and left. Lily went to get each of her brothers and escort them in to see their new baby sister.
“Now you be quiet and don’t touch anything,” Lily said. “You just look and leave”
Jesse thought she really was starting to sound more and more like Hattie.
****
The day after baby Jessica was born broke bright and sunny. The Scroggins said goodbye and Jesse told them he would see them in a week or so. Two days later Sarah felt strong enough to come out into the living room and sit with the baby. Three days after she was born, baby Jessica became a little jaundiced. Sarah would sit in a rocker with the baby across her lap as the sunlight fell upon the infant’s tiny naked body. Jesse stoked up the fireplace and kept the room so hot no one but Sarah and the baby could stand it for long.
Baby Jessica slept fitfully at first and was always hungry. Hattie sat in the kitchen and read her tattered bible. Towards the end of the fourth day, Jessica began sleeping a lot and would cry after her feedings. Sarah sat and rocked baby Jessica for hours, while the tiny infant slept. She hummed or sang little songs that only the infant could hear. She told the baby Jessica all about her life. How she’d met this handsome man who wouldn’t take no for an answer, and whom she loved more than life.
Baby Jessica weakened by the sixth day and died on the seventh. It was late afternoon, almost dark, when Jesse walked into the living room. Sarah was rocking baby Jessica and looking out the front window, beyond the porch and the gathering darkness.
“Sarah, would you like me to light a lamp for you?” Jesse asked.
“No, I just want to sit here and hold my baby for a little while longer,” Sarah said.
Not a sound was heard except for the creaking of the chair as she continued to rock back and forth, back and forth.
“I understand, sweetheart,” Jesse said. “I’ll be back in a little while. I want to make baby Jessica a nice warm bed.”
Jesse walked out onto the back porch and sat down on the step. He looked up at the scattering of stars that were beginning to sprinkle the darkening blue sky from ridge to ridge. Jesse felt a hollow spot deep in his gut he knew wouldn’t be filled in this life. He wiped tears from his eyes and sniffed his nose at the cold. The cold always made his eyes water and his nose run. Jesse walked towards the out buildings.
Light was coming from under the door of one of the sheds. Jesse opened the door and stepped in. Franklin was tenderly working on a small pine box. Jesse saw that it was beautifully crafted with a rose, carved in relief, on the top. Franklin was sanding the outside. Jesse walked up and touched Franklin on the shoulder. Franklin was weeping quietly, his tears falling on the carved rose. Jesse put his hand on Franklin’s hand and held it still.
“It’s beautiful Franklin,” Jesse said. “Baby Jessica needs it now.”
Jesse took the box from Franklin and opened it. The box was lined with pink satin in little puffy folds. Jesse put a hand on Franklin’s shoulder and squeezed it gently in thanks, and left the shed walking towards the house. Jesse sat at the kitchen table for a while and when the invisible clock said it was time, Jesse took the box to Sarah and baby Jessica.
Sarah stood when Jesse came in and Jesse showed her the box that Franklin made.
“It’s so beautiful, Jesse,” Sarah said. “Just like baby Jessica.”
Sarah took the baby and gently laid her in the pink satin bed.
“Jesse, I want her buried up on the limestone ledge at the south end of the valley,” Sarah said. “That’s where I want to be buried alongside you and this baby.”
Jesse nodded and took the box with baby Jessica over to Hattie’s where the other adults and children gathered. When he came back Sarah was in bed and fast asleep. She lay with a beautiful smile on her lips and Jesse imagined she dreamed a happy dream, of a small baby named Jessica, who held her finger tightly with tiny pink fingers.
The funeral was held the next day. Hattie read bible passages over the small grave. Sarah was numb with grief. Of all things, Jesse noted that all the friends of the family showed up and sat in a row as if showing their respect.
The others all cried softly as the little box with baby Jessica was placed in the grave and covered with dirt mixed with snow. Franklin had made a grave marker with the same rose as the box. Carved into the marker were the words ‘Here lies Baby Jessica. She lives with the Angels.
****
Jesse and Cole loaded a wagon and made the long trip to the Scroggins place the next week. Sarah was still in bed recovering from the birth and loss of their baby. Jesse and Cole arrived at midmorning and helped Sam unload the wagon.
During a somewhat meager lunch, Jesse asked Sam and Mary if they would consider moving closer to Haven. He explained how they needed help in a number of areas, and how everyone at Haven felt very comfortable with them from their visit.
He told Mary that a small building in Eagle Rock would be converted to a schoolhouse, if she would consider teaching a variety of ages. Mary was enthused by the prospect and Sam was looking forward to being part of Haven. Just before he and Cole left, Jesse passed on the sad news about baby Jessica. Both Sam and Mary took the news hard.
Hattie and Karen did what they could to decorate for Christmas, but knew that it wouldn’t be the same without Sarah’s help. Still they got through it and winter dragged on. They butchered hogs, two happy frisky colts were born by the end of February, a
nd the first false spring was covered over by a late snowfall. By mid-March, the Scroggins had moved into the next valley, and commuted to Haven each day. April came and Sarah spent a lot of time just walking in the woods. She never noticed the friends that always accompanied her.
****
That spring, on a warm sunny day, Jesse headed from the mill to the cabins for lunch. As he walked along he saw Sarah sitting by the edge of the creek. He sat down in the grass beside her. Both commented on how they enjoyed the warm sun on their faces and other minor things.
“Jesse?” Sarah finally said. “Would it be the wrong thing to do if we tried for another baby?”
“Sweetheart, how could it possibly be wrong when we love each other so much?” Jesse asked as he took her hand.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Sarah said. “It’s just that we were so happy, I think God took baby Jessica just to remind us that life can be hard.”
Jesse thought about what Sarah said for a while, listening to the babble of the creek running by them.
“Not my God,” Jesse finally said. “My God doesn’t do things like that. He worries about the big things, and trusts people to sort out the small stuff. The fact is life is hard. God knows he doesn’t have to point that out. Ask that boy who hid under our pine trees in our front yard a thousand years ago. Cole’s now a fine young man of character, who’s in love. My God makes sure a beautiful and loving person helps that boy, and loves him as if he were her own. That’s how my God gets things done.”
Sarah looked at Jesse and smiled.
“Where you preaching next week?” Sarah asked, poking Jesse in the ribs.
Jesse poked her back. They wrestled on the bank of the creek. Jesse pinned Sarah beneath him and kissed her hard on the mouth. Sarah kissed him hard in return.
“I love you Mrs. Colter,” Jesse said softly.
“I love you, Mr. Colter,” Sarah said in return.
Everyone up at the house wondered where Jesse and Sarah were, because those two were missing a really good lunch.
Chapter 28
Slowly things got better. Not like before the Go-Back, but better none the less. Families moved to Eagle Rock and settled. A spirit of community returned. Over the next twenty years, Eagle Rock grew to a point it rivaled Linden in size.
Cole was a major reason for this growth. People had learned, very little could be achieved without justice. Justice applied in a quick and sure fashion. Cole delivered justice. He softened somewhat with his marriage to Karen, the girl he’d brought back to Haven. They raised seven children and lived in a large house. The house sat across the street from an old ruined gas station. At one time it was the only gas station in Eagle Rock. It was on the only street corner in town with a stoplight. In its day it was considered the best corner in town.
Cole helped Jesse and the others build the only church in Eagle Rock. Cole and Karen’s marriage was the first performed in the freshly painted church. The first baptism was theirs as well, a scant five months after the wedding. It was a boy Cole named Herman.
When Jesse pointed out the short time period between the two events, Cole was heard to lay the blame on Jesse. He said that if Jesse had built the church quicker, the interval would have been more traditional. In fact the church grew over time, to keep pace with the growth of Eagle Rock. The attendance rose steadily and it rapidly returned to the center of community activity.
Besides the church, the town changed in other ways. The telephone and power lines were gone, as were all the poles that held them. The wire was prized because it was so much tougher than rope. In fact, the wire was easily stretched tight, and made excellent fencing for livestock. The wooden telephone poles were also useful and this contributed to their disappearance. They’d been soaked in creosote and were insect and rot resistant. Creosote made the wood burn with white-hot intensity. It was the blacksmiths who took the telephone poles. They were far superior for heating metal to a workable temperature.
In fact a small industry grew out of the Go-Back. Those in this industry were called Scrappers. The Scrappers had huge wagons that were pulled by large teams of oxen. They roamed over wide areas, usually in long wagon trains, demolishing and salvaging materials from abandoned towns and villages. In some cases they eliminated most traces of a town, and the weeds and trees did the rest.
Their large buildings, called depots, were in major population centers. They stored the windows, doors, sinks, boards, nails, railings, wire and any other material with real value. If you needed something, and had something to trade, you could usually find what you needed in one of the Scrapper depots.
Jasper Thiggs died in bed. There was talk of putting a statue of Jasper up in the town square, since this brave and good man helped everyone in east Tennessee directly or indirectly. Jasper’s son Luther replaced him as the law in Linden. He, like Cole, delivered quick and sure justice. But the general feeling was there could be only one Jasper. The funeral for him lasted three days as people from far distances continued to pour in to pay their respects.
Finally it was his wife Betty who said “it's time to put old Jasper in the ground, because all those buzzards overhead are starting to make the horses nervous.” Betty continued to serve the best pie within fifty miles of Linden. It may have been further, but few people traveled that far.
Sam and Mary Scroggins moved from Haven to Eagle Rock after a while, so Mary could be closer to the school she taught. People had forgotten some of the advantages of a one-room schoolhouse. Older children were called upon to help the younger ones, and learned more as a result. Sam and Mary’s daughter Peg joined her mother as a teacher. School breaks were aligned with the seasons to help with the planting and harvesting of crops.
While the lessons were focused on reading, writing and arithmetic, an extensive library was constructed next to the school. The library grew since the scrappers made sure that they saved every book they found. They furnished them to the libraries for free. Sam and Mary’s oldest boy, Eddie, continued to work with his dad in the Colter lumber business. Zack and Zeke grew straight and strong and were a constant source of confusion since no one beyond the Scroggins could tell them apart.
Mark and Paul grew closer over the years as their age difference narrowed, as it always seems to do with age. Mark ran the logging business and Paul ran the mill. The businesses and brothers were forever linked. The lumbering business expanded as more and more people moved into the area. Finally, the brothers opened a lumberyard in Eagle Rock and another in Linden. They were ranging farther and farther from Haven for lumber, and on one such trip Mark met a lovely young woman named Susan.
She proved to be a major distraction to Mark, and business suffered for a while. The brothers built a cabin for Susan and Mark right next to the Colter main house. The marriage of Mark and Susan was a significant event in the growing town of Eagle Rock. Cole was Mark’s best man and Jesse gave the bride away because Susan’s father was dead.
The newlyweds moved into the cabin and soon after, Susan began to show signs of new life. The first grandchild arrived a short time later. It was a boy and Mark named the boy Jesse Junior Colter. His father asked Mark why he named the boy Jesse Junior.
“Why, so we can call him JJ,” Mark replied with a smile.
Paul loved working with the water wheel and mill. He seldom went anywhere far from their operation. Sarah and Hattie started to worry whether Paul would ever get far enough away from it to find a bride of his own. It turned out that they’d worried for nothing. The sister of the man they’d hired to run the lumberyard in Linden, set her cap for Paul. Her name was Julie and Paul was in awe of her from the beginning.
“Paul never stood a chance,” Hattie said, when Paul told his folks the good news. “She would have done anything to trap that boy.”
“Now, Hattie,” Jesse reminded her. “It wasn’t two months ago, you were worried that Paul would be a bachelor his whole life.”
“Well in my day, she would have been referred to as brazen,�
� Hattie muttered, as she huffed out of the kitchen.
Jesse, Paul, and Mark began construction of the new cabin for Paul and Julie, right beside Mark and Susan’s. Haven grew and so did the Colter extended family. Paul and Julie proved to be frequent contributors, with five children in seven years.
Lily grew to be a lovely woman with her mother’s figure and her daddy’s coloring. When she was seventeen, Hattie noticed the way she brightened, whenever Eddie Scroggins was over helping his dad and Paul with the mill. Certainly Sam noticed that his son was way too eager to help over at Haven. Once in a while Eddie would hang around until dinner was ready. He and Lily would go for a walk after dinner. Sarah and Mary Scroggins considered the possibilities this presented. Both stopped just short of being accused of meddling by Jesse and Sam, but not by much.
****
Late one evening, Jesse was sitting on the front porch rocking in his chair. Boss at his side. Eddie rode up and climbed off his horse. He sat on the front steps by Jesse and Boss.
“Mr. Colter,” Eddie said. “I’d like your daughter’s hand in marriage. I love her, and she loves me. I’m a hard worker and a Christian, and I’d make her a good husband,”
I seemed to Jesse that Eddie had over-rehearsed the speech. Jesse looked hard at him and continued to rock back and forth for a while. The tension grew as Jesse and Boss both stared at Eddie. Long after the silence grew awkward, Jesse stopped rocking.
“Boy,” Jesse said. “You ever lay a hand on my daughter in anger, Boss and I will hunt you down and you better pray to God that I find you before Boss does.”
Eddie listened closely to what Jesse said nodding his head. He thought about it for a few moments.
“Is that a yes?” Eddie asked, somewhat confused.
“Why, I guess it is,” Jesse said with a smile.