by Marja McGraw
“I’m sorry,” I said. “You did, and it was rude of me to ask.”
“Nonsense, child. I’m right proud of my years. Maybe I’ll live another ninety before I go to join Joseph. ‘Course, my husband is most likely missin’ me by now. I know I been missin’ him for a long time.” I wasn’t sure if her eyes teared up a little or if they were watering.
Mother Possum patted her face. “You know, I earned every single one of these wrinkles.” Her eyes closed to half mast. “You’ll be earnin’ some, too. I see you have a black eye. Wanna tell me what happened?”
Elsbeth patted her own face before getting down to business, apparently wanting to divert Mother’s attention to things other than the husband she missed. “I got hit with a rock, but I don’t want to talk about it. Did you give any thought to our idea about fishing?”
“Yes, indeed, I’ve thought about it a lot.” She tapped her head while she spoke. “I think it’s somethin’ that’s gotta be done before you girls are hurt. I think I’ve come up with an idea, too.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Well, if people thought I was feelin’ poorly, and you girls were going to spend your nights here to take care of me, it might open some doors for the no good skunk to try his hand at gettin’ at you without your Papa watchin’.”
I held up my hand. “I’ve been thinking, and my guess is that the skunk might be a woman rather than a man.”
Mother Possum sat up straighter. “Well, ain’t you the one? I never woulda thought about that.” She stared off into space for a moment. “You could be right. A woman coulda done the things that have happened. Well, I’ll be.” She narrowed her eyes at me and looked like she was trying to see into my mind. “You’re a lot smarter than I thought.”
“You just crack me up.” I laughed.
“I what? What does that mean?”
“It means you make me laugh. I heard that somewhere, but I don’t recall where.” When would I remember to watch what I said?
“Huh.”
Elsbeth had been quietly listening and watching us. “I think you might have a good idea. And the sooner we do this, the better. I have an idea, too, about how we can spread the word.”
“What’s that, child?” Mother Possum remained more upright than usual. “You know, if I was still a young ‘un, I’d be right in the middle of this. ‘Course, if you stay here, in a way I will be in the middle.”
She sounded excited. This was probably more fun than she’d had in years.
My aunt turned to me, and she looked excited. “If you use someone else’s telephone and you call me, there’s no doubt in my mind that Arlene would listen in and pass the information on to Marie. You remember Arlene. You listened in on her conversation with Marie.”
“But whose phone would I use?”
“I’ll bet the preacher’s wife would let you use theirs. You’d have to do a little acting, like you just happened to be near their house and remembered something you needed to tell me. We can figure it out.”
We spent the next fifteen minutes or so trying to come up with something believable to tell the preacher’s wife.
Mother Possum rubbed her nose. “Just don’t tell her I’m sick or she’ll be over here bringin’ me soup and poultices – and she makes smelly ones. The last time I had the sniffles? She plopped some rag full of old-time remedies on my chest and I couldn’t hardly be near myself.” She glanced at me. “I’m tryin’ to crack you up.”
I laughed. “You did.”
Chapter Thirty-five
“Ask Mama to go with you to the preacher’s house,” Elsbeth said. “She can keep Bessie busy while you use her phone.”
“Good idea, but that means we’ll have to tell Mama what we’re doing. I don’t think she’ll like it.”
Mother Possum ate while she talked to us. “Tell her. She’s a strong woman. She’ll prob’ly want to help.”
She choked on her food, and as I began to panic, she got her breath back.
“I should know better’n to talk with food in my mouth.” She patted her chest and took another bite of leftover cornbread.
Elsbeth turned her whole body toward me and gave me a pointed look. “Mama is fighting mad. She’ll do whatever it takes to catch this woman, or man, although I think you might be right about it being a woman.”
“Your mama has always been a fighter. Don’t get me wrong,” Mother Possum said, “but she knows right from wrong and there comes a time when she’ll fight for what’s right. Did you know your mama wants to join the Sufferget ladies?”
“The Suffragettes?” Elsbeth sounded shocked, and yet happy. “Mama? Well, I’ll be. She told you that?”
“Yes, ma’am, she did. And if I wasn’t so daggoned old, I’d join with her. ‘Course there ain’t none of them here in town.”
“Maybe Mama and I should start a group here.” Elsbeth winked at me. She always had loved a good cause.
“Okay,” I said, “but first let’s clear up our own little problem.”
I winked back.
My aunt’s mouth dropped open.
I wasn’t a winker.
Mother Possum held her plate out to Elsbeth to take home. “You girls get on with your business now. Go talk to your Mama and let’s get things moving. I can’t get sleeping arrangements set up for you, but you can come back and take care of that yourself. I think we should have Daniel sneak in tonight. Don’t want the weasel to think he’s still staying here.”
I nodded. “We’ll go talk to Mama right now. Since I don’t know the preacher’s wife, she can keep Bessie busy while I talk on the phone, like Elsbeth suggested.”
Mama was out in the orchards with Papa. We called to them and they came in. Papa said he needed a drink anyway. He dipped a cup into a pail by the back door and drank the whole cup of water.
We explained our plan to them.
“I don’t know about this,” Papa said. “It sounds dangerous to me. Why would we want to encourage someone to try something?”
“Oh, Clayton,” Mama said. “It’s a good plan. I agree. We can catch this bad egg ourselves. It’s better’n waiting for him to take everyone by surprise.”
“Maybe…” Papa still wasn’t sure about the whole thing.
I turned to him, wanting him to understand some of our thoughts. “Papa, I honestly believe the person behind this may be a woman, not a man.”
He looked surprised. “Why?”
Why? All of a sudden I couldn’t remember my earlier reasoning. No one else had asked me that question. “I can’t really explain it, but this seems more like steps a woman would take rather than a man. Women can be more vicious than men sometimes, and this feels female-mean. Plus, even though the notes seemed to be written by someone using their weak hand, the writing seemed feminine to me.”
Papa thought that over for a moment. “Can you picture a woman climbing a ladder to sneak into the house in her long skirts? I can’t.”
“Think about it,” I said. “Elsbeth and I have female friends over to visit. Ruth spends a lot of time here, and Marie is always looking for excuses to come over. Besides, how many men do you know that would refer to us as evil. Other than the preacher, that’s a word more likely to come out of a woman’s mouth.”
Papa turned and looked at Mama. “If you think about it, your Mama is always here.”
She looked shocked and took a step back, putting her hands on her hips, and her shock seemed to turn into anger. “Clayton! You can’t think I’d want to harm my own daughters.”
He sighed heavily. “Jane, that’s not what I meant. You have lady friends who come to visit with you. It’s not just the girls’ friends who come into this house.”
“Oh. I see what you mean.”
Elsbeth had been quietly sitting and listening. “As far as women climbing ladders, Carrie and I both do that when we check on the kittens. It’s not impossible for a woman to climb a ladder in a long skirt.” She laughed. “And if you think about it, if Carrie wasn�
�t being threatened, too, it could be her.”
“Thanks a lot,” I said, feeling more than a little miffed.
“You know what I mean. It could be anyone. Or I could be going after you. There are all kinds of scenarios.”
“What’s a scenario?” Papa asked.
“It’s a word I learned from Carrie,” she said quickly.
I suddenly realized that Elsbeth needed to watch what she said, just like me. “It’s a situation, Papa. Like setting a scene at one of that actor’s plays.”
“You girls keep teaching me new words lately. Where do you keep picking up these words?”
“I don’t know.” I sounded vague and didn’t want him to ask any more questions.
Mama intervened. “Let’s go see Bessie and use her phone. We can sit and talk about this all day, but we need to do something instead of just talk about it.”
Papa sighed again. “While you women folk take care of the phone call, I’m going over to Mother Possum’s house to have a look around. I’ll need a good hiding place so I can keep an eye on things. Then I’ll go talk to the McGees to let them know what you’re doing. They’ll need to be there, too.”
“Clayton, I don’t like the idea of leaving Beth here by herself.” Mama was having second thoughts.
“You’re right. Y’all wait here while I get Daniel to come stay here while the rest of us are doing our chores.”
Papa walked off, down the road. Thankfully, Daniel and Nathaniel only lived two blocks away, so we didn’t have to wait long.
Mama stayed in the yard while my aunt and I went into the house.
“Why doesn’t Papa buy a car?” I asked. “I get the feeling he could afford one.”
Elsbeth started to laugh. “Oh, Carrie. Papa had a Ford. He parked it in the barn. One morning he came down and went out to see his prized possession. He came back in the house ranting and raving and having fits. A skunk had climbed into the car and had babies. It stunk so bad that Papa had to get rid of it. There’s no getting rid of that stench. Now he walks most everywhere, and sometimes he uses the horse and buggy. He’s got the wagon for hauling produce. He says he didn’t like driving anyway.”
“Oh, no. I can just picture him storming into the house, smelling of skunk.” I laughed with her. Papa seemed like a prideful man and I had a feeling that skunk had stepped on his pride.
Papa returned with Daniel by his side. He looked at my aunt. “Beth, Daniel isn’t too pleased with your idea, either, but Nathaniel says we gotta do what we gotta do. I guess he’s right.”
With Daniel in the house and Elsbeth being watched over, Papa left for Mother Possum’s house. He carried a plate of cookies so he’d look like he had a good excuse.
Mama and I headed for the preacher’s house. She carried a small purse, thinking it would make her look like we were on our way to town to pick up a few things.
Bessie was off visiting a sick parishioner, but Preacher Thomas was in the front yard digging up weeds.
Mama looked uncertain before approaching him. What an actress.
“Uh, good afternoon, Pastor Thomas. Say, would you mind if Carrie uses your telephone. I don’t want to appear lazy, but we’re walking into town to pick up some things for Beth, and I can’t remember what color thread she wanted. I don’t want to have to walk all the way home and then into town again.”
“Good afternoon, Sister McFerrin. Sister Carrie. Of course she can use it,” he replied, standing and greeting my mother.
The look he gave me reminded me that I’d told him I’d be attending church on Sunday.
“It’s in the kitchen. I’ll show you the way,” he said turning to me.
I’ll give Mama credit. She was a fast thinker. “Oh, she can find it herself. I wanted to ask you a question about last week’s sermon anyway. Can we sit on your porch for a minute?” She fanned herself with her hand, trying a bit too hard to look overheated.
The preacher brushed his hand off on his pants, took her hand and helped her up the porch steps.
Apparently Mama had thought about things on the way over. “When you spoke of Lott, and his wife turning into a pillar of salt, did you mean…”
I didn’t hear the rest of her question, and headed for the kitchen.
I picked up the receiver and waited. Nothing happened. Then I remembered seeing Mama turn the crank once.
I turned the crank and still nothing happened. One more crank and a shrill woman’s voice said, “Mornin’, Bessie. What’s this week’s sermon about?”
“Oh, this isn’t Bessie. This is Carrie McFerrin.”
The woman laughed. “No need for last names. You’re the only Carrie in town, just like I’m the only Mariette. What’re you doing at the preacher’s house?”
Her high-pitched voice was truly irritating. Of course, the sound of her voice wasn’t her fault.
“I need to call our house to ask Elsbeth a question.”
“Okay. Oh, wait. Doris is on the line right now, talking to Marie.”
I couldn’t ask for a better scenario.
“Mariette, could you please ask her to hang up for a minute and then she can call her party back?”
“Hmmm. That’s unusual, but I guess I could do that. Give me a minute.”
I stuck my finger in my ear and jiggled it. Mariette’s high-pitched voice made my ear ring.
I hoped Doris’ curiosity would get the best of her and she’s listen in.
Chapter Thirty-six
I didn’t have to wait long.
“Doris said the line is all yours. She’ll call Marie back later.”
“Thank you, Mariette.”
The line was quiet for a moment. “Is this really Carrie?”
“Yeees,” I said, speaking slowly.
“Oh.” Mariette laughed, and the sound was even higher than her speaking voice.
I moved the receiver away from my ear.
“You’re being so nice. I… Sorry, dear, I’ll put you through.”
Elsbeth answered the ring right away.
I already knew about Mama and her acting. Now it was time to see how my aunt and I could do.
“Elsbeth, it’s Carrie. Mama couldn’t remember what color thread you wanted.”
“Oh, never mind. I found a box of thread up on a shelf. Papa just came back from Mother Possum’s house. She seems to be ailing today. Ask Mama if she’d mind if we stay at Mother’s house tonight to watch over her. Sometimes that little old lady worries me.”
“Me, too. I’m sure Mama won’t mind, but I thought Daniel was helping her out.”
“He and Nathaniel have somewhere they have to go, so it’s up to you and me. They have to see a man who lives out of town about some furniture the gentleman wants to order.” My aunt was speaking a little too loudly. It didn’t sound quite natural.
However, if we added something juicy, maybe Doris wouldn’t catch on.
“Say, Elsbeth, did you hear about…” I made up a nice, juicy rumor about a fictional woman who also lived out of town. It wouldn’t matter to Doris or Marie if they knew the woman or not. They’d probably spend a day trying to find out who she was.
“No!” My aunt tried to sound shocked.
“Yes! I’ll tell you more when Mama and I come home. And, Elsbeth, we’ll be fine by ourselves at Mother Possum’s house. After all, Mama and Papa live just across the street.”
We hung up and I quickly walked outside.
“Thank you for the use of your telephone, Pastor.”
I winked at Mama.
“She doesn’t need the thread after all, so let’s head home.”
Preacher Thomas looked from Mama to me – suspiciously. “You’d walk into town just for thread?”
Mama smiled and nodded. “You know I do all I can to keep my daughters happy.”
She linked her arm through mine and turned me away from the preacher’s house, pulling me along toward home.
“One day I’ll tell the preacher the truth. I don’t like lying about things, e
specially to him. Sometimes I think he can see right into my heart and mind.” Mama shook her head, at least somewhat ashamed of herself.
She started to giggle. “I feel downright naughty. It feels kinda good.”
Pretty soon we were both giggling and that turned into good old-fashioned laughter with tears running down our faces.
Mama was having an adventure, not the status quo for her.
A woman walked by us on the other side of the road and after one look turned her head the other way.
Mama waved, but the woman didn’t see her. She sobered up a little. “She must think we’ve gone around the bend.”
“Aren’t we supposed to have fun around here?” I asked.
Mama started laughing again. “I guess life isn’t meant to be all work and no play. I’m having a good time with my Carrie girl.”
Upon arriving home, we went straight into the house, where we found Elsbeth standing in the kitchen with the phone receiver to her ear. She put her finger to her lips and motioned us to be quiet, and a grin spread across her face while she listened.
Ah, the word was spreading already. The McFerrin girls were going to stay at Mother Possum’s house – alone.
Mama stood next to me, starting to bounce from foot to foot, impatient to hear what was being said, reminding me of Tess.
I smothered another laugh.
“Mama, you’re just too cute,” I whispered.
“Cute? Me?” She grinned and I knew I’d said something she’d probably never heard before.
Daniel glanced at us, curiosity showing on his face.
Elsbeth hung up the receiver. “They took the bait and Doris is telling Marie everything we said. You know Marie will mention it to everyone she sees. Now all we can do is wait.”
Daniel headed for the back door. “I’ll be on my way. You ladies don’t need me here anymore. I want to talk to Clayton, anyways.”
Elsbeth touched his arm. “I’ll see you later, love bug.”
She giggled and both Daniel’s and Mama’s eyes widened, but neither one of them said anything.
Mama decided to start dinner. “You can take some food over to Mother tonight. She’ll enjoy eating with you girls.”