The Adventure of Possum Gap

By Robert Whitchurch

The story begins in 1869 with a family who enjoys their country living outside of the town of Possum Gap Missouri. There are moments of laughter, fear, surprises, and sadness. Four children experience the childhood antics, the toughness of life events. Through it all, the family's Christian Faith is strong.

• Language: English
• Publisher: New Harbor Press
• Release date: Aug 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386424161

Robert Whitchurch

Robert Whitchurch is a retired pastor. He has been married to his wife, Donna, for fifty years. He has four grandchildren, two are high school students, one has military degree, potential of Law School. one is an American soldier with the 180 Infantry serving in Afghanistan. Robert has Biblical Studies from Lynchberg VA,  He was drafted following High School Graduation, serving in the United States Army at Fort Polk La, Fort Bragg N.C. and tour of duty in Vietnam. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal on August 1968. He now reside in Northeast Oklahoma.

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Table of Contents

The Adventure of Possum Gap

Chapter One | Possum Gap, our Hometown

Chapter Two | The Big Catch!

Chapter Three | A Bounce In Her Step

Chapter IV | Blueberry Lips

Chapter Five | A Surprise Visit

Chapter Six | Crisis at Coal

Chapter VII | Seasons of Change

Chapter One

Possum Gap, our Hometown

THE YEAR IS 1869.  The war is over, however bitter feelings are strong in our little town of Possum  Gap Missouri.

Some folks sympathize with the Union, while others  marched as Confederate soldiers.  Some folks who were partisan to the Southern cause were called bushwhackers. Yes, even though the war is over, there is a lot of healing to be done among  neighbors throughout the State, but also at Possum Gap.  Ma and Pa had it pretty rough during those war times. I was younger, but remember how hard it was to provide for our family.  Ma would take hen eggs to the general store to sale, and Pa would trade hog meat for items  that he needed, some how, our family survived.

We live outside of Possum Gap about fifteen miles west,  four miles north.

We own about 15 acres. Pa works hard each day in the fields while Ma takes care of us.  I have two brothers, and one sister.  I am the oldest & the smartest, cause I am 17 years old. My name is Zayne. The two brothers are Brent, age 15 and Alec, age 13.  Our sister, the only girl in the family besides Ma, is 12 years old. Her name is Elizabeth, but we call her Libby cause she is always talking and dancing everywhere.  (Brent and Libby are really our cousins, but we call them our brother and sister, cause their pa and ma are on the mission field right now, it was too dangerous to take them to their location.)

Pa doesn’t say too much about the war. I know he had a hired hand (He got room and board with meals)  who went to fight in the South, but he never did come back.  To this day, not sure what happened. Ma teaches us school on some days until harvest days come.  Sitting in the house and having school learning is ok, but when the sun is shining, I would rather be outside helping with the chores.

Pa has given to each of us a job to do each day.  I get up early to take care of the milk cows (We have two jerseys)  They give plenty of milk with good cream that I like to put on top of strawberries with the short cakes that Ma bakes.  Brent has to chop the wood for the kitchen stove and the fireplace especially in the winter time.  Alec gets to haul the wood into the house, then he has to take care of the hogs which are dirty all the time.  Libby helps Ma clean the house,  feeds the chickens, gather the eggs. Each day is pretty busy, so by night time we are ready to  eat, then off to bed.

One day Libby went to the hen house to get the eggs.  She reached into the nesting box where she thought she was grabbing an egg, instead it was a black snake!  Ma heard her screaming, saw her jumping up and down. She ran out to the hen house where she tried to calm Libby down.  Sure enough, there was the black snake curled up in one of the nesting boxes. Some of the eggs that Libby had put in her basket was now on the ground broken.  Pa walked over from the well house to see what was going on.  He laughed so hard I thought his overalls were going to unbutton.  He reached in to the nesting box got hold of the black snake, picked it up and threw it across the fence.  He then began to tell us how the black snake eats the mice for us.  (that didn’t change our minds about snakes, but we just nodded our heads.)

Sometimes Pa would tell me the story how he and Ma moved to Missouri from Illinois.  They had gotten married in Greenville Ill. He was twenty one and Ma was eighteen. Pa said he wanted to start all over someplace that he could call his own, since he had saved quite a bit of money to buy some land. Ma and Pa got their wagon loaded with their belongings, hitched the team, took off for Missouri.  He told me he got a good deal on the fifteen acres that we live on now. I know Pa worked hard, because all the rocks were stacked throughout the land in a pile, some of them are the cornerstone for the fencing. I’m glad that Pa likes to talk about things that he did.

Just finished milking the cows this evening, going to take the buckets to the house. Supper should be about ready.  I am sure hungry.  Ma, what’s for supper?  Go wash up replied Ma. Whatever it is, sure smells good!  It is nice when we all are seated around the big table that Pa made. There is plenty of room