Robbie: A Novel

By Travis Gibson

Robbie Petty’s life covered a long period of time: from the 1890s through the second half of the twentieth century. The events she witnessed - and those in which she participated - portray life at the time and provide lessons applicable for today. Robbie’s life, while seemingly normal, was filled with devastating personal loss and the rewards of unexpected love, leading her to strongly believe, “Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665524360

Travis Gibson

Travis Gibson is a native Texan.. He is the author of five other novels.

Book preview

Prologue

The first sight she saw the next morning - and the sight that would be most vivid in her mind the rest of her life when she recalled the events of those days - was the old men.

She had sat in a straight-backed chair by the bed where the body lay for most of the night. She was sitting there when the doctor said that it was over and she had not moved since. Her mother and one of her aunts had begged her to come to the kitchen, have some coffee and perhaps a bite to eat.

There’s a chill in here, her mother had said, I’d best put some more wood in the fireplace and then you come on out to the kitchen. It’ll help your strength.

But she hadn’t moved. It was as if she were in a trance and that the present circumstances did not exist. She did not need warmth, she did not need food or drink. She needed to know why she was sitting in that chair next to the bed with the body on it. And was the body really his? But no answers seemed to come.

At some point her mother came into the room, turned the lamp down very low and sat in a chair on the other side of the bed. I’m here, her mother said. Why don’t you go on to one of the other bedrooms and get some rest? One of your aunts will come in and we will be here. We won’t leave.

But she still did not move nor did she respond to her mother’s words. Why should she? It would make no difference. None at all.

Sometime during the night the storm moved on through. There was a lot of thunder and lightning and some heavy rainfall. But it was over before dawn and, as the the sun was coming up, there was the promise of a clear day.

It was the sun shining through the thin curtains on the window in the bedroom that seemed to arouse her, to bring her out of her reverie. She sat in the warmth of the sunlight for a few minutes and then she got up and walked to the window. She pulled the curtains aside, looked out and saw them: the old men. The very old men.

Part One

The Early Years

1906

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The casket was so small. To Robbie, as she stood in the doorway and looked at the coffin resting on the dining room table, it seemed to have been built for a doll, not her sister.

But then Maudie Rose had always been so small in real life - tiny was probably the best word. Robbie – who was given the task of supervising her little sister from a very early age – always thought of her as being doll-like. She always looked so fragile – a look that often caught people unaware because, in spite of her small features, Maudie Rose was full of energy and was constantly moving, getting involved in all kinds of activities.

Robbie looked at the picture on the mantel, the one the traveling photographer had taken. It had captured the very essence of Maudie Rose – her smile, the vivacious twinkle in her eyes. The photograph had even captured the sunlight in her hair. The picture was in sepia but the very blonde hair was unmistakeable.

All of the members of Robbie’s family were dark with brown hair and brown eyes. Maudie Rose had been the only one to have been born with blonde hair and blue eyes within anyone’s memory. And that fact had caused quite a few comments among some of the aunts and great aunts.

Onliest one I can remember being born looking like that, said old Great Aunt Hattie when Robbie’s mother had left the room for a minute, was that one what was born to Cousin Jenny Ruth Blake - y’all remember her? She had her a little old girl baby born with yella hair just like this one. ‘Course, she didn’t last long, come down with the whooping or somethin’ when she was still a little bitty ol’ thing. Nope, didn’t last long.

That’s right. said Great Aunt Trudy. She was the onliest one and folks couldn’t for the life of them figure out how that happened.

Hattie, Robbie’s grandmother had said. You just hush up. This ain’t no time to be tellin’ any of your old stuff.

I’se just sayin’, Hattie continued, that it don’t hardly ever happen on neither side of this fam’ly that a yella headed baby is borned.

That’s true ‘nough, chimed in Trudy.

Well, then, Robbie’s grandmother said, let us just remember what a blessing it is to have a healthy and beautiful little blonde baby girl come into this family of all us old brown-haired, brown-eyed folks.

Maybe she’s a angel, said Great Aunt Berta. A angel sent down here to help us. She sure looks like a angel oughtta look.

Humph, retorted Hattie. Still...

Enough! Robbie’s grandmother said to her sister. You three get on out to the kitchen where you can be of some use. And don’t a one of you be talkin’ like you been where JoEllen can hear you. If you do I’ll snatch ever hair outta your head.

One of the Great Aunts humphed again but they did not tarry in the room. Robbie knew that her grandmother loved her sisters but that she would not tolerate many of their strange ways. The Good Book says not to suffer fools, her grandmother often said. And I aim to abide by that rule even if it applies to kin.

Robbie never paid much attention to the discussions about Maudie’s looks being different from the rest of the family. To her it was just a natural thing that she and her brothers looked like they did and Maudie looked like she did. She was always proud of the way her baby sister looked. People at church and at cemetery home comings always took time to pay attention to Maudie and to compliment Momma and Daddy on what a beautiful child they had. It would have been a natural thing for Robbie to have been a bit jealous of the attention paid to her little sister. But that was not the case. She enjoyed everything about Maudie Rose who was such an intergral part of the family and such a dear part of Robbie’s life. She was, in fact, such a part of Robbie’s existence that Robbie could not begin to imagine how she could go on with her life without Maudie Rose and live with the fact that she was dead - and that she had killed her. She had killed her baby sister.

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Robbie sat in the dining room with the casket for about twenty minutes lost in thoughts about Maudie Rose’s last days. When she could no longer bear to sit and re-live the events leading to her sister’s death, she stood, determined to find some company to help distract her from those awful thoughts.

Most of the women were in the kithchen preparing food for the family and the visitors who would come to the house for the wake and after the funeral. Robbie decided to avoid the women and the kind of constant talk that was sure to be going on. She was sure it would be depresing so she decide to go to the family burial plot where the men were digging a grave for Maudie.

The family cemetery was not too far from the house and Robbie paused for a while on a small knoll where she could see the scene - the men working away at preparing a proper grave. The family cemetery was very old and it was almost filled with the graves of countless members of the Pike family who had lived and died on the farm.

Once Robbie had asked her grandfather how old the farm was, how long had the family lived there and he had replied,Well, I can’t say to the ‘xact time when us Pikes first come here but it was just right about the time God made dirt and we run the Meskins out. Story goes that that my old grandaddy purchased all of these acres from a old Indian fella. It appears that he got that Indian in a pretty good mood and got a real good deal. Now, I can’t swear to how much truth there is to that tale but it’s what the family has always believed.

All of the men on the farm were working at getting the grave ready. She could see her daddy, her grandpa and her two uncles. Her two brothers, Grady and Boyd were outside the fenced area of the graveyard throwing rocks at something in a white oak tree. A squirrel probably.

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Whenever Robbie thought about life on the farm, she was always amazed at how all the pieces - people - fit into the overall working of things. The people she had always seemed to take for granted were, in reality, part of a big picture - a play, maybe - with everyone acting their part so smoothly that Robbie sometimes found herself lulled into a kind of complacency - a kind of security - that she felt would always exist. But she had found those thoughts to be so wrong - so terribly wrong. In a senario like that it would never have been possible for her to do the unthinkable act of killing her sister.

Each person on the farm contributed uniquely. Daddy did not work on the farm exactly although there were times when he had to pitch in with certain projects. He ran the family’s store which was located on the road leading to town. It was a general store selling almost everything the folks in the surrounding part of the county needed. He worked long hours with only one helper and he always told his customers that if they needed something he didn’t have in stock he would do his dead level best to get it for them. Daddy was a quiet man who never had a lot to say - a fact that probably accounted for the fact that he fit in so well with the Pikes who were well-known as a talkative bunch. And Robbie knew that her father had a very good reputation as an extremely honest man. If Gilbert Petty says he is gonna do something, well you can take it to the bank, was the attitude of most of the folks in their part of the county. When Daddy had married Robbie’s mother, there was never any question about where they would live. JoEllen Petty had spent her life up to that point on the farm and there was never a doubt that she would spend the rest of it there. So Gilbert Petty worked diligently at the prosperous store and came home in the evenings to eat dinner at a table filled with loquasious Pikes.

Robbie’s grandfather - Paw Bill as he was known in the family - was in many ways much the opposite of her daddy. William Ames Pike was a tall lanky man with long hair, a beard and droopy mustaches. When one of the great aunts (and it could have been any of them because - as someone had remarked - they seemed to believe they were placed on this earth with a direct commission to run everyone else’s lives) remarked that since they were into a new century, he might want to make himself look a little bit more modern, Bill Pike said - and maybe, he said it a bit loudly - I ain’t one bit interested in what some fool folks might think of as bein’ ‘modern.’ This is the way my ol’ daddy looked and the way his daddy looked before him. And probably the way all my Pike ancestors looked all the way back to when they shook hands with Adam and Eve when they was kicked outta that garden. It’s the way Pike men are supposed to look. And I woulda hoped that if we had been blessed with a male off-spring he woulda looked the same way. Modern, ha! Ain’t worth warm s....

Bill!, Robbie’s grandmother had said.

Spit, was the end of the statement.

William Ames Pike had been born and raised on the farm that he now owned. He had proved himself worthy of inheriting the large Pike farm from a very early age. Almost from the time he could wear overalls, a straw hat and boots, he was totally immersed in all the many chores of the farm. He was a fast learner and a hard worker. His father often proudly remarked to anyone within hearing distance that, Old Bill can outwork any five of my other hands.

While Robbie’s daddy was quiet and softspoken her grandfather was loud and very much prone to speak his mind on most any topic. Especially politics. It was an unspoken rule in the Pike household

that any hint of anything remotely related to what was going on in the state capital or Washington, Dumb Cretins, was to be scrupulously avoided, especially at dinner time. But even that did not keep the patriarch from holding forth on his favorite topic. A fact that often led to quite lenghtly stays at the dinner table.

Needless to say, William Ames Pike was quite a conservative man when it came to the role of the federal government in the lives of private citizens. My philosophy of government? Why I agree wholeheartedly with the old fella who said that all the federal government should do is fix the roads, deliver the mail, and protect us from the Injuns.

Robbie did not know how old her grandfather was. No one did really. The few documents relating to the Pike family - including birth certificates, if any had actually existed - had been destroyed in a fire that had burned part of the main farm house many years ago. And if Paw Bill Pike knew exactly how old he was, he wasn’t telling. Age - numbers - don’t count, he always said when anyone brought up the subject of longevity. It’s muscle and grit and spunk that counts. And as long as you got those it don’t matter what no Farmer’s Almanac calendar says. And everyone around the man had to agree that he had plenty of whatever it took because he was still going strong whatever his age, working from sunup until sundown and still doing the work of five hands.

Robbie’s two uncles who lived on the farm were Rudolph Goodwin and his twin, Judson. They were Robbie’s grandmother’s brothers so - in fact - they were actually her great uncles. From an early age Rudolph, of course, had been called Rudy. Judson - to the wonder of most of his family members - had elected to be called Judy - a fact that would later make a great deal of sense to most of those folks.

Uncle Rudy was married to Aunt Reecie. They had no children. And everyone knew that the reason for that was the war. Uncle Rudy and Aunt Reecie had just been married - he was twenty-one and she was eighteen - when the Home Guard found him and pressed him into service. Up until that time Rudy had been able to keep a low profile, work on the farm and go largely unnoticed. But the Home Guard was evidently running out of recruits for the war and were looking more diligently for men to send to the battlefields in the east.

Paw Bill Pike had no use for the Home Guard. Bunch of low-class scoundrels (He used stronger language when out of ear shot of his wife.) runnin’ about the countryside and yanking good men away from their families and jobs and sending them to be nothin’ but cannon fodder. If they so much in favor of this war, why ain’t they doing some fightin’?

Bill Pike was not only opposed to the Home Guard, he was opposed to the war in general. "Bunch of blamed foolishness. And they ain’t no one gonna stand up and tell me it’s all about freein’ them slaves. What it is about is that them states up north is envious - jealous - of our way of life and they want to put an end to it and take over our lands and our riches. It’s about state’s rights. Anybody with a lick of sense who has read the Constitution of this here country can see that certain things is left up to the states to decide for theirselves. And if a certain state wants to have the right to own slaves, they outta be left alone to do it.

I don’t own no slaves, none of us Pikes is ever owned slaves. Even when we all lived back in them cotton-growin’ states before we come here we didn’t own no slaves. Always had hired hands on our farms. But the fact that we ain’t never been slave owners, don’t mean that we got to go and chastise them of our neightbors who do own ‘em. But like I said, them northerns is usin’ this slave stuff as a excuse to try to destroy our way of life.

The Home Guard sent Rudy Goodwin and ten other Truman county men off to the east early in the spring just before planting time and no one saw or heard a thing from him for three years. The war ended and men were returning home (four of the ten who left Truman County with Rudy made it back), but Rudy was not among those returning. Reecie was despondent and was just on the verge of giving up hope that she would ever see her husband again when he showed up late one evening just as the sun was setting.

Everyone was overjoyed to have Rudy back but it was evident from the very first few days of his return that he was different. His explanation for being so late getting home was that when the war was over, so many of the soldiers were simply dismissed and left to their own devices for getting back to their home states. It had taken him several months to journey - mostly on foot - back to Truman County. Aside from that account of his return journey, Rudy had nothing to say about the war or his experiences in it. He just did not - would not - talk about any of it. It soon became quite evident to all members of the family and other close relatives and friends that the subject of Rudy’s experiences in the war were never to be mentioned.

No tellin’ what that pore boy’s been through. To hell and back I ‘magine. Bill Pike said. They’s no way any of us can ever even begin to think of what them pore soldier boys has seen and endured. I can blame well understand why they don’t want to talk about it, to re-live it. They’s some of ‘em who’ve come home and they set around down at the stores and brag on about what brave things they done. Makes you want to pick up a piece of stove wood and knock ‘em crazy. It’s them like Rudy who really went through it who don’t talk about it and who’ll never get it out of their minds.

Aside from the fact that he came back a very quiet, pensive person, Rudy was not changed much. After a few months of semi-rest and nourishing food, he was able to resume his normal activities and his normal workload on the farm. Boy’s bettern’ he ever was, Paw Bill said. Works like a horse.

But Rudy and Reecie never had any children. And everyone knew it was because of the war.

The Home Guard had not been interested in sending Rudy’s twin brother, Judson, to the war in the east. The consensus had been that Judson Goodwin probably did not have the makings of a good foot soldier. Rudolph and Judson were identical twins but that it is where the similarities ended mainly. They had been raised in the same environment. The Goodwin family was a hard working, God-fearing bunch - Leslie and Lorena and six children, the twins being the youngest of the siblings. From the very first it had been apparent that though physically identical, the boys had very little else in common. Rudolph was in all ways the typical boy interested in and doing all the things the average farm boy of the time was expected to do and be interested in: fishing, hunting, horses, dogs, the few sports available - in general, anything outdoors that the other boys and men of the farm and the surrounding area were doing. Judson on the other hand shied away from outdoor activities, spending most of his time in the farmhouse assisting with whatever domestic chores his mother and his sisters assigned to him. At first, Leslie and Lorena were quite concerned with Judson and his interests. Leslie more so than Lorena. Not the way a boy should be, he said on more than one occassion during the boy’s early years. More normal for him to be like Rudolph. And better for me, too, to have another able-bodied hand. What are we gonna do to get him acting right? On most of the occassions when her husband fretted about Judson’s peculiarities. Lorena cautioned patience. He’s young, Leslie, give the boy some time. As he matures, he will realize some things and he will come to know a little bit more about what a boy’s - a man’s - life should be like. But that did not happen. As Judson matured, his interests and those of his brother diverged even more and it became evident to his family - and to most of the farm families in that part of Truman County that Judson Goodwin was different and that he always would be.

The year before Rudolph and Reecie were married, Leslie Goodwin was killed in an accident on the farm and since Lorena was unable to manage the farm and the debts, she, Rudolph and Judson went to live on the farm where her eldest daughter lived as the wife of William Ames Pike. Her three other daughters were also married to farmers but none of those were prosperous enough to accommodate three new persons.

The Pike family quickly assimilated the three newcomers. Paw Bill, Maw Julie, Lorena, Rudy, Reecie and Judson lived in what was known as the Big House. It was a structure that had been in existence from the time that the farm had passed into Pike hands. It was big and solid and rambling. The house had been built of lumber from trees that had been on the Pike property and sawed in a mill that had been built there for that purpose. The house consisted of two parts seperated by a dog trot. One side contained the sleeping quarters: two big rooms with a central fireplace. The other side housed the cooking, dining and living areas with another large fireplace. The Little House was identical to the larger one but it contained only sleeping quarters. All of the cooking was done in the main house. It was an arrangement that perfectly suited the needs of the generations of Pikes that had inhabited the place. Gilbert, JoEllen, their four children and JoEllen’s sister, Belinda, lived in the smaller structure. It not as old as the larger dwelling but it was just as sturdy and liveable as the larger one. (It would have been unseemly of JoEllen’s sister to live in the Big House because an unmarried male also lived there - regardless of the fact that it never crossed anyone’s mind that anything untoward would ever remotely happen.)

There were two deep water wells on the property, one was located near the larger house and served the puposes there while the other one was nearer the largest of the barns and was used for watering the animals. Each of the houses also had a large cistern on the roof. They were used to capture and store rain water. There were three privies on the property - one for each of the houses and one located near the barn for the hired hands to use. Bill Pike and Gilbert Petty had read about the installation of pipes for running water in houses and Gilbert had ordered materials for that purpose. Since the use of well water seemed impractical, the men were attempting to devise a plan for using water from the cisterns but so far the task had not been completed.

Lorena Goodwin was a welcome addition to the domestic chores and Bill Pike was grateful to have Rudolph Goodwin as a new hand. The question on everyone’s mind, of course, was how Judson Goodwin would fit in - adapt - to the new situation. It soon became evident to all concerned that there shouldn’t have been any concern. Rudy was the same as he had been on the Goodwin farm and Judy was the same also.

Bill Pike was a conservative, opinionated individual and some folks might have surmised that he would have over the years taken a dim view of the unique characteristics of his brother-in-law, Judson Goodwin. But Bill Pike was also a very practical man and a man who new the value of keeping family and domestic relations running smoothly. So, he welcomed the addition of one brother-in- law who provided badly needed manpower in the fields and one who added a whole new dimension to the running of the other aspects of the farm.

Judson - or Judy - as he insisted on being called assisted in the chores of the farm by feeding the chickens, turkeys, ducks and guinea fowl and gathering the eggs. He milked the goats and cleaned the dog pens. But the majority of his time was spent indoors where he helped with the cooking, cleaning and general upkeep of the large farmhouse.

Judy Goodwin was a superb cook and the women were often very willing to let him have his way in the kitchen. He was also very gifted at quilting and knitting and spent countless hours at those tasks.

One of Judy Goodwin’s specialities was making jams, jellies and preserves. They were of such outstanding quality that it was a rare occurence at the annual Truman County Fair when Judy Goodwin did not win, place or show. Mostly win.

Once every three months, Judy Goodwin would pack up his quilts, knitting and other wares and travel to the Trade Fair at Austonio. There he would exhibit his products and spend a week with a dear friend - a bachelor he had known since childhood. Everyone at the farm agreed that the trips were very well-deserved and very good for Judy - a fitting reward for the contributions he made to life at the Pike farm. And the trips seemed to do Judy a world of good. He came back relaxed, energized and all the more ready to do his part at the farm.

At one time there had been three generations of women on the Pike farm: Robbie’s great grandmother, Lorena Goodwin, her grandmother, Julietta Goodwin Pike (everybody called her Maw Julie) and her mother JoEllen Pike Petty but Lorena had died the year Robbie was born. In addition to these women there were two others who lived at the farm: JoEllen’s unmarried younger sister, Belinda, and Rudy’s wife, Reecie. The fact that Belinda was unmarried (a maiden lady those in her condition were sometimes called by other women and a old maid by the men) was a source of constant concern to the women of the household. That a fairly attractive, sweet- natured girl (woman, actually) like Belinda was unattached and had, evidently, no prospects of changing that was something that none of the Pike ladies (or most of their neighbor women) could understand. The one person to whom the the situation was not a concern was Belinda herself. She was perfectly happy living on the farm where she had grown up, being with her family and contributing whatever she could to the life there. As far as men were concerned, Belinda had seen them and was not remotely interested.

There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Julietta Goodwin Pike was the woman in charge at the farm. All of the other women were well-aware that the farmhouse was her domain and that they did what they did and when they did it at the pleasure of Maw Julie. Julietta Pike, however, was in many ways much like her husband in that she realized that a firm hand and a kind word were tools that - when wisely used - accomplished a lot more towards having domestic peace and a smooth running household than a disposition characterized by arrogance and authority. So, she respected the rights and the dignity of each of the other females in the household and made sure - in the most diplomatic of ways - that they each did the same. An astute observer might have seen that perhaps - on occassion - Julietta Goodwin Pike might have resorted to other measures in dealing with the likes of her husband and her three sisters.

Robbie’s mother, JoEllen Pike Petty, was one of the kindest most sweet-natured women that Robbie would ever know in her entire life. In Robbie’s eyes, her mother was perfect and she was always amazed at the way she was able to balance everthing so easily: the work at the farm and being a wife and a mother of four growing children. (Especially when two of those children were Grady and Boyd). In later years - when faced with the often very trying events of her own life, Robbie would pray for the ability to face life with the simple grace and ease of her own mother.

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Robbie, who was standing at the gate to the cemetry, was startled out of her reverie by a very loud voice that sounded immediately behind her.

REPENT! the voice yelled.

Robbie was so startled that she temporarily lost her balance and fell forward. She was able to grab the iron gate to the graveyard and break her fall. She straightened up and looked around to see where the loud voice had come from and the apparation she saw almost made her fall again.

About ten yards behind her stood a tall, thin man with long hair and a very long and bushy beard. He was carrying a long staff, was wearing very worn sandals and was dressed in burlap feed sacks (Ideal Pig Feed was written on some of them). There was a lanky black mule standing behind the man.

Robbie felt that this must be the man who called himself The Apostle that she had heard the adults talking about. And what she had heard had not been very complimentary. It seemed that while the folks in that part of the county had been very tolerant of the man and his ideosincracies, they were beginning to tire of him.

REPENT! And again I say REPENT!

If anybody better be repentin’, ‘Postle, it’s you, said Bill Pike, pausing in his work at the grave. I told you a dozen or more times to quit trespassin’ on my property.

I have to go where the Lord sends me, said The Apostle. And he’s done told me that I oughtta come to this here spot and call some to repentance.

‘Well, you done called us and we have heard, so get on outta here and let us get on with our business," Bill Pike said.

I see, said The Apostle, seeming to ignore Bill Pike’s admonitions, that you people have been visited by the Angel of Death and are in bereavement. That is a perfect time for each and everyone to think upon the fact that we all got such a brief time here on this earth and to REPENT of all what we have in our lives that might get us in trouble with the Lord God Almighty!

It was probably Robbie’s imagination, but she thought that while The Apostle was delivering those words that he stole a subtle glance at her.

You are right, ‘Postle, Paw Bill said. We are in bereavment. We have lost a precious soul. And we are grievin’. So why don’t you get on about your repentin’ business and let us be.

Again, seeming to ignore Paw Bill’s words, The Apostle said, I can’t go nowhere ‘til I deliver two messages to you this here morning.

Oh, and what are them messages that is so all-powerful important that you got to be trespassin’ on my property agin this mornin’? asked Bill Pike.

First is: they gonna take it back,said The Apostle.

Who’s gonna take what back, ‘Postle? We ain’t got time to be playin’ riddles this mornin’, said an obviously exasperated Bill Pike.

Why, them brown skin folks we took this here land from., replied The Apostle. They gonna take it all back. And they gonna do it without firin’ a shot.

Well, if they do that, ‘Postle, they gonna have to swim a river to get it. Now, what else was you gonna tell us? As if we really wanted to know.

They is gonna be a war, said the Apostle.

What? What you ramblin’ on about, ‘Postle? What you talkin’ about? What war? Paw Bill said, his voice filled with exasperation.

They is gonna be a war, The Apostle reiterated. And it’s gonna be a big one. Whole lot bigger that that last one we all lived through. And it ain’t gonna just be us. Whole wide world gonna be involved in it.

You talkin’ about the end times and all that stuff that’s supposed to happen when it’s all just about over? That stuff Maw Julie reads to all of us from the Good Book? Well, I don’t think we’re ready for all of that, Paw Bill said starting to dig again.

Naw, said The Apostle. It ain’t the end time war. But it’s gonna be big like that one.

So when’s this great big war gonna happen, ‘Postle? Rudy Goodwin asked.

I ain’t been told ‘xactly when, the man replied. But you see them boys over there chunkin’ rocks? They might be in it. I don’t rightly know ‘xactly when it’s gonna be. But you outta git on your sinful knees and ask the Good Lord to spare ‘em ‘cause millions is gonna die in it.

Let me ask you somethin’, ‘Postle, Paw Bill said again pausing in his work. "You say the Good Lord

speaks to you and tells you this stuff you run about the countryside ‘aspewin’. Tell us just how the Good Lord speaks to you, if you don’t mind"

Why, The Apostle said. Balaam had his ass and I have my mule here.

Ah, said Paw Bill. That explains a lot. And I beleive - truth be told - that there’s a whole lot of asses involved in this whole mess. Listen Postle, why don’t you let us be. Go on up to the house. I believe Maw Julie and the ladies probably have some cold biscuits and a little ham left over from breakfast. You look like you could use a good meal."

You think they might have some berry cobbler, too? The Apostle asked. And again, Robbie thought the man glanced sideways at her.

Why, I ‘spect they might, Paw Bill said. Them berries bein’ in season and all. And while you are up at the house, ‘Postle, see if them ladies can’t rustle you up some decent clothes to put on.

Ain’t nothin’ wrong with what I got on, The Apostle retorted. This here is what John the Baptizer wore. He wore burlap, too.

Yeah, Paw Bill said, but I bet he didn’t have ‘Ideal for You’ written across his butt.

Jest if you will, said The Apostle, grabbing the reins of his mule and turning in the direction of the farmhouse. But I say it’s time to REPENT and to come clean with all secrets! The Good Lord Almighty knows all our secrets. And this time Robbie knew that The Apostle looked directly at her. A shudder went through her body and she felt she was gong to faint. Could he know? Was he there, hiding in the willow trees by the creek? Did he see it happen? When she...

Robbie, honey, are you all right? it was Daddy. He was kneeling beside her and the other men were gathered around where she lay on the ground.

She lay there for a moment and then slowly sat up. It’s okay, she said, trying her best to smile. I just sort of got sick to my stomach. I didn’t eat any breakfast. It’s going to be all right. But she knew it was not all right. That it would never be all right as long as she had to carry her terrible secret.

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What’s a ‘wake’? Boyd Petty asked his brother as the two of them came in from the front porch and sat in two of the chairs lined up on the left side of the diningroom as their grandmother had instructed them to do. Is it like when somebody wakes up? If it is, it’s for sure Maudie ain’t gonna wake up. If she does, I’m gettin’ outta here!

I ain’t really sure, Grady Petty replied. But from what I can tell it’s a time for a whole bunch of folks to come here and look at Maudie. and say to ever’body how sorry that they are that she died. Probably a whole bunch of ‘em didn’t even know her.

I am sorry that she died, too, but I don’t see why we got to set here on these hard chairs and watch all these people that we don’t know who they are come and look little sister. It don’t seem right.

And she wouldn’t not have liked it neither..., said Boyd Petty.

Well, it don’t make no matter whether you like it or not or whether she woulda liked it or not, Grady Petty said. Maw Julie says we got to set here the whole time they’s folks here and we better not cause no trouble either she says.

How could we cause any trouble settin’ here like Humpty and Dumpty twiddling our fingers? Boyd Petty asked. And I still don’t know why they call this here thing a wake. Here comes Sister. Maybe she’ll know. Hey, Robbie, come set down. Robbie, how come they call this here thing a wake?

Robbie had waited as long as she possibly could to enter the diningroom. And she would have waited a while more except that she caught the glance her grandmother had sent her way and she knew that she was being reminded that she needed to be in her proper place, helping to make sure that the boys behaved as they should.

The gathering - the wake - was supposed to have begun at sundown but Maw Julie had told the ladies in the kitchen not to count on that. They’ll be here a whole lot earlier than that, she had said. Several hours earlier. Shoot, some of ‘em woulda been here for breakfast. Nothin’ like a sorrow to bring a lot of folks out.

And she was right. People began arriving an hour or two after lunchtime just as she had said. And she was right about another thing also. She had told the ladies that they were probably wasting a lot of time and energy preparing food for the expected company.

We got to do it just in case, but you just wait and see what happens. And what happened was that more food was brought to the house than anyone could have imagined. Every possible space in the kitchen was loaded with dishes and pots bearing almost every kind of dish imaginable. Extra tables were set up on the back porch and a wagon was brought from the barn to accommodate the overflow.

My goodness, said Reecie Goodwin. Who would have ever thought this would have happened?

I just can’t believe this, Jollen Petty said, choking back the tears.

Well, it’s what folks like us do, Maw Julie said. Offerings to help ease the loss of our loved one.

And while I know all these folks have their hearts in the right places and that bringing all this food is their way of showing that they care, there’s no way under heaven that any of this will make up for losing my precious baby, JoEllen Petty said. My heart’s been wrenched out, Mother. And nothing is gonna fill that space.

I would tell you that I understand, Sweetness. And I do to a certain extent because Maudie Rose was my angel, too. My granddaughter, Julietta Pike said. But she was your daughter. Nobody can understand the loss of a child except the parents, no matter how much they might say they do. You and Gilbert, you have to be strong for each other and for your other precious children.

Robbie had overheard these words as she was heading into the diningroom. The other precious children were herself and her two brothers. They were the only ones left. She was fourteen, Grady was twelve and Boyd ten. She looked at her brothers as she approached the chairs where the three of them were supposed to sit and endure the wake. How miserable they looked scrubbed and in their best clothes. She was not sure whether the loss of their sister had actually registered with them. She was not sure that anything actually registered with them. And she supposed that was a normal thing because Grady Petty and Boyd Petty were nothing if not normal, active boys. They were only interested in the things that boys their ages were interested in and paid little attention to anything else. And that was something Robbie was desperately depending on. Because Grady Petty and Boyd Petty had been present almost immediately after...after what had happened to Maudie Rose.

Well, why, Robbie?

The words brought Robbie back to the present. Why, what, Boyd?

Why do they call this a ‘wake’? Boyd Petty asked.

To tell the truth, I really don’t know. I think it has to do with the really old times when people would sit all night with the bodies of their loved ones. Sort of keeping watch over them, Robbie said.

Well, they outta had called it something else, Grady Petty said. ’Cause it woulda been hard for me to stay awake all night like that.

Yeah, Boyd Petty giggled but then saw his grandmother looking at him and decided to be a bit more somber.

From where she was sitting, Robbie could see the casket and Maudie Rose’s body quite clearly. She tried not to stare at the remains of her little sister but - between the acknowledgement of the condolences of the many people who came by to express their sorrow - it was difficult not to do so.

So many people came and passed by the chairs where the three sat that it was not possible to get bored. Men, women, families all came by and expressed their condolences for the loss of the little girl, the little sister, your precious loved one. Robbie and the boys tried to keep up with what the people were saying and to respond as approriately as they knew how but it was difficult and each of them experienced periods where everything seemed to run together and where things seemed to blur or glaze over.

After about an hour and a half of receiving condolences, there was a slight pause in the procession of people and Robbie was able to look around the room and analyze the situation. The dining room was fairly well-packed. People were standing in almost every availabe space. Many were grouped on the opposite side of the room from where the children sat, where Momma, Daddy, Maw Julie and Paw Bill sat. Robbie noticed that the people seemed to take much more time talking to the grieving adults than they had with the children. Robbie also noted - with what she hoped was not disrespect - that the three great aunts had located their chairs in a space almost immediately following the other family members - a location Robbie realized that made it impossible for those expressing condolences to get to the door or anywhere else in the room without speaking to the three. And Robbie also noticed that - out of all the family members - the three great aunts were the most visibly overcome with emotion. You watch and see, Maw Julie had said. There will be quite a show. A million tears will be shed by the three of ‘em

Robbie was brought out of her thoughts by the whispering of Boyd Petty who was sitting next to her.

Snoot! Snoot! he whispered.

What? Robbie asked quietly, thinking that surely she had misunderstood her little brother.

Snoot! Snoot! he whispered again. There comes old snoot face.

Robbie followed Boyd’s gaze across the room to the door leading from the livingroom and her spirits - which had not been high to begin with, of course - sank even lower. There, just inside the entrance to the diningroom stood LaWanda French.

LaWanda French was two years older than Robbie, the only daughter of the owner of one of the largest - if not the largest - farms in the county, a fact that LaWanda French pointed out to everyone within earshot at every possible opportunity. LaWanda was a tall, blonde girl who was - although Robbie always hated to have to admit it - quite attractive and mature for her age, another fact that she took every opportunity to impress on any and and everyone available. At school, LaWanda was fawned upon by the teachers and she used that fact to lord it over all the other students. The girls especially. She’s just a plain bully. was the opinion most expressed but never within LaWanda’s hearing distance. Toward the boys - of course - Miss French exhibited a much different side. In earlier years, Robbie had attempted to strike up a friendship with LaWanda but she soon found out - like most of the other girls in school - that the further away from LaWanda one was, the better.

As she watched LaWanda approach the area where she and the boys were sitting, Robbie could not help but be taken aback - her jaw almost dropped open - by what she saw. Most of the people at the wake were dressed in the somber clothes that Robbie had felt were appropriate for such an occassion where people were joining in the mourning for a lost loved one. But evidently LaWanda French did not feel that the ordinary dictates for such an occassion applied to her. LaWanda was a vision in pink - pink dress, pink stockings and slippers, a pink purse and a pink ribbon in her hair. Robbie had to admit that the effect was extremely becoming but she also could not ignore the glances and whispers she saw across the room.

Well, hello, Robbie, LaWanda FRench said - completely ignoring Grady Petty and Boyd Petty and stopping in front of Robbie’s chair. I was ever so sorry to hear of the loss of your little sister. Millie, was that her name? At first, when I heard the news, it did not dawn upon me who it was who had died because usually, of course, I don’t know much about small children. But then I remembered who the lovely little child was beause I recollected the fact that I had seen her at the school and at church and she caught my attention because of her beautiful blonde hair. There aren’t many of us about, you know. Blondes, I mean, so it’s always such a pleasure to see another one. Not that brunettes can’t be attractive also but, I mean, but we have to admit that there is something just so special about...But, anyway, my condolences, as they say. And having said that, LaWanda French almost touched Robbie’s shoulder and quickly turned away and moved toward the other side of the room.

Snoot! Snoot! Boyd Petty whispered again, and when Robbie turned toward him to shush him, she noticed that Grady Petty was not in his chair.

Where’s your brother, she asked?"

Oh... Boyd Petty, obviously hesitating, he had to go to the...well, you know.

And Robbie felt she did know. It had been a long evening and little boys had to answer certain calls. A little while later she noticed that Grady Petty had returned but that Boyd Petty was gone. That was natural, she thought.

The evening droned on and fewer people were coming by to talk to the children, a fact that the three really were glad of but which also contributed to their awareness of the lateness of the evening and approaching boredom.

The boredom did not last long, however. Just when Robbie was trying her best to stifle a yawn and pay attention to what little Mrs. Oakley Watts was saying, a loud shriek - obviously from a young girl - was heard from outside the front of the house.

What in world? several people said. What can be going on out there? others wondered. Was that a young lady screaming?" some asked.

Most all of the folks inside the living room and dining room quickly moved outside to discover the cause of the commotion. This took awhile because there were quite a few people still in the house and many on the front porch. Once, everyone was outside it did not take long to discover the source of the screams. When Robbie was able to work her way through the press of people, her jaw dropped for the second time that evening. What she saw was a figure seated on the ground next to a large black carriage. The torches and lamps that had been set up in the front yard did not give off a great deal of light but Robbie could see fairly clearly that the top half of the seated figure was all in pink and that the rest of the figure was covered in a horse blanket. And she could see - and hear - that the person was sobbing uncontrollably.

Why, what’s going on here? Paw Bill asked as he approached the carriage and a tall man standing beside it. Jasper? Jasper French? Is this your carriage here? What in the world has happened? And is this young lady on the ground your daughter? Why yes, it must be. I can see more clearly now and I can recognize her outfit from earlier in the evenin’. Jasper, has your daughter been taken sick all of a sudden?

The tall man turned and faced Paw Bill. No! he shouted. My daughter has not been taken ill! My daughter has been grossly humiliated. She has been highly insulted and we - LaWanda, her mother and I - demand an apology and satisfaction!

Well, I certainly don’t understand, Jasper. What do you mean by bein’ humiliated and insulted. I guess it’s because it’s sorta dark here that I can’t tell ‘xactly what’s goin’ on.

What’s going on - exactly, thundered Jasper French, almost in Paw Bill’s face, is that some ruffian - some low-down cretin pretending to be a human being - has ruined mydaughter’s very fine clothes, caused her unimaginable humiliation and damaged my carriage!

How did all of this happen, Mr. French? Paw Bill asked, stepping back from the red-faced man.

How it happened was that some unmentionable slug of an individual placed a shovel full of cow sh... Jasper French remembered he had an audience at the last monent,manure on the seat of my carriage and covered it with a shawl LaWanda had left on the seat because of the warm weather.. My darling daughter innocently returned from the house and - not being able to see because of the poor light sat down in the repugnant stuff, ruining her clothes and causing extreme embarasment and grief.

My stars, Paw Bill said after a minute. That is indeed a sorry thing to happen. I can certainly understand why the poor young thing is so upset. Let me ask this though, Jasper. And it’s certainly sorta beside the point - but it’s a matter of curiosity - I know Miss LaWanda (that is her name, right?) couldn’t rightly see the pile of...manure ‘cause it was covered up by that lovely shawl, but couldn’t she ...well, smell what was in the seat of that carriage?

By, thunder! Jasper French roared again. That, sir, is indeed beside the point! I am sure the aroma of the very expensive perfume LaWanda was wearing would have masked the horrible odor on the carriage seat. Anyway, the point is that my innocent daughter - and by extension - my family has been greatly wronged. And, mark my word, there will be satisfaction.

Well, Paw Bill began...

Well, nothing, retorted Jasper French. I will be in touch! Having said that, he turned back toward the carriage and he and his driver spent several minutes attempting to get the still inconsolable LaWanda French into the carriage. The offensive substance had been removed as much as possible but LaWanda French refused to sit in that spot, forcing her mother to put her own shawl on the damaged seat and sit there.

The crowd gathered in the front yard remained silent as the French carriage exited the scene and Robbie sensed that the over-all atmosphere was one of embarassment. But she also got the impression that there was a touch of excitement in the air, too, as the larger group began to break up, some folks leaving in their own wagons and carriages and others remaining to talk in smaller groups - mostly in subdued voices. Robbie was sure she was mistaken but she thought that she heard several chuckles as she prepared to leave the yard and go back into the Big House.

She had almost reached the front porch steps when her father came up behind her and said, Hold on, Robbie. I want you to find your brothers and bring them out to the wagon house.

Robbie could tell by the tone of Daddy’s voice that he was in a very serious mood and she wasted no time locating Grady Petty and Boyd Petty - they were lurking in the shadows of a big sycamore tree in the front yard -and convincing them that it was in their very best intersts to accompany her to where their father was waiting.

When the three arrived at the wagon house they found Gilbert Petty and Paw Bill waiting for them.

Tell me exactly what happened here tonight, Gilbert Petty said without any prliminaries.

When there was no answer forthcoming, he repeated the question. What happened?

What do you mean, Daddy? Grady Petty asked.

You know exactly what I mean. How did that cow manure get in Mr. Jasper French’s carriage? Gilbert Petty asked.

I don’t know, Daddy, Grady Petty said.

Me, neither, said Boyd Petty.

Boys, Gilbert Petty. Don’t insult my intelligence by lying to me. Somebody put a shovelful of cow manure in Mr. French’s carriage and - in my mind right now, even though I don’t for the life of me know why - you two are the main culprits.

The what? Grady Petty asked.

Don’t compound actions and lies with attitude, Gilbert Petty said.

I really didn’t do nothin’, Daddy, Grady Petty said.

Me, neither, Boyd Petty said.

Robbie, Gilbert Petty said, turning to her. Did either of your brothers leave the wake at any time?

Yes, Robbie answered, but...

I went to the privy, Daddy. I had to, P etty interjected.

Me, too, Daddy. I really had to, added Boyd Petty.

At the same time? asked Gilbert Petty.

No, sir, replied Grady Petty.

So it could have been either one of you? said Gilbert Petty.

But it wasn’t me, Daddy, and I don’t think it was Boyd. But I think I know who it was that done it, Grady Petty said.

Oh, and who might that have been? Gilbert Petty asked.

I think it was one of them Joslin boys, Grady Petty said. When I was coming back from the privy, I saw two of them boys ridin’ away real quick like on their horses.

And I saw two of ‘em also, Daddy, Boyd Petty said. They was haulin’ a...they was ridin’ fast.

Now, why would the Joslin boys do something like that? Gilbert Petty asked. And how would they know where Paw Bill keeps his manure shovels?

Don’t know, Grady Pettu said. But them boys is real mean.

Real mean, Boyd Petty echoed.

Boys, GilbertPetty said, a big note of exasperation in his voice. I can see that we aren’t going to make any progress in this matter tonight. I don’t know what we are going to do but we will have to wait until after the funeral to decide.

I think you ought to give ‘em both a good hidin’, Paw Bill said, knowing that Gilbert Petty would never lay a hand on his boys.

We’ll have to see, Gilbert Petty said. Let’s just say at this point that I am very disappointed in the both of you. Just to imagine that something like this could happen at your sister’s wake. Your mother and your grandmother are beside themselves. Now, get in the house and get to bed. And don’t ask the ladies for any cake. You hear me?"

Yessir! said Grady Petty.

Yessir! said Boyd Petty.

The boys hurried off and Robbie herself was almost out of earshot when she heard her grandfather say in a whispered chuckle, Did you see the look on French’s face? That pompous ol’ ass.

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The little church where the funeral was to be held had been in the same location for as far back as anyone in the county could remember. It was a small structure having been built out of lumber from trees that were cut and milled on the spot. Legend had it that the churchhouse - in addition to being a place of worship - had also at times served as a refuge for families fleeing marauding Indians in the area.

The building was packed. All of the pews had been filled by mid-morning and there was standing room only. A great many people were bunched outside and looking through the open windows. It seemed that not only were most of the extended Petty and Pike families present but a large portion of the folks in that part of the county also.

Bill Pike would later say that he had never seen such an outpouring of support in his life. It touched him, he said, like nothing in his life up until that time had. So many folks comin’ and helpin’ us mourn the loss of our little ol’ baby girl. Who woulda thought it? Several men pointed out to him that the large crowd was evidence of the standing of both the Pike and Petty families in the county.

An item of concern to the Pikes and the Pettys was the fact that the regular preacher at the church, Brother Anson Carter, was not available to conduct the funeral service. Brother Anson - as he was known throughout the