The Humble Road

By Hilda Austin

Jude is a backwoods lad who has lived a hardscrabble life under the rule of his abusive father. Though his beloved mother passed away years before, he still remembers her teachings and faith in God. One day, he sets out into the unknown with little more than the clothes on his back, leaving his little sister with a promise of returning for her when he finds employment. His venture takes him into an unknown world, full of twists and turns, leading him into a future that only God could create.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638745556

Book preview

Chapter 1

Glimpses of the blue skies of October could be seen through what was left of the dense foliage of the oaks and beeches along the deer trail. He moved slowly but steadily ahead, taking care to avoid tripping over tree roots. The little creek came into view, gurgling amid worn rocks. He stepped cautiously on to the half-submerged stones to reach the large boulder midstream.

He lifted his pack from his shoulder, placing it beside him on the sun-warmed rock. The beauty surrounding him was breathtaking: leaves golden and auburn, some scarlet. Inhaling deeply, he smelled the rich earth. He listened to jays raucous and sassy as they scolded him. He imagined Native Americans once trod here in these same woods. He thinks he would have liked to have lived during those ancient times in this very place.

The autumn sun heated his head and shoulders. There’s a hint of the frost to come in the breezes. As he rested, he thought of his earlier youth. His mama, a tiny woman browned by the sun, always busy, always moving, had brown eyes that twinkled when she was happy with you and could pierce a hole through you when you misbehaved. Mostly, he remembered feeling her love for him and his little sister. His pap was another matter. He would take a strap to you real easy if you disobeyed him.

Life hadn’t been so bad during the early days. It changed when he turned twelve. His mama took sick and died in less than a week. Doc said it could have been her heart, but he wasn’t sure. Anyway, that was the ending of things as they had been. He had taken over caring for his sister and everything else that needed to be done inside the house and out.

His pap became even more sour and made life unbearable. Then one evening, his pap got all cleaned up and took the horse into town. He was gone for two days, and Jude wasn’t sure if he was coming back.

On the third day, his pap returned with a woman riding behind him. Jude and his sister, Clara, stood on the porch and stared. His pap brought the woman up to the rickety porch steps and waited while she huffed breathlessly up the steps. His pap said, This here is Dora. She’s gonna be living here now, and I want you to respect her and mind what she tells you. With that, the couple entered the old run-down house, leaving Jude and Clara in a bewildered state of mind.

Jude took Clara’s hand and gently led her inside. Dora looked all around, her lip curled as if she smelled something rotten, saying, I reckon I’ll have to give this place a good scrubbing before I do anything! She looked at Jude. Boy, get some wood in here and a couple of buckets of water to heat. Jude did as he was told. His father mumbled something about seeing to the horse and went to the barn.

Clara, eyes round, stared at this new person when suddenly Dora startled her with What are you starin’ at? Show me where the lye soap is. Clara went to the old cupboard in the corner and opened the top doors. Humph, I can see I have my work cut out for me, the woman said. She added, Well, don’t just stand there. Get me some rags! as Clara hurried to do the task.

That night after a supper of beans and fried fatback, Jude and Clara were sent to the loft. Clara whispered from her pallet, I don’t like her. I wish Mama was here.

Jude, trying to be the strong one, said, We will just have to put up with it for a while, Biddy. Clara’s mother had given her the pet name, saying as a baby, Clara looked like a chick with her fluff of yellow-gold hair.

Now Jude stretched as the sun faded a little, the breeze kicking up. He shouldered his pack and started stepping on the stones to dry land. He doesn’t know where he’s headed; he had no set plan. He was used to hard work and was confident he will find employment soon. He promised Clara he would come back for her as soon as he gets settled. She felt comforted by this because Jude never broke his promises. You could trust him with anything.

By seven that evening, Jude had walked the eight miles to the dusty little settlement of Walker’s Springs. Swirls of wood smoke lifted straight up in plumes to the darkening sky. Two hounds barked their hoarse warning. One sat down abruptly, scratching at a nuisance flea. Jude walked on, his eyes focused on a distant mark. He wanted to make it to Sandtown, which was roughly twenty-five miles ahead. He figured he could sleep in the hayloft at Old Jake’s barn. Jude had come to the store when he was eight years old, and Jake cut off a piece of chewing tobacco and gave it to him. It tasted sweet at first, just like candy. His mistake was to swallow it, and after twenty minutes, he was so sick he had a hard time standing up. His pap picked him up by his bib overall straps and tossed him onto the sacks of feed in the wagon, calling him dumb.

It was dark by the time Jude left the dirt road and crossed through an alley where the barn sat. He looked inside, his eyes adjusting to the dark. He could barely make out a rough ladder to the loft. Climbing up, he could smell the sweet scent of the hay and hear the cows moving about below.

Jude took off the pack and tried smoothing it to use as a pillow. He laid back and looked at the stars peeking through the warped boards of the barn. His thoughts were mostly about what jobs he would be good at. He wanted to get as far as he could from his pap and the woman. He felt guilty for leaving Clara behind, but there was no way he could take her with him. He prayed that she would be strong and try to stay out of the way of his pap and Dora.

Jude didn’t sleep much. A barn owl was perched silently in the window of the hay mow looking for scampering mice. It let out a shriek, the sound bringing Jude straight up from his nest in the hay. The bird flew away noiselessly as Jude tried to burrow for warmth in the scratchy bed. Before daybreak, he arose and, brushing off his old coat and pants, hoisted the pack over his shoulder. He climbed down the ladder and, after looking all around, hitched his pack to a more comfortable position and started off down the dirt road toward parts unknown.

Midmorning, a wagon slowed beside him carrying a farmer, his wife, and three small children. They were taking chickens and eggs to the store to trade for lamp oil and sundry items. Jude climbed aboard, thanking the farmer, and settled on a pile of empty feed sacks. The children, two girls and a boy, looked him up and down. Jude stared back and made a funny face, causing the little girls to giggle.

Where you headed? the farmer asked after spitting tobacco juice over the side into the weeds.

Don’t rightly know, just travelin’, lookin’ for work, answered Jude.

The farmer said, Bein’ it is wartime, there ain’t much work anywhere I know of, ’cept maybe farmwork.

Jude responded, I can do that all right.

After a few more miles, the farmer pulled into another little village with a small general store with several horses tied to hitching posts. There was also a small feedstore beside it with old men sitting on the porch. Dogs greeted the wagon, barking half-heartedly out of habit. Jude jumped down, thanking the farmer for the ride. Hitching his pack in place, he continued his journey toward the bigger settlement farther up the road, Mount Hope.

After another half hour of walking, he pulled an apple from his pack and ate it as he plodded along. The day was sunlit, the air crisp. Jude began to leave doubt behind as he imagined various scenarios of ventures ahead. This was horse country; maybe he would work on a farm, taking care of horses. Or maybe he would find work at a mill. There were many mills in this area where farmers had their wheat milled into flour and corn was ground into meal.

With his feet and back aching, he decided to stop for a brief rest. He neared a white farmhouse with chickens scratching in the dirt around tree roots in the yard. A clothesline out back bore an assortment of shirts, pants, and sheets drying in the sun. He saw a woman come out on the front porch, sweeping the boards free of leaves and road dust. She paused as she saw him. He politely asked for water, and she beckoned him to come sit on the porch while she gets it.

She brought the water and two biscuits with butter. He thanked her, and she sat in a chair, fanning her face with her apron. Two kittens appeared and ran across to her skirts and hid. You been travelin’ a long ways? she asked.

He told her, About fifteen or sixteen miles or so. He swallowed a bite of biscuit, adding, Lookin’ for work.

The woman told him, Well, you’re about the fifth person passin’ by sayin’ the same thing. My man is ’way off on the railroad. He was plenty lucky to get on with them.

Jude took a drink and, wiping his mouth, answered, Maybe I’ll be lookin’ for work there too. He stood up, thanking her for the water and biscuits.

She asked him to wait a minute as she went back inside. She returned with a packet of biscuits and leftover fried potatoes. Here’s something to keep you goin’, and I wish you luck.

Jude said gratefully, I really thank you, ma’am, and I won’t ever forget your kindness.

She watched him walk down the road out of sight. He was just a boy, hair grown long into his collar, his eyes clear blue, looking innocent somehow. Her own son Johnny, only ten now, would someday be following in this boy’s footsteps. There was no sense in dreaming of him enrolling in an apprenticeship or trade school. There was no money for that.

By late afternoon, Jude was tired and dusty. He left the dirt road and slipped down the weedy bank and crossed a shallow creek. He decided to rest under an enormous beech tree. It didn’t take long for him to drift off to sleep.

He dreamed of men chasing him with dogs. He roused up, rubbed his eyes, and heard only a quail calling from down in a brushy hollow. As he was still rubbing his eyes, he heard horses on the road in the distance. Thinking it may be a wagon by which he could hitch a ride, instead, he saw two young women riding bareback, both with long auburn hair. Jude ducked behind the tree, not wanting to be seen for some reason unbeknownst to him.

The older of the two girls called to the other, wanting to race. The girls giggled and shrieked as the beautiful horses galloped down the road, raising dust clouds billowing in their wake. Jude shouldered his pack and continued on, hoping to find a barn to sleep in come nightfall. Trudging along with his thoughts no deeper than his surroundings, he caught a glimpse of an animal, a dog perhaps, following in the