Angel of the Cove (7 page)

He stepped into the kitchen, glanced at Granny, and nodded. “I left it in the smokehouse. I'll dress it for you before I leave.”

“Then you'll come back and help us eat it tonight?” Granny grinned at him.

Anna laughed at the flush in Simon's cheeks. He turned to her and chuckled. “So you think that's funny, Miss Prentiss? Well, just for that, I'll be here.”

“I didn't doubt that for a minute, Reverend Martin.” Anna tilted her head to the side and a grin tugged at her lips. She walked to the door and picked up the basket that hung on a peg on the wall. “This man looks like he had to chase that rabbit down a creek, Granny. You feed him, and I'll go gather the eggs for you.”

She glanced over her shoulder before she stepped outside and chuckled at how the flush on Simon's face had deepened. Swinging the basket in her hand, she fairly skipped across the backyard to the henhouse. She didn't know when she'd ever felt so good in her life.

A few minutes later she stepped out of the small shed that housed Granny's few chickens. Simon, his arms crossed, was leaning against the side of the building. He straightened when she exited and smiled. “So you think I look like I've been wading in a creek. And after I spent all morning trying to put food on your table.”

Anna let her gaze drift over his dirty pants and shirt. “Then I suppose I should thank you instead of making fun.”

“You should if you don't want me to think you're an ungrateful woman.”

His eyes twinkled as he spoke, and the way he looked at her made her heart skip a beat. Then she remembered what had happened last night. Her eyebrows drew down across her nose. “I'm not ungrateful, Simon, but I am sorry about the way I acted last night. And I'm especially sorry you had to see me like that.”

His smile disappeared, and he shook his head. “Granny told me the two of you had talked about it this morning. Don't think about it again. Try to focus on what's ahead of you here, not what's behind you.”

She nodded. “I'm going to try to do that. I don't want to let Granny down.” She took a deep breath. “And not you either. I wouldn't want to disappoint you.”

His dark eyes bored into her. “You could never disappoint me, Anna. If I can help you in any way while you're here, let me know.”

“I will. It's good to have a pastor who is also your friend.”

His shoulders slumped, and he exhaled. “I hope…” Surprise flickered on his face as he gazed past her. Before she could ask what had startled him, he sidestepped her. “Matthew, what are you doing here?”

Anna whirled to see a young boy walking around the side of the cabin. His black hair hung over his ears and down his neck. He looked as if he hadn't had a haircut in a long time. His dark eyes flitted from Simon to her and then back to Simon. He held a basket in his hand.

“Ma sent Granny a fresh loaf of bread.”

The boy moved closer, and Anna thought something about him looked familiar. Simon nodded. “That was mighty nice of your mother. Granny's in the kitchen. Do you want to give it to her, or do you want me to?”

He glanced at the back door. “Thanks, but if it's all the same to you, I reckon I better give it to her myself.” He took a step toward the house but stopped and turned back to Simon. “Ma said if'n I ran into you I was to thank you kindly for bringing Pa home last night.”

Anna sucked in her breath. Now she knew why the boy looked familiar. He was Luke Jackson's son.

Beside her, Simon spoke. “I was glad I could help. How's he feeling this morning?”

Matthew shrugged. “Not good, but I reckon he's gonna live.” He turned an expressionless face toward Anna and stared at her for a moment. His intent gaze suggested he was trying to make up his mind whether or not she belonged in the Cove. Maybe he and his father had already had a good laugh about how she had run like a scared rabbit the night before. On second thought, she decided that couldn't be. This boy didn't give the appearance of one who found too much to laugh about. Whatever he was thinking, his somber gaze told her his life hadn't been easy. It was as if an invisible veil covered his features and blocked the escape of any inner emotion.

With a glance at Simon, he stepped to the back door. “Granny, it's Matthew Jackson.”

Anna waited until the boy disappeared into the cabin with Granny before she turned to Simon. “He's the son of the man who was here last night?”

Simon nodded. “Yes.”

Something akin to despair spread through Anna's soul. The look in Matthew Jackson's eyes haunted her. She felt as if she'd just encountered an old man in a young boy's body. “How old is he?”

“I think he's almost ten,” Simon said. “Matthew is a good boy. No thanks to Luke. It's Naomi, Matthew's mother, who deserves all the credit for taking care of her family.”

“Did she send that bread to Granny to pay her for taking care of Luke last night?”

“Yes. Folks in the Cove pay their debts with whatever they've got.” Simon stared toward the door Matthew had entered and frowned. “And knowing how Luke doesn't see to the needs of his family, I expect Naomi's payment was a sacrifice.”

Anna stared in the direction of Simon's gaze and remembered how Luke had frightened her the night before. She couldn't imagine any woman living with a man like that or allowing her children to be subjected to a drunken father. Now his wife and son had given her a different perspective on their family, and this made her wonder about the
other people who lived in the Cove. What would they be like? Would they accept her or would they study her with the same wary expression as Matthew Jackson had?

If she wasn't accepted in the close-knit society, it certainly wasn't going to be for lack of trying.

I
wondered where you'd gone off to.”

Anna looked up from the table where she sat making drawings and notes about the herbs on the wall and glanced over her shoulder at Granny. “I was trying to remember everything you've told me, but it's all running together in my mind. I'm afraid I'm a hopeless case when it comes to your herbs.”

Granny eased into the chair next to her and set three glass jars on the table. She pulled a root from one of them and laid it in front of Anna. “No, you ain't. You already know more than you did 'fore you come here four days ago.” She pointed to the root on the table. “Now, which one is this?”

Anna pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes, and examined the root carefully. “Um, I think that's sweet gum.”

Granny's face broke into a big smile. “That's right, darlin'. See, you gonna learn all my yarbs and how to use 'em. Don't you fret none.”

Anna smothered the giggle she felt bubbling up inside her each time Granny referred to the herbs as
yarbs
. Granny's mountain speech might be different from what she'd heard all her life, but if she hoped to fit in with the people in the Cove, she'd better learn their ways. She pushed her hair back from her face and glanced at Granny. “I hope I can get them all straight and remember what they're used for.”

Granny dismissed her fear with a wave of her hand. “Well, we
gonna start with somethin' easy today. We gonna gather sweet clover blooms. Now I know you can tell them apart from anything else.”

“Clover? Oh, yes, I know what that looks like. We had lots of clover at home. But what are we picking it for?”

Granny stood up and stretched her back. “I make my whoopin' cough syrup out of the blooms. I make a big batch this time of year jest in case we have little'uns get sick this winter. Ain't nothing worse than seein' a child a-chokin'.”

Anna closed the journal and jumped to her feet. “I'm ready. Let's go now.”

“Well hold your horses, missy. I ain't as spry as I used to be.” She pointed toward the bedroom. “Go git your bonnet 'fore we go. I don't want you to come back in with a freckled face 'cause you been out in the sun too long.”

Anna ran to do as Granny said and hurried back to the kitchen where Granny waited with two large baskets in her hands. She held one out. “Take this here basket. We gonna need both of 'em.”

Anna pushed the back door open and hopped down the steps to the yard. “How far are we going?”

Granny chuckled. “Look in front of you, darlin'. We jest goin' right behind the house.”

Anna stared in wonder at the field that stretched from Granny's henhouse toward the mountains. Red clover blooms dotted the area and waved in the breeze. It looked like a sea of red covered the field all the way to the base of the mountains in the distance. Why had she not noticed this before? Maybe because it was hard to take in all the beauty that surrounded her in the Cove. Each day she saw something different she hadn't noticed before.

The sight of the clover field and the mountains in the background took her breath away. “Granny, you've got the makings of your cough syrup right in your backyard. I wouldn't have thought about it being so close.”

Granny studied the field before her. “I learnt a long time ago God gives us lots of things we don't see 'cause we're too busy looking in
the wrong places. Sometimes He's got a real blessing right under our noses.” Granny pointed to the blooms. “Come on, darlin'. Let's us go pick us some clover.”

The blossoms brushed against her legs as Anna stepped into the clover patch. Within minutes her basket was half full, and she straightened and stared into the distance. She'd often heard Uncle Charles speak of how the mountain folks used home remedies, but she'd never given a lot of thought to where they came from. In just a few days' time she'd come to understand that these vast forests, fields, and mountainsides were covered in wild plants just waiting to be turned into drugs for easing pain.

“Granny, did you say your mother taught you all about herbs and how to use them?”

Granny nodded. “I reckon we jist kinda handed it down from one generation to another. I got me those books that are on the table in the front room, and I studied them a lot too. You need to read 'em while you're here. They can tell you a lot.”

“I will,” said Anna.

Granny put her hands in the small of her back and stretched. “For hundreds of years people have been taking care of each other with the plants that grow all around them. God provides for His people in lots of ways, and He shore took care of the mountain folks when He put yarbs in these here hills.”

“I want to learn everything you can teach me, Granny. I have so many questions you may get tired of answering.”

“Naw, I won't. Glad to oblige.”

Anna grabbed another handful of clover and tossed it into her basket. “For instance—can you gather your herbs anytime in the year, or is there a special time for harvesting?”

Granny shook her head but didn't look up from picking the blossoms. “Oh, no, child. You gotta be careful 'bout when you git yore roots. February and March be the best time, right 'fore the sap begins to rise. Most of 'em ain't no use after that. Some of 'em like sassafras and poke turn poisonous as they git bigger. Have to watch out for that.”

“I'll remember that if I can figure out what they look like.” Anna mulled over Granny's words for a few minutes while she continued to pick the clover. “Even if I ever did learn how to tell one plant from the other, there's the problem of knowing how much of one to use.”

Granny nodded. “That's right. Rememberin' to use a pinch instead of a handful of a yarb can mean the diff'rence in life or death.”

A shiver ran up Anna's back. “There's just so much to learn.”

“And you won't know it all by the end of the summer. It takes a lifetime of practice. So jest take your time.”

“I will, Granny.”

“Good.” Granny tossed another handful in her basket and picked it up. “I reckon we have 'bout enough to start with. Let's get on back to the house.”

Anna followed Granny as they traipsed back toward the cabin, but she couldn't get their conversation out of her mind. Since arriving, she had listened carefully to all Granny's instructions and had written them in the journal she'd brought with her. But in one summer she could only hope to gain a tiny bit of knowledge about mountain remedies. Like Granny said, it would take a lifetime of practice. With a sigh Anna stepped through the back door of the cabin and set her basket of clover on the kitchen table.

An hour later they stood over a boiling pot of water set on top of the woodstove. Anna watched closely as Granny dumped the clover blossoms in the pan. “What do we do now?”

Granny handed her a spoon. “Stir all that while it boils. We want all the juice to seep out of them flowers. Then we gonna drain 'em, add honey to the water, and bottle it. Ain't nothing better for whoopin' cough. But we'll pray the good Lord will protect us this winter so we won't need this medicine.”

It didn't take long for the flowers to boil. Just as Granny sealed the last bottle, a sound from the front yard caught her attention. Wiping the perspiration from her face, she headed toward the front door. “That sounded like a wagon pullin' to a stop outside. You finish cleanin' up here, and I'll go see who's come a-visitin' this time of day. Then we'll git us somethin' to eat.”