Halley (13 page)

“I’m burning on Tyree land, which is fitting—Old Man Tyree ain’t treated us much better than the Jesus man. Nobody’ll ever know it was you and me done it.”

“No.”

“Oh no, not miss good-goody. She wouldn’t dare do nothing wrong. Now I guess you’re going to tell on me.”

“If you stop, I won’t,” Halley promised. “If you don’t take any more of his signs, I’ll keep your secret.”

Elmer pushed her up against a tree. His knee shoved between her legs. “Miss Halley Owenby,” he whispered. “Thinks she’s too good to walk to the spring with me. Laughed at me for asking.”

“No, I didn’t. Some of the other girls laughed, but I didn’t. And it wasn’t you, I swear. I didn’t walk with
anybody
.”

“See if I’m good enough for this,” he said and thrust himself up against her. Then his mouth was on hers.

Halley flung her head from one side to the other. “Stop!” she screamed. “Stop.”

“Scream all you like, and I’ll do whatever I want. Your great big dog ain’t here to pertect you now.”

“Mr. Tyree’s dog is. He’s right up the trail. He’ll come, and he’ll kill you. Blackie!” she screamed. “Blackie! Come!”

“Hush!” Elmer put one big hand over her mouth and knocked her head against the tree so hard she saw stars. “Shut up!” he looked up and listened, his eyes fearful. To Halley’s surprise and relief, a volley of barking erupted and it was coming closer and closer.

“Damn!” Elmer said, dropping his hold and tearing out toward the ravine.

Halley ran in the opposite direction but had only gone a few feet when Blackie appeared. Halley squatted. “Git ’im!” she said, pointing in the direction Elmer had run. “Git ’im!”

Even as she spoke, she heard the crashing through the underbrush. Blackie heard it too and took off in that direction. Immediately, Halley was on her feet again. Then she was on the trail and running toward Belton. She was crying with both fear and relief and could not seem to stop.

Then the sound and the smell of the mill were in the air. Minutes later she was in town, and she could see Shropshire’s Store across the street and down a piece. Halley stopped in front of the Methodist Church and sat on a low stone wall along the sidewalk. She had to compose herself before going to the store. If she told what had happened, it would be all over town before the day was out. By tomorrow, the story would be that Elmer actually did rape her. No matter what she said, from then on, that story would follow her. If she lived to be ninety, the main thing the people around Belton would have to say about her was, “That there’s the woman that got raped by that Logan man.”

Well, they would never be able to say that about her because nobody was ever going to know anything happened.

15. A Surprise

“Hello,” someone called.

Halley looked up to see Richard Bonner. He pulled his car alongside the sidewalk and stopped. Folded spreads and spools of yarn were piled high in the back seat.

“You have your own route now,” she said.

Nodding, Richard got out, and sat down beside her. “Can I add you to my list of tufters?”

Halley shook her head. “My grandmother’s still sick.”

Richard put an arm around her and pulled her closer. He smelled wonderful—clean and nice—but she was nervous from Elmer’s attack. She pulled away.

He smiled. “Anything I can help with?”

“Nothing,” Halley said. She folded her arms. She could hardly think. His right hand touched her shoulder. How different from Elmer’s rough touch. I’m safe, she told herself. He’s not like Elmer.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” she said.

At that moment Halley spotted a familiar truck with a house on back. “The picture woman is still here,” she said, glad to change the subject. “I figured she’d left months ago. What on earth is keeping her around so long?”

“I think she wants to show the rest of the country what it’s like to live here in the mountains,” Richard said.

“You mean show what hicks we are.”

“No, I don’t think it’s like that for Theodora. I think she studies people the way some people read books or raise crops.”

Richard’s hand was on her shoulder again, and Halley was astonished at her own reaction. She wanted him to kiss her. Her entire body was a fever of wanting. In that moment she understood why girls “got in trouble”—why Bootsie let things go so far with Stan. Frightened, she pulled away, and this time she stood. She wasn’t ready for this.

“Right now I’ve got to go ask Tate Shropshire to buy my mother’s wedding band.” She stopped, wishing she had thought before speaking.

“You’re selling your mother’s wedding ring?”

Halley pulled out the ring and the drawing of Robbie’s foot. “Mama wants me to get rubber boots, candy, and a toy for my brother’s Christmas, and we don’t have any money. I’m afraid Tate Shropshire will never pay enough for all that. But I’ve got to ask.”

“I think he’d do it for me,” Richard said thoughtfully. “Why don’t you let me handle it while you wait outside.”

“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Halley answered, looking at the hand that had been on her shoulder. The nails were clean and trimmed. The fingers were muscular and strong.

“You didn’t ask. I’m offering. Come on.”

He opened the door with a bow and Halley got in. She felt about as graceful as Sukie pulling her foot out of the mud.

Halley rode with Richard to the store and waited on the bench out front. He was back in only a few minutes, handing her two boxes and a bag. “Here you are, the boots, a top, and some candy,” he said, “and here’s your change.”

“Ten dollars!” said Halley. “I can’t believe he gave you this much!”

“I’m a regular customer,” he replied. He did another bow. “Anything else I can do for you?”

“No,” she said, still looking at the money. “I’ve got to go in and buy some things for my grandparents.”

“And I’ve got to head out on my route,” Richard said. He took her hand and squeezed it. “Don’t mention to Shropshire that the ring I sold was yours.”

“I won’t,” Halley said.

“And it’d probably be best to leave the shoes and things on the bench while you go in.”

Richard squeezed her hand once more and got in his car. With a wave he was gone. Halley watched him drive away.

If only she thought like Dimple, this might be her way of escaping the Franklins. Being married to Richard wouldn’t be bad, she thought. He probably made a good living. He had a car. He was good-looking.

“That
can’t
be your boyfriend,” someone said. Halley turned to see one of the town girls she’d seen on her first day in Belton. The girl looked at Halley up and down, from her faded head scarf down to her muddy shoes.

“And why not?” Halley asked, looking right back at the girl. She even managed to wrinkle her nose the same way the girl did.

With a toss of her head the girl walked away and Halley went inside the store. It smelled a lot like the rolling store where she traded in Alpha Springs. And it was almost as crowded with merchandise. The dimness was lit by a number of light bulbs hanging on cords from the high ceilings. A couple of men warmed themselves by the big pot bellied stove in the center of the store, and three women were doing their shopping. A young man in an apron was stacking canned goods on a shelf.

Tate Shropshire leaned over the counter next to the cash register. “How do, young lady. Can I help you?”

“I need five pounds of coffee,” she said.

“Your face looks familiar,” said Shropshire. “I can near about say your name.”

“I’m Halley Owenby,” she told him.

“Oh yeah. Your father was Jim Owenby. Sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks,” Halley said stiffly. “How much will I owe you?”

The noon whistle sounded as Halley started out. The mill workers began streaming out of the building, headed for the gate. The ones who lived in the mill village would rush home to eat. Some would go to the store to buy moon pies or candy bars and soft drinks. The rest, like her mother, would try to find a spot of sunshine outside and eat something from home. If Halley hurried, she might speak to Kate. She needed to tell enough about Elmer, so her mother would know to watch out for him. Even though he was likely to be too afraid of the dog to try anything on Kate, she had to make sure.

Halley picked up the bag with the boots, top, and candy, and headed for the gate. A truck passed her and parked just short of the gate, so Halley would not be able to see her mother until she got past the truck.

“Hey, Halley!” called Bootsie, who was in the crowd headed home for lunch. She waved her sister and mother on and stopped to give Halley a quick hug. “Everything okay, honey?”

Halley nodded and held up her packages. “Just getting Christmas for Robbie.”

“Good!"

It was the first time she had seen Bootsie since the day Stan ran them off the road. She stole a look at Bootsie’s waist and whispered, “Did you for sure lose the baby?”

Bootsie nodded sorrowfully. “For sure, not that I had any doubt. I was with my mama when she lost one. I’m telling myself that I’ll have more babies. Gid’s babies.”

Halley squeezed her hand. “I’m glad we’re going to have you in the family.”

“Same here,” said Bootsie. “But I gotta hurry or I won’t have time to eat.”

Halley turned back toward the mill gate. The truck was still there, but the motor was running. At that moment the passenger side door slammed, and the truck pulled on down the street a short distance. It stopped and the motor turned off.

Halley looked at the people in the yard around the mill. They were collected in groups of twos and threes, eating lunch. Her mother was not among them. She looked again. Surely her mother had not stayed inside with all the lint. She’d promised Halley to always eat outside if weather permitted. That at least gave her thirty minutes of fresh air.

Halley went right up to the gate guard. “I’m looking for my mother, Kate Owenby,” she said.

Without turning, the guard pointed down the street to the truck.

Puzzled, Halley really looked at the truck for the first time and realized it was familiar. It was Bud Gravitt’s truck. Then she realized that the person who’d just gotten in on the passenger side was Kate. Even from where she stood, Halley could see her mother’s face. Kate was smiling. But it didn’t make
her
feel like smiling. In fact, she was angry. Her mother didn’t have time to buy Robbie’s gift, but she had time to carry on with Bud Gravitt in his truck. She probably thought Halley would be through shopping and gone before noon.

All the angry, hurtful things she wanted to say boiled up inside her. That Kate had betrayed her father’s memory. That she was shaming them all by sneaking around with a man this soon after both their spouses had died.

Finally, she turned away and headed for the trail back to the Franklin place. Her feet felt like lead. She did not even think of Elmer until she reached the place where she had last seen him. There was no sign of the boy or the dog, and all traces of the smoke had vanished.

16. Bud Gravitt Returns

Halley spent part of Friday writing and rewriting her letter to Martha Berry in Rome, Georgia.

She wrote it three times before she was satisfied. She made sure to mention that Gid Franklin was her uncle. She told how she’d longed for an education beyond the eight years she had.

The letter was finally as good as she could make it. All she had in the way of an address for Miss Berry was the city and state. Maybe the post office in Rome would know Miss Berry and her school.

Halley debated with herself about a return address. Without an explanation, she could not ask Miss Berry to send a reply to Clarice Calvin. She finally decided she had to use her real address and take a chance that she or Robbie could get to the mail every day ahead of Pa Franklin.

Before she lost her courage, Halley planned to take the letter to the mailbox along with pennies for postage. Then she had another thought. What if the mailman had not come when Pa Franklin returned from visiting sick folks? He was sure to stop at the mailbox. Best to wait. She put the letter in her pocket.

Sure enough, Pa Franklin was back well before dinnertime.

“How was ever’body?” asked Ma Franklin as her husband backed up to the stove.

“Tolerable. But I hear tell that oldest Logan boy is laid up.”

“Elmer? What’s wrong?”

Halley’s heart leaped up even before he answered. She hadn’t spared the boy a thought since it happened. She had told the dog to get him, but she figured Elmer would climb a tree or fight the dog off. And too, thoughts of her mother and Bud Gravitt had crowded out most other worries.

“Elmer’s bad off,” Pa Franklin said. “Got chewed up something fierce by a pack of dogs, he says.”

“A
bunch
of dogs?” said Halley.

“That’s what the boy said. Didn’t know any of the dogs, he says. Says he run up on ’em in the woods behind their house, and they all jumped ’im. Nobody else seen any strange dogs around. Sounds fishy to me.”

“And he’s bad off, you say?” asked Ma Franklin.

Pa Franklin nodded. “Doc Graham had to sew up an arm and a leg and a big place on his face.”

Halley gasped. Elmer had done wrong, but she hadn’t wanted to cripple him. It was easy to understand why he didn’t tell the truth. Then he could be in real trouble for trespassing and building a fire on someone else’s property. Of course, if Pa Franklin found out what Elmer had been burning, the boy would be in even more trouble.

On Saturday Bootsie came home from the mill with Kate. She was like sunshine in the gloomy house. “Kate’s gonna help me make my wedding dress,” she announced after saying her hellos and giving Robbie the ball she had brought for him.

Halley promptly took the ball. “Not until you go outside,” she whispered.

“It ain’t going to be no real fancy wedding,” Bootsie went on, “but I wanted a new dress, and I know Kate can make dresses prettier than Sears and Roebuck on that sewing machine of hers.” Much to Pa Franklin’s disappointment, Kate had moved the machine to the kitchen the day before.

“Don’t brag until you see what I turn out,” Kate said, but Halley could see she was pleased. She had once loved sewing. Pa Franklin grunted from the table where he was waiting for Halley to set out dinner. “The Bible says take no thought of what ye shall wear.”

Halley almost laughed, thinking about
his
clothing.

“Well, the Bible’s right, like always,” Bootsie said. “And I ain’t taking
worried
thought. I’ll bet God is just tickled pink ever’time he sees us human beings taking happy thought about something good. And there ain’t nothing but good in me and Gid getting married. He loves me and I love him.” She laid her fabric on Kate’s sewing machine and pulled off her coat.

“You sure are handy with deciding what God likes and don’t like,” Pa Franklin said.

Bootsie laughed and began setting out plates as if she were at home. “Not near as handy as you, Mr. Franklin! Sounds as if you and me was heaven meant to be kinfolks.”

Without waiting for a reply, she turned to Halley. “Wish I could ask you to stand up for me, but my cousin’s going to drive us to Calhoun for the wedding. Me and Gid figured we’d have a better chance of keeping it secret that way. We’ll stay a couple nights and then come here.”

“We’d be glad to have you,” Ma Franklin said before her husband could say anything about more mouths to feed.

“When Gid goes back to the CCC, I’ll go back to my sister’s.”

That part of the plan, at least, got a big nod of approval from Pa Franklin.

Halley put the beans, potatoes, and cornbread on the table, and they sat down to eat. While Pa Franklin yawned, Bootsie and Kate discussed exactly how they would make the dress, picking up the Sears and Roebuck catalog every now and then to look for details on sleeves, collars, and length. Pa Franklin was snoring in his rocker by the time the table was cleared for laying out fabric.

Kate and Bootsie had even more fun cutting the dress pieces. Halley was a little envious of the enjoyment the two of them had together. It was as if Kate were the same age as Bootsie, and Halley was older than either of them.

“Take some of my canned soup to the Logans,” said Ma Franklin, when Halley was ready to go clean the church.

Halley wanted to refuse but knew she could not. All the way to the Logan house she thought of things she might have done differently when Elmer had her pinned against the tree. But there was no plan that would have both saved herself and prevented his injuries.

The Logan house was just like the family—unkempt. The back porch had completely fallen in. Enough of the ruins had been cleared away for a path to the back door, and the rest lay where it had fallen. The front porch was headed for the same fate, and one side was already sagging too much to use.

One of the smaller children discovered her arrival. “Company!” the child yelled and threw open the door.

Lillie Mae Logan met her. Far advanced in pregnancy now, she had on the same dress Halley had last seen her in. It was very short in front because the waist rode above her belly. The hem had not been repaired.

Halley handed her the two jars of soup. “From Ma Franklin,” she said. “How’s Elmer?”

Lillie Mae looked at the soup eagerly. “Hurting pretty bad.”

Halley looked toward the bed where Elmer lay but hardly recognized him. His face was swollen and bandaged, and so were both arms and legs. The bandages were bloody. The main thing she noticed, however, were his eyes. They were bright with rage. “Git out!” he said.

“I’m sorry you’re hurt,” she told him. “But it’s not my fault.” She went very near his bed and spoke in a low voice. “I hate it about the dog, Elmer. But I have to tell you, dogs have always favored me and my family. They look out for us, even when they’re not our dogs. They’ll hunt people down who mistreat us.”

Halley turned to Lillie Mae. “You might want to ask Carrie Gowder and her granddaughter, Opal, for help. They sure helped my grandmother.”

“Git out!” said Elmer, and Halley left.

Sunday came, and with it Bud Gravitt. He arrived early when Kate was pulling apple pies from the oven. She obviously had been expecting him, for she had made egg custard too, ignoring her father’s complaints about the waste of good eggs and milk. She set both pies and custard in the warming oven.

“I figured I’d get here early and drive you all to church,” Bud said.

“Thank you just the same, but one of my deacons allus picks me up when the weather’s bad,” said Pa Franklin.

“Robbie and me will ride with you,” Kate said. “Ma’s not strong enough to get out in the cold yet, and Halley will need to stay here and cook the rest of dinner.”

“I hate for Halley to miss church,” Ma Franklin said from her rocker.

“It’s okay,” Halley replied, and it was. Except for missing the Calvin girls, Halley was glad to stay home. She was also glad not to be a witness to her mother and Bud Gravitt out in public as a couple.

“I don’t know what I’d do without this girl,” said Ma Franklin. “She cooks and washes and irons, and she don’t ever have a day off.”

Kate looked from her mother to Halley as if only now realizing the truth of the words.

Soon those going to church left, and the house was quiet. Pa Franklin must have really gotten fired up with his preaching. It was a good bit past noon when the trucks pulled up outside.

A few minutes later they sat down to the finest dinner Halley had ever seen on the Franklin table. Kate had killed two chickens that morning for Halley to fry. Bud Gravitt was suitably impressed. He took pains to compliment each thing he suspected Kate had prepared. For once Pa Franklin paid no attention to Robbie or his manners. Instead, he went to great lengths to point out Kate’s faults.

“Kate’s not much of a farm hand,” he said right after the blessing. “Never was, as far as that goes, but Jim finished ruining her. He was bad to let her set up in the house when hoeing or picking was to be done.”

“Jim had the right idea,” said Bud Gravitt. “Lots of farm women break their health working crops and trying to run a house all at the same time. I’m not saying a woman shouldn’t help out in a tight, but as an ever’day thing, she’s got enough work keeping the house going.”

Later Pa Franklin said, “Seems to me a woman can go too far in school for her own good. Just to show you what I’m talking about, Kate here can add up a column of figures long as my arm,
in
her
head
. Always thinking she knows ever’thing.”

Bud shrugged. “Man or woman, I never did see no advantage to ignorance.”

Just before apple pie and custard were served, Pa Franklin said, “Kate’s as tight as a gourd when it comes to money.”

This was comical, Halley thought, coming from Pa Franklin. Who could be tighter than him? And these days when did Kate ever have any money to be tight with? All she had was the ten dollars Halley had given her from the sale of her ring. So far she had not given that to Pa Franklin, but that was probably only because he didn’t know she had it.

“A penny saved is a penny earned,” Bud Gravitt said.

“But she can throw away sometimes too,” Pa Franklin went on, “just like when she was giving away groceries to the Logans.”

“There’s a time to save and a time to give,” Gravitt said.

Pa Franklin looked at Bud Gravitt sharply before turning his full attention to his pie.

As soon as Bud left, Pa Franklin began to criticize
him
.

“His ears are so big, I expected him to commence braying just any minute. Come to think on it, he has teeth like a mule, too. Course I reckon that don’t stop him from talking pretty.” Kate did not respond, so Pa Franklin began to needle Halley.

“How you like your new stepdaddy, girl? You think you had it hard around here, wait until you’re cooking, washing, and cleaning for the whole Gravitt mob. You’ll be wishing and praying you was back here.”

Little as she liked the idea of her mother and Bud Gravitt as a match, Halley could not bring herself to side with her grandfather.

“Are you going to marry Mr. Gravitt?” asked Robbie.

“Not as far as I know,” said Kate.

Halley could not help noticing a smug look on her mother’s face that gave the lie to her words. Two letters arrived from Bud Gravitt that week. Halley received no mail at all.