Once Upon a Misty Bluegrass Hill (3 page)

Down the paint-
flaking steps she went on the
heels
of her dogs, to break into a run when she hit the cool wet green grass.  Her lungs instantly filled with freedom and fresh fall air.  The
pups
nipped at her flapping shirt laughing up at her.

Mission accomplished.
 

If
Jolene
was gone by the time Aunt Paula got up to stop her
to complain
and grouch, she would be safe for those few hours. 

On freedom
'
s feet, she passed by the smattering of houses that sprinkled the countryside
.
M
ost
of the house
s
sported
pots filled with early spring flowers.
 

At
Old Man Jenkins
' place Jolene
picked up a few apples
from
the road and stuffed them into her pockets.

She nearly ran the whole mile and a quarter to her family farm.  She was not sure how she could survive Aunt Paula
and Travis
without her visits home to see Storm.  She
surely would have run away by now except that it would likely put her too far away from her family farm and Storm. 

And she fully intended to get it
all
back someday
though she didn't yet know how
.

When she arrived at the back
pasture
fence, behind the new big
brick fancy
house put up by the new owners who bought her family farm when her parents died, she stood up a
nd looked across the misty blue-
green hills.
Her breath caught.  Was there anything more beautiful than this?  Green, green grass with the mist rising. Just like in a novel.  You just
knew
something magic
al
was going to happen.

"
Yoo
-
hoo, Storm,
"
she called out softly.  Her faint whistle hit the wind and kept going.  A few seconds later the
young big gray
horse
pranced out of the mist and toward her, delicately neighing his greeting.  Finnegan and Oliver
plopped
down in the grass next to her
panting from their run and smiling as if they too felt the ease of the world
.

"
So how is my big boy then?
"
 

Jolene
held out the
apple
for Storm
.  His lips gently pulled the apple from her hand and he gave her a soft blow of approval.

Finnegan and Oliver
shot up
and pointed their long noses
to
the air
sniffing the wind
then began to bark
sharp and furious
.

"
He is just fine except he dus
'
na want to be ridden.
"
  A dark accented voice touched her from
somewhere
within the mist behind Storm.  Her dogs barked harder
and sharper
dancing on their paws
.  Jolene squinted into
the mist while
slo
wly backing away from the fence. 
Storm reached her and neighed softly
against her retreat
.
  Apparently Storm was not concerned about the strange accented voice behind him.
 

A tall man with hair as dark as coal
from her granddaddy
'
s
coal
mines
emerged from the mist wearing jeans and a blue knit sweater tha
t was just the color of his eyes
which
were the exact color of her mother
'
s morning glories
.  Jolene had never seen anyone so fine in her entire life.  His skin was light, but not pale and his
dark purple-blue
eyes
were fringed with lashes that should have been given to a
woman
.  The image of the Angel
Gabriel
from St. Mary
'
s Church filtered through her
head
. 

Her father
'
s magic shirt had not worked on this creature.
 
Even though i
t had worked on repelling Travis so far….

She patted Oliver
'
s head. 
"
Hush now and sit.
"
  The dogs sat down but kept their eyes fixed on the approaching Angel
Gabriel
.  He smiled and it was like the most beautiful sunrise, lighting up the world around him.

A glowing light framed him
making Jolene believe for an instant that he must be an angel
.
 

Her
Mamma
and
Daddy
had sent an angel.

Jolene shook her head to clear the nonsense.  He was not an angel even if he looked like one.

He must be one of the new owners of her family
'
s farm.

He was sat
a
n ... the devil who took everything.

No wonder the magic shirt didn
'
t work!

Her heart contracted then moved to cold hatred.  He was the one who took everything that was left, everything her parents had worked for, even Storm.  He was the one that Aunt Paula had sold out to for nearly nothing.  He was the reason she lived in a run-down shack with nothing of her old life except Finnegan and Oliver.

It was his fault she had to live with
Paula and the horrible Travis
.

The lovely-
hated man came closer, his eyes glowing and sparking with mischief and humor. 
"
I canno
t'
get him to come t
o
me at all, but I see he has found a fine friend
h
ere at the edge of the pastu
r
e
.  I don
'
t want to break him too hard, but he almost leaves me no choice.
"
  H
e winked at her and smiled wide. 
Jolene gasped and stepped back further from the fence.  Her dogs growled low.

"
I could ride him just fine.
"

The man reached the fence and parked his leg and one elbow on the post. 
"
Could
yer
now?  And how might that be beings I consider myself an expert horseman?
"

"
It
'
s probably the funny way you talk.
"

He laughed a rumbling pleasant laugh. 
"
I thought horses were known to like the Irish lilt, at least all the Irish horses did.
"

Jolene felt herself flush around her meanness
and
his glowing scrutiny. 
"
You should have stayed with the Irish horses in Ireland then.  Storm doesn
'
t like foreigners.
"

"
Doesn
'
t he now?
"
  His glowing azure colored eyes narrowed, sizzling her with their intensity. 

Jolene didn
'
t know why she was so angry and bitter because surely it wasn
'
t
this man's
fault her parents were killed.  How
ever the fur
y
bubbled up higher and higher in her heart. 

"
And I don
'
t like no Irish neither.
"

His eyes hit her intently and her heart accelerated with each passing second. 
"
Well, little miss, yur looking a little Irish yourself with that red hair.  Beyond that, you have a colorful mouth on you, so you do.  And you seem to know a lot about this horse
.  Apparently,
he even has a name other than
"
Big
Gray
Monster
"
does he?
"

"
That is a dumb name.
"

His mouth went flat and his eyes smoked
violet-
blue. 
"
You need a good spank
'
in to talk to an adult like that
.  How
old are you little miss?  Where are your folks?
"

"
I am 18, and my folks are here.  And t
hat is all I have to say to you.  G
o home to Ireland and let us be.
"

"
I think you and I need to have a talk with your folks, so
we
are going to take a walk to wherever you live.
"

He started to climb the fence and Jolene
'
s bitter anger disintegrated into panic.  Her dogs barked fiercely but that didn
'
t stop the beautiful Irishman from scaling the fence.

"
Run
pups
.
"
  Jolene turned and started to sprint with her dogs bounding after her barking their warnings back to the Irishman. 

"
You got away this time missy, but mark my words, I
'
ll find out where y
er
live and have a fine talk with your folks about the way you behave yerself, with no ma
nner
s at
'
all.
"

Jolene
stopped at the end of the road
and brushed back her hair that had escaped the pony tail
and
stuck out her tongue
. 
"
I hope Storm tosses you right on your butt and you break your neck!
"

With a drumming heart
she flounced away from him and began to run again in case he decided to give
a determined
chase.

Behind her she heard his rumbling laughter.

"
Mark my words missy, I
'
ll be
finding
yer.
"

Chapter 2

Mountain women have lived through
grave
hard
ships, facing
their
problems in
isolation.  They bore
and
rais
ed
children and
grew
their own
food. 
They have developed their own Mountain Mamma medicine.  They live by faith and a lot of superstition.  They endured
through
life in crowded
coal camps,
covered in black dust.  They found happiness in the eyes of their husband’s alive after each day and their children. 
They nursed babies
and mended broken
hearts. 
They lived through tremendous mental and physical hardships
.  Mountain women
carried the burdens of the world, and the hopes for future in their songs
. 
They lived by principals few could match.

Jolene frowned at her made-up face in the mirror. 
"
I don
'
t want to go and smooch up with no stuffy old men at a party at the Derby.  I just want to go watch
with my Coke from the infield…if I can get a ride
and sneak in
.
"

Travis scowled from
the doorway to the bathroom
. 
"
I agree…she don
'
t need to fuss up to bunch a o
'
l men.
  I don
'
t like this Paula.
"

Jolene shivered and her stomach roiled.  She refused to meet
Travis'
gaze in the mirror. 

He was so creepy.

Aunt Paula popped the side of Jolene
'
s head hard and Jolene yelped but stayed in place lest she get burned with the curling iron
Paula was using on her hair
. 
"
Well, we are runn
'
in out of money and if you don
'
t go I
'
ll sell those pooches of yours
.  They are
eating us out of house and home.
"