by Roxe Anne
“Nothing about this cemetery looks fun to me, Katie Canfield!”
The boys begin laughing. Terrified, I will my feet to move toward the huge structure. My body is chilled to the bone just thinking about what might be lurking behind it.
“Close your eyes, Missy. When you open them, you’ll see your surprise!” Katie instructs.
I close my eyes anticipating the worst. My heart is clean up in my throat. I’m trying to take deep, slow breaths, but it isn’t helping. After what seems like a lifetime, I slowly open first one eye and then the next. There isn’t a soul to be seen. Darkness is suffocating me. The only sound I hear is the whispering of the wind coming from all directions. I can’t stop shaking, and I am so hungry I could eat catfish bait!
I collapse beside the tall tombstone; placing my hands inside my shirt to keep warm. And then I begin crying until there are no tears left to fall onto my damp shirt.
When my senses return and I get up the courage, I begin searching for Katie and her mean friends. Their playing pranks on me has gone too far this time. Maybe they are watching me squirm from behind another tombstone; snickering and carrying on. I’ll show them. I’m not going to cry like a baby again so they can make fun of me for the rest of my life!
Katie has played her last prank on me. I’ll show her I’m not going to be such an easy target from now on; if my lily white skin isn’t glowing in the dark for Dracula to find!
Sometimes Katie convinces Billie to help her hold me down. They tickle me until it hurts. And when she babysits, she turns the light to the upstairs off as I’m climbing the stairs. I swear she loves hearing me scream.
But this is the last straw! The next time old Uncle Sammy tries bumping into her, I’m going to make myself invisible. She’ll have to find someone else to come to her rescue.
“Katie…Charlie, are you guys out there? This is not funny. Please! I will do anything you want. I will do the dishes for two weeks and make your bed. Come on. I’m cold and hungry!”
No one answers. Katie and her friends left me out here to die. I can’t see my hand in front of my face. Which way did we come in? I’ll never find my way out! I lie down by the nearest tombstone, curl up into a fetal position and put my arms inside my shirt. If I go to sleep and make it through the night alive, I will get even with her tomorrow!
• • •
When I wake up, the sun is shining bright through my lace curtains. The male cardinal is sitting on a branch outside my window again. If I had the window open, I could almost touch him. The heat from the sun feels wonderful beating on my face. Today is going to be a glorious day. I am going to get even with Katharine Canfield if it is the last thing I do!
When I arrive in the kitchen for breakfast, Mama is there waiting for me. I’m sure she’s going to want all the details of last evening. And I want to know how I got home. Mama looks tired which means someone is in big trouble. She didn’t even curl her hair with bobby pins as usual. And she looks madder than a raccoon with rabies!
“Missy, how did you end up at the cemetery last night? Why weren’t you home before dark? You know I’m too tired after working all night to be playing these games with you kids. What in the blazes got into you? You better have some answers young lady, and I want them now!” Mama begins crying.
Mama always cries when she is angry. Someone is about to get it and get it good. From the look on her face, I best begin talking and fast. Believe me; I’m not going to forget any details!
I begin with the baseball game and keep on talking until I got to the part about Katie kissing Charlie. I especially don’t want to leave the kissing out. Katie is going to be in horse manure right up to her elbows for kissing him!
Uncle Frank leans in closer to me when I begin talking about Katie kissing. He sure is a pervert. He’s almost as bad as Uncle Sammy. Maybe this is the reason they are best friends.
After I finish telling Mama about Charlie, I kind of figured he wouldn’t be coming around the house for a while to help Katie pull pranks on me. And poor Katie, she’ll have to walk to babysitting from now on. She won’t be sitting in Charlie’s shiny 1957 Chevy for quite a while. She will be putty in my hands!
Mama glares at Katie. “You know Missy is afraid of the dark! How could you do this to your sister, Katharine Canfield?”
“Charlie and the rest of the kids thought it would be funny to watch Missy try to find her way out of the cemetery. We all know she’s a baby about everything. And, Mama, Missy needs to get over her fear of the dark!”
“You’re grounded for two weeks. You aren’t to leave the yard, and absolutely no one is to come over to visit you. Don’t you even think of using the phone! Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Mama, I understand.”
“Oh, and Katie, you can do Missy’s share of the chores!”
“But, Mama….”
“Katie, I don’t ever want to hear about you kissing Charlie while babysitting again. That isn’t in the job description, and it isn’t what you are getting paid for!”
I wish I could have handed out the punishment for Katie instead of Mama. I would have added cleaning the bathrooms, scrubbing windows, and ironing all of Uncle Frank’s and Uncle Sammy’s boxers.
Uncle Frank begins looking at Katie strangely after the cemetery prank. Mama keeps telling him he ought not to be looking at Katie that way. This has caused quite a few arguments between them lately.
Since Mama grounded Katie, she had to miss out on Charlie’s 17th birthday party. She heard all the details from one of her friends who stopped by the house when Mama wasn’t home. Charlie took a freshman to his party as a date. The girl has real long, curly auburn hair and a figure like an hour glass. Her family is one of the richest families in Grand Detour. Katie went to her bedroom and cried all night. She didn’t even come down for supper. Of course, Mama kept her word and made Katie come down to do the dishes. Immediately after, Katie went back to our bedroom. I almost feel sorry for her.
Uncle Sammy is trying more than ever to brush up against Katie’s chest area. He must have heard from Uncle Frank about her kissing Charlie. I pretend to look the other way when he is around. Maybe Katie will think twice about needling me again!
• • •
Just as I anticipate, I begin having nightmares about being back at the cemetery. There are no stars shining or a bright moon to light up the sky. The air is brisk and damp. A man with no teeth just grins at me from behind a tombstone. The man’s bald head glows in the dark. An empty grave has a tombstone engraved with my name on it. Someone keeps calling my name. “Missy…Missy it’s too bad your Mama didn’t arrive in time to save you. It didn’t take long for my hands to squeeze the life out of you. Now you can join your dead daddy. Come with me!”
Just as the man reaches out to pull me towards him, I wake from my dream. The nightmares continue a couple times a week. Every time the toothless man reaches for me, I wake up. It takes hours for me to close my eyes in fear of resuming the dream.
• • •
Katie told me that once, when Mama sent Uncle Frank to pick her up from babysitting, she saw him peeping through the living room window at her and Charlie. She said he grinned so much he looked like a pumpkin at Halloween. Old Uncle Frank never said a word to her all the way home. He just drove in silence with an evil look on his face. One day Uncle Frank will slip up and Mama will see just how evil he is!
Several weeks later I had the same dream. Mama tells me in the morning I went into her and Uncle Frank’s bedroom and began hitting him as hard as I could. She said Uncle Frank wanted to pop me right there on the spot. Lucky for me, Mama convinced him I was sleepwalking. She had Uncle Frank carry me upstairs to bed without waking me. She told him it wasn’t good to wake someone when they are sleepwalking.
Billie and Katie got a tickle out of me smacking Uncle Frank. I thought they would never stop laughing. Uncle Frank turns toward me and gives me an evil look.
“I should have just left you out in the dark c
emetery for someone to bury you, Missy Canfield!”
Funny thing is I never had the dream again after I hit old Uncle Frank.
Chapter Four
Mama and Uncle Frank go out to the local bars quite often. At first, they are happy; even seem like teenagers; kissing and holding hands. Mama always gets dressed up in the clothes Uncle Frank buys her. He brings her presents of jewelry, shoes, new clothes, and skimpy, silky nighties. Uncle Frank always tells Mama he wants his girl to be the prettiest girl in town.
Mama says Uncle Frank’s pampering makes her feel like a princess. I’m sure he has the money to purchase extravagant presents; he isn’t paying any rent or buying groceries.
I overheard Uncle Frank tell Mama once that he wants her to look like the nude portrait of the beautiful woman he purchased hanging in their bedroom. He even bought her a fancy chenille bedspread to match the color of the background of the picture. Just the thought of old Uncle Frank saying this to Mama makes me want to puke.
After a few months of bliss, Mama and Uncle Frank leave the house to go out for dinner and drinks. By the time they return home, they are completely drunk. They can barely walk. The minute they get out of the car they begin screaming and cursing at each other so loud, people in the next town can probably hear them. They are calling each other horrible names; some I haven’t ever heard before. At least I never heard Mama call my Daddy those names!
“Frank, you dirty bastard; I hate you! You make me sick. Don’t ever embarrass me again in front of my friends. Roger always puts his arm around all the girls when he has been drinking. He doesn’t mean anything by it. He is one of my best customers at the restaurant. Leave him alone. You didn’t have to push him into the pool table!”
“He was kissing your cheek and hanging all over you. You are supposed to be my girl, not some slut! If I ever see Roger touching you again, he will lose that arm he puts around your neck. And if I see him kissing you, he might turn up dead!”
“I don’t belong to you or any man! Do you understand me? I can take care of myself. I have been taking care of the kids and myself since Dan died.”
“I’m sorry, Dot. I love you. Please forgive me?”
“I’ll forgive you this time, but don’t you ever touch Roger again.”
They leave for bed laughing and carrying on as if nothing happened. I sat at the upstairs register staring down into the now dark kitchen; wondering if Uncle Frank really would kill Roger.
Katie, Billie, and I hate the mornings after Mama and Uncle Frank go out. They sleep until noon and we aren’t to disturb them. In fact, Mama told us to stay in bed until they get up. We learn to read a lot on those mornings. I sure can’t wait until school starts!
A couple of days later, Uncle Frank brings Mama a fuzzy, brown stuffed teddy bear with bendable arms and legs. It has a beautiful big crimson red bow tied around its neck.
“Dot, this bear is to remind you of how much I love you when I’m not here!”
Uncle Frank makes Mama melt like an ice cream cone in the desert. She plants the biggest smooch on him I ever did see.
“Oh, Frank, I told you I forgave you. You sure are a big teddy bear yourself. I love you, Frank Billings!”
Yuck, I don’t know what Mama sees in a man who calls her names and doesn’t pay rent. If she wants a teddy bear so badly, maybe us kids can buy her one.
• • •
Every few weeks when Mama has a weekend off from bartending and cooking at Dixon Inn and Victory Bar & Gill, we get to go camping at Castle Rock. It is only a few miles away. Castle Rock is a huge rock that overlooks the Rock River. Some say Black Hawk used to sit on top of the big rock to watch for settlers. There are even caves at the top. I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life.
Trailers sit at the bottom of Castle Rock which people rent for the summer. In front of the trailers is the most fantastic view of the Rock River. Sometimes you can even see deer drinking in the river. Camping there brings back wonderful memories of when Daddy was still alive.
On the other side of the hill at the bottom of Castle Rock, there is Castle Rock Restaurant and Bar. It has the best fried catfish for miles, except Mama’s. On the weekends they have live entertainment; mostly country western bands. Mama and Uncle Frank are frequent visitors of the bar just like Daddy was before he died. The bar is where Daddy introduced Mama to Uncle Frank and Uncle Sammy. I sure wish he hadn’t done that.
My Aunt May, Uncle Jimmy, and twin cousins Rita and Bobby who are both twelve, all camp at Castle Rock on and off during the summer months. Their trailer is only three doors down from ours.
As soon as we arrive at our campground, we set up the volleyball net. Unfortunately for us kids the adults have to have a few beers first. They stumble all over each other trying to hit the ball. When the women fall, they sit on the ground giggling like a bunch of teenagers.
The next morning, they all complain they hurt. They barely move. I think part of their problem is they have hangovers. We kids could have told them they were too old to be acting like children.
Before breakfast, Mama and Uncle Frank set cane poles out all up and down the river bank. They hold up their poles with branches that resemble forks. Every few hours Mama and Uncle Frank check to see if their poles still have bait on them or if they have a fish on the end of their line. This is the lazy way to fish if you ask me. Once in a great while they pull in a catfish or bullhead. If Uncle Jimmy is lucky, he might even have a turtle at the end of his line. Turtle is his favorite food to eat and our favorite entertainment if he lets us play with it first.
My cousins, Rita and Bobby, brought along huge flat pieces of cardboard for all of us so we could go sledding on a steep grassy hill. Billie, Rita, Bobby, and I climb to the top of the steep hill and use our cardboard pieces as sleds. The higher the grass, the faster we fly down the hill. Once we wear the grass down to the dirt, we move to a new location. The grassy areas are great for the first couple days, then it becomes way too short and the cardboard doesn’t slide. We just go down the hill like an inchworm.
“Hey, I’m tired of sledding. You want to climb to the top of Castle Rock and carve our initials with today’s date?” Billie asks.
We all go in our trailers and put tennis shoes on to climb the steep rocks. Once we reach the top, I sure take my shoes off right quick. I want to feel the warm sand between my toes.
“Hey, anyone want to play cowboys and Indians?” Billie asks.
I am usually the Indian. They get the caves for their hideouts.
We all pretend it is in the early 1800’s. The Indian scouts sit on the highest part of the rock scouting for covered wagons and riders on horseback. Sometimes we pretend the boats on the river are canoes.
We can see for miles up and down the Rock River and through the woods on the steep cliffs. Billie always wants to be a cowboy. All of us kids begin running and jumping from one steep rock to another not worrying about how many hundreds of feet it is to the bottom of Castle Rock.
Katie calls us all over to a smooth rock. “Hey, you guys want to hear the story of Chief Black Hawk first?”
Billie is the first to arrive. He sits down next to her quickly before anyone else can. “I want to hear about Black Hawk!”
Katie has seen a lot of westerns at the movies and knows a little bit of the local history about Black Hawk from her teacher at school. She begins telling us about the great chief.
“Chief Black Hawk was born right here in Illinois; in an Indian village near the mouth of the Rock River. He was born a Pottawattamie, but later became a chief of the Sacs and Foxes. Some say he was born a chief. He only had one wife whom he loved and cherished. He told everyone she was a good wife. Most Indians never talked about their women.”
“Katie, I don’t want to hear the mushy stuff. I get enough of it from Mama and Uncle Frank. Just tell us about the fighting!” Billie says, wrinkling up his face.
“Okay, but I kind of like the idea Black Hawk only loved one woman. It is romantic!
”
Leave it up to Katie to think of romance. Her favorite movie is Beauty and the Beast. Uncle Frank and Mama ruined romance for me. I never want a boyfriend.
Katie continues. “Black Hawk left the reservation in Iowa with a thousand women and children. They had to cross the Mississippi River to return to Illinois from Iowa. Black Hawk wanted his people to return to their old hunting grounds and cornfields. His tribe set up camp near the mouth of the Kishwaukee River a few miles from Stillman Creek, not far from Grand Detour. Upon returning, they terrorized the settlers along the Rock River Valley. They killed men, women, and children in their homes. The settlers began making forts, but they weren’t fast enough. This led to the fighting of the white man and Indians.”
“Didn’t the white men have any caves to hide in?” Billie asks.
“Not that I know of. Do you want me to tell you more?”
“Did they scalp any of the white men, Katie?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see. Now let me finish my story before I forget it.”
“Major Stillman and Bailey, neither of whom had ever seen any fighting, were sent with two battalions of mounted volunteers of 275 men to spy on the Indians. Some mounted volunteer soldiers who had enlisted within the last thirty days and had never seen war, were preparing their evening meal. A group of three Indians were observed coming over the hill by some guards. It was rumored the Indians carried a white-flag to negotiate peace. I also think that some of the soldiers had been drinking.
The soldiers captured the three Indians, taking them prisoner. One of the Indians was shot while trying to escape, the other two got away. Another group of five Indians was sent by Black Hawk to spy on the first group.
When the shooting began and shots could be heard, the second group of Indians retreated back to Black Hawk’s camp. A dozen soldiers shot and killed two of the fleeing Indians. When the remainder of the Indians returned to their camp, war hoops were raised. Black Hawk and hundreds of his men rode after the soldiers. The Indians increased their war hoops and rode to meet the terrified white men who retreated to Stillman Run to alarm the other soldiers. Black Hawk’s braves were close at their heels. When they returned to camp, Captain Adams tried to reorganize his soldiers who were already retreating.
