The Friendship Stones (An Ozark Mountain Series Book 1)

by Alan Black

Mama nodded. “I saw her walk around back. Let’s go see.”

  It was comforting to walk hand in hand with Mama. LillieBeth felt as if she were drawing strength from her mother, getting stronger the farther they walked. She was not sure how Miss Harbowe would react to the broach. Would she see it as a reminder of a thing she wanted to forget or as a long lost, precious gift finally restored to her?

  Mama pulled LillieBeth to a stop. Susanne Harbowe was standing with Reverend James.

  LillieBeth did not understand. Why would a circuit preacher come by two weeks in a row to the same church? He should have been off to any one of a dozen other churches. Mama started to backtrack.

  LillieBeth held her ground, “Mama, we have to tell her.” She waved frantically for Miss Harbowe to come talk to her and her Mama.

  Mama said, “Not now, honey. We need to make sure we talk to her alone.”

  LillieBeth nodded. It was true Reverend James was an ordained minister. He should understand Miss Harbowe had done nothing wrong, that the Braunawall boys forced themselves on her, just as they would have done to LillieBeth had Fletcher not been there to stop them; just like they would have done to Mama if LillieBeth had not been there to stop them, and just like they did to untold numbers of other women because there was no one there to give halt to their evil. But ordained minister or not, he was a man, and sometimes men just did not seem to understand things the same way women did.

  LillieBeth wished Miss Harbowe would come talk to her and Mama, leaving Reverend James behind. Still, no matter how hard LillieBeth wished for it, Miss Harbowe came to them, followed by Reverend James. His handsome features still struck her. She was amazed to see that today, more than ever, he and Miss Harbowe looked like a good match.

  Reverend James smiled. “It is the beautiful Hazkit ladies. It is my pleasure to see you both again.”

  LillieBeth started to speak, but she did not know what to say. She noticed Mama and Susanne Harbowe sharing looks; she could only guess at their meanings.

  Reverend James laughed, “Surprised to see me?”

  LillieBeth nodded.

  “I am surprised to be here,” he said. “I applied to the Methodist Synod to become your permanent pastor and they readily agreed. I am going to stay at a cabin the Grissoms own until I can find a place of my own. How about that?”

  LillieBeth found her voice, “That is wonderful. I could not be happier. Now, please go away. I need to speak to Miss Harbowe.”

  Susanne Harbowe grabbed LillieBeth’s hands. “He need not leave.” Tears welled up in Miss Harbowe’s eyes as she squeezed LillieBeth’s hands in one of her own and grabbed Mama’s hand with the other. “Reverend James asked if he could call on me once he get’s settled in. I have no choice but to tell him he can’t come to call and why.”

  Reverend James’ face clouded up with confusion, but with a little effort, it grew clear again. “Please tell me. If there is something I have done wrong, or some reason you do not think me a suitable match, please tell me.”

  Miss Harbowe sobbed out the words, “I will be as honest as I know how. Until today, I thought only LillieBeth knew of my problem, but I see Clare Hazkit has learned the truth.”

  LillieBeth said, “Mama is a good guesser. I did not tell her, but she knows. You did nothing wrong. It is okay to speak up.”

  Susanne said, “Two years ago I was asked to go for a walk with a young man. It was a pretty spring day and I thought he was a nice boy. He led me astray and before I could stop what was happening, his brother jumped from behind a tree and grabbed me. Between the two of them they held me down by force and each taking a turn, had their way with me.”

  Reverend James’ face clouded up again in anger, but he said nothing.

  “I have prayed to God every day that he would forgive me for my part in the matter.” Susanne said, “I kept quiet for the shame of it and the fear of what people would think of me. Please, I am still afraid of what others would say. I did not consent to anything other than a quiet walk on a spring day. I was forced.”

  Mama squeezed Susanne’s hand tightly. “Go on, Susanne.

  “I am telling you now because you have asked to call on me. As a minister, you should know because you have a position to uphold and you deserve the truth. I give you leave to retract your offer to come courting.”

  Reverend James held his breath, turning red in the face. He looked skyward. Finally he spoke, “Miss Harbowe, I know what happened to you was not all your doing. It was the work of the devil. It is not that I do not care or am cold to your predicament, but you must carry some of the blame. It was your decision to walk alone with a young man. That showed very poor judgment. It is not up to me to judge you or those men in this. God will judge those men. But, I must think of my position in the church.”

  LillieBeth spat through her teeth. “I am ashamed of you.”

  Reverend James said, “Please don’t be ashamed of Miss Harbowe. I realize how hard such a thing can be for a woman and I promise to keep her secret as best I can, since she is not wholly to blame-”

  LillieBeth interrupted with a low voice, “Her? I am ashamed of you. You are a man of God, how can you think yourself better than her? How can you think you should not be seen with her? Jesus was friends with tax collectors and harlots. I do not think you are better than Jesus Christ. And since those same men tried to rape me, and would have if Fletcher Hoffman had not been there to save my virtue, then you should not be seen to consort with me either.”

  “Now, LillieBeth-” he began.

  Mama interrupted. “Reverend James, if you intend to consort only with people who are without sin, then you will be a lonely man indeed.”

  LillieBeth looked the man in the eye, “Please give us a few moments alone with our friend.” She watched the man walk away. It was obvious that he was angry at being dressed down by women, especially when one was barely more than a young girl. LillieBeth wanted to run after him and apologize, but her friend Susanne Harbowe was hurt and upset. She would not abandon her friend. He was not much of a minister if he could not see the truth of the matter.

  Turning back to Mama and Miss Harbowe, she opened the cloth in her hand, “The Braunawalls came by our house this week. Mama and I ran them off, but we took this away from them. We think it is yours.”

  Miss Harbowe gasped in surprise. “It is mine. They stole it when they…I thought it was gone forever. My parents gave this to me when I graduated from school. Thank you. I will always think of you two when I see it, never of those two Braunawalls.”

  Mama said, “We are going to go to talk to Art and Sheriff Grissom. We are going to tell them how they attacked LillieBeth last Sunday and how they tried to attack me.”

  Miss Harbowe’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my Lord, are you okay?”

  Mama nodded. “I would not have been if LillieBeth had not arrived in time and held them off at gunpoint. With what we tell the men folk, they should have enough reason to run those two completely out of the hills. We should not need to tell what happened to you.”

  LillieBeth said in agreement, “We will keep your secret. No one ever need know but us.”

  Miss Harbowe shook her head, clearing the tears and her mind. “You said Fletcher Hoffman saved you, LillieBeth. I will pray for him every day from now on. How did it go with your trying to make friends with that crazy old man?”

  LillieBeth laughed without humor. “Well, he has thrown rocks at me, he has hit me with a switch, he has had to beat up two men because of me, it was my fault he had to kill a man and now he is just ignoring me all together. Other than that, it is going good.”

  Mama said, “Well, that doesn’t sound very good to me, does it?”

  LillieBeth shook her head. “No, but I am younger than him. I will just outlast him.”

  “Would you like me to go with you when you talk to Sheriff Grissom and Art?” Miss Harbowe asked.

  LillieBeth said, “Yes, please. I am sure I can explain their attack on me again. It seems to be
a living thing in my head I cannot get out. I need to tell Daddy. I am not sure I can explain their attack on Mama without getting mad again.”

  Susanne said, without thinking, “Angry. Dogs get mad, people get angry. Oops, sorry. I guess the schoolteacher slipped out there.”

  Clare laughed, “I saw LillieBeth go after those two men when they tried to attack me. I think mad is as good a word as any. My little girl was like a rabid dog…a pretty one, but rabid.”

  LillieBeth blushed. “Well, they made me…angry. And I still get angry when I think about it. Your presence would be such comfort.” She rattled her head as if shaking it would clear the memory. “I had thought I would have wanted a preacher there, but right now I am not sure I want Reverend James to hear. Do we have time before church?”

  Miss Harbowe nodded her head. She looked over her shoulder at Reverend James as he talked with others gathering in the churchyard. “He is just a little confused right now. Do not be too hard on him. He is trying to do right.”

  Mama laughed, “Like most men, he will learn or he won’t. We have plenty of time; it is almost an hour or more before services start.”

  They found Clayton Grissom at the front of the church. Mama signaled she would like to talk, but Grissom waved her back. He climbed up on the back of someone’s buggy and yelled for attention. It took a while for everyone to come over.

  Mama leaned down and whispered to LillieBeth, “Maybe we can talk to Daddy and Sheriff Grissom after this.”

  LillieBeth nodded in agreement. It would be a hard thing to share her experiences about the Braunawalls. She could not do it in front of such a large crowd. She would never dare to embarrass her mother in front of the church congregation.

  Grissom said, “I have been asked to make an announcement as sheriff, not as your neighbor or as your friend. Some of you ladies might want to take your small children away.” He waited a bit before continuing.

  “Many of you know or have heard of a neighbor, Fletcher Marlowe Hoffman. His place is down along the ridge a ways. Yesterday, Hoffman brought a string of horses down to Oasis to sell to a broker come down from Springfield. Just before he made the sale, Trance and Dangle Braunawall attacked and killed him. Now I know Fletcher Hoffman. He wasn’t carrying that old Winchester of his. But, he was ready with his revolver and was faster than both of the Braunawalls put together. I do not know why, but he stopped reaching for his gun in mid-streak. He just sat atop that old mule of his and smiled as those two gunned him down.”

  He shook his head. “Those two worthless sons of the devil shot his old, three-legged dog and the mule to boot. I got there just past too late. I pert near bent my old shotgun barrel over Dangle’s head, but I have both of them Braunawalls locked up in my jail. Tomorrow, I am taking them over to the county seat in Galena to stand trial for murder and then to be hung.”

  LillieBeth gasped. She had not realized she had been holding her breath. She had lost a good friend. He had saved her virginity and probably her life. She wanted to cry, but she could not. It was not that she was done with tears, but she knew why Fletcher had not killed the Braunawalls. He had killed his last man, even at the cost of his own life. She knew in her heart he had thought about what she told him of forgiveness from God and it made him not want to kill.

  Grissom pointed at the bald man from Chicago. “This gentleman is Benny Nicholetta, Hoffman’s cousin, and as far as I know, Hoffman’s only living relative. He has taken immediate ownership of all property and goods owned by Hoffman.” He looked a little disgusted with Nicholetta. “Some of you may have met him already. Since he is in the illegal moonshine business, I do not want to know about it if you have. He has already sold the string of horses Hoffman brought to town and pocketed the money. Speaking of which, we will be burying Hoffman at county expense in Oasis this afternoon.”

  Nicholetta said, “I am leaving town right away, I would already be gone, but I want to dispose of my cousin’s property before I go.”

  Reverend James spoke up, “Won’t you join us for church, sir? And perhaps a picnic lunch afterwards?

  Nicholetta laughed, “Not a chance. I have to swing around up by Springfield and pick up a guy at the hotel, so I am short on time. I need to be back in Chicago by Thursday morning. Besides, I haven’t been into a doxology factory since I was confirmed as a baby into the Roman Catholic Church.”

  Grissom said, “Then get to your speechifying.”

  Nicholetta said, “I don’t have time to climb around rocks in these hills. I want to know how Fletch was living out there and what the land is like.”

  Sheriff Grissom looked at LillieBeth, “Elizabeth Hazkit, I think you are the only person I know who has been at Hoffman’s place in the last twenty years or so. Can you answer this man’s questions?”

  LillieBeth shrugged and said, “Mr. Hoffman lived in a rough built lean-to. It only had a north wall; the other three sides were open. It had a fire pit in the middle. Our mules have a better shed than he lived in. I did not see much of his property, but most of the land I saw was trees and rocks. They are nice trees and pretty rocks, but what land was not covered in trees and rocks had more trees and rocks trying to take back any open space that was not covered in trees and rocks.”

  Nicholetta gritted his teeth, face turning red and he spat out his frustration. “This whole trip is just about a bust. All I’ve seen of these mountains is rocks, hills and trees. I was hoping for a big house on my cousin’s place to push the price up. I have been told I got four hundred and twenty acres that won’t grow much but a few stunted looking ponies, not good for racing, dog food or much more than pulling a half sized milk cart. I don’t know if there are any horses left, or if my cousin was just selling them all. I will sign the deed over to the whole place for a dollar an acre to the first man who can give me cash.” He trudged back to his maroon Cadillac, waiting for the flood of buyers that would not come. It was obvious he expect to have started a bidding auction.

  Every man in the congregation knew that much cash was almost six months labor for anyone. Most earned far less, relying on subsistence farming and hunting to get by. Maybe in Chicago a man went to church with hundreds of dollars in his pocket, but not in the Ozark Mountains. LillieBeth knew her father had left their money at home, except their ten percent tithe to drop in the collection plate.

  Everyman in the congregation also knew that good land went for a hundred dollars or more an acre and even scrub trees and rock went for sixty-five to eighty dollars an acre. At a realistic price for hillside land, Hoffman’s cousin could get almost thirty or thirty-five thousand dollars. That would be ten years earnings for any man who lived closer than St. Louis. Four hundred and twenty dollars would almost be like outright theft.

  Small groups of men gathered, comparing and matching the contents of their wallets. Groups got bigger and bigger trying to combine enough cash to make the purchase. The men did not know the land itself, but everyone over the age of ten knew the value of owning your own property, even if it meant owning it in partnership with others.

  None of the groups, no matter the size, looked as if they would succeed in gathering over four hundred dollars in cash. It did not take long for everyone to realize there was not that much cash in the whole churchyard.

  Nicholetta had a small fortune in land if he had the patience to wait for the right buyer. He might have to advertise the land for sale in Kansas City, Omaha or even as far away as Denver; someone, somewhere had that kind of money. Even here in the Ozarks, the right someone might be able to get a mortgage on the land from a bank, if he went all the way to Springfield to one of the big banks. But that might take time and patience, two things Nicholetta did not appear to have in any measurable amount.

  Everyone took quick glances at the man sitting in his fancy car. No one stared, but everyone took a look. The agreement was the man did not look like he had patience to wait for anything or anyone. He looked ready to leave it all behind and drive off straight to Chicago.

&n
bsp; Grissom said, “One last thing, LillieBeth. I have this for you.” He pulled a small wooden chest from a gunnysack at his feet. He handed it to LillieBeth. “Fletcher had this in his saddlebags. The little note says ‘Elizabeth Hazkit’. I can only say, from a legal perspective, he meant to give it to you.”

  LillieBeth had seen the chest before. It had been sitting on the cast iron stove in the middle of the room in the white and green house. She had seen it when she looked through the window on the first day she had gone to see him.

  “What is in it?” she asked.

  Grissom said, “I am curious, but it wasn’t mine to open. I hope you don’t mind me watching you. It would please me to see you open that chest.”

  LillieBeth sat on the ground, disregarding any dirt getting on her new dress. She held the chest in her lap. It was worn and old, scuffed and chipped, beat up and scraped almost like Hoffman himself. She ran her hands over it. Tied around the top was a string. A small paper with her name on it was twisted up in the string.

  She wondered if he had written her name for another reason and never meant to give her the box. He certainly did not plan on being murdered when he went to town. Maybe he had only planned on getting her a hair ribbon or something and the note was a reminder. Maybe he had not meant for the box to be hers. Still, if Sheriff Grissom said it was hers, then it was hers to open.

  She carefully untied the string. She slipped it and the note into her pocket. The latch to the box was open. She flipped the top up and for the first time in days she smiled.

  “That is what I have been waiting for,” a voice said.

  She looked up into the face of Roy Turner. “Hello Roy. How’s the trigger finger today?”

  Roy flexed his finger. “Just fine. That smile was worth waiting for. Are you going to show us what brought it on? I tried so hard yesterday and couldn’t get you to smile.”

  She nodded, “Sure, I will show you, but that smile was not for you. Why would I smile at a boy who could not even win a shooting contest against a girl?”

  LillieBeth grinned and turned the box around. There, inside, were five little, egg-shaped, brown Jasper stones with white rings around them. She laughed, recognizing every stone, even the one that had bruised her backside. Hoffman had thrown that one far into the field. He must have gone looking for it after she left. He had accepted and saved the stones as treasure, just as he surely had begun to treasure her friendship.