“Jimmy Lee!!!” Myrtle’s voice had risen to a bellow.
Howard Graves shot a naked appeal to Howard Knight. “Isn’t there anything you can do?”
Howard Knight thought for a moment, then sighed. “All right. Jimmy Lee. Yew tell her yer comin’ out, but yew don’t want anybody to get hurt, so she needs to meet ye down by yer house. Change shirts with me, and gimme yer hat. I’ll take off runnin’ out the back, and she’ll think it’s yew, bad as her eyes are, and she’ll probly will take off after me. I kin outrun her, and yew caint, so I’ll jist lead her far enough away so yew all kin git on away. Knowin’ her, she’ll git good and lost. Got that?”
Jimmy Lee nodded.
“And make sure yew keep Lamentations quiet till she gits out of earshot.” He lowered his voice to an inaudible threat. “Stay off the trail. Cut back and confuse the path, ye hear?”
Jimmy Lee nodded again. “I did that comin’ up, too.” Geneva knew they were discussing ways to keep her cousins and Howard Graves from ever finding this place again.
Howard, her Howard, her beloved, had not looked at Geneva since he had entered the room. Now he glanced in her direction. “Geneva’s gonna be hungry. The rest of yew had a good breakfast.” Quickly he gathered up some warm bread, beef jerky, and something from a tin. These he put in a bag, and, eyes downcast, handed it to her. “There’s willer bark in there. About a tablespoon to a cup o’ water. Steep it five minutes. Or yew kin just chew it.”
She did not move, but merely looked at him until he lifted his eyes to hers. His face was a mask, a perfect blank; his eyes looked like dull, black plastic buttons. She searched for the life behind them, desperately, but futilely. Slowly she took the bag from him.
“Now holler at her,” he commanded
Jimmy Lee took a deep breath and hollered. “Myrtle, honey, darlin’! Yew know I love ye! And I aim ta marry with ye!” He looked apologetically at Geneva. “I don’t mean that, Miss Geneva. I’m jist tryin’ ta git her ta stop this shootin’,” he whispered. He turned back to the window. “I’m acomin’ out! But yer a bad shot, and I don’t want nobody in here gittin’ hurt if yew go shootin’ at me! And I don’t want ye shootin’ at me neither! I’m atakin’ off right now, out th’ back, and I’ll meet ye t’home! Y’hear?”
Sally Beth put her hand on her hip and narrowed her eyes at Jimmy Lee. “Shame on yew, Jimmy Lee! No wonder that poor girl is shootin’ at yew. Yew got no business telling lies like that, and then flirtin’ your head off with Geneva. Hold still, Geneva,” she continued without a pause and produced a can of hair spray from her copious bag. “I just need to spray yew.”
Jimmy Lee looked contrite but said nothing.
“Well, I’m gone,” said Howard Knight. “Git out quick as ye kin,” and he raced out the back door, slamming it hard behind him. Lamentations growled. Jimmy Lee flung himself at the dog and held his muzzle. Through the window, Geneva saw a streak in the forest. It became a woman running around to the back of the cabin. Looking out the back, she saw her disappear into the woods.
“Okay,” said Jimmy Lee. “She’s gone. If we high tail it now, we’ll make it back afore dark. Come on!” he urged, flinging open the front door and racing for the cover of the trees.
Eleven
They traveled in a more or less direct line within the cover of the deep woods for about an hour, then Jimmy Lee subtly changed directions, taking the travelers in large loops and switching back and forth several times. Sometimes he crossed nearly nonexistent trails, then followed them for brief periods before he left them again and cut through wild territory. Geneva admired his ability to confound the others, for no one but she seemed to notice that they were not headed in a direct route toward civilization. She did not mind. The more confused their trail, the safer Howard’s secret. She followed Jimmy Lee and Lamentations quietly.
Howard Graves did not speak to her much, perhaps mindful of her illness, she thought, perhaps because he sensed her desire to keep silent. Or maybe he knew what was in her heart. Sally Beth and Lilly lingered along behind, bickering but little. Everyone seemed to be wrapped in his or her own thoughts as they descended the mountain.
About mid-afternoon it began to rain. Sally Beth produced a little plastic hat out of her magical purse; the others were forced to slog on miserably through the downpour. Geneva did not care about the physical discomforts; her heart pained her so badly she hardly noticed the water streaming down her face and shoulders. With all of her soul she wanted to go back, back to the waterfall, to the mint bed, to Howard’s arms, but her feet carried her forward, farther and farther away from him, down this mountain, and away from her only hope of happiness. Down toward civilization, away, away. She moved through the weeping sky, dreading more and more the end of her journey.
Howard Graves occasionally expressed concern for her; he feared she would chill, would be fatigued, would stumble on the streaming trail, but she ignored him, merely walking on with her head down and her shoulders hunched.
The rain let up, but then a deep, dank fog rolled in, swallowing each of them into their own gray cocoons isolated from one another save for their voices, which called back and forth eerily in the mists. Sally Beth and Lilly caught up, instinctively fearing to lose their way. Jimmy Lee halted until everyone had gathered closely.
“There’s a little, narra trail right cheer, and I’m afeered it’ll be slip’ry. Innybody skeered o’heights?”
“I am,” came Lilly’s timid voice. She looked little and miserable, shivering in the damp cold, peering fearfully ahead into the mist. A sheer cliff loomed up darkly on their left, and a thin trail wound beside it. To the right of the trail, the mountain dropped off into nothing but mist.
Sally Beth spoke up. “She really is a fraidy cat, Jimmy Lee, and sometimes she just freezes up in high places. I cain’t do a thing with her. If I lead, will yew and Howard help her?”
Geneva realized they were shielding her from responsibility. All they expected of her was to cling to the cliff and get herself across the treacherous part. She felt bad about not being more helpful, but too enervated to offer more. She stood silently.
“Jimmy Lee, you didn’t bring us up this way. Why do we have to go across this at all?” questioned Howard Graves.
Jimmy Lee looked away. “This way’s a little quicker, and I figured we’d better git on down in a hurry. This bad place don’t last long. Mebe thirty feet. Hit widens out agin real quick.”
“Okay,” sighed Howard. “You lead Lilly, and I’ll come behind her. Geneva, will you be all right? Can you make it?”
She felt irritated at his solicitousness. “Of course, Howard. There’s nothing to it. The trail’s at least two feet wide. Lilly’s just got a problem with heights. Just make her close her eyes.”
Sally Beth adjusted her voluminous purse and started off confidently, but slowly along the rock face into the mist. The trail was not particularly dangerous; it was level and wide, and smooth enough to traverse safely if one did not step too close to the edge. Geneva kept one hand on the rock wall to her left and peered off to her right into misty nothingness. There was no telling how far this precipice dropped off. Moving closer to the safety of the rock face, she raked her foot through some loose shale and stumbled slightly. She caught herself before she fell, but a rock and some loose dirt had rolled into her shoe.
“Just a minute, Sally Beth, I’ve got a rock in my shoe,” she said, standing on one foot and trying to rake it out with her forefinger. “I can’t get it. Here, hold on to me while I take my shoe off.”
“Cain’t it wait?” asked Sally Beth. “It cain’t be much farther.”
Jimmy Lee halted. He was holding one of Lilly’s hands; Howard held the other. When they stopped, Lilly disengaged her hand from Jimmy Lee’s and, turning to Howard, buried her face in his chest. His arms came up automatically, wrapping tightly around her, and holding her close, he leaned her against the solid rock. They all stood quietly while Geneva lifted the irritated foot, but L
amentations, who brought up the rear, growled suddenly and frightfully, the hackles raising.
“No, it’s sharp, and it won’t take a minute,” Geneva replied, unlacing her shoe and removing it. “Here, you get it out. This fog is making me dizzy. And, oh, I’ve got dirt all over the bottom of my sock. Lamentations, don’t worry. I’m just taking a rock out of my shoe. Don’t get all bent out of shape.” Standing on one foot, she handed her shoe to Sally Beth and bent to dust the gravel and dirt away, then carefully she straightened and reached for her shoe again.
Her eyes looked up, then gazed three feet beyond Sally Beth’s shoulder. She gasped and froze in horror, for there, looming out of the mist, seemingly as tall as a mountain, stood a massive black bear, up on his hind feet and clawing at the rock face just beyond Sally Beth’s little turquoise plastic hat. The creature opened his ugly red mouth and roared.
Sally Beth whirled, catching sight of the shaggy, wet menace. Within an infinitely small space of time, she screamed, threw Geneva’s shoe at the bear, and ran hard into Geneva, who fell back onto Jimmy Lee, who fell over the side of the cliff.
General panic followed as Sally Beth and Geneva, screaming and insane with terror, crowded onto Lilly and Howard. Upon seeing the bear, Howard fled, yanking Lilly after him, and raced back along the trail in the direction from which they had come. No one stopped running until they had reached the safety of the forest and had scattered in all directions. Geneva and Sally Beth each climbed a tree, and Howard and Lilly cowered in a hawthorn thicket. They waited five, then ten minutes, hearts pounding, but the bear did not appear. Lamentations had vanished. No one wanted to mention Jimmy Lee’s name.
At last, Sally Beth broke the silence, her contrite voice drifting through the trees. “Sorry about yer shoe, Geneva.” She paused, then added, “It was an Eddie Bauer, too.”
Geneva looked down at her shoeless right foot. They were in trouble now. What had happened to Jimmy Lee? How could she get down the mountain without her shoe? How could any of them find their way back without Jimmy Lee? She fought to keep the panic from rising past her chest.
Sally Beth was moving along the forest floor, calling out, “It’s okay. Ya’ll can come on out now. That old bear is long gone by now; Lamentations must’ve chased him away. Geneva? Where are yew, honey? I really am sorry about yer shoe. Lilly? Howard? Ya’ll can come out, now.”
Geneva made her way out of the hickory tree. Stepping onto the wet ground, she grimaced as her sock wicked dampness up the sides of her foot. She gritted her teeth, determined to ignore it.
They found Howard and Lilly still crouching under the hawthorn. Lilly was sobbing into Howard’s chest, and he was stroking her hair and rocking her like a baby. Sally Beth and Geneva stood watching her through eyes glowing with grief and fear for Jimmy Lee, but neither of them would articulate what they dreaded. At last Geneva sighed, and said in a small, wavering voice, “I guess we’d better go back and see if we can find Jimmy Lee. Maybe he survived the fall,” she added hopefully. “The fog’s lifting anyway, so we can see a little better.”
It was true. The wind had picked up and was blowing away the deep, shrouding mist. They could see the blue sky revealing itself above them, and lambent sunshine filtering through the trees.
“I’m not going back on that trail again!” wailed Lilly. “I’m waitin’ right here until somebody comes to find us!”
Geneva considered this. No doubt Howard Knight would find them, although it could take him some time since he would not know the direction they had taken. Jimmy Lee’s careful path, which did not even resemble a trail, would no doubt prove impossible to follow. Dogs might work, though, she mused. She winced, thinking of yet another search party after her. How long would Howard be able to keep his gold mine a secret with people swarming over these mountains? She furrowed her forehead in dismay. She had caused everyone so much trouble, and it seemed it would never end.
Howard Graves stood up. “I’ll go find Jimmy Lee. Geneva, you and Sally Beth stay here with Lilly.”
Geneva was moved by his bravery. “I’ll go with you, Howard.”
“I’m goin’, too,” announced Sally Beth. “Jimmy Lee may be hurt real bad, and yew’ll need all the help yew can get.”
Everyone looked at Lilly. She sniffled a few more times, then dried her eyes and looked at them defiantly. “Well, I’ll be darned if I’m going to be a crybaby about this. I guess I’ll go, too.” She stood up and tossed back her wet hair.
They all feared to the marrow the worst about Jimmy Lee, but they murmured hopeful scenarios among themselves as they headed back toward the precipice. Again and again Geneva’s mind replayed the scene of his slight body falling through the cold mist. Jimmy Lee surely was dead. Who knew how high that cliff was? No doubt he would not be found for days, his poor body mangled and torn by the awful fall. Geneva shuddered at the thought. Poor Jimmy Lee! His death was her fault! She lowered her eyes sorrowfully to the trail and fought back the tears. She was a pitiful excuse for a human being.
Before they had reached the cliff, Lamentations met them, whining and wagging his nub of a tail.
“Lamentations!” cried Geneva, “I’m so glad you didn’t go over, too!” The dog licked her hand, then, still whining and wagging, he asked her to follow him back to the place Jimmy Lee had fallen.
Sunshine poured down. The narrow ledge suddenly looked wider and far less treacherous. Lilly hung back, but the others followed Lamentations, half eager to see where Jimmy Lee had fallen, half dreading it as well. Quickly they made their way after the dog.
For the first few paces along the trail, the rock dropped off for a hundred feet or more, but when they reached the spot where Jimmy Lee had fallen, they could look down and see a very large ledge, not fifteen feet below them. It was more than ten feet across and perhaps ten feet deep. Jimmy Lee was lying on his side beside a small pool. Water gushed from the side of the mountain into this pool, and in turn, the pool emptied into a small waterfall cascading silently over the side of the ledge into a vast emptiness. Geneva was so glad to see Jimmy Lee lying a mere five yards away that she nearly forgot her fear for his safety.
Lamentations barked, wagging his rear end furiously. Jimmy Lee moaned and moved slightly. Geneva scanned the rock below her to see if she could find a way to him. Yes. On the trail was an irregular place, and below that was another and another. She felt sure she could climb down to him. Quickly she ran up the trail and swung herself over the side.
“Oh, God, Geneva, be careful!” cried Howard, following her up the trail, then pausing to peer anxiously over the side when she began her descent. Sally Beth sat down and dangled her legs off the side of the cliff.
The way down was fairly easy. Geneva was grateful at the thickness of her sock, which cushioned her shoeless right foot against the sharp shale. She reached Jimmy Lee quickly.
“Jimmy Lee,” she said, kneeling down beside him and touching his head. He was warm, but pale, and blood trickled out of his mouth. She took his hand and felt for the pulse. It beat reasonably strong. Moaning, Jimmy Lee turned to her and opened his eyes. A light came on in his face. “Oh, Miss Geneva,” he sighed. “Yew really are my guardian angel. Ever since yew come in my life, yer allus there when I’m adyin’ or in trouble, and yew allus save me.” He grew rapt. “God musta give yew ta me. I’ll never stop lovin’ yew. Never.”
Geneva winced. Twice he had been injured, and both times it had been entirely her fault. And the poor boy could see only goodness in her.
Lamentations was pacing along the top of the cliff, whining and trying to find a place to descend.
“Jimmy Lee, you just lie still.” Geneva’s voice was shaking with fear and anger for herself. “Where do you hurt?”
“Nowheres,” he smiled, the light in his face growing brighter. “Now yer here, I don’t hurt nowheres.”
“Can you sit up? Does your head hurt? Jimmy Lee. Talk to me! Can you feel your arms and legs?” Her gaze ran down the length of his body and
stopped at the shin of his left leg where there was a noticeable bulge underneath the denim. When her hands went to the spot, he yelped with pain and his face grew paler.
“Oh, Jimmy Lee, it’s broken, and it looks bad. Have you got a knife so I can cut away your pants?”
“In my pocket,” he gasped. He was beginning to feel all of his wounds.
The knife was not in his left pocket, and when Geneva tried to roll him over enough to try the other side, he groaned. Geneva stopped to think.
“How is he?” called down Sally Beth.
Geneva arched her neck upward. “He’s got a broken leg, but that’s all I can tell right now. Do any of you have a knife?
“I do,” called Sally Beth. She rummaged around in her purse and produced a Swiss Army knife, which she tossed down to Geneva. “Hold on,” she added. “I’m coming down. Lamentations, yew stay here. Yew cain’t make it down there.”
The dog sat whining, while Sally Beth eased herself down the rock face. Geneva knelt by Jimmy Lee’s leg and very carefully began cutting at the heavy denim, but he cried out when she tugged the knife upward. Sally Beth joined her presently, and so did Howard.
“Wait jist a minute,” cautioned Sally Beth. “I have some scissors here in my pocketbook. They’re real sharp, too. I carry ‘em with me everywhere in case somebody needs a haircut.” She began rummaging again.
“Sally Beth, do you keep a whole life in there?” asked Geneva. “How on earth can you carry all that stuff?”
“Oh, yew get used to it,” she answered mildly. “Here they are!” She triumphantly held up a pair of hair cutting scissors encased in plastic, then, very methodically, she removed them from their case and began cutting away at Jimmy Lee’s pants. He remained still while she cut a slit to the knee and peeled the denim back to reveal a bulging break at the shin. It was not a compound fracture, not quite, for the bone had not made its way through the flesh, but it was a very bad break indeed. It was obvious Jimmy Lee was not walking anywhere.
The Women of Jacob’s Mountain Boxed Set Page 30
