The Storycatcher

by Hite, Ann

  Miss Faith looked at me with pity, and that made me madder than anything. She thought I didn’t understand who Will belonged to. She was the one who didn’t get it. He didn’t belong to his mama, Shelly, her, or me. He belonged to Sapelo Island.

  “Don’t worry about me, Ada,” Will said.

  “You hush and let me do what I’m supposed to do.” I left him in the room. Dr. Thomas stood at the end of the hall near the nurses’ station. Our little hospital wasn’t nothing to look at, but the care we got from Dr. Thomas was the best on the coast.

  “Hi, Ada.”

  “Can you come look at my boy? He’s the one who got hit by the truck, saving that sassy little white girl.”

  “Yes, ma’am. The whole town is buzzing.”

  “Could you look at his knee and eye?”

  He ran his fingers through his hair. “I can’t, Ada.”

  I had to take me a breath. “Why? Is it money? I can pay. I won’t leave no bill.”

  His face turned straight, almost sad. “You know I don’t worry about money, Ada.”

  “Then what?”

  “That white girl done called in Dr. Ballard, the white doctor. I can’t step in front of him.”

  “I give you permission to treat my boy. I don’t want no white doctor.” My voice was getting loud.

  “Ada, it’s not a bit about what you want, or I want, or even what your boy wants anymore. Dr. Ballard could close this hospital down just ’cause he feels the notion. He doesn’t like treating coloreds, but the niece of the richest family in Brunswick called him. This is serious business, and I have this whole hospital of patients to think about.”

  “That fool girl.”

  “Yes. I think her heart was in the right place.”

  My thoughts rushed around my head.

  “From what I’ve seen, Will is stable. Ballard will be here. It seems he’s having lunch with the mayor.”

  “Lord.” I needed to put that Miss Faith in her place. “Thank you, Dr. Thomas.” I stormed back down the hall.

  “Things are going to be just fine.” Will was talking to Shelly. Miss Lydia had taken that daughter of hers out of there.

  “We got to wait on the white doctor thanks to little Miss Busybody.”

  “Ada, she wasn’t trying to cause trouble. She’s from Black Mountain. Things are a little different there.” He looked over at Shelly. “We can’t blame Faith for the way she acts. She doesn’t know all the rules.”

  Just then the white doctor entered the room. “Okay, folks, I was called by Tyson’s niece. She wanted me to check out some colored boy that saved her life,” he said, looking at Will with a big old rich plastic smile on his face.

  “This here be Will,” I said.

  “Understand, I don’t make a habit of treating coloreds. But Tyson is an old friend. I can’t do it again.” He looked over at Will. The light reflected off his shiny bald head. “Now, what’s the problem?”

  “He was hit by Parker Lock’s milk truck, saving Mr. Tyson’s niece.” I wanted him to know I didn’t no more want him there than he wanted to be there.

  He looked at Will. “A truck, you say?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “That’s a nasty cut there. I’ll have a nurse stitch you up. Any other complaints? You look good to me for someone hit by a truck.” He laughed at his own joke and looked at a gold watch on his wrist.

  “My knee hurts.” Will frowned.

  Dr. Ballard pulled back the sheet and began mashing Will’s knee.

  Will sucked in air.

  “Bruised. Stay off of it for a week. I guess I’ll leave you to the capable hands of the nurse. She’ll stitch you and rewrap that knee. You can go home first thing in the morning.” He smiled. “I have a meeting. You have a wonderful day.” And out of the room he walked.

  “See, I told you, Ada. I’m fine.”

  Will looked over at Shelly. “What do you say when I get out in the morning, we go to Black Mountain? I think Mama should be part of our talk.”

  Shelly broke into the biggest smile. “She’ll be so excited, Will.”

  My heart bottomed out. “I guess I’d better go fix Miss Lydia’s supper before it gets any closer to dark.”

  Will turned his smile on me. “You’re going with me, Ada. I’m not leaving you behind. Then when I’m finished, we’ll both come back. I told you the island is my one and only home.”

  The nurse came in with a tray.

  “You and Shelly go back to Mr. Tyson’s. Tell Faith we’re going back to the mountain tomorrow. Mrs. Dobbins might want to stay behind. I got the feeling she has left Pastor for good.”

  “You have to stay off your knee,” I fussed.

  “It will be fine in the morning. Don’t you think?” he asked the nurse.

  She smiled. “I have a feeling with you it will be in working order.”

  I gave him a big old hug. “I love you, boy.”

  He squeezed my hand. “I love you, Ada,” he whispered in my ear.

  I had to turn my head to keep him from seeing the tears in my eyes.

  “See you tomorrow, Shelly.”

  She took two steps toward the door and ran back to him, hugging him too. “I’m sorry to be so mad at you.”

  He smiled. “Ah, I would have been mad at you if you did what I did.”

  And that was that. We left.

  Miss Faith and Miss Lydia stood by the car in the back parking lot. Nothing about them made me think of mother and daughter.

  “Did Doctor Ballard come?” Miss Faith asked. There was a calmness in her eyes that hadn’t been there when she came.

  “They letting him come home tomorrow morning.”

  Miss Lydia touched my arm. “I’m sorry, Ada. Faith acted without my knowledge. She just wanted the best for Will. Those two grew up together. Faith nearly grieved herself to death when he left.”

  Now, in all my years of working for white folks, not one ever said they were sorry for something they did to me.

  “It all worked out.” That girl of hers could learn something from her mama.

  “I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to Faith. She’s everything to me.”

  Faith looked at her like she couldn’t believe her ears.

  “I got to buy some supper fixin’s. You go on home. Me and Shelly will catch us a ride.”

  “No, Ada. I’ll drop you at the market in Darien.”

  And for once I just let go and allowed somebody to help me. My boy was fine. He was coming home, and we’d take off tomorrow morning for Black Mountain.

  WHEN WE WAS FINISHED at the market, I told Shelly we was going to walk on back to the Tyson house. She whined a bit but followed me.

  “You go on upstairs and make sure Miss Lydia’s clothes are hanging on hangers. She changed today. I’ll get supper started.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” She stood in the door a minute. “Ada.”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m glad Will’s okay and I’m happy you’re coming with us tomorrow.”

  My heart flipped over. “You be a good girl, Shelly. Now, run on before Miss Lydia gets back.”

  Shelly didn’t no more get up the stairs good when I looked out the kitchen window and seen a tall man walking toward the house like he walked right out of the marsh. Once when I was ten, I seen me a haint in the hall of my house on Sapelo. She was the scariest thing to look at, all blond and pale, sitting on the floor of the hall with her knees drawn up to her chest. Her eyes was sunk back in her head with black circles under them. Nothing but bones. That girl was bones with a little skin stretched over them. She watched me with this hopeless look and then vanished. I ran to tell my mama, who told me it sounded like something had eaten away at her spirit from the inside out. This man headed toward the house on that summer day looked just like that spirit girl. His death was showing on him before he quit breathing. A skull replaced his face for just a second, but it was enough to make me look away.

  Shelly Parker

  I HAD
TO PUT THAT box in a good hiding place. Nobody had noticed it yet in my skirt pocket. I was going to put it back where I found it. No more spirits. I was going home with Will, and we was going to see Nada. That Armetta would just have to figure out another way to get her stupid old box home. I walked into Mrs. Dobbins’s bedroom. All of her jewelry was spread out on her dresser. A shadow moved across the mirror. Mary Beth Clark came to stand behind me. Her face was like a mask of hatred. What had I done? I closed my eyes tight, wishing her away. When I looked again, there Pastor stood.

  “What are you doing, stealing my wife’s jewelry?”

  “I’m just putting it away, Pastor.”

  He was crazy looking. “Are you calling me a liar?”

  “No, sir.”

  “You have no right to touch her things. You’re just like your mama.” He stepped closer to me.

  There wasn’t a place for me to go. I was hemmed up against the dresser.

  “Did anyone tell you that you’re pretty, Shelly?”

  He smelled of sweat.

  I kept quiet.

  “I bet you haven’t even kissed a boy.” He pulled at my blouse, popping all the buttons.

  I dug my nails deep into his arm. Where was Ada? She was supposed to be cooking supper. He grabbed my wrists, and there was a cracking sound. Pain, red hot, shot through me. He shoved me on the bed and pushed my skirt around my head. The box in my pocket pressed into my cheek. I screamed out all the pain inside me, but still he forced his body on me, in me. My soul split into a million pieces. He’d killed Ada. He must have.

  “You son of a bitch!” The words cut through the air. A woman’s voice I didn’t know.

  He was off of me.

  I couldn’t move.

  “You abomination!” he yelled, almost like a woman, and then there was silence. Three heavy thuds followed. Quiet. I pushed my skirt—I’d thrown up in it—away from my face.

  There was that quilt of Faith’s wrapped around what must’ve been Pastor. A wide stain of red spread over the cloth, soaking into the stitches, into Arleen’s name.

  Two strong hands grabbed my arm. “Go.” The old woman spirit was there. Mary Beth Clark was beside her.

  “I can’t.” One of my hands wouldn’t move.

  Ada came into the door. “Shelly?” She looked at the pastor. “Oh Lord in Heaven, what have you done? Come on. We got to get you out of here before Miss Lydia comes back. She don’t even know we been here.” She looked at my wrists. “They’re bad, Shelly. Come on. We got to leave.” Ada bent over and buttoned Pastor’s pants. Then she gave a shiver.

  “Your head is bleeding, Ada.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  She made me walk down the stairs. “We’re going to say you fell and hurt your wrists. Okay? On the way up the road. We got to get away from here, Shelly. Hurry. I know you be hurting.”

  “Did you kill him, Ada? Did you bring the quilt?”

  She looked at me funny. “Go. No more talking.” She took her sack of food we bought at the market with her.

  We got on down to Fort King George before Ada stopped. “I think this is far enough.” She looked at me. “I know you hurting. You’ve been so brave. But we got to walk back now.”

  My head spun. The pain wasn’t even there anymore. I felt like my soul might walk on the outside of my body. That’s when I seen Nada. She was standing in the field where the fort once stood. “Thank you,” I said to her.

  “What you thanking me for, child?” Ada had my arm.

  “He be dead. I’m glad he’s dead. He hurt me. He hurt me bad.” Now I was talking to Nada, but Ada couldn’t see her. Probably ’cause she wasn’t there anyway. My mind was on fire.

  “Lord, child, he hit me in the head when he come in the back door. I never even had a chance to stop him. I was out cold. I didn’t kill him, but I wish I had.” She touched my shoulder. “Come on. We got to walk back to the house and hope Miss Lydia be there by now.”

  I DON’T EVEN REMEMBER how I walked back to Mr. Tyson’s house. We was just there, standing in the backyard, and Mrs. Dobbins busted out of the door white as a sheet. “Ada.” She looked over at me. “God help us.” Mrs. Dobbins came to me. “What happened to you, Shelly? Have you seen Faith? She jumped out at the café and said she was going back to the house. Did she come here?” She looked back at Ada. Her face went calm and serious. “We have a problem upstairs in the bedroom. I’ve called the sheriff. Have you been in the house?”

  “No, ma’am. Shelly fell something bad down the road. I was trying to get her here. Her wrists be broken.” Ada lied that easy.

  Mrs. Dobbins looked at my hands and shuddered.

  “We left Nada back at the fort. I seen her there. Can you please go get her, Mrs. Dobbins? I need her something terrible.”

  Mrs. Dobbins nodded to the old truck. “We have to get her to the doctor. I can’t leave before the sheriff gets here. Can you take her, Ada?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She looked around. “Go on before the sheriff gets here and wants to question you two.”

  “What be wrong, Mrs. Dobbins?” I was talking out of my head.

  “No worries, Shelly. Ada is going to take you to the hospital. If you see Faith, make her go with you, please. She doesn’t need to be here.” The phone started ringing. “Go on now, Ada. I’ll tell them you’ve had the truck all this time. Now go.” She went in and answered the phone.

  “Come on, Shelly. I ain’t stopping for no Faith. She ain’t nothing but pure trouble,” Ada whispered real loud.

  “Yes, thank you. Yes. I have the sheriff on the way here.” Mrs. Dobbins got quiet inside the house.

  “Let’s go, girl.”

  Mrs. Dobbins stuck her head out the back door. “That was the sheriff in Asheville, and he warned me Charles was headed our way. I’m not worried about who did what was done upstairs. I will protect them.” She looked hard at Ada. “There’s blood on Shelly’s apron. Take it off and throw it away somewhere before you get to the hospital,” she demanded. “And Ada, your head is bleeding. Clean that up before you get there. Come up with a better story on how both of you got hurt.”

  Ada nodded and opened the door to the truck. I sat down. She took the apron off, and that’s when she saw the box in my pocket.

  “Please don’t let nobody touch it. The old woman spirit said I have to take it back to the mountain. I’m finishing what that Mary Beth Clark done.”

  Ada touched the box. “That be a devil box. I’ll keep it with me while you’re being looked at by the doctor.” She looked at me. “Shelly, did you kill Pastor Dobbins?”

  “No, ma’am. I reckon Mary Beth Clark did.” Then everything went black.

  WHEN I OPENED MY EYES, my head pounded like a railroad spike was driven down the middle of it, but my wrists didn’t hurt a bit. They both had some hard white stuff on them. Faith sat in a chair.

  “Where’s Ada?”

  Faith’s face was sad, quiet. “She’s taking care of Will.”

  Then I remembered Pastor.

  “Mama’s taking us back to Black Mountain tomorrow. Too much has happened. Then she’s coming back to Darien to live. We can stay on the mountain or come back with her.”

  “Will wants to go with us. He’s bringing Ada. He’s got to talk to Nada himself.”

  “He can’t.” She didn’t look at me.

  “Why?”

  “He’s got problems, Shelly. Just be quiet for now, okay?” She sounded like some grown-up.

  “Nada will be so happy that Will is alive. I can’t wait to see her face. We can live anywhere we want. We could come back here and live on the island. I’m sure Ada will let us. I got the money. Got it right in my things. No more Pastor.” All his blood.

  She must have seen the look on my face, ’cause she touched my hand. “He tore up the house before he came here. Mama talked to the sheriff in Asheville. He can’t hurt anyone anymore. The sheriff from Brunswick said he killed himself up in Mama’s bedroom.” She didn’t loo
k at me, and I was glad. I wanted to tell her I was glad he died.

  “Does Miss Tuggle know about Will?”

  Faith looked at me. Her deep-brown eyes reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t think straight. “Shelly, I got to tell you because there is no one else to do it. Mama is busy with the sheriff. Ada is with Will. It’s just me. Miss Tuggle says Amanda is missing.”

  My head went ice-cold. I seen her at the fort. The words stabbed me like a knife. “You’re a liar! She’s fine! I want to talk to Will now!” I was screaming over the roaring sound in my head.

  “He just got out of surgery with a ruptured spleen. Dr. Thomas finally stepped in. He lived but he could have died because of me butting in.” She sobbed.

  “Does he know about Nada?”

  Faith shook her head. “He was in surgery when Ada brought you here. He can’t go with us.” She held something out to me. “Here, Ada said you had to do something with this.” She placed the wooden box on the bed beside me.

  I was alone, all alone. I didn’t have a person. Not one. Nada was lost. Will was sick, and Ada was with him.

  “We have each other, Shelly,” Faith said.

  Was she crazy?

  WHEN MRS. DOBBINS WHEELED ME into Will’s room, he smiled. “There’s my little sister. What were you doing?” He looked at my arms.

  I couldn’t talk; instead, I put my forehead on his bed.

  “You got to be brave one more time, Shelly. I’ll get there just as soon as I can. You go to Black Mountain and find Nada. Tell her about me. I’ll be there as soon as they let me out of this hospital.”

  “You can go home with me, Shelly. Just wait on Will to get better. Then we can go together.” Ada smiled, but it was a real sad smile.

  A big sob caught in my chest.

  She put her arm around my shoulders. “Your mama knows what a good girl you are, Shelly. You go on home and find her. But remember she’s always right there in your heart.” She touched my chest.

  “I got to find Nada. I got to find her.”

  “You listen”—she took my face in her hands—“we’ll be up there as soon as we can. You understand?”