Moon Over the Mountain

by Carol Dean Jones

  Cody parked out of the way on the far side of the lot and got out. He turned to the women as they were getting out of the van and said, “Wait here. I’ll see what’s going on.” They watched him walk up to a policeman who was standing nearby and the two young men spoke for a few seconds. They saw Coby shake his head in disbelief.

  When he returned to the van, his face was flushed and he simply said, “They want us to go in through the back door.”

  “What’s going on,” Sarah asked. Jane came up beside her to see what was happening.

  Coby paused a moment, then said, “Some woman has disappeared from the lodge.”

  Jane turned pale and gasped, “Mama,” as she ran toward the nearest policeman. He tried to direct her back to the van, but Sarah could tell she was arguing with him. He finally led her over to an official-looking man wearing a suit whom Sarah assumed was the lead detective. They talked and Sarah could see Jane was now crying.

  It was her mother.

  As the sun was coming up, Sarah realized no one in the quilt group had been to bed. For most of the night, they had been huddled on the front porch watching as the police, aided by the Canine Unit, searched the woods. They had refused to allow the quilters to join in the search.

  Sarah had spent most of the night attempting to keep Jane calm. “How could I have left her,” she cried. “I never should have gone. …”

  “Jane, this isn’t your fault.” Sarah had brought Jane coffee and a cinnamon roll, both of which remained untouched. The staff had served breakfast inside and the group ate in shifts with two or three people staying with Jane and Sarah at all times.

  “I thought she was sleeping,” Mary Beth wailed. “I’m so sorry. I just went into the kitchen for a few minutes. I’m so-o-o sorry. …”

  The police questioned the evening staff on the desk and no one had seen her leave. “She might have slipped out the back door,” one young man suggested. The search team revised their search area and began combing the woods behind the lodge as well.

  Sarah asked Holly to sit with Jane while she walked around to the back. She’d been watching the activity in the front of the building for hours, and was curious about what was happening behind the lodge.

  She headed down the front steps and one of the policemen looked her way but didn’t stop her. She began walking around the lodge, staying close to the building. As she reached the dumpster, she heard a sound in the woods to her left. She stopped and listened, again feeling that tingle up her spine. Something is always out there. … Watching? Waiting?

  Suddenly the tall grasses parted and two people stepped out holding hands. Genevieve, disheveled and dirty, was being led by the young barefoot boy. He looked pleadingly into Sarah’s eyes. “Can you help her?” he said, handing the woman off to Sarah.

  “Of course,” she replied pulling Genevieve into her arms. The boy quickly turned toward the woods but stopped and looked back at Sarah. “Don’t tell them about me. …” and he disappeared into the grasses.

  * * * * *

  Jane decided to take her mother and return home. Although her mother seemed to have enjoyed the adventure, Jane was exhausted from worry and guilt. Everyone congregated around the van later that morning to say goodbye and Genevieve held onto Sarah’s hand and thanked her. She seemed to have forgotten about the boy who was the one who brought her home; Sarah was relieved because she, too, hadn’t mentioned him. Again, she felt a kind of loyalty as if he were trusting her with a secret, but she had no idea what that secret was.

  Coby drove off and the group met briefly in the quilting room. Brenda said they had canceled classes for the day but the room would remain open if anyone wanted to sew. She also offered to drive to the quilt shop in Gatlinburg but everyone agreed they only wanted to sleep.

  By that time, Sarah’s ankle was swollen and throbbing. Peggy told her to get an ice pack from the kitchen and put her foot up for a few hours and added that she’d re-wrap it after their naps. An exhausted group of quilters made their way up the stairs as Sarah stuck her head into the kitchen. Mary Beth saw her and hurried over. They talked for a few minutes, with the young woman continuing to apologize and Sarah attempting to explain to her the difficulty of caring for a person with dementia. “You did the best you could, Mary Beth. Just try to accept that and let it go. No one blames you.”

  Mary Beth brought her an ice bag and walked her to the elevator. “I didn’t know this was here!” Sarah exclaimed, relieved that she didn’t have to hobble up the stairs.

  “I’ll ride along with you.”

  When they got to Sarah’s room, Mary Beth followed her in and helped her remove the bandage and get comfortable with her foot raised on pillows, which Mary Beth arranged for her. Sarah asked for her book and her cell phone and settled in for the afternoon.

  When she woke up three hours later, the book and cell phone were exactly where Mary Beth had laid them. The ice bag was no longer cold, her foot had slipped off the pillows, and it was 3:30 in the afternoon. Sarah sat up and was pleased to notice that her ankle was feeling much better. It was hardly swollen and didn’t hurt when she stepped on it.

  She took a shower, ate an apple, and sat down to call Charles. Much had happened since they last talked, and she briefly wondered how much to tell him. She needn’t have concerned herself about it, however.

  “Sarah, am I ever glad you called. I have so much to tell you.” He excitedly started telling Sarah about his search for Higgy’s ex-wife. “The first problem was that we had the wrong name. She’s not Lulu and never was. Lulu Ballou was just her stage name forty-some years ago.”

  “So what’s her real name?” Sarah asked.

  “Llewellyn. Llewellyn Ballard. She married a Ralph Ballard thirty-five years ago, and they have three children and eight grandchildren.”

  “That’s good news! That means she got a divorce, right?”

  “Wrong.”

  “Wrong? Then how did she get married to this Ballard fellow?”

  “That’s the fun part. She told me her marriage to Higgy didn’t count.”

  “What?” Sarah shrieked. “Are you kidding me?”

  “I’m dead serious. Just listen to the explanation. The justice of the peace who supposedly married them collected $200 cash for the privilege, and that was a tidy sum forty years ago!” Charles added as an aside.

  “Go on, Charles. Please. Why didn’t the marriage count?”

  “Okay, so he performed the ceremony, but, in fact, he was never licensed to perform marriages at all! Our friend Higgy wasn’t the only one who got duped by the good Justice Jeremiah Brown. He performed dozens of marriages that year—and, as Higginbottom told us, none of them count.”

  “Did Higgy know that? Is that why he said it didn’t count?”

  “Nope. He had no idea. He just lucked out. Ironic isn’t it? Higgy said it didn’t count … and sure enough it didn’t, but for entirely different reasons.”

  “Hmm,” Sarah responded, not wanting to put words to her thoughts about this man her dear friend was planning to marry. “So he’s not married and he’s free to marry Sophie?”

  “He’s free to marry her. Whether or not she’ll marry him is yet to be determined,” Charles responded.

  “Did you talk to her?” Sarah asked, surprised by his response.

  “No, but I talked to Higgy. He said she currently isn’t speaking to him and she sent him packing.”

  “What does that mean?” Sarah asked.

  “He’s been moved, bag and baggage, to the local hotel.”

  “Oh my. I’ve got to talk to Sophie. I’m surprised she hasn’t called me.”

  “She may have tried. I haven’t been able to reach you for the past two days. You must have a very weak signal up there.”

  “We’ve had problems with that,” Sarah responded. “I think I’ll call her now. It’s about noon there now, I guess.”

  “I miss you,” Charles said after a short pause. “I really miss you. Ten days is too long to be
apart.”

  “I know. I miss you too. I have some things I want to talk over with you, but not just now. I’ll try to call later.”

  “Are you okay?” he asked sounding very concerned.

  “It’s nothing to worry about. I just wanted to talk a few things over with you. Talking with you always helps me get clarity.”

  “Okay, sweetheart. I’ll wait to hear from you when you’re ready.” They hung up reluctantly.

  Ten days is indeed too long to be apart, she thought as she dressed to go downstairs.

  The excitement the previous day had everyone on edge, and Brenda asked if the group would like to cancel the remaining three days of the retreat. Two women thought it would be a good idea, but the rest wanted to stay, so it was decided to continue the retreat. Most of the quilters had completed their memory quilts. Sarah had finished hers the previous evening after her nap.

  The next project was a surprise to the group. Cheryl passed out sketching paper and pencils and told the group to design a wall hanging that they would be making as a reminder of the retreat. They were told they could do anything they wanted to do. Several of the women looked around with confused looks on their faces as if they had no idea where to start. A few others started right in sketching. Sarah didn’t start sketching right away, but her head was spinning with ideas: trees, mountains, autumn colors. She had no idea how she would translate these ideas into a wall hanging, but she was excited about the project.

  Meanwhile, Brenda came into the room carrying a large basket of scraps and told the group they were welcome to use their own fabric or anything they wanted from the scrap basket.

  “I have extra fabric too,” Peggy announced and others joined in saying they also had extra they could contribute to the scrap basket. At this point, the basket was overflowing.

  “Also,” Brenda added returning to the room with a box of fat quarters, “the quilt shop in Gatlinburg donated these fat quarters for our projects. …”

  “We missed our field trip to their shop,” one of the retreaters said. “Will there be another chance to go?”

  “We’re going to offer several optional activities on the last day. One will be to go into Gatlinburg if anyone is interested. I’ll have the schedule tomorrow.”

  Looking through the fabrics, an idea was beginning to take shape in Sarah’s head. “I’ll be right back,” she announced as she hurried toward the door. She was remembering an evening the previous week when she was sitting on the porch late at night marveling at the size of the harvest moon hanging proudly over the mountain range in the distance.

  And that memory was bringing to mind something from the museum. She had picked up brochures and she thought there was a picture of it there. She hurried to her room and opened the brochures and within seconds was looking at the Moon Over the Mountain quilt block. Perfect! She thought. This is what I’ll make to remember this experience forever.

  Sarah quickly scanned through her fabrics looking for anything that looked like a mountain, a sky, or a moon. She was disappointed to find that her flowery fabrics just weren’t right.

  She sat down to think about it and immediately pictured the batiks Teresa had discarded since she didn’t think they would look right in her memory quilt.

  Sarah hurried back to the classroom with her brochure, almost forgetting about her ankle. As she approached the staircase, a twinge in her ankle reminded her to use the elevator.

  Once back in the classroom, Sarah was pleased to see that everyone was milling around talking and picking through the fabrics. She went directly to Teresa and asked about the batik scraps. “I have them right here,” she said reaching for her tote bag. “Help yourself to whatever you want; I was getting ready to donate them to the scrap basket.” Sarah spread them out and found several which could be used for the mountain. She couldn’t decide which would be best, but then realized she could use them all by cutting them into strips. At first, she couldn’t find a moon, but then a beautiful piece of autumn gold seemed to be calling to her, and she suddenly remembered it had been a harvest moon. “I love it!” she said aloud as she added it to her batch of scraps.

  She then headed for the basket and Holly joined her. “What are you looking for?” she asked and Sarah told her about her idea.

  “What I need is a night sky.”

  They found several blues and even one with white that could be clouds. Holly pulled out a multicolored batik in bright colors and said that it could be a sky at sunset. But none seemed quite right.

  I need a night sky, Sarah reminded herself. Then she saw it. It was tucked in the bottom of the basket and was a mottled black and blue batik. “Perfect,” she exclaimed as she pulled the piece from the basket and determined there was at least a half-yard.

  An hour later, three women were still rummaging through the basket looking for fabric and several were still working on their sketches. Cheryl and Brenda were helping the ones who were having trouble getting started, but Sarah was working full steam ahead. “I’ll be right back,” she announced again and hurried to the kitchen. “Mary Beth,” she called out, “I need a saucer.”

  “A saucer? Do you need a cup too?”

  “No, just a saucer, but I could also use a piece of freezer paper if you have any.”

  She returned with the saucer and freezer paper, and she used the saucer to make a pattern and then cut a large harvest moon from the beautiful gold fabric. “I love it,” she said, standing back to admire her handiwork.

  Turning to Holly, Sarah said, “I just realized I’ll have to appliqué these pieces on.”

  “Sure, but why don’t you machine appliqué them.”

  “Good idea, but I’ve never done that.” Sarah noticed that Cheryl didn’t seem to be occupied, so she asked her if she would show her how.

  “I’d be happy to. In fact, two other quilters have asked about that, so let’s have a short demonstration right after lunch.” She turned to the class and told them about it. She then added, “It’s a beautiful afternoon and perfect for a nature hike or curling up in a lounge chair on the porch, so let’s end class at 3:00 today.”

  “What about our wall hangings,” one of the quilters asked, looking worried.

  Knowing that most of the class would be finished by 3:00, Cheryl offered to leave the classroom open for anyone who wanted to continue sewing.

  * * * * *

  Sarah headed for the porch with her cell phone hoping to reach Sophie. Again, she couldn’t get a signal so she decided to venture out toward the overlook. Her ankle was feeling better, although Peggy told her to keep it wrapped for another few days.

  As she strolled down the trail, she listened to the sounds of nature: small animals and birds flitting about, a gentle breeze through the leaves, an occasional bird calling to its mate, … absolutely nothing for me to fear, she reminded herself. A squirrel scampered up a tree and out the limb hanging across the path. He stopped and looked at her before scurrying on. Sarah smiled to herself and wondered how she could have been so frightened. She thought about how one’s mind can play tricks. Once she reached the overlook, she sat down on a flattened boulder and dialed Sophie’s cell phone.

  “Hi, kiddo,” Sophie said as she answered on the first ring. “I was hoping you’d call today.” They talked about what Charles had learned, and Sophie told Sarah she was fed up with Higgy. “He just sat around with his head in his hands saying ‘What am I going to do?’ and he proceeded to do absolutely nothing! He left it all up to Charles. I just wonder, Sarah. Do I want to spend the rest of my days with this man? He’s still talking about getting married next week.”

  “Maybe you need more time, Sophie.”

  “I know. I think I’ll tell him I want to wait until after Christmas. Timmy would be home and I’d have you as my matron of honor, assuming there’s a wedding at all. That’s better I think. Don’t you?”

  “I do, Sophie. I think you need time to be sure this is what you want. When do you think you’ll be coming home?”<
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  “I want to spend another week with Timmy. I might let Higgy come back to Timmy’s house. I guess Charles told you …?”

  “Yes, about the hotel. I was sorry you had all that to go through, but I had to laugh when Charles told me you threw him out ‘bag and baggage.’ ”

  Sophie chuckled. “Yeah. I sort of overdid it. I’ll call and see if he wants to come back. He’s probably more comfortable over there actually. I took the guest room when we got here and Timmy set up a rollaway bed in his room for Higgy. With his back problems, he probably was glad to get into a good bed at the hotel. Anyway, I’ll ask him.”

  After they hung up, Sarah sighed. She was glad she and Charles had worked out their issues and were settled into married life. She knew Sophie had lots of thinking to do over the next few months.

  She continued to sit on the boulder in the sunshine. She was now enjoying the sounds of the forest and sat with her eyes closed and the sun on her face.

  “Hi, lady.”

  Sarah jumped up and her cell phone fell to the ground shattering. The boy jumped back, his eyes wide open with surprise.

  “Oh,” she said once she realized it was the boy. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I was just surprised.”

  “It’s okay.” He bent over and began picking up the pieces of her cell phone. “It’s broke,” he said as he handed the pieces to her.

  “Let’s see if we can put it back together,” she suggested, thinking that might keep him with her for a few minutes. She spread the pieces out and was immediately aware that once the back of the case was put on, the phone was probably in working order. The other pieces were only cosmetic, but she didn’t say anything about that to the boy. “Where shall we start?” she asked.

  He picked up the basic two pieces and set them on the boulder. He took the batteries and slipped them into their grooves. “Thar,” he muttered as he snapped the case together. Reaching for the other pieces, he quickly snapped them into place and handed it to Sarah.

  “Thank you,” Sarah said enthusiastically. “I’m Sarah. What’s your name?”