Wonderland Creek (22 page)

“I come down to help you pack some food and things for Mack before the other gals get here. And I need you to give him this letter from me when you see him today.” I quickly wiped my hands on my apron as she handed me a sealed envelope.

“Today? But I’m not going anywhere today except to the post office. Cora said she only rides up Wonderland Creek twice a week and I was just up there on Friday—”

“You’re going today, honey. Mack will be all out a food by now. Besides, I need to know if he’s okay. You never know what might happen with gunshot wounds. They don’t always heal up like they’re supposed to. Anything can happen.”

I opened my mouth to ask if she was in the habit of treating gunshot wounds on a regular basis, then decided not to. For all I knew, she might be the one inflicting them on people, waving that rifle around the way she did.

“Listen, Lillie. I can’t ride a horse up into the woods by myself. I don’t think I’m ready—”

“Now, now . . . you’re as ready as you’ll ever be. You go on out to the shed and fetch me an empty sack to put Mack’s food in. I’ll scramble the eggs this morning.”

“I’m in the middle of making biscuits—”

“Honey, I don’t need any more of your biscuits. I only have half a dozen teeth left in my head, and I need to hang on to them as long as I can.”

I would have been insulted, but I knew she was right. I had bent a knife while trying to cut into one of my biscuits to put butter on it. I untied my apron and went down to the shed in search of a feed sack, scheming for a way to talk Lillie out of this. Belle stomped and kicked as soon as she saw me, throwing her little horse fit even after I dumped a huge portion of grain into her trough to empty the sack.

“Miserable animal . . .” I mumbled as I carried the bag up to Lillie. She stood at the stove, frying eggs and issuing orders as I filled the bag with onions and potatoes and a couple of Mason jars of canned goods. Just because I was filling the sack didn’t mean I intended to deliver it on horseback. All through breakfast I found myself wondering how long it would take me to walk up to Mack’s cabin carrying the heavy sack. I was cleaning up the breakfast dishes when the packhorse ladies arrived. Lillie hobbled into the library to greet them.

“Morning, gals,” I heard her say. “Honey-girl decided she wants to ride on her own today. Could you all help her pick out some books to take? And, Faye, can you get Belle saddled up for her?”

I sank down at the kitchen table with my head in my hands as I heard them agree. Faye patted my back and said, “Good for you, Allie,” on her way through the kitchen and out to the shed.

“Better get your boots laced up,” Lillie said when she shuffled into the kitchen again and saw me sitting there.

“I can’t do this, Lillie.”

“Of course you can.”

I shook my head, no longer caring if she pulled out a rifle and shot me.

“What’s the matter, honey? You looking awful pale, even for a white gal. You about to faint on me?”

“Yes! Can’t you see that I’m terrified? That stupid horse gives me nothing but trouble, even when Cora is with me, and I’m scared to death to be out there in the woods with that animal all by myself. What if she won’t obey me? What if she goes the wrong way and we get lost? What if she throws me off? I can’t do it, Lillie. I can’t!”

“Now, now . . . you dry them tears, honey.” She handed me a dish towel. “Did you pray this morning and ask the Good Lord to watch over you? Help you in all your ways?”

“No. I didn’t know you were going to make me go anywhere.” Besides, it seemed presumptuous to expect a great big God to care about that ridiculous horse and me. God had much bigger things to worry about—like homeless people and the Great Depression.

“Come on, then. Let’s pray.” Lillie took both of my hands in hers, gripping them tightly as if trying to squeeze all the fear out of me like juice from an orange. She closed her eyes and shouted up at the ceiling, “Oh,
Lord
! Remove this child’s
fear
in
Jesus’
name! In
Jesus’
name give her the
courage
she needs and the
faith
she needs to
believe
in you and in your
power
, Lord Jesus!” With each word that Lillie punctuated, she squeezed my hands tighter and tighter until I could feel my bones crunching together and my blood vessels closing off. “Show her that she’s your
child
, Lord. And that she can do
all
things through Christ, who gives her
strength
!”

If she didn’t stop praying soon, I’d be too crippled to hold the reins. “Amen,” I breathed. “Amen.”

She opened her eyes and looked down at me in surprise. “You all prayed up already?”

“Yes . . . yes! I’m ready.” I would have said anything to get Lillie to release her death grip. She gave my hands a final squeeze and released them. They flopped into my lap, as limp as damp laundry. I could see no way out of this task. Lillie had trapped me again. Like it or not, I would be forced to ride up Wonderland Creek on my own for the first time.

“I got a feeling the Good Lord has a special job for you today, back in those hills,” she said.

The hair on my arms rose. “A job? What kind of job?”

“I don’t know, but I’m thinking He wants you to be a blessing to somebody today.”

I stared at her. I had no idea what she was talking about.

“Okay now,” Lillie said with a grin. “I’m gonna go on out and have a little talk with my horse. Belle is my horse, you know.”

“What do you need a horse for? You’re a hundred years old.”

“I use to ride all through these hills on horseback, delivering babies and tending folks. Not on Belle, though. Somebody give Belle to me a few years back to thank me for saving his life.”

“Some thank-you. She’s as mean as a snake.”

“Mean? No . . . Mack says she’s as sweet as can be. I never did get to ride her, though. Now, if I had me a wagon, I suppose I could hitch her up to it . . .”

“She hates me.”

“Horses don’t know how to hate, honey. Only people are that stupid. But come on. Let’s go outside, and I’ll have a talk with her.”

Faye and the others had Belle all saddled up, loaded with books and ready to go. They had ridden off to make their own deliveries and had tied Belle to the post near the back door. The horse snorted and pranced as usual when she saw me, but the moment Lillie limped through the kitchen door, Belle stilled. Lillie stretched out her bony hand, and Belle lowered her head as if bowing to her. She let Lillie stroke the long white blaze down the middle of her muzzle and rub her ears.

“Belle, honey? I need you to be a good girl today and mind what honey-girl says.” Lillie spoke so softly I had to lean close to hear her. “Me and Mack need her help, so I need you to treat her just as nice as can be, okay?”

Belle kept her head bowed, blinking her huge brown eyes as if she really were listening to Lillie’s words. The contrast between the tiny, frail, old woman and the enormous horse couldn’t have been greater. Lillie could have fastened the strap beneath Belle’s belly without bending over. “Yes, now . . .” she soothed. “That’s a good girl. You’re my good girl, ain’t you, Belle?”

By the time she gave Belle’s shoulder a final pat and turned to me, the horse was standing so still and calm, she might have just returned from the taxidermist. Could this really work? I didn’t trust Belle. She probably would resort to her usual tricks as soon as Lillie was out of sight.

“Belle promised me she’ll be on her best behavior today,” Lillie said.

“You speak horse language, too, besides all your other talents?” Fear made me sarcastic, but Lillie didn’t seem to notice.

“I can teach you to talk to her, if you want. A horse will do whatever you ask if she knows what you’re asking. And if she knows you’re listening to what she has to say.” I stood with my hands on my hips, certain that Lillie was making this up. “For instance,” she continued, “when a horse flattens both ears back on her head, she’s irritated.”

“She does that a lot.”

“When she blinks her eyes like she been doing just now, that means she’s thinking things over. And see how she’s got her hind leg cocked up? That tells you she’s relaxed. But you gotta watch out. If her leg is cocked
and
her ears go back, she’s getting ready to kick you.”

I took a step backward, just in case.

“And if she starts pawing the ground, she’s going down—and taking you with her if you’re on her back.”

“What do I do then?”

“Don’t worry. Belle promised she’d behave for you. Horses are simple creatures, honey. They can go forward and backward, left and right, up hills and down hills. You just gotta tell them which one you want.”

I had my doubts. And as Lillie looked me in the eye, I was certain that she could read all of them. “It’s time, honey,” she said quietly. “Go ahead and climb on.”

I moved the bench around to Belle’s left side. My arms and legs trembled so badly I could barely pull myself up and onto her back. Lillie untied the reins and handed them to me, then passed the sack of food up to me.

“You’ll be fine, honey. The Good Lord’s gonna watch over both of you today. You gonna be a blessing to somebody, I just know it.” She grinned, watching from the doorway as Belle started to move—in the right direction, for once—toward the creek. So far, so good. Belle found the trail and walked slowly up the creek bank, exactly like I wanted her to. I glanced over my shoulder just before the woods swallowed up the trail and saw Lillie waving at me. I didn’t dare let go of the reins to wave in return.

This was crazy! I was on a horse all by myself, riding into the woods, alone. Alone! Freddy and my family would never believe me when I told them about this—I barely believed it myself! At home the streets and sidewalks bustled with traffic and streetcars, and there were always other people around. Out here, there were only birds twittering and branches rustling—and the deep silence of the trees.

Part of me was terrified and a little angry at how I’d been coerced into this. But at the same time, I saw a side of myself that I hadn’t known existed. For the first time in my life I was having an adventure, not reading about one in a book. I was actually doing it! And all of the emotions that I used to feel when reading an exciting story—fear, suspense, dread, exhilaration—were intensified a hundred times in real life.

Belle plodded up the hill, going deeper into the forest. The woods seemed huge and empty. Every bad thing that could happen in a fairy tale happened in the woods. But as much as I feared the forest, I was much more afraid of Belle. What would I do if the stupid horse decided to give me a hard time now that Lillie and Cora weren’t around to help me? I had been riding for only two days, hardly enough time to get the hang of it. But I comforted myself with the thought that this was the last time I would have to ride Belle. Tomorrow or the next day my uncle would arrive and take me home. Today all I had to do was deliver the books, then stop and have a talk with Mack. I’d tell him he would have to make other arrangements. In fact, he should ride back to the library with me and take care of Lillie and Belle and all of his books himself.

Belle paused when we reached Mack’s cabin at the top of the hill as if she wanted to pay him a visit. I let her catch her breath. “We’ll stop on the way home,” I promised her. “People don’t like it when we’re late with their books.” Belle shook her head, then started walking again.

I was beginning to relax a little when I remembered how the horse had scented the wildcat on the night Mack and I rode up here. A chill shivered through me. Wildcats lived in these woods. Cora had mentioned snakes, too. I had been afraid to ask if there were bears, fearing her answer. Did wild animals come out to hunt in the daytime? What would I do if Belle smelled a wildcat again and halted? It didn’t take me long to answer my own question: I would let her turn around and gallop home!

I began to feel more and more frightened. I didn’t know if Belle sensed my fear or not, but she suddenly stopped. “What’s wrong?” I whispered. She snorted in return. I looked all around. I sniffed the air the way that Mack had. I listened. The only sounds were the wind in the trees and a crow cawing. I nudged Belle’s sides and jiggled the reins. “Come on, girl. Let’s go.” She wouldn’t move forward. I was about to panic when I realized that we were at the ford. We were supposed to cross the creek here and take the trail to June Ann Larkin’s cabin.

“You’re right,” I said aloud. “I’m sorry . . . thank you for noticing.” I turned her to the left, and she plodded across the creek and up the trail to the Larkin place. I shook my head, embarrassed with myself. Not only was the horse smarter than me, but now I was talking to her the way Lillie did.

Before long, the cabin came into sight. Four days had passed since I’d been here and I wondered if June Ann’s baby had been born. As soon as we came into the clearing, her dog bolted out from behind the house, barking and snarling. Belle halted. As Rex flung himself at the rickety fence, trying to reach us, June Ann came to the door and called him back. She was still very pregnant. I rode up to the gate and slid to the ground, remembering to tie up Belle. June Ann waddled forward to meet me and gave me an awkward hug.

“Oh, thank the Good Lord you’re here, Allie. I’m all alone and I’m scared half to death!” A shiver went through me. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she sniffled as if she’d been crying. There was no sign of Wayne or the mule out in the field.

“Why? What’s wrong?” If something had scared June Ann, what in the world could I do about it? I was more terrified of these woods than she was and more of a stranger to them. I didn’t know how to shoot a gun. I glanced around nervously but didn’t see any imminent danger. “What’s wrong?” I asked again.

She didn’t reply. Instead, she doubled over, holding her stomach and uttering the most heartrending moan I had ever heard. My heart slithered down my chest and dropped into my stomach. I knew what was wrong, and now we both had a good reason to be terrified. “June Ann? Are you having the baby?”

“I reckon so . . . Oh, it hurts so bad!”