Ghost on Black Mountain Read Online Free PDF Page B

sun.
    “Why are you drinking from this spring?”
    He looked older than the first time I saw him. “You’ll know before too long, Mrs. Pritchard. You’ll understand and remember sometimes to do good a person has to do something bad. It can’t be helped.”
    Oshie ran out from beside the church and stopped dead still. “You got to come on, Daddy said so.” He tipped his hat to me. “Is Hobbs with you?”
    Jack laughed from behind me. “That’ll be the day.”
    Oshie relaxed.
    Maynard gave me a sideways glance. “Got to go, Mrs. Pritchard.”
    “It was good talking to you, Mr. Connor.”
    I watched the brothers walk off.
    “What was that all about?” Jack touched my arm.
    Maynard’s words floated in my thoughts. “I think Maynard would be a good friend if he could.”
    Jack raised an eyebrow. “When did you meet him?”
    “Him and his rude brother were cutting wood for Hobbs the other day.”
    “I bet their daddy don’t know about that.” He looked down at me. “Stay clear of Hobbs’s business, Nellie.” We walked to the truck.
Hobbs was sitting at the kitchen table when I got home. “Where you been?”
    “I went to church.”
    “I don’t like my wife sneaking around.” He stared a hole through me.
    “Going to church ain’t sneaking, Hobbs. Everybody on this mountain was there.”
    “Not me.”
    “No, not you.” I wanted to laugh at him but he’d only take offense and get mad.
    “What did you think?” His voice was calm.
    “I nearly jumped out of my seat with all the screaming. It was one of the worst sermons I’ve sat through.”
    Hobbs smiled with pure pleasure. “Ain’t that what all good Bible-thumping folks want, cleaning of the soul?”
    “I believe in God and going to church. Remember, you found me in a soup kitchen.”
    “You left quick enough.”
    He was right about that.
    “Hobbs! Hobbs!” A racket came from the yard.
    Hobbs pushed past me and threw open the kitchen door. “What in the hell is wrong with you, Harper, coming on Sunday?”
    “Someone set”—he looked at me—“the barn on fire.”
    “What barn?” Our barn was fine.
    “Shit.” Hobbs jumped off the back porch in a run. “Go in the house and lock up, Nellie. Don’t open the door unless it’s me or Jack. Now!”
    I shut the door and turned the skeleton key for the first time since I’d been living there. I stared out the kitchen window. What was Hobbs up to now? The man I’d seen before was standing on the edge of the woods. He wore little round spectacles like a person would have worn a long time before. He stared right at me, into me. Shelly had said I didn’t want to know him. Maybe he set the fire Hobbs was running to. I looked away, and when I looked back, the man was gone. The grass stood tall, not mashed down like it should have been. I stood in front of the window for the longest time, but he didn’t come back. Finally I made some coffee and went to sit in the rocker. The light was dimming. The days were so short in the mountains. Dark found us at five thirty.
    I tried not to think about how life wasn’t exactly like Ithought it would be. The whole front room turned cold. My breath came out in little clouds. The fire had gone out. A woman, tall and big boned, moved down the staircase one step at a time. Her skin had a grayish tint. She wore a plain black dress and was shoeless. All I could do was stare. Fifty things went through my mind to say. How in the world did she get in the house? But I couldn’t open my mouth. On the last stair, the woman turned and smiled as if she had always known me.
    I closed my eyes tight until little dots danced around. When I finally found the nerve to look, the woman was gone. The room was warmer.
    “Mama, you said there weren’t no ghosts, but I think you’re wrong.” My words danced around the room. I sat down in the rocker and stayed there for what seemed forever, until a truck barreled down the drive. I threw open the door and ran out into the yard