Mama Stalks the Past Read Online Free PDF Page B

asked.
    Mama shook her head, knowing instantly what I meant. “Moody is not known for trouble. As a matter of fact, people say he’s got a soft heart, kind and gentle.”
    “What’s he doing at Nat’s house?”
    “Looking for Nat, I guess.”
    I rolled my eyes. “I bet Nat owes him money and he’s wanting to collect, poor feller.”
    Mama frowned. Her golden-brown complexion took on a darker hue. “I’m not worried aboutMoody,” she told me. “It’s Nat that concerns me.… It’s not smart for him to leave his front door open like that!”
    “I kind of thought that Moody was going inside.”
    “I don’t know why he didn’t. Nat’s home.” Mama pointed. “See, he’s in the kitchen near the stove.” She shook her head, then picked up the phone and dialed. “Nat,” she said, once it was answered. “This is Miss Candi.… Listen, I just saw Moody Hamilton at your door.… Well, it’s a good idea to keep your front door locked. He started to walk right in.… You’re right, I’m not your mother.”
    Mama replaced the receiver.
    I burst out laughing. “I know you didn’t expect thanks for that call, did you?”
    Mama smiled. But the expression in her eyes remained thoughtful. “At least we know we won’t have a problem
getting
into his house tonight.”
    For the next half hour, as Mama and I cleaned the kitchen, I found myself looking toward the Mixon house time and time again. When the telephone rang, I answered because I was nearest to it. “Okay,” I said, putting my hand over the receiver and turning to Mama, who had just put the last cup into the dishwasher. “It’s Daddy’s cousin Agatha,” I told her.
    Mama took a deep breath, then reached for the receiver. “Agatha, how are you?… Uncle Chester? No, James isn’t at home. Now? Okay, Simone and I will be right over.”
    “What’s that all about?” I asked, when she’d hung up.
    “Uncle Chester is having a hissy fit,” Mama said. She looked annoyed.
    “Why?”
    “Josiah Covington, your great-grandfather, owned over a thousand acres of land. When he died, his will left that land jointly to his twelve children. These twelve children could either farm the land, cut the timber and share the money from it, or even build a house on it, but they couldn’t sell it, according to Josiah’s will. Your daddy’s father, Samuel Covington, was the first of those twelve children to die. And Uncle Chester is the last of those twelve children living. Your father, Agatha, Gertrude, and Fred Covington are the next generation of over one hundred heirs of those twelve children who are now scattered all over the country. Cousin Agatha is worried.”
    I was trying to sort out the tangled Covington family tree. “Why?”
    “She’s scared that once Uncle Chester dies, the land will be cut up and sold. So she has talked to Calvin Stokes to find out the best wayto keep that from happening. Calvin suggested that the Covington Land Company be formed and that it be incorporated, and a Trustee be appointed. The Trustee would take care of paying the taxes, cutting the timber, and—”
    “Cousin Agatha might be jumping the gun,” I said.
    “A couple of months ago there was a big dispute over heirs’ property in Stewart County. Things were so bad that sisters and brothers wouldn’t even sit together at their mother’s funeral. Cousin Agatha doesn’t want that kind of thing tearing our family apart when Uncle Chester dies. She doesn’t want the land sold or lost for taxes either.”
    “The Covington family would never fight over property,” I declared.
    Mama’s lips pursed. “Don’t be so sure. James’s cousin Fred, your second cousin, has been saying things that hint that as soon as Uncle Chester dies, he’s going to insist that the land be cut up and sold.”
    “Why wait until Uncle Chester dies?”
    Mama explained patiently. “Because Uncle Chester is the last of Josiah’s original children. As long as he lives, those thousand acres