Chapter 2

Right off the bat we run up against the first problem with teachin' lessons, and that was that we had nothin' to write on. How in hell was I s'posed to teach the ABC's without a blackboard or paper and pencils?

Well, Cassie dug into a chest under her bed and found some old papers of Mr. Wharton's that only had writin' on one side. I read over 'em and it didn't look like nothin' she'd need later. Down at the bottom of the chest she found one little ol' stub of a pencil that they'd have to share between 'em. We spent an hour or so practicin' the alphabet 'til we run out of blank pages and I tole Cassie we was gonna need pencils and tablets fer each of 'em if we was gonna do it right.

"Problem is, Cassie, I ain't got a penny to my name. I don't even know how to get to town to go lookin' fer the stuff."

She was still thinkin' about it that afternoon while she was shellin' peas fer supper, and asked, "Would ya have any idee how t' drive that ol' heap out b'side of the shed? I never learnt how."

"I can drive it if it still runs and if it has gas in it."

"I'm purty sure they's a can o' gas in the shed, n' ya might need t' pump up them tars some. It ain't been drove since Mr. Wharton, uh, went away n' I don't even know how to start it. I do recollect he kept a hand pump under the seat fer the tars."

"I'll go take a look." The tires weren't all the way flat but they were all pretty low includin' the spare layin' in the bed of the pickup. After I worked up a sweat gettin' 'em pumped up about right, I opened the gas cap and jiggled the truck back n' forth to listen fer sloshin' in the tank. It had some gas in it but since it'd sat fer so long, I thought there might be water in the tank too. I'd just have to see after I fired it up. Before I did that, I checked to see that it had oil. It was black as tar but it didn't feel gritty or nothin' so I figured it'd do.

I set the spark, the throttle and the choke and put the transmission in neutral. I dang near pulled my shoulder loose crankin' that damn thing before it finally struck me that I needed to prime the carburetor. I looked around and found the red five-gallon can that was half full of gas. I wasn't sure it'd still be any good after sittin' fer so long but it worked. There musta' been a little water in the gas tank 'cause, once she caught, she run rough as a corncob and backfired a few times before she finally smoothed out. I drove up next to the house and shut her down.

The kids was all excited and jumpin' up n' down on the porch hollerin', "We wanna go, we wanna go!"

Cassie came out the door wavin' some dollars in her hand and said, "We'll all go t' town together. I need some sewin' goods n' a couple o' other thangs from the grocery. You can go over to the 5&10-cent store to see how much some writin' tablets n' pencils cost. I'll give ya one o' these dollars but ya need to stretch it out as far as ya can." She turned to the kids and said, "Go on 'round back to the pump n' warsh that dirt off yer face!"

The town of Casey was nine miles south. It wasn't all that big but it had two blocks of stores that'd probably have anything we needed. I let Cassie and the kids out at the grocer's and asked where the 5&10 was. She said it was down at the end of the street and I headed that way but it wasn't where I was goin'. The way I figured it, a public school was fer ever'body and if the kids didn't have no way to get to the school, why I'd just bring the school to them.

I drove around 'til I finally found the grammar school. I parked the truck a couple of blocks away and sauntered back in that direction like I was just mindin' my own business. I double-checked nobody was watchin' and went around to the back where I found a door you couldn't see from the street. There was just woods behind the building.

Back at the house, when I was lookin' fer the hand pump under the seat of the pickup, I found a few tools and a rusty old buck knife. The knife was all I needed to get through the door. It was so easy I dang near laughed out loud.

Inside, there was six different classrooms and a office but all I wanted was the one fer first-graders. I knew it when I saw it 'cause there was beginning reading books on a bookshelf. I took four of 'em. Then I found some slates and some chalk in a little storage room between two classrooms, and took enough fer all of us. I also found a couple of tablets and a box of pencils.

I was about to leave when I thought about maybe findin' some books with stories I could read to the kids. I figured Cassie would like that and I knew the kids would. I found two that I really liked when I was little: 'Old Mother West Wind Stories' and 'The Wind in the Willows'. I grabbed up two of the Mother West Wind books and The Wind in the Willows and shoved 'em all into a canvas bag I found in the storage room and skedaddled. No sense in pushin' my luck. They'd probably never even know the stuff was missin'.

When Cassie and the kids climbed in, she looked at the full bag on the floorboard and asked, "You git all that fer a dollar?"

I just grinned and handed her back her dollar and said, "Nope! I figure ever'body has a right to a education and I know the kids don't have no way to get to the school so it only seems right that the school should hand over what the other kids get. Don't you think?"

Her eyes got real big and she says, "You tellin' me ya stole all this from the school? My lord, Willem, what if somebody seen ya?"

"Nobody saw me, Cassie. Hell, I doubt they'll even know this stuff is missin' come September. Anyways, it ain't likely they'd be comin' after you fer breakin' into a school, is it? So now that you got that extra dollar, is there anything else you need to buy before we head back? Maybe fill up the gas tank?"

She just sat there shakin' her head and lookin' at me while the kids was laughin' and gigglin' and lookin' at the pictures in the books. Finally she says, "Well, let's do that n' then go by the 5&10 so I can buy some thread to darn some socks. Ya know, Willem, I'm startin' to wonder if yer gonna be more trouble than yer worth."

When we got back to the house, we all got busy catchin' up on our chores. Cassie handed me the 20-guage and said, "I do hope you can shoot."

"Course I can! George used t' take me out huntin' with him all the time. What am I shootin'?"

"Good! Well then go back yonder in them woods n' see if you can bring us a couple o' squirrels or cottontails fer a stew." As she handed me the shotgun and some shells, she leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Thank ya fer what ya done fer the kids, Willem but I'd as soon ya didn't make a habit o' thievin'. I can tell yer a smart man, but ya cain't keep gittin' by with it fer long n' I sure don't want the law out here lookin' fer ya."

I promised her I wouldn't steal no more and headed out the door. I hoped I could keep that promise but if I was a bettin' man, I wouldn't risk a lot of money on it. I took notice that she didn't call me 'boy'; she called me a man, and that made me feel good.

It didn't take too long before I caught sight of a squirrel's nest in a walnut tree and found a place in the brush to sit n' wait fer it to make a mistake. As I sat there, I got to thinkin''bout how long I might hang around Cassie and the kids. I mean, I didn't have no real plans except to stay outta sight of the law.

I still wanted to go out west to see if it was anything like the movies showed, but I didn't reckon there was so much of a hurry to do that. Cassie was a real nice woman and she treated me better'n my own ma. And havin' sex with her was somethin' I could stand fer the rest of my life. Hell, just thinkin' about her started my dick to growin', not that it took much to make that happen anyways.

Besides, I don't mind a little hard work as long as I get somethin' for it and what I was gettin' was three squares and good folks to live with and that's more'n I ever had before. Cassie already made it plain that as long as I was willin' to take a little of the load off her shoulders, she was willin' to make me feel right at home in return. It seemed like stayin' put fer a while might be the smart thing to do.

My eye caught some movement in the walnut tree, and I spotted two gray squirrels movin' out onto the branch from a hole in the trunk. I waited 'til they was broadside of me and aimed right between 'em with the 20-guage. Danged if I didn't get 'em both with one shot! When I got back to the house and proudly offered 'em to Cassie, she just looked at 'em and said, "Don't be handin' me no dead animals 'thout they been cleaned first. Git 'em outta their skins. And hang them skins on the shed t' dry. I expect I can make somethin' out of 'em."

After a fine dinner of squirrel stew, turnip greens, biscuits n' fresh-churned butter, I took Sue Ellen and Charlie outside to show 'em how to play mumbly peg so they wouldn't be under foot while Cassie cleaned up. The buck knife was too big to do some of the tricks but we had fun anyway and nobody got stuck.

I guess the kids was startin' to get used to me bein' around. Charlie, he seemed to take to me right off but Sue Ellen was slow comin' around. I wondered if it was 'cause of the awful way her daddy treated her and seein' him die like that. I guess if I was her, I'd be a little shy of men too. But there wasn't nothin' shy about little Charlie! Hell, he was all over me, wantin' to rassle and be swung around in a circle and chasin' me 'round the house. You couldn't slow him down and he like to wore me out.

They was both anxious fer bedtime to roll around 'cause they knew I was gonna read 'em a story. Cassie said that was new 'cause she usually hadda threaten Charlie with the switch to get him under the covers. When they got all tucked in, I read the first three chapters of the first 'Mother West Wind' book. And you know what? Cassie sat there ever' bit as wrapped up in the story as the kids.

Charlie fell asleep before I was done but I could tell Sue Ellen wanted me to keep goin'. I promised her we'd pick it up the next night right where I left off. I leaned down and kissed 'em both on the forehead. Sue Ellen drew back but then she gave me a little bitty smile and I figure she musta' like it.

Cassie made us up some more of that coffee with molasses and moonshine and we went out to sit on the porch. We sat quiet and watched the fireflies comin' up outta the weeds. I was struck by how pretty she looked in the lamplight comin' through the door. Then, without me even askin', she started tellin' me her story.

It's hard to believe it could still happen in the 1920's, but her daddy traded her to Mr. Wharton fer five acres of bottomland. She was fourteen at the time and that was nine years ago so I guess she was twenty-three now. That happened down in eastern Tennessee in a place she said hardly ever saw a civilized man come through. Soon as he shook hands on the deal, Mr. Wharton packed up and moved the two of 'em to West Virginia and bought the land that was made her's after he was dead n' buried. Next thing he did was to take her into town and get a Justice of the Peace to marry 'em, makin' it all proper. I guess they don't have no legal age limit in this part of the country.

When I asked her if he left any money fer her and the kids when he died, she looked at me real hard and said, "I like you, Willem. I think I even trust you some but not that much. Not yet, anyways. They ain't a lot but it's enough to keep me n' the little'uns fer a while. If yer thinkin' about lookin' fer it, they ain't no way in hell you'd ever find it."

At first, I felt hurt that she'd think that of me but then I already proved I wasn't above thievin', didn't I? "Cassie, I'd never take a thing from you and the kids! I already promised you I wouldn't steal no more and I hope you might grow to trust me on that some day."

She softened my hurt with a smile and a pat on the knee. "Someday I expect I will, Willem, but that kinda trust takes time n' yer still pretty much a stranger."

She went on with her story. Besides the money Mr. Wharton already had stashed somewhere, he made more by makin' and sellin' moonshine whiskey. She said she'd show me where the still was sometime. Anyhow, the problem was he didn't just make and sell whiskey, he drank a lot of it too. She said it was a real shame, too, 'cause when he was sober, he was just as nice as pie, but if he got a few swallows of moonshine inside of him, look out! She said he beat her somethin' awful with his belt a couple o' times and even whupped on the kids if she wasn't fast enough to cover 'em up with her own body. Well, his drinkin' wound up costin' him his life.