Chapter Six
The rain had stopped by the time we arrived at Uncle Charlie and Aunt Mel Oxford’s house. I don’t know what kin they were to us, only that they had a lot of kids and most of them were married and gone. The ones who remained at home were teenagers. To me they seemed old, but then again, everyone seemed old to me, except Sissy.
Deedle and Delbert were the boys, Mary, or Dumpy as she
was called, Allie and Oma, the girls. Not long after we arrived at their home,
Allie married and moved out.
The house was small. One big room had two beds and a
wood heating stove in it. Across the back was a long room that was the kitchen.
In one end were two more beds. There was a wood cook stove, a kitchen table and
a cabinet for dishes. The cook stove had a warming closet, where any food which
was left over from a meal was kept.
Sometimes I would sneak a piece of cornbread, it was so
good. I found myself often thinking about Eula and her wonderful home-made Sauerkraut.
I wondered if she and John ever thought about me.
*
The front door was secured with a wooden latch.The
door had a small hole bored through it. The latch was on the inside and had a
strong cord fastened to it. In the daytime the cord was pulled through the hole
to the outside. When you wanted to open the door from the outside, you pulled
the cord and it lifted the latch. At night the cord was pulled back through the
hole and the door couldn’t be opened from the outside.
There was a ladder fastened to the wall which led to a
loft over the big room; this was where I slept. There wasn’t a bed, or
mattress, just boards covered with some hand-made quilts. I was thankful there
were no bed bugs.
The roof of the house was made of tin and when it
rained, the pitter-patter of rain-drops played a lullaby for me. My inner spirit
was soothed for the moment, as the ghost of a time long ago settled in my
heart. I would drift off to sleep, the faded image of my mama sitting on a
front porch singing softly in the moonlight.
Deedle had a little brown and white dog called Danger.
When I started up the ladder each night to bed, Deedle would hold him and let
him bite me until I got up in the loft. How I hated that dog!
One day Deedle was cutting timber and a tree fell on
Danger and killed him. Now I love animals, birds and fish … but that dog—I was
happy to see him gone and out of my life for good!
*
In the side of a large hill was a spring where we got
our water. It gushed out in a huge stream, forming a creek that ran between the
barn and house. I hunted frogs, minnow, and all the good things under rocks and
in the shallow water.
High up on the side of the hill, was an outcrop of
rocks. There were openings at the back of the rocks like small crevices that
you could feel cool air coming out of. Because we didn’t have any form of
refrigeration in those days, Aunt Mel kept the milk and butter in the crevices
or ‘cave’ as we called it.
It was my job to take the milk up in the morning and
bring it home in the evening. The cream would have risen on the milk and was
such a temptation.
Sometimes I would sneak the lid off the bucket and stick my
finger in the golden goodness. Then, I licked it off. I didn’t dare let Aunt
Mel catch me. I do not believe there is anything which tastes better than fresh
cream.
I hadn’t been at my new home long before I realized
that Delbert was the only one who really had a nice streak in him. Oma and Dumpy
were not an enjoyable pair to be around, and I evaded them as much as I
possibly could. I remember one time I helped Delbert, working alongside him in
the cornfield.
My hands hurt from pulling stubborn weeds, yet I didn’t
mind because I was helping someone who had been nice to me. To my surprise, the
next time Delbert went into town he returned with two brand new dresses and a
pair of leather slippers. I sat holding them in my lap for the longest time
before easing my feet into them. They were so beautiful. They were shiny black
patent with tiny straps that buttoned on the side. They were also the first
‘girl’ shoes I had ever had.
One of the dresses was green print cotton, and the
other one was a yellow print. The only dresses I had had in my short life had
been made from flour sacks. Delbert gave me a smile and said, “Edith, you’re
such a pretty sight in your new clothes.” Later, I heard Aunt Mel telling him
that he was spoiling me, and it wasn’t good to put fanciful thoughts in my
head.
When I lay down that night, I placed my new dresses and
shiny black shoes at the end of my quilt.
*
How I missed my Sissy. After she had brought me to Aunt Mel’s, she had returned home to Myrtle
and daddy’s. I would have gladly eaten
less if Aunt Mel had allowed Sissy to stay, but she wouldn’t, “Cain’t keep the
both of you,” she had stated.
It wasn’t long before I got word that Sissy had been
beaten so many times by Myrtle that she had run off again. She was living with
anyone that needed her to help with the work. It hurt me that she was so
mistreated.
Once she came to see me and Aunt Mel made her leave. “I
won’t have anyone around here who looks like a rag-a-muffin,” she said as she
waved her arms about, sending Sissy scurrying back down the path. I knew Sissy
wouldn’t have come over in such a dirty dress if she had had anything else to
wear.
I could not understand how people could be so cruel.
Each time I wore one of my new dresses after that sad day, a part of my heart
ached.
*
I took to playing a game with myself of remembering. I
remembered how Sissy and I would play in the woods and all the good times we
had together when we were by ourselves. My mind over-flowed with images of the
bluffs, hills and hollows which we had explored; every little flower, tree, the
clear, cool streams, wild fruit and berries or nuts decorated my thoughts.
Where will we meet again, what is ahead? So many deep troubling thoughts for a child.
*
Nothing would ever replace my Sissy, yet a little gray
kitten helped ease my wounded heart. Mary and Oma not wanting to see me happy
had other plans for the little fella. One afternoon they came sauntering up to
the front porch with a fire shovel in their hand. They had decided I was to
kill my new friend. Naturally, I wouldn’t do it.
As they knocked me off of the porch onto the hard
ground, my leg caught on a nail. Blood began to run down my leg from the ugly
gash. Mary and Oma took off running as I started yelling. Once they were out of
sight, I picked up my kitten and carried him to a hollow stump where I kept him
hidden for a long time.
Oma married and moved out of the house. She
unfortunately moved close by. It was about that time that Uncle Charlie and
Aunt Mel sent me to live in Rogers with their boy, Jeff.
It was Christmas time when I moved in with him and one
which I will never forget. Christmas morning, under the tree was a small bag of
hard candy and an orange. What a wondrous sight for me. I held the orange in my
hand and felt the roughness of the peel. With my finger-nail I gouged a part of
the peel away exposing the sweet juicy pulp inside. I smelled deeply hoping to
hold the moment in my mind always. When would I see another orange, I thought
as I bit into the round piece of wonder. When I was finished, not even a small piece
of the peel remained.
The following spring, I was sent to live with Oma. It
was to be my job to help tend her new baby girl. How I dreaded living with Oma.
Their home as located near Whittenburg’s mill and I
often wondered if I would catch a glimpse of daddy, as this was the mill where
he took the corn to be ground.
The babies’ milk came from one of Bill Oxford’s cows. He
was a relative who lived high up on a mountain. To reach his farm was
treacherous, as one had to follow a winding road edged with big rocks, up the
side of the mountain.
One evening Oma
sent me after the milk. The cows didn’t come in till dark and there I was on
that mountain by myself. It was pitch black and I was terrified. I began to
sing as loudly as I could, thinking my song would keep the varmints away from
me.
When finally I got down off the mountain my fear
increased. Oma stood at the edge of the creek waiting with a long, green peach
switch in her hand. She beat me until I felt weak and the switch lay in tiny
pieces on the ground. Frankie and Walter Oxford lived about a mile up the creek
and heard me screaming all the way to their house.
A few days later, Lottie Farriester came to visit for a
short spell with Walter, her brother, and Frankie. Miracles do happen.
Walter being of a kind spirit told Lottie how bad I was
treated at Oma’s. He pleaded with her to take me, seeing as she couldn’t have
any more children of her own.
She only had one child, a boy named Grover. I was
almost two years older than him when I went to live with Eph and Lottie.
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