Wonderland Creek Part 33

"Move closer to the fire, Alice." I sat on the hearthstone, running my fingers through my hair to dry it and control the curls. "How is Lillie?" he asked, watching me.

"She was fine when I left this morning. Speaking of Lillie, do you think there's such a thing as a love potion?"

Mack smiled. "Why? Has she been concocting one?"

I hesitated, then decided to tell him the truth-at least part of it. "Lillie said she fed a love potion to Belle so she would behave for you."

The words weren't even out of my mouth when Belle lowered her head and rubbed her muzzle against Mack's shoulder. He laughed out loud, and continued laughing for a good long time. His joy was contagious, and soon I was chuckling, too.

"That's fantastic!" he said, wiping his eye. "Now, if only I can figure out how to bottle her formula, I'll be a very rich man."

"So you don't believe it's true?"

"I didn't say that. I've learned never to underestimate Lillie."

"So you do believe in a love potion?"

"Don't you?" Belle nudged him again.

I was getting nowhere. "Mack, why did you come back to Acorn and try to make things better at the mine? Why not stay up north and forget the past?" I had heard Lillie's version of the story, but I was curious to hear his.

He began with a sigh. "When I left Acorn, I thought it was for good. I'd had a very long wrestling match with G.o.d that lasted for a couple of years. My father died in the mines and my mother died giving birth to me . . ."

"Someone told me you were born backwards."

"So I've heard. Anyway, Lillie raised me in the Christian faith and dragged me to church, but I didn't want much to do with G.o.d."

"Where did you and Lillie go to church? I've never seen any churches in Acorn."

"There used to be a nice one in town when I was a boy. But as the feud heated up and started tearing the town apart, we couldn't get any ministers to stay. The church building is abandoned now and practically falling down."

The baby sighed in her sleep, and Mack looked down at her again, stroking her soft hair. I loved listening to the slow, leisurely way he talked, p.r.o.nouncing I like ah, and my like mah. He didn't have Ike's mountain tw.a.n.g or speak with poor grammar the way other folks in Acorn did.

"Anyway," Mack continued, "I studied at Berea, a Christian college, and that's where G.o.d started wooing me back. He said instead of being mad about the way things were, why not do something about them? I started investigating mine safety because of my father's death and decided to write my novel. I also decided to open the library so other kids could have a chance for a better life like I'd had. Or even if they stayed here, their life would be richer with books."

He was quiet for a long moment as he studied little Feather, then he looked up at me. "What about you, Alice?"

"What about me?"

"You never told me your story."

"There's nothing to tell. I grew up in Illinois, became a librarian, lost my job because of cutbacks, and then came down here."

"So your story is just beginning."

"I guess you could say that.

"Well, that's exciting. Think of all the possible directions you could go."

I nodded, but I couldn't think of any possibilities at all. How had Mack and Maggie and Ike figured out where they were supposed to go and what they should do once they got there? All my life other people had been making decisions for me. My parents had decided I should go to Cook County Normal School, and my instructors had decided I wasn't cut out to be a teacher. Even the decision to end our relationship had been Gordon's, not mine. One of the few decisions I had ever made on my own was to collect books for Kentucky and deliver them myself, and look how that had turned out! I would like to be more decisive in the future, but how? Especially when-as Mack had pointed out-there were so many possible directions in which to go.

"Penny for your thoughts," Mack said when I didn't reply. I needed to change the subject.

"What are your plans after you get justice for Hank and your book gets published?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll write another book." He turned his attention back to the baby, lifting her tiny hand with one finger and smiling when she curled her fist around it. I wanted to ask where his experience with babies had come from, but I was afraid to. Every time I had asked an innocent question in Acorn, it seemed as though it led to another tragic story.

"Do you think you'll ever move up north again, Mack?"

"I don't know that answer, either. For now, my home is here with Lillie. I need to stay and take care of her and run the library."

"You know what I don't understand? Why don't the people in town ever come in to check out books? Faye's boys, Mamaw, and Ike are the only patrons we've ever had-besides the people we deliver to on our routes, of course."

"A lot of it has to do with the fact that the house belonged to the Larkins. But even the Larkins are reluctant to patronize it because they don't know what to do after they walk through the door. Most people are much more comfortable having books brought to their homes. That's why I want to expand the routes and get books out to more areas. And you'd be surprised how many people don't know how to read but won't admit it."

Eventually the storm blew over and the rain slowed to a trickle. Most of the water pattering on the roof and dripping through the leaks was falling from the trees. I had added a few more pieces of wood to the fire, but it would soon burn out.

"I talked to Ike about the mine," I said as I added the last few sticks of wood. "He says the mine is a straight tunnel that you can walk into, and there are a few shafts off to the sides. He was in the mine on the day Hank died and heard the explosion, but Hank was in a different place, where they supposedly found a new vein of coal. Does that help you at all?"

"Maybe. It would be better if I could send the mining bureau a sketch of the layout. I've been organizing the information to get it ready to send."

"Well, Ike is going out of town to play on a road tour with a new band. I don't know if I'll be able to ask him for a sketch until he returns, or even how I'd go about asking him to draw it."

The baby had begun to stir as we'd talked. Now her blue eyes blinked open and she gazed up at Mack curiously. "Hey there, little girl. Welcome to my cabin," he murmured. He looked so starry-eyed as he fussed over her that I began to wonder if he'd sipped some of Lillie's love potion, too.

"She's going to get hungry," I said. "How will we feed her?"

"We need to find June Ann and make sure she's all right. Maybe you should take the baby back home to her cabin."

"June Ann won't come out. Even if I did go back to her house, she'll hide. She's done it before. I think I'd better take her to Miss Lillie like she asked me to. But I'll have to walk home. Otherwise, I don't know how I'll ever dismount without help. Lillie is much too tiny to reach that far, and Feather probably weighs as much as Lillie does."

Mack shook his head. "Lillie doesn't have a cow, and this baby is too young to eat real food. I think you'd better take her up to Maggie's place. She has a cow and a few goats, too. At least the baby will get milk up there. Besides, Maggie will know how to take care of her."

"Won't it be hard for her-painful, I mean-after losing her own baby?"

"Yeah. She might refuse. But I think it's the best thing to do. Maggie knows more about babies than we do."

I looked at Feather, content in his arms, and smiled. "You're doing just fine, Mack."

"Thanks. But like you said, she's going to get hungry pretty soon. And when June Ann finally does show up, she can go up to Maggie's to get her baby back. She knows where Maggie lives."

I stood and stretched while Mack wrapped up the baby again. I was warm and dry and reluctant to venture outside. I enjoyed Mack's company and felt comfortable conversing with him. But Feather wouldn't be content much longer.

"What if Maggie refuses? Should I take the baby to Miss Lillie, then?"

"Don't give Maggie a choice. Just hand the baby to her the way June Ann handed her to you."

That sounded like a terrible idea. Maggie already took care of her ailing mother-in-law, and it didn't seem right to add to her burden without asking. But what other choice did I have? I reached for Belle's reins.

"Okay, Belle. Time to get going." I pulled her through the door and climbed onto the railing and into the saddle. Mack kissed the baby's forehead before handing her up to me. "Take care," he said. "Let me know how everything goes."

Belle tried to head home, but I took charge for once, making her do what I wanted. We rode to Maggie's house, and when we reached the clearing in front of her cabin, I called out to her. She came to her door.

"You're early today, Allie. I wasn't expecting you until this afternoon."

"I know. There's been a crisis and I've ended up with June Ann's baby. Can you take her so I can dismount?"

"Sure." She hurried over to Belle's side, and I handed the baby down to her. Maggie parted the feed sack cover and looked at Feather, then up at me again.

"You look chilled, Allie. Why don't you come in and warm up?"

I tied Belle to the hitching post and went inside where Maggie had a warm fire in the stove and fragrant bread baking in the oven. I quickly explained how June Ann had thrust Feather into my arms on my way up the creek. I left Mack out of the story.

"June Ann asked me to take her to Miss Lillie, but Lillie hasn't been feeling well, so I wondered if you would take her instead. Lillie's too old to take care of such a tiny baby, and I don't know anything about infants. You have a cow and some goats, so I know you could at least give her milk to drink. We don't have a cow, and I don't know where on earth to buy milk-"

I stopped, aware that I was babbling. But what if Maggie refused? What if I got stuck caring for an infant along with all the other endless tasks I already had? Even if someone loaned Miss Lillie a cow or a goat, I had no idea how to milk an animal, nor did I want to learn. Too late I realized I should have listened to Mack and not given Maggie a choice. "Please take care of her for me, Maggie. Please?"

"I'm the wrong person to ask. There must be someone else."

"Everyone I know is either a Larkin or an Arnett, and neither family will help. Please? I don't know what else to do with her or who else to ask."

"She's so pretty. How old is she?"

"She was born about a month ago."

"What's her name?"

"Feather . . . Maggie, I'm begging you."

"Well . . . I guess I could watch her until you find June Ann. Someone is out searching for her, right?"

"I don't know who to send or where to search. June Ann knows these woods a lot better than I do. She could hide for days."

"She'd better be careful, especially at night. I'm still seeing signs of that wildcat all over this area."

"June Ann knows about the wildcat. She loves her baby, Maggie. She'll come back for her soon, I know she will."

I watched Maggie and Feather as they gazed at each other. Maggie couldn't help smiling. I nearly sighed aloud with relief, then edged toward the door.

"I need to leave. Thanks so much, Maggie."

The morning's ordeal wore me out. By the time I left Maggie and Feather and climbed onto Belle, I simply wanted to go home. n.o.body on my route was going to get books today. I stopped at June Ann's cabin on the way home and called out to her, but she didn't reply. I wasn't surprised. I dismounted and sat on her porch to wait, but when it began to rain again, I finally gave up. I wrote her a note on a sc.r.a.p of newspaper, telling her that Feather was with Maggie Coots, then I left the note on her table and rode back to Mack's cabin.

"Maggie agreed to take the baby," I told him when he came to the door. "I'm heading home now." I didn't even dismount. The rain had made Belle as eager to get home as I was. We were both cold and wet.

Belle went straight into her shed, where I removed her saddle and dried her off with an empty feed sack.

I trudged up the stairs to my bedroom to change my clothes. Lillie called to me as I pa.s.sed her room. "You're home early today, honey. Did the thunder scare you off?"

"No, it wasn't the storm." I sagged onto the chair beside her bed and told her the entire story, beginning with June Ann waylaying me in the middle of the thunderstorm, and ending with Mack's suggestion that I take the baby to Maggie Coots. "Fortunately, Maggie agreed to take her for now, but I think we should contact June Ann's family. If you'll tell me where to find her parents, I'll go talk to them and explain what happened. Maybe this crisis will finally bring the feuding families together."

"You don't need June Ann's folks. Maggie Coots will take good care of that little baby."

"But Maggie also has her mother-in-law to care for, and Opal Coots is bedridden."

"That don't matter. That baby's gonna save Maggie's life."

"Save her life? What do you mean? How?"

"The same way that Mack saved mine. That must be why the Good Lord sent that little baby here in the first place, and why He made her so fussy all the time, and why my tonic don't work. He wants to keep Maggie here until she settles accounts with Him, don't you see?"

I shook my head, bewildered. "No. I don't see anything."

"Maggie came down here to work for G.o.d, but that's not what He's wanting her to do."

"It isn't? I thought we're all supposed to work for G.o.d."

"He wants us to work with Him, honey. Not for Him."

I closed my eyes and rubbed them. "I'm so confused. What does working with G.o.d have to do with June Ann's baby and with saving Maggie's life and . . . and with Mack saving yours?"

She leaned against the pillow and sighed. "I had hundreds of children. All the babies I brought into this world are my children. I even watched some grow up and have babies of their own. But Mack is special to me. Raising him made up for the two children I lost, and for all them other hard things I went through. G.o.d gave Mack to me so I would keep on living. I got to see him grow up, take his first steps, learn to talk. I taught him how to read, and I made sure he had plenty of books. I kept my promise to his mama, and Mack went to college instead of working in the mine."

"He's a good man, Lillie. You raised him well."

"I know my time to leave this old world is coming real soon. If I can just see Mack settled, with his book all finished and a good wife by his side, then I can leave here in peace. I been hanging on just so he won't be all alone in the world."

"Has he found a wife?"

"Oh, yes. The Good Lord has found the perfect wife for Mack."

I thought of the letter he'd addressed to Miss Catherine Anson in Washington, and when I pictured Mack rocking baby Feather in his arms, I felt envious.

"Well, good. He'll make a good husband and father. But there's still a lot I don't understand, Lillie. Why would G.o.d go to all the trouble of arranging these complicated schemes-killing Mack's mother and making baby Feather have colic? It seems crazy. And why take Maggie's husband and child from her? Why did He make you suffer by taking Buster and Sam and your little daughter away from you?"

Lillie sighed. "I been around a long time, honey, and I seen a lot a things that don't make sense to us. Life is full of troubles, but this one with June Ann's baby will all work out for good. You'll see."

"I still think that if we talked to the Arnetts and the Larkins about Feather, maybe we could end the feud. Both sides need to see all the harm they've caused, and they need to start taking care of Feather and June Ann."

"Let it go, honey. That ain't gonna happen."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I quit trying to figure everything out a long time ago and learned to trust G.o.d to work it all out."

"But I want to do something!"

"Well, then, why don't you go fix us something to eat. It's past lunchtime, ain't it?"