Hell With the Lid Blown Off (15 page)

“I wish I could do something for you, Mister,” he said aloud, and felt foolish. There was no help for the dead man now, and he shouldn't be wasting time like this.

Since Gee Dub wasn't really sure where he was, he looked around for a way to mark the location of the unfortunate soul, but found nothing that could differentiate the spot from the ruination around it. He thought of breaking the branch off of a bush and sticking one of the man's boots onto one end and planting the other end in the ground next to the dead man's head. But the body was only clad in the remnants of trousers.

He was going to have to take the body with him or risk never finding it again. He glanced at his horse, who twitched an ear and snorted.

Penny wasn't going to like this.

Gee Dub didn't relish the idea of riding around in the dark with a mutilated corpse slung behind his saddle. He untied his blanket roll and rolled the body up in it like a cocoon. He knotted his rope around the man's feet, then remounted and moved on slowly, dragging his ghoulish burden behind. He held the lantern high as he rode, but the road to Boynton was not to be found. Finally he gave Penny her head to pick a route south across the open field, and hoped she could make her own way toward town.

Dr. Ann Addison

Gee Dub had no idea how long he had been wandering around. He had hoped that he would eventually be able to navigate by the glow of the street lamps in Boynton, but there was no glow. He wasn't surprised. The wind and rain had surely blown the street lamps out. But he was disappointed, nonetheless.

He did the best he could by holding the lit kerosene lantern up high for as long as his arm would allow. He was pretty sure he was still headed southeast, and when he suddenly found himself riding under the broken branches of his grandfather's apple orchard, he knew he was on the right track.

He came up on his grandparents' house from the rear and was relieved to see that it was largely untouched, apart from a missing section of fence and the loss of some roof shingles. He considered stopping for a welfare check, but since they seemed to have suffered little damage and he was eager to get the dead man into town, he pushed on into Boynton.

Tree limbs were down all over town, some outbuildings blown over and windows blown out, but the tornado seemed to have largely missed the town. Still, nothing alive was stirring and every window on Main Street was dark. He dug his heels into Penny's side.

He turned up Second Street past Alice and Walter's place and saw the dim glow of oil lamps through the window, but he didn't stop until he reached Doc Addison's house further down the lane. He slid off the horse's back and left her in the middle of the road while he pounded on the front door.

Doctor Ann opened it at once.

Once he had blurted out his story, Doctor Ann told him that her husband was not at home. “Joey Bond from over your way came and got him just a few minutes ago. He said that the twister had blown their house to pieces, and the fireplace had fallen on his ma.”

Gee Dub cursed under his breath. He shouldn't have lingered over the body of a man who was beyond help. “John Lee is hurt bad, ma'am. We've taken him over to my sister Mary's house since there's no other place. And I'm afraid he's not the only one who's hurt. Mr. Eichelberger is injured for sure, and I‘ve been dragging the dead man behind my horse for near to an hour. I don't know what to do with him this time of night. I passed more than one farmhouse that isn't there anymore. My guess is there are a lot of folks out that direction needing the services of a doctor.”

Doctor Ann listened with growing concern before inviting Gee Dub into the house. The other two doctors in town were likely tending to the wounded as well, but she tried to telephone them anyway. It was a futile effort. Even if Mrs. Smith was trying to operate the switchboard after-hours because of the storm, the lines were down.

“I'll go out to the Lukenbach place myself, son, being as there's no other option.”

Gee Dub watched the tall, dignified, midwife grab her bag and throw a shawl over her shoulders. “You won't be able to get out there in a buggy, ma'am,” he warned. “You'll have to go on horseback, and it's next to impossible to see where you're going.”

Doctor Ann paused long enough to give him a thin smile. “We Cherokees have no trouble finding our way in the dark, my boy. I'll borrow a horse from Mr. Turner.”

“Yes, ma'am. I've got to do something with my sad burden out there. I reckon I'll go by Scott's. Maybe he'll tell me where to take it. I told my ma I'd check on my sisters while I'm here, as well.”

Doctor Ann was already heading for the door. “As you wish, Gee Dub, but if you're not at the livery by the time I'm saddled, I'm leaving without you.”

Trenton Calder

That was one strange night. I didn't recognize where we were. There was no road, no houses, nothing left to where we could get our bearings. Me and Streeter kept going northwest, but we couldn't recognize where we were by the landmarks because all the landmarks had been blown away. We found a turnoff that we thought was probably the right one, so we set off down that way. About a mile down, a big old uprooted persimmon tree lay right across our path. We were going to have to leave the road, such as it was, and go around it.

I turned Brownie to the left and there, looming up out of the dark, was the gate to the Ross Dairy, broken but still upright. I hollered at Streeter, who was riding in front of me. “We're heading toward Muskogee!”

It was the right road. Wrong direction. I could see Streeter slump in the saddle before he turned his horse. “Come on, then, we'll have to go back.”

We made our way back toward the road, but we didn't get there before I heard a shrill cry. “Help! Oh, help!”

At first I thought I was hearing a child, but then I recognized the voice. “It's Miz MacKenzie!”

Streeter straightened up in the saddle and hollered back. “We hear you! Where are you?”

Her voice was squeaky with panic. “I'm just on the other side of this fallen tree! I can't get around it. Please help me.”

Streeter gave me a look that said,
What in the world is she doing out here?
“Mrs. MacKenzie,” he yelled, “it's Streeter McCoy. Trent Calder is here with me. Are you hurt? Did the tree fall on you?”

“Oh, boys, I'm so glad you've come along! No, I'm not hurt. I'm on my way home from Muskogee, but this tree is blocking my path. I'm in my shay and I can't get around.”

“Hang on, we're coming…”

We recommenced our trip around the barrier, picking our way real slow in the dark through the debris. It took us near to fifteen minutes to go twenty feet, but we got around. And there we found Miz Beckie MacKenzie sitting in her one-horse conveyance with the top up against the rain, holding the reins in her gloved hands and wearing a fluffy hat just like a queen. Her little saddlebred mare was patiently standing with its nose to the roadblock, enjoying a snack of persimmon leaves, which according to my ma, was real good for her.

We surveyed the situation for a minute. “Whatever possessed you to be out on a night like this, Miz MacKenzie?” I asked. “Ruth told me you've been at your son's house. Couldn't you have stayed over another night?” What I was thinking was,
Whatever possessed your son to let you out on a night like this?

Her hand went up to her throat. “Then Ruth is all right?”

“Yes, ma'am. I went by your place to check on y'all as soon as the storm went by. She's fine, but I'm afraid a tree about as big as this one took out a corner of your upstairs.”

That didn't seem to bother her much. I could plainly hear her relief. “Oh, thank the Lord! When I left Muskogee late this afternoon I figured I could beat the weather, but when it started storming bad I stopped over in Crecola with my friend Letty Allen. There is no telephone in Crecola and the telegraph office is closed, so I just had to try and get home and make sure dear Ruth is safe. The road is a mess, and it keeps getting worse the closer to Boynton I get!”

“How long have you been sitting here, ma'am? You should have turned around and gone back to Crecola!” Streeter lifted up his hat far enough to run his fingers through his sand-colored hair and make it stand up on end.

Miz Beckie looked abashed. “Well, yes, Streeter, I know you're right. I just drove up not ten minutes before I heard you. I was pondering whether I could guide Teacup around, but it's so dark that I was afraid to try.”

Me and Streeter were both dismounting as she talked. “It's a good thing you didn't try,” I said. “You'd have got stuck for sure in this buggy.”

“What shall I do, boys?”

Miz Beckie stayed put while we reconnoitered for a spell and calculated our options. “I think the safest thing would be to unhitch the horse and guide it around. Leave the buggy here and retrieve it later,” I said to Streeter.

He nodded. “Mrs. MacKenzie, can you ride astride?”

We were standing beside the shay and couldn't see her face, but when she answered she sounded the littlest bit affronted. “Of course I can, dear. I'm not entirely helpless, you know.”

Streeter chuckled and walked over to give her a hand down. “I apologize for implying otherwise, ma'am.”

Ruth Tucker

Streeter and Trent managed to wend their way back through the ruination and the intermittent rain and deliver Beckie to her house. Since her house had sustained damage, the men offered to take Beckie to Sheriff Scott Tucker's house for the night, but she wouldn't hear of it. “If the house is still standing,” she insisted, “I will go back to it.”

The compromise solution was that they would take Beckie home and then Trent would go back to Alice Kelly's house and fetch Ruth, if she was willing, to stay with her mentor until morning. To their surprise, Ruth was already at the MacKenzie house when they arrived. She took Beckie's sodden coat and droopy hat and ensconced the older woman in her armchair by the fire. She took her a cup of strong tea, then returned to the kitchen to pour steaming mugs for the men and exchange information. She was disappointed that they had not made it to the farm, but marveled that they had come across Beckie the way they did.

Ruth had news of her own.

“Gee Dub came by Alice's a while ago and told us that Mama and Daddy had some damage to the house and Mary and Kurt are more or less unscathed. But the twister came down on John Lee and Phoebe's place. They're all alive, but their house is about gone and the barn fell in on John Lee and broke his leg. Everybody is at Mary's tonight, since it's the only house that's big enough and all in one piece. Gee told me he found a dead man and brought the body into town with him and Scott had him take it to the Masonic Hall.”

“A dead man!” Trent was shocked. “Who is it, did Gee Dub know?”

Ruth shook her head. “He says the body was so damaged by the twister that he couldn't tell.” She shuddered at the thought. “I talked Gee Dub into bringing me back here. I was here during the storm so I knew that the house isn't busted up that bad. Besides, I know where Miz Beckie's pistol is if I need it. Gee stayed long enough to help me move the rest of Miz Beckie's bedroom furniture away from the hole in the wall, and then he wanted me to come home with him.”

“Why didn't you go?” Streeter wondered.

“I was set on being here in case Miz Beckie showed up and needed me, and it looks like I was right. Gee Dub left not an hour ago. He said he aims to go back out to Mary's and let them know all of us are all right before Mama takes a notion to walk to town herself.”

Streeter leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Ruth, honey, I don't like the idea of you two ladies staying out here in this damaged house all by yourselves tonight. What if there comes another storm before morning?”

“I'd be glad to sleep on Miz Beckie's parlor couch tonight,” Trent volunteered.

“Now, you fellows don't need to fret so. Me and Miz Beckie will be just fine. Besides, I'm sure Alice and Martha are anxious to know what has become of you two. So drink up and ride on back to town. If it'll set your minds to ease, drop back by in the morning on your way out to Mama and Daddy's and see how we fare.”

The men sat in weary silence for a moment after Ruth left them to tend her charge. Trent found himself mesmerized by the steam in his mug, and he jerked as his head dropped toward the table. He was suddenly aware of the amused look on Streeter McCoy's face.

Streeter chuckled. “You'd be well advised to go home and get some sleep. I'll go back to Alice's and fill them in.”

Trent scrubbed his face with both hands. “Naw, I figure I ought to stop by Scott's real quick and let him know what it's like west of town. If you don't mind, I'll go with you out to the Tuckers' in the morning.”

Streeter nodded. “I'll meet you in front of the hotel at dawn.”

Beckie MacKenzie

Ruth returned to the parlor to find Beckie holding her cup and saucer in her lap, staring out the window into the darkness, gray with exhaustion.

Ruth sat down on the ottoman beside the fireplace. “I'm so glad to see you're all right, Miz Beckie. I was worried that you got blown clean away on your way home! Did Trent tell you that a tree fell into your bedroom? The rest of the upstairs is intact, though.”

“Yes, he did, dear, but that's no matter. It can be fixed. I'll sleep in Wallace Junior's old room for a while, or down here by the fire if I must. All I care is that you are unhurt.”

“What possessed you to try and drive all the way back here from Muskogee tonight?”

“It wasn't so bad when I left late this afternoon, just windy and threatening rain. But the sky looked so bad at sunset that I considered turning back. By that time I was much closer to my friend's house in Crecola than to Muskogee. Once it started hailing I thought it would be the better part of valor to find shelter immediately. It was quite a storm, a great deal of thunder and lightning, Ruth dear, but Letty and I had supper and a nice chat. By that time it had blown over enough that I thought I could make it home with little trouble. I didn't get but half a mile before I realized it was much worse than I imagined, and then I grew so
fashed
at the thought you might be hurt and alone that I just had to get home. Thank heavens those young men came along when they did.”