Shine On (18 page)

“Ava, it’s fine.” She put her hand up to stop the conversation. “I know I have some black at home that will work perfectly. Don’t worry about me, okay.” Her pride made this conversation a tough pill to swallow.

Emmie reached down and touched the burnt orange tulle that would soon become Ava’s skirt. “It’s going to be lovely. This is your party, I’m just happy to be a part of it. Don’t worry about me.” She glanced down at Ava’s watch. “I’m sorry. I really have to get back.” She ran from the fabric shop without waiting for her friends reply.

When Emmie got home that evening there was a large navy box with a red ribbon on her porch. Balancing the box and her purse she unlocked the door. Dropping all of the belongings on the table, she pulled the ends of the ribbon and it fell to the side. She eased the lid off the box to find it was filled with the supplies from the fabric shop, including a soft black silk fabric and full bolt lace overlay material. This was twice as expensive as the fabric for Ava’s dress. She was going to kill her. The pattern was at the bottom of the box with a short note pinned to it.

Emmie,

Since I know you won’t let me pay you for the sewing, I thought you could accept the cloth for your dress without contest. See, no charity case here. No harm done. Just me paying you for services rendered.

Love, Ava.

Emmie shook her head—she should have known. The cost of this fabric was enough to pay for many weeks worth of groceries. But the gesture was kind and appreciative. Ava was a good friend. She set the lovely black fabric aside and put all of her attention on Ava’s pumpkin dress. It was going to be stunning. Emmie wasn’t very hungry that evening, so she just snacked on some cheese and crackers while she pinned and pieced Ava’s costume together. Too much was on her mind.

Around ten her phone rang.

“Hello,” she answered.

“Emmie?” a familiar voice asked.

“Yes.”

“Hey. It’s me, Silas,” he sounded uneasy.

“Hi.”

“Sorry. I’ve been busy. Got good news though. We won that case I was working on. Got the guy off.” She heard the flick of his lighter and an intake of breath through the line.

Emmie realized this was the most he had ever talked to her about work. Unfortunately, she knew nothing about law or court trials. She didn’t know exactly what to say.

“That’s wonderful. Congrats.” She hoped that was sufficient.

“Thanks,” Silas answered.

Awkward Pause. Then he spoke again.

“Tomorrow is that luncheon after church I told you about. Ya still want to come… with me?”

“Of Course. I’ll bring some applesauce. Should I bring anything else?”

“No. That will be great.” She could tell he was smiling by his tone. “Well, I’ve got to go but I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay, good night Silas.”

“Night.”

She noticed her heart was beating faster when they got off the phone but she wasn’t exactly sure why. Emmie tried to go back to piecing together Ava’s costume but couldn’t focus. She blamed it on the fact the dog wouldn’t stop whining at some animal outside. But really it was just that her hands and mind didn’t seem to be connected. At least she’d be able to see if things were more normal with Silas tomorrow. Whatever normal was.

Now she just needed to hear from Walt. She’d thought of calling him a hundred times. But she just couldn’t think what she could possibly say to him.
Hey Walt, Have you unloaded all that apple pie ’shine I made or is it fermenting in your barn?
Probably Not.

She stood and walked to the kitchen to get another glass of tea. She wasn’t going to sleep much tonight anyway, at least the added caffeine might help her focus on the costume. As she glanced out the kitchen window she noticed a light in the distance, like a lantern moving up the hill toward the cave.

“Walter,” she said to Spotty, “is that who you’ve been whining about?”

Without another thought she grabbed her shawl and tore into the woods after him, shutting Spotty in the house. She was surprised how quickly he was moving in the distance. Walt generally had a slower gate.

“Walt,” she shouted to no avail. He just kept right on moving.

She walked past the barn and made it to the tree, still scorched from Ronnie’s wreck. Her heart always dropped when she neared it. She stopped put her hand on the trunk’s charred remains and said a quick prayer of peace for his soul and kept walking up the hill.

When she finally made it to the mouth of the cave her entire body froze. It was not Walt she’d followed into the cave.

Chapter Twenty-eight

E
mmie’s breath caught in her throat. Why would he be here? She ducked behind a large rock near the entrance. Bo Johnson pulled still paste out of a tin and started rubbing it over the nooks and joints of Ole Maizy, Walter’s still. She knew him from school. His family owned a huge plot of land down in Riverside. He was one of the Johnsons Walter had mentioned a few days ago.

Bo had always been a nice guy. They were always partnered together for arithmetic and science in school. He was tall and thin with close-shaved hair and a frame of a beard stretching from sideburn to chin. He’d always been such a good guy. For the life of her she couldn’t imagine why he’d be stealing Walter’s moonshine.

Emmie watched with bated breath as he started up the still, mimicking the motions she’d seen Walter do the first night in the cave. Then he turned his attention to the barrel on the other end of the still. He seemed to be checking things on the spout. When everything seemed to meet his satisfaction he sat down in Walt’s chair. Then he pulled a small book out of his back pocket and started reading it.

She couldn’t believe it. He was just sitting there, waiting for all of Walt’s ’shine to run out into his jar. Emmie had to do something. She knew Bo pretty well but she wasn’t sure how he would react to her sneaking up on him. Emmie glanced around in search of something to protect herself if this went awry. She picked up a large rock from the ground and wrapped it tightly in her fist. She took a deep breath…

one… two… three…

“Why Bo Johnson, what in the world are you doing out on my farm this time of night? You like to have scared me to death.” She smiled, keeping her hand behind her back.

He jumped up and grabbed the shotgun to his right before he realized who it was.

“Emmie?” He eased his grip on the gun and put it back in its resting place. It didn’t escape her notice that he didn’t completely let go of it.

He looked down for a second like he was a little embarrassed. “Emmie what are ya doing out here?”

“Well, I was sewing Ava’s costume for this silly Halloween party she’s got her head wrapped around right now and went to get myself a glass of tea. When I looked out the window I saw a light moving up my hills and I wondered who’d be out here traipsing around my land this time of night. Low and behold if it wasn’t you.” She pointed with her free hand.

He shook his head and muttered something under his breath. “Emmie I’m sorry if I scared ya. Want me to walk ya back to your house? It’s mighty dark out there,” he offered, taking a step closer to her.

“No, no I’m fine.” She looked around the still again careful to keep her right hand out of his view. “Whatcha doing out here Bo?” she repeated.

He closed the distance between them. “Emmie. You’re a smarter girl than your acting like right now. You forget, I sat by you in class for ten years.”

If you’d asked her in school if she would ever be afraid of Bo Johnson she would have laughed… but now, as he looked down, her heart pounded out of rhythm. She swallowed hard and gripped her hand tighter on the rock. She didn’t want to hit him with it but if he got any closer to her, she would have to.

“What are you doing here? I know this isn’t yours,” she said, looking up at him, squaring her shoulders for a fight.

“What are you hiding in your hand, Emmie? We’re friends,” he said, inching closer to her.

Emmie drew her arm back and tried to step away from him. He reached one long arm around her and squeezed her fist until the rock dropped to the ground. She pulled her hand out of his and ran trying to get out of that cave. She heard his footsteps closing in behind her and screamed as he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back into the light of the cave.

“Emmie. Good Lord girl. Calm down. I ain’t gonna hurt ya. Just didn’t want ya throwing that rock at me. Now if I let go of ya, do you promise you’ll hear me out?” he asked, his voice as kind as she had remembered.

Emmie nodded. What other choice did she have? She stood as still as a mouse.

“Alright,” he said, “it ain’t what it looks like. Walter will be here any minute and we’ll sort this whole thing out.”

“He might shoot ya if he see you stealing his ’shine, Bo. You know that, right?” she warned him.

Bo’s voice boomed with laughter. “You ain’t gotta worry about that, Emmie.”

“Emmie?” They heard Walter’s voice before they saw him. Unlike Bo, he didn’t travel these hills with a foolish light.

“What the hell is Emmie doing up here?” he shouted as he rounded the corner.

Walter’s footsteps crunched on the freshly fallen leaves that littered the entrance. He came through the mouth of the cave and walked straight over to her. He pointed a crooked finger in her direction. “You may not be my child but I got about a half a mind to take you over my knee. What are you thinking being out here? Your lucky Bo didn’t shoot ya with that shotgun.”

“I’d never shoot Emmie,” Bo said, wiping his hands on his blue jeans. This whole discussion was making him uncomfortable. “But she was gonna hit me upside the head with this rock.” He grinned handing Walter the rock he’d forced out of her hand earlier.

Emmie glared over in his direction then turned to Walter. “I was just taking up for you, ya know. I thought he was up here stealing your moonshine.”

“So you was just gonna attack him with this little rock? Ain’t you got a lick of sense girl? First ya take all that…” he started but didn’t finish. He just pulled out his pipe, sat in his chair and shook his head, leaving her actions and his thoughts unspoken.

“Well, what’s he doing up here then?” she asked, pointing at Bo.

“How does she know about this, Walt?” Bo asked.

Walter looked back and forth between the two of them and laughed. “I don’t owe no answers to neither one of ya kids.” Bo and Emmie shared looks of annoyance. “But since you was gonna bust him open with a rock for me, I guess I’ll tell ya this.” He looked at Emmie. “Me and Bo’s grandpa got a deal. Remember how I told ya that Revenuer Cliff Harris’s barn got burned down for being a Revenuer?”

Emmie nodded.

“Well, Cliff blamed Bo’s grandpappy. Your friend’s dad and his fancy team of lawyers got him off. Bo’s pap wants to have a little get together with his family and friends for a celebration. And, of course, they are needing a little ’shine. Being as he’s had to mind his Ps and Qs lately with the heat of the case and all, his family ain’t got no mash to distill.”

“Walter. You speak too freely to her,” Bo warned.

“Kid, you are on her land… taking ’shine from my still. You don’t make the rules here.” Walter stood and dared Bo to go on.

“Like I was saying with the trial and all, they ain’t been in operation and need some goods quick. I had something I needed to take care of and Bart Johnson had the right friends to help me do that,” Walt said with an arched eyebrow. Emmie knew she was missing a piece of this story but hadn’t put it all together yet.

“So you’re giving him your mash and letting him use the still?” Emmie asked, trying to be sure she understood.

“Yep. But it ain’t charity,” Bo said. “My pap’s helping him too. We gave him the right connection. That’s something that don’t come cheap.”

Walter nodded. “That’s right.” Then after a pause he added, “That’s as much as either of you two needs to know about this. Except you,” he pointed at Bo, “you don’t know nothing.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bo asked.

“I mean, you don’t know nothing about seeing her tonight. Me and you… we just met up here and had a boring night distilling this mash. No Emmie, are we clear? I want to be sure this is plain as day. I’ve known your pap all my life but if I hear word that you told him anything about Emmie being up here or had known about any of this mess… you’re gonna need more than that shotgun to keep you safe,” he said. Emmie was surprised to hear him sound so ruthless.

Bo thought about it for a minute. “Emmie I don’t know how you got mixed up in this but you ain’t got to worry about me telling nobody,” he said, looking down embarrassed again.

“Bo you were better than a life of this too. You were smart. You could go to jail. Why are you doing this?” she asked curiously.

Walter looked like he might tell them both to be quiet but he didn’t. He just chewed on his pipe and looked annoyed.

“Emmie, it ain’t even about the drink or the money, it’s about the tradition. This trade’s been passed down from my pap’s greatgrandfather… probably even before that.” He thought then looked right at her again. “No government or 18th amendment is gonna stop us.” He spoke with such passion that she felt bad for questioning him. “We do it for us. It’s a part of our heritage that we won’t let go just because congress makes some law. This tradition has been in our family all these years. Now, times are tough… if we can make a few bucks off it we will. Our recipe is the best in the hills.”