Stories from Heaven's Library - Vol. 29
For Young & Old
Featuring:
The Stranger in Horn Bow
The Race of Her Life
THE STRANGER IN HORN BOW
As told by Zeke
Jeffrey jus' come into town one day. Nobody knew where from. He jus' come and then he was jus' there.
Now when I say town, don't git me wrong. Nobody could accuse Horn Bow of bein' a real town, just a cluster o' farms spottin' the hills aroun' the river that twisted and snaked through the valley 'bout as lazy as everyone else in those parts. So Horn Bow was jus' some farms an' houses. An' then I was the proud owner o' the one an' only store, the general store where everybody had to come to git anythin' if they wanted anythin'.
That natcherly made me the town storyteller, 'cuz I knew everybody who'd ever lived in 'r visited Horn Bow. Oh, yeah, 'sides, I was the post office an' the barber too, not that I got much business barberin', but ever' once in a while someone'd want to look extry special fancy, mostly f'r weddin's an' funerals 'r baptisms. So they'd come to me, 'cuz I had a book that tol' ya how to cut hair. I also had a book that wasn't more than 10 or 15 years old with all the latest on doctorin' people. So when there was somethin' wrong with anybody in the area, why they'd come right to me, ol' Zeke.
We was hill people an' we didn't trust the people from the city and the plains. They was full o' new-fangled ideas an' sissy type clothes an' funny talk that a fella could hardly understan'. Well, Jeffrey was differ'nt; he had a look in his eyes that tol' a fella to mind his own business an' not to ask him questions. He weren't strong lookin' but there was a strength inside o' him that ya jus' felt comin' right out. An' it was funny, inside o' him somehow ya felt there was some deep, deep hurt an' hardness, an' then inside o' that, if ya could stan' to be aroun' him long enough to feel it--an' I could stand it m'self, cause I'm just as curious as a tomcat in one of them mazes--ya would know there was a real soft spot with a reservoir full o' pent-up love.
He kept to hisself from the first day he come and built that ol' lean-to house up th' hill, deep in the woods by the crick*. He had a rifle 'r two and he hunted and fished and minded his own business most of th' time. He'd come int' my general store 'bout once a month to buy some coffee and sugar and flour an' beef jerky an' such like things. He'd just mumble a few words and I'd know what he wanted an' I'd try to be real nice and friendly with him 'cuz, well, the good Lord said we was to treat strangers nice 'cuz His people were strangers once 'pon a time in the Land o' Goshen, an' the Good Lord Hisself was a stranger here back in the old days. Y' know, nobody treated him as nice as they really oughter had, and well, we oughter learn from our mistakes and from the mistakes of others, but that's not as easy as it sounds, 'cuz ol' evil human nature's got some of us in his grip tighter than others.
Lordy me, I done went an' gone to preachin' right 'fore I git int' my story, an' you's probably gittin' all bored listenin' to this sermon from an ol' ignorant hillbilly like me.
Anyway, some people laughed at 'im an' some people talked bad about 'im, and then there was others who sat aroun' nights drinkin' moonshine* an' spinnin' tall tales so long and loud that th' next mornin' they'd think they'd heard 'm f'r real an' they'd go roun' tellin' 'm like they was facts that George Washin'ton or somebody who s'posedly never told a lie had tol' 'm.
My oh my, how people with not much to do and not much religion in their heads or love in their hearts can talk! I think the Bible says it real good when it says a fool's known by the multitude of his words. An' if that's true (an' it is, 'cuz it comes from the Book, an' there ain't nothin' in there but the truth), then I suppose Jeffrey was a downright genius 'cuz he didn't hardly say nothin' to nobody.
Now don't git me wrong. He weren't rude or nasty with nobody, he jus' took everythin' anybody dished out to him--an' there was lots--with a funny little half a smile, an' then he'd done walk on.
I'll never forgit that day he come in like he did once a month like I jus' tol' ya, an' I filled his order. I don't know why, but I jus' felt some real compassion f'r this fella, an' I touched his shoulder an' gave it a squeeze an' said, "Jeffrey, I hope everythin's all right up there on the crick. You jus' let me know if ya need anythin', y' hear? Ol' Uncle Zeke will be here for ya!"
I didn't know he'd never looked int' my eyes before, but when he lifted that droopin' head o' his an' looked deep int' my eyes, then I knew he hadn't never done that before. I jus' felt the deepest longin' in his heart an' I felt like, well, like I was a king who'd jus' given somebody the most special gift 'r somethin'.
He jus' mumbled "thank ya kindly," but I knew he meant it right from the depths. An' it was funny, 'cuz I thought I could hear him say a heap more than come out o' his mouth. It weren't real clear, it was all murky an' hidin' in th' past, but I could tell he was a man o' sorrows acquainted with grief, as the Good Book puts it. I don' no how long we stood there, our eyes locked, but I fin'ly said, "God bless ya, son," an' he looked away real fast.
Well, I mus' say I think Jeffrey an' me, we became friends that day, an' I don't think I ever had a friend that proved so true, as you'll see when I tell ya the rest o' the story.
I guess every town's got one, even if it ain't a real town, but Miz Edna Brodymeyer was our town gossip. She knew every story ever tol' about Jeffrey, how he'd killed somebody back in Memphis when he was jus' a little more than a boy, an' how he'd a been on the run ever since. Then she heard more from God knows where that he hadn't killed jus' nobody, but he'd killed his own wife f'r messin' aroun' with the preacher in Nashville. She'd tell how he was up there in the hills, up higher than the rest of us, by the crick where nobody else wanted to live on account o' the bears. But he wasn't afraid of 'm, she'd say, 'cuz at night he did black magic an' turned hisself int' one, kind of a were-bear.
By the time she was finished spinnin' her stories--an' she didn't care who was present when she spun 'm, even children--an' I want you to know they was spun, they wasn't real; they was as made up as Popeye the Sailor Man an' Santy Claus, but by the time she got finished, there wasn't a kid or a lady in town that would come closer'n a mile to that poor fella. Kids'd run screamin' to their mamas when he walked int' town, an' the young ladies'd hide their eyes and scurry outta sight, like scared chickens into some chicken-coop.
When he'd come int' my store, the ladies'd rush out like it was on fire. The men, oh, they'd hang aroun' all brave an' bold like, an' stare, eyes all full o' hate an' mistrust, poised like a pride o' mountain lions about to pounce, clutchin' their hoes or the handle of a knife or the butt o' their rifle ready to clobber him if he turned int' a bear or went crazy or tried to kill them like he had his wife. An', oh yes, the story grew to where he killed the preacher too.
I tried to tell 'm all that he was a nice fella, an' that nobody had nothin' to fear, that he had a lotta hurt inside but that was all. I tol' 'm how the Lord tol' us to love one another, an' how He'd loved the unlovely and the outcast an' that maybe the Good Lord done sent Jeffrey to us to test our religion. Oh, there wasn't 'ardly nobody in Horn Bow who didn't go to church on Sunday in Tuckerston, the closest town--'cuz we'd no church 'r pastor 'f our own in Horn Bow. But you know, goin' to church ain't real religion. The Bible says real religion starts when ya leave the church; it's to visit the fatherless and the afflicted, to love those who ain't got nobody else to love 'm, and don't jus' do things an' think things jus' 'cuz everybody else is doin' an' thinkin' 'm.
Jake Morgan, big as a bear hisself, lumbered up one time with some of th' other guys standin' 'round in the shop. He laid both those meat hooks he called hands on my shoulders an' looked real scary int' my eyes an' said, "Zeke, we's been friends a long time, an' we go way back, but you best be keerful, 'cuz folks is beginnin' to talk about you too, that maybe you's under that spell o' his."
"Dadnabbit, Jake," I said as I threw them big ol' hands off o' me. "Don't you go threatenin' me! If I ain't talkin' the plain an' simple Gospel truth 'bout the true love o' Jesus, the Good Lord can strike me dead with lightnin' right now. All ya gotta do is take one look in that boy's eyes an' ya know he's hurtin' an' needs a friend an' that's all he's lackin'."
Jake chuckled real evil like, an' looked round at th' other boys an' said, "I didn't really b'lieve it when I heard it, an' not even when I said it, but ya said it y'rself, Zeke, talkin' 'bout lookin' in his eyes. You all heard it too, didn't ya?"
"Yeah."
"We heard it jus' as plain as anythin'."
"Looked in his eyes, he said."
"I think he done went an' cast a real spell on you, I think you's bewitched." Those big ol' boys lumbered right outta my store an' spread the word far an' wide that Jeffrey had ol' Zeke under his spell an' they'd all better watch out or he'd git them too.
It weren't too long after that that the winter began to roll in more'n a month early an' 'bout half the crop weren't no good 'cuz o' the frost. O' course, everybody was more than tryin' to find somethin' 'r somebody to blame, an' sure 'nuff, the blame went right up the hill to Jeffrey.
Jake an' those that was in cahoots with him were beginnin' to talk mean, about goin' up the hill an' stringin' Jeffrey up. I heard there was talk about burnin' my store down but, thank the Lord, there was a few sensible souls who at least knew I wasn't no devil an' they discouraged the others from actually doin' it. So I escaped with jus' some dirty looks because I had spoken well of someone who had the audacity to keep to hisself and be differ'nt from the rest of us.
Now Miz Brodymeyer was havin' herself a heyday tellin' the wildest tales you ever did hear. Durin' those terrible days you never did see Jake or Miz Brodymeyer without a crowd o' people aroun' 'em listenin' to their stories.
Though it's been many a year now since that mornin' in December as the snow began to fall lightly, and made the whole landscape of our lovely Smoky Mountain home look like an honest to goodness fairy tale, I remember it as if it was yest'day. I took my usual walk to the store to open up by seven o'clock, jus' thinkin' how pure an' clean everythin' looked, like a wintry Garden of Eden, an' I breathed that crisp, clean air in an' felt like all was very good, jus' like our dear God musta felt right after He'd gone and created our beautiful world.
But jus' like in the Garden of Eden it weren't long till my path crossed with that ol' serpent, this time in the form o' Miz Brodymeyer with a crowd o' ladies cluckin' like a bunch of ol' hens whose eggs got stole in th' night.
"Two bears done broke right int' my smokehouse," Miz Brodymeyer was sayin', "an' ate up all the fish my Frank had jus' smoked the day before."
"They turned over our bee hives too and made a real mess o' things!" Miz Liddy added.
"Well, I never "
"This ain't never happened before. The bears always stayed where they belonged."
"Well," Miz Brodymeyer said, like she'd knowed everythin' but was reluctant to tell it, "I know what I think, but maybe I should jus keep it to myself."
"No, Edna, tell us! Tell us what you think!"
"Maybe , an' I don't wanna sound presumptuous, but jus' maybe that no-good, no-account Jeffrey Whatever-the-rest-o'-his-name-is had somethin' to do with this. He must have a way with bears--he lives right up there with'm an', if y'ask me, he cast a spell over them bears to come down here an' do like they ain't never done before."
"Ya' reckon? Lord knows there's some strange goin's-on up there at night. Everyone's talkin' about it."
"He's already cast a spell on the weather an' spoiled the crop f'r the year, an' now it looks like he is attackin' our livestock an' animal produce too," Miz Brodymeyer continued.
Jus' then Jake come lumberin' up an' overheard the ladies talkin' an', wouldn't you know it, the two worst backbiters in town, who usually never had a good word to say 'bout each other, joined forces an' used all their powers o' persuasion to stir all them biddies up an' a mess of menfolk too.
Jake said, "I seen'm too, them bears, an' I want you to know they ain't no ordinary bears. I was comin' home from playin' cards at Hank's house an' I seen 'm in the bright moonlight as clear as anythin' right there at your smokehouse, Miz Brodymeyer. An' all us bein' one to lend a helpin' hand, I took my shotgun an' aimed almos' point blank right at th' biggest bear first. That bear raised up on his hind legs an' looked me right in the eye an' I felt a chill go through my body like nothin' I ever felt before. Them eyes was piercin' right through me, but I got ahold o' myself an' pulled the trigger, unloadin' the first barrel right in his face, an' he jus' looked at me with nary a blink 'r a twitch an' then jus' walked away with th' other 'un. I follered 'm a piece an' shot again an' still nothin'."
"I swear," said one red-faced and round lady, clutching her hand to her plentiful breast, "they weren't no bears, they was spirits."
I'd had about as much as one fella could take of all this balderdash* so I jumped in the middle o' this hen party with one struttin' rooster preenin' hisself like some kind o' hero.
"Now, you all jus' wait one here minute an' listen up. Sure, ya had some bad luck, maybe it was even the Hand o' God judgin' ya, but it's a-goin' too far to blame everythin' on a lonely fella who lives in the woods an' don't enjoy listenin' to all your vain chatter. An', as for you, Jake Morgan, ya couldn't hit the broad side of a barn comin' back from a card game at Hank's place after all that moonshine you've been downin' f'r four 'r five hours. You missin' them bears wasn't no ghostly phenomenon, it was jus' plain drunkenness!"
"Don't listen to th' ol' geyser," Jake shouted. "He's in cahoots with Jeffrey. I'll round up the men, the real men who got the guts to fight f'r what we built here, an' we'll go up there an' have it out with this galldurned* intruder from Hell once an' f'r all."
By then a few men had gathered an' it didn't take no clairvoyant* to see the way things was headed. They was all whipped up like a river after the snows began to melt, an' jus' like th' river, it weren't no use to stand in the way or you'd git swept right on down with it, over the rocks an' then the rapids, an' finally the waterfall into the valley an' certain death.
Now I can be brave as a lion, but I ain't foolish, an' ya know they say better a live dog than a dead lion, so I jus' made myself scarce. I didn't go to the store. I knowed bizness weren't gonna be any good except maybe sellin' bullets 'r a length o'rope to string Jeffrey up, an' since I didn't have any plans o' helpin' that to happen, I skedaddled right up the mountain to Jeffrey ahead o' the mob, callin' out for 'm as I went.
"Jeffrey, they's comin' f'r ya, an' there's blood in their eyes. Jeffrey!" As his house loomed in sight I shouted louder an' louder till my lungs was plumb tuckered out with that runnin' uphill an' screamin' at the same time, an' bein' sixty years ol' to boot. Jeffrey come out the door o' that lean-to an' looked at me real calm an' peaceful but serious like. I come right up to 'im pantin' like a hound dog an' said, "Jeffrey, ya'd best git some grub an' your guns, maybe a trap or two, an' head off int' the woods, 'cuz they's whipped themselves up into a terrible frenzy an' I don't doubt they gonna string you up from the nearest tree when they's git their hands on ya!"
Jeffrey pulled hisself up to his full height like he never had before, an' man alive, he was one tall fella. He took a deep breath an' he strung together the longest chain o' words I'd ever heard him say at one time. This was so shockin' to me that it nearly knocked me right off my feet, one o' them eddicated type accents that we got to hear ever' once in a while when some city folks'd git a hankerin' to see what life was like out in God's creation an' far from civilization.
"Uncle Zeke, it is so very kind of you to come warn me. I guess I knew they wouldn't let me get away with just minding my own business and trying to sort things out in my mind. I suppose I had it coming, but it doesn't have anything to do with you, Zeke, and I don't want to see you hurt by all this. So do me a favor, and please, go back. You're a Christian man, Zeke, so why don't you just pray for me? I think that'll probably do more good than anything else. I'll meet them and try to talk to them. I suppose everything will go the way God wants it to."
"Jeffrey, you don't understand, they's a bunch o' wild animals, they ain't scarcely human no more. They's wild dogs an' you's the jackrabbit. You ain't gonna get two words outta your mouth 'fore they eat you up. You better run an' come back when things're a little calmer."
"No, Zeke, I've been running for a number of years from a lot of things and it's time to stand and deliver."
"God knows I don't know what you're talkin' about, but one thing I do know is I ain't gonna have your blood on my hand by goin' back down to the store and pretendin' everythin' is gonna be all right jus' by doin' nothin'."
Jeffrey looked in my eyes with a twinkle I hadn't never seen, an' he said with almos' a smile on his lips, "Zeke, you weren't listening. I didn't say do nothing, I said to pray. You know, one thing I have come to learn up here in these mountains is that prayer can move the very hand of God, and call down His power and grace. If you want to stay and pray, that's all right with me, but don't say I didn't warn you.
"Zeke, I want you to know that I am not going to face that mob alone, because there is a God in Heaven, and He has sent His angels to guard me because, as wayward as I have been and as bitter as I have been and as wicked as I have been, I am His child. He just told me today that even if I were to walk through the very flames of fire, they would not kindle upon me. He said that even if I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, I would not need to fear, because He would be with me.
"Zeke, if you stay, you are going to see the Lord work somehow for one of His most undeserving servants, one who has failed Him and left His plow. You are going to see that God's love is from everlasting to everlasting. Today He will show that no matter how far we stray, no matter what wrong things we do, He will always keep His end of the bargain and forgive and deliver. So, Zeke, here they come, let's stand back and see the Hand of God go to work."
Well, you can imagine how dumbfounded I was, an' I musta looked about as intelligent as a donkey's hind end standin' there with my mouth hangin' open, wonderin' what in tarnation'd got int' Jeffrey f'r him to not only talk more in two minutes than he had in the six months he'd been in Horn Bow but to spue out Bible like an evangelist at a tent meetin'. But I didn't have long to wonder 'cuz the mob come right then outta the woods int' the clearin' round Jeffrey's house, just a-shoutin' an' a-runnin' an' a-carryin' on like they was fightin' some kind o' holy war.
Jake stepped out first an' said as bold as could be, "Jeffrey, we come to git ya an' put a stop to your deviltry an' your curses on our God-fearin' community! We know ya been practicin' black magic an' communin' with the bears an' cursin' our crop."
"Quit your talkin'!" Miz Brodymeyer cried out, an' I never seen her quite so hysterical. "You cain't reason with the Devil. Let's just git this over with!"
There was a pious chorus of amen's, as if she just proposed to have a bake sale to raise money f'r a new steeple. The whole crowd rolled forward a couple o' steps but stopped dead when Jeffrey, as cool and collected as if he was smack dab in the middle of a crowd of friends an' loved ones, stepped down from his tiny little porch an' come right at 'em, as unafraid as could be. The mob took one totally unified step to the rear muttering things like, "He's possessed for sure," an' "Don't look in his eyes."
The only one that didn't step back was Jake Morgan. Prouder'n all the rest of'm put together he was, an' that pride had a way of lookin' like courage to some, but I knowed he was shakin' like the rest of 'm, 'cuz y' know, if ya got even a smatterin' o' religion, ya cain't do somethin' so evil without feelin' inside o' ya that somethin' is terribly wrong with ya.
Jeffrey talked, clear an' real quiet, so they had to quiet down to hear what he had to say, "Jake, I am very happy to hear what a God-fearing man you are because then I know I have nothing to fear. I'll put my life with all confidence into the hands of God-fearing people any day. I must say I am mighty sorry about your crops, and the hard blow it was to have the winter come in so early, but really, you're giving me way too much credit to think I had anything to do with it. I've just been here alone with my God "
Jake's lips curled up in a snarl as ugly as a mad dog and spat as he said, "An' what God might that be?"
"Enough talk!"
"Grab 'im!"
"String'im up!" shouted the others.
The mob surged forward an' grabbed my friend Jeffrey who didn't give 'm no resistance, like that proverbial sheep to the slaughter. An' then, they was on me, too, an' I felt ropes tyin' up my hands, an' next thing I knowed, a bag was thrown over my head an' my heart sank clear to my feet as I felt the unmistakable roughness of a noose slipped round my neck. If they was doin' that to me, I knowed f'r certain they was doin' it to Jeffrey too. An' then we was both in the middle o' that river of a mob an' we was bein' swept along to what was mos' likely the nearest tall tree with a handy overhangin' branch.
I don't know about Jeffrey, but I was prayin' like a house afire an' wonderin' when that there hand o' God Jeffrey'd been talkin' about was goin' to show itself. I was prayin' real hard that He'd make it on time an' nothin' changed His schedule or we was gonna meet Him on the way up as He was a-comin' down. An' then as quickly as I'd thought them shamefully doubtful musin's, the Hand started appearin', little bit at a time.
Someone cried out a little weak like, "Don't you think we oughta search his cabin first f'r some evidence of his witchcraft?"
"Shut up, Melvin," Jake shouted out. "We got enough evidence. We got ruined crops, an' bears actin' real strange an' things happenin' that never happened before this here stranger come to live here."
"Well, Mel's got a point. What if the sheriff 'r a federal marshal were to ask us for an accountin' o' this hangin'? We're gonna need to be able to make 'm mighty certain this was the devil an' his sidekick* 'fore we did the deed!"
"Well, all right! If Sister Mel an' his friends wanna look in the cabin, I guess we can wait five minutes."
I think I took my first breath since they grabbed me right then. But, mind ya, I didn't stop prayin', 'cuz I hadn't never been in Jeffrey's cabin either, an' times like that when the Lord's a-workin' overtime, don't you ever git into your head that the devil's takin' a holiday. So I begun to think, What if they find a black magic book 'r one o' them ouija boards 'r a crystal ball 'r somethin'? What if he really does have magical pow'rs?
The next five minutes coulda been five years the way the seconds stretched out like they was nigh unto breakin'. I think I lived my full sixty years all over again twice in them minutes.
Suddenly I heard the door open an' Mel come back out. As he talked real befuddled like, I could almos' see him scratchin' his head in bewilderment. "Come on, Mel, whaddya find? Show it to us."
"I I didn't find nothin' really. I mean, nothin' witchy."
"Well, yer hands are full o' stuff. What in creation is it?"
"Well, this here is an old Bible, with writin' on jus' about every page in the blessed thing."
"Read it. I done heard o' witches usin' the Good Book but twistin' it around to do evil."
"Well, let me see, umm, right here by John chapter three it says 'Salvation is a free gift', an' over here by Psalm 51 it says 'If God could f'rgive a sinner like King David, He surely could f'rgive me.' Oh, here in Matthew chapter five there's a double underlinin' under 'Bless them that curse you, an' do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that spitefully use you an' persecute you.'"
"Well darnit, Jake! That don't sound like no devil," a voice in the mob suddenly said.
Mel went on, "Well, look what else I found--there's three or four books with maps and words in some funny language with these strange ciphers I can't read."
Miz Brodymeyer horned in right then, "Witch language, I reckon."
Jeffrey let out a chuckle. "Ma'am, there are some people who might take offence to your calling the original Greek and Hebrew scriptures witch language!"
"Well, I'll be !" Mel said, an' that did it! You know how a good ol' laugh can change everythin'? Well, suddenly the bag an' noose was off my head, an' off Jeffrey's too, an' everybody was laughin' an' guffawin' an' carryin' on like they jus' heard the funniest joke this century.
Miz Brodymeyer looked a little lost, like she's didn't know what was happenin' around her, an' it was all she could do to keep herself from runnin' down that mountain in a huff and a hurry.
"Look at this here plaque I found," Mel shouted above the racket. Now Mel could read, but with some difficulty, an' this was written with big words in that fancy college type writin'. "It says 'This is to certify that Jeffrey Winterspoon has successfully completed his doc-tor-ate in dee-vine studies an' is hereby ordained as a minister o' the Gospel!' Good Lord, He's a preacher! Them be some mighty big words, Jeff. An' who in Heaven's name is this in this here picture?"
Jeffrey took the picture in his hands with all the tenderness as if he was handlin' a baby, and looked long an' deep just as if he'd like to have pulled those four people right outta that picture an' held'm in his long arms. Slowly he said, as if he was miles an' miles away in some other time, "It's my wife and children, one son and two lovely daughters. And as for all those big words, well, I was a professor of religion in a famous university back in the North, when I heard God call me to go to the mountains and preach to the hill people."
I'd never seen such a herd of men git quiet so quickly, as Jeffrey began to tell us his own story--an' would ya believe it, it was nothing like what Miz Brodymeyer had said 't all.
"The first winter was real hard, and we hardly survived it. We were happy when spring finally came, but we were weak. When the scarlet fever epidemic hit, I barely survived, but Jenny and the kids ." A sob escaped his throat an' there wasn't an eye in the mob that could look in his. They was all studyin' the ground with these real blank and shameful faces, except f'r Jake an' Miz Brodymeyer, who looked like they was tryin' to figure out how to run as fast as they could an' t 'hide f'r a couple o' years.
Jeffrey, he collected hisself with a real manly show o' strength, an' pulled hisself upright an' looked out over those people with a light shinin' in his face that I hadn't never seen before on nobody. It was a new thing f'r me to see, but I got real familiar with it after that 'cuz I saw it on his face so many times when he talked about the good Lord an' prayed with people.
But at that moment somethin' come together f'r Jeffrey an' all the sorrows an' sufferin' he had endured. Like wrinkly ol' seeds buried deep in the dark, damp earth, them shoots broke through the ground into the sunshine real beautiful an' bright. He spoke with authority like the Lord had when He was on Earth, the kind He gave to all those who follered Him in truth.
"I blamed all my troubles on the Lord, and hardened my heart. I told Him He had betrayed me by taking me from my comfortable home and good paying job and sending us out into hardship and sickness and finally death. I turned my back on Him. I went kind of crazy and roamed around from place to place, and that's how I finally came here and settled down, to make things right between the Lord and myself."
Mel touched Jeffrey's shoulder and said, "We we's real sorry, Jeffrey. I reckon we was real fools to listen to all the tall tales about you. We's jus' poor ignorant country folks, y' know, an' we sure got a lot to learn. Now ain't nobody's gonna blame ya if ya hate us an' git outta here as far away as ya can git, but "
"Mel," Jeffrey said, "I feel like Jonah and Joseph; you may have meant it for evil unto me, but the Lord used it for good. You see, you are like my whale. The Lord wouldn't let me run away. He loved me and called me, I was His, and I had no right to question His ways, because everything God does He does in love and, even if we can't understand, all things work together for good to them that love God. Perhaps He took my wife and kids so that I could feel your pain, and be able to love and empathize with you."
"Empy-what?"
"Empathize--it means to feel what you are feeling."
"Lord knows, I know what it is to bury my loved ones from scarlet fever," one lady sniffled an' then blew her nose real loud.
Jeffrey said, "Up here I've had time to think and pray, read and study, and when I finally didn't blame the Lord for all my troubles, the next hurdle I had to cross was feeling guilty that I had run away from God. Well, I sought and, praise God, found forgiveness. When I was praying, He told me this was going to happen today and that He would deliver me without any effort on my part, and that it would be a token of His love and forgiveness. So how can I blame or hate you and not forgive you when I've been forgiven for so much more?"
Jake, who had at least 'nuf religion to take his hat off when God's Word was being preached, had darn near wrung that thing int' two pieces between them two huge hands o' his. He said real tame and almos' sweet, "Jeffrey, d'ya think that there God o' yours could ever f'rgive me f'r what I done? I don't even like to think of it, what I almos' done."
"He sure could, Jake--and He already has." Jeffrey put his arms right round ol' Jake, who broke down int' tears like a baby. If it'd been anywhere else at any other time, the boys woulda razzed ol' Jake f'r th'rest of his days f'r cryin' like a lady, but the Spirit o' God was strong there, an' whatever happened we knowed was good an' right an' holy.
Well, there's people in the Bible who come down from mountains an' were never the same agin, like Moses an' the disciples an' Elijah, an' Peter, James an' John an' others. I am proud to add my name to that list an' 'bout one hun'erd others that day who come down an' changed our whole valley. Jeffrey stayed an' taught us the Word o' God, not only 'cuz he knowed it so well with all that college learnin', but 'cuz he had lived it--a man o' sorrows an' acquainted with grief. He was a big, big man who knew how to forgive like our Lord did when He said, "Father, f'rgive them, f'r they know not what they have done." He was a brave man who had faced the fires o' Hell an' the lions' den an' had come out brighter an' stronger an' more lovin' than when he went in.
He went through the fire to show us the love o' God, an' there's a lotta people up Here in Heaven who'll proudly tell ya, "I'm here in the Mountain o' the Lord's House 'cuz a man left everythin' an' lost everythin' to come to our mountain an' not only tell us, but to show us th' love an' Word o' God."
I became his assistant pastor in that new church we built, an' Jake was head deacon, an' Miz Brodymeyer, well, she changed her ways too. Jeffrey had her learn by heart every verse in the Bible about talebearin' an' then he prayed over her like ya would an ol' drunk. An' she come up from that prayer a new woman, an' f'r the first time I thought she wasn't half bad lookin'.
There wasn't a soul in Horn Bow that didn't love dear ol' Jeffrey an' woulda laid down their lives f'r him the way he did ever'day f'r ever'body. An', as God would have it, there was a whole passel o' young unhitched ladies who got their eyes on 'im too after he'd cleaned up a mite an' I'd given 'im one o' my best, most modern lookin' haircuts. Church services was downright distractin' f'r him after that with all them fillies battin' their eyelashes at 'im whenever he looked their way. But sweet li'l Lucy Stroppenheimer, purty li'l thing that loved the Lord with all her heart an' sang like a nightingale--no, sweeter, like an angel--was the one that catched 'im an', yup, since our parson was a-gittin' married, I was the one that did the honors at the weddin'. An' the good Lord, jus' like He did with Job, done went an' blessed Jeffrey an' Lucy with three more beautiful young'uns, this time two boys an' a girl! Praise the Lord!
Jeffrey an' I was the best o'friends an' he an' Lucy was right there with me ten, 'r was it twelve, years later, each holdin' one o' my hands as I passed from that beautiful Smoky Mountain home to my new Home in Heaven. It didn't seem like too long till he come up too, an' now we all lives right next door t'each other like one happy family. I tol' him he oughta tell the story, seein' as he was so literary like, but he said I oughter tell it in my own words, that it made it more real. So that's why ya got it in this here hillbilly talk, ya can blame it on Jeffrey. And, y'know, 'fore he ever come, there was a steady stream of arrivals who tol' me they was here cuz Jeffrey sent'm an' they never tired o' talkin' about him an' that face o' his that jus' shined with the love o' Jesus whenever he talked about the good Lord or His Almighty Word.
Well, that's about all ol' Zeke has to tell ya this time. But, kids, that's jus' one o' my stories, 'cuz even though I ran that there general store an' that's where my family's bread an' butter come from, stories was my passion. I loved to listen to 'em an' tell 'em an' all us tried to inspire the kids to be better human bein's by 'em. Up here in Heaven, why, the good Lord lets me tell tales t' the young'uns in the park an' in my mansion an' sometimes at special events an' occasions, but when I heard about this here spirit story bizness, I begged 'im to let me try my hand at it, 'cuz I think the stories'll do a whole lot more good down there where you gotta contend with all that evil in these last days, an' He said, "Go to it, Zeke." So it's been real good talkin' to ya, an' I hope to be able to tell ya some more stories in the future. God bless ya. I love ya, ever' last one of ya.
THE RACE OF HER LIFE
On a cold and windy winter day, a young girl stands poised* for the race of her life. Though the weather looks harsh, she doesn't show any hesitation. She knows that she has been well prepared for this moment. Her name is Adell Trisk. She is 14 years old and this is how it all began.
Born on May 10th, 1983, to a family of German-Polish academics, Adell Trisk was expected to continue in the heritage of her family and follow an academic career. But at the age of 12, she began to feel that maybe this type of life was not for her. An energetic girl, she took more to athletics, and decided to become a runner.
"Honey! Wake up!" said her mother. "You've got to go to practice."
Adell stirred in her bed and groaned, "Mom, I'm on vacation. Give me a break."
"Honey, you need to train today. There is no such thing as a vacation. You have to keep up your practice every day, you know that. When you decided to become a runner, you knew that it would cost you a lot, that there were going to be many sacrifices. Still, you knew that this was what you wanted to be, and nothing could change your mind. So don't waste all the training and talent that you have just because you don't feel like running today. You've got to take this decision seriously."
"I know, Mom. You're right." Adell answered, as she sat up and stretched, welcoming the day with a loud yawn. She had now been training for nearly two years, along with the rest of her running team, to compete in the upcoming Youth Athletics World Championship. It seemed those two years had just flown by, and Adell was now an accomplished runner, one of the best. Although these years had not been without their difficulties and sacrifices, she felt a great sense of personal accomplishment.
After her early morning run, she rested for awhile on a park bench, meditating on what her mother had told her. Then she made her way back home to get ready for her team workout at the gym with their coach. At home, after grabbing a quick bite to eat, she told her mother, "Thanks for helping me to not give up this morning, but to keep up with my running even when I don't feel like it."
"That's all right, Honey. You know, life isn't always easy, but turning your back on your problems is never the solution. You have to face life head on, and take whatever it has to give you. Now be on your way, or you'll be late for practice!"
"Thanks, Mom!" Adell gave her mother a quick hug, and then bounded out the door to head for the town gym.
As Adell and the other five girls on the team were waiting for their coach to arrive, they noticed a new girl standing in a corner. The six girls, whose ages ranged from 12 to 17 years old, stood in a circle, speaking in hushed voices. They were all wondering if this was the new girl who the coach had told them was to join their team. This girl looked like she was about 15 years old, and no one had joined the team at that age; all the girls had joined when they were 11 or 12 years old.
Half an hour late, the coach finally arrived. "Her name is Stevana, and she's come from Switzerland. I hope you'll all take the time to get to know her and make her feel welcome." Now the girls were even more intrigued. This new girl wasn't even Polish. But the coach's whistle captured their thoughts, and they proceeded to give the warm-up exercises their full concentration.
At the end of practice, Adell decided to try and strike up a conversation with Stevana. She was a little hesitant, as Stevana looked older than her. Mustering up her courage, she finally approached her.
"Hi, my name is Adell."
"Well, I guess you already know mine is Stevana," the girl answered. That was all that was needed to begin a lively conversation, and the other girls quickly joined in.
After awhile, Stevana decided to explain how she had come to join their team. "I know you must all be wondering why I'm on your team if I'm not even Polish. The fact is, I am Polish, because both my parents were born here. We only recently returned to Poland."
"Oh, I see! That explains things!" Adell answered. "I'm sorry we treated you the way we did this morning, staying away from you and all. It's just that we're a very patriotic team. Most of us come from prominent and ancestral Polish families. So when we thought that you, a foreigner, were just jumping onto our team, we didn't really know what to think. But now we understand, and we're glad to have you with us. Welcome to the team!"
Stevana and Adell looked pleased. They understood each other so much better now. They said goodbye to each other, and headed to their homes as it was now getting late.
When Adell got home, her mother told her, "The coach just called and said he'd like you to show up at the gym a little earlier tomorrow. He wants to talk to you about something."
The next morning, without a second thought, Adell woke up earlier than usual and went straight to the gym.
"You're here just on time," said her coach. "I'm sure you're wondering why I told you to be here early."
"Yes, I am. What is it?"
"Well, the reason is because I wanted to tell you that you are going to be one of the two team members chosen to run for Poland in the upcoming championship. So you are going to have an even more rigorous training schedule from now on." Adell was both surprised and elated. Ever since she had started running, this had been her ultimate dream--to represent her country in a world-class event. Her mind was suddenly flooded with all kinds of questions: who else would be running, how many countries would be competing, what would she wear--she had trouble keeping from asking them all at the same time. By the time the coach finished explaining everything there was to explain, the rest of the girls began arriving for their usual practice.
As the day went by, the thought of being chosen to represent Poland in such an important race became almost unbearable. She couldn't help wondering why they would choose her. She was one of the youngest, and she hadn't even been on the team for that long. She also couldn't talk about this with any of the other girls, because the coach had told her that he would explain everything to them at the appropriate time.
When practice was over, Adell sat silently on the bench, deep in thought. Stevana, happy and cheerful, interrupted her thoughts. "What's the matter today?"
Adell answered quietly, "There's just something on my mind. It's okay, don't worry about it."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No, I don't think so. I'm all right, really. Thanks a lot. Guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow!" With that, the two girls headed for their homes.
As the championships drew near, her practices became more intense. But she had only one thing on her mind: to win the race, and she didn't mind what she had to go through in order to reach that goal. Soon, their team flew to Canada, where the race was to be held. There were now only two weeks left before the race. It was autumn, and the weather was getting colder, but Adell didn't mind; her mind was set on winning the race.
The great day finally arrived. Just as her coach had warned her, she felt a little nervous, but that didn't keep her from being excited about the race. The coach came up to her along with Stevana, who was the second girl chosen to run the race.
"We'll have to get to the track early, and we can do a few laps to make sure that you'll be in tip-top shape for the race this afternoon."
Stevana did not respond. She was not feeling well. Unknown to the coach, she had twisted her ankle doing some extra practice the day before. It hadn't seemed to hurt her very much, so she kept her injury to herself. She hadn't thought it would amount to anything serious, but now it was hurting more than it had yesterday.
As they stood up to begin their warm-up exercises, the coach noticed that something was not quite right with Stevana's ankle. "Stevana, is your ankle all right?"
"Huh? Oh! Yeah it's fine."
But the coach wasn't so sure, so he called the doctor over, and sure enough, it wasn't fine at all. She had sprained her ankle, and it would take at least a week to completely heal. Since the race was to be in a few hours, that meant she wouldn't be able to compete. Stevana was very disappointed. She had so hoped to avoid being taken out of the race, and she bit her lip as she thought of how careless she had been to injure herself the day before.
Now an even bigger responsibility fell on Adell. Since none of the other team members were up to competing in the race, she was now the only person who would be representing Poland. The responsibility of winning this race was now hers--and hers alone. She knew that many of her friends, and probably thousands of people in Poland would be watching her, and counting on her to win this race for her country.
More than ever, she felt as if she needed help. She knelt down beside where Stevana was sitting. "Stevana, I can't do this without you!" she cried.
"Sure you can, Adell. You can do it. Go out there and show them you can win. Show them that we can be the best. I'll be praying for you!"
"You'll be what?" Adell asked.
"I'll be praying for you. I'm a Christian, Adell, and I have been taught that in prayer we can find help, comfort and strength from Jesus."
Adell moved closer. This sounded like something she really wanted. After asking several questions, Adell started to understand the golden principles of prayer and who this person, Jesus, was. Stevana finally led Adell in a prayer, and she asked Jesus to come into her heart. Suddenly, Adell felt a peace she had never felt before; somehow she knew everything was under control.
As Adell positioned her foot on the starting block, she softly whispered a quick prayer to the One she knew was now watching over her. "Jesus, help me." With that, the gun sounded, and she set off. It was a long race, 5000 meters, and even as she struggled to keep up her pace, she sensed that her newfound Friend was helping her, giving her strength. She didn't quite understand it, but it was as if she could feel herself being carried along by Stevana's prayers.
Finally, as she neared the end of the last lap, and the finish line was in sight, feeling weary, she silently prayed, Jesus, give me strength! Suddenly, she felt as if her body had been given an extra dose of energy--all at once, she didn't feel tired anymore. She had been right behind one of the other runners, but she gave it all she had, dashing towards that finish line with all her strength, forgetting about any other runners around her. It wasn't until the crowds cheered that she stopped and turned around to look--she had won first place!
What a wonderful moment that was as she was handed her first golden medal. But she had also found something much more important that day, a Friend Who would always be with her, helping her, standing by her side, giving her the strength to overcome any obstacle, any challenge, any difficulty--and to win the race of her life.
Definitions included throughout booklet:
*crick: variant of "creek"
*moonshine: illegally distilled whisky
*balderdash: nonsense
*galldurned: damned
*clairvoyant: a psychic, someone who sees events before they actually happen
*sidekick: a close companion or accomplice
*poised: balanced
(End of file)
Copyright (c) 1998 by Aurora Productions