Read A Tale from the Hills Online
Authors: Terry Hayden
Two weeks earlier a large wooden crate had arrived from Richmond, addressed to Mountain school. April Coalson mentioned in a letter to her parents that with cold Winter weather coming, many of the smaller students would suffer from a lack of warm clothing and shoes. Mr. Coalson took it upon himself to help the children. He and one of the secretaries purchased a variety of new Winter coats and shoes to send to his daughter’s school. April was more thrilled with the contents of the crate than any present that she had ever received.
Alice and William each had a new coat and a new pair of shoes. Both pairs of shoes were slightly larger than they needed, but the appreciative kids did not mind. Alice wished that it was a little bit colder outside, so that she could wear the new coat too.
The brothers finally got up and dressed for school. It seemed to Alice that they were eating breakfast much slower than usual, but she did not show her impatience with them. She was first to kiss her daddy goodbye and go out the door. She was very careful walking down the rickety steps, because her new shoes required special attention. After she walked in them for a few minutes, she became confident of her steps. Just before she reached the footbridge, she looked behind her to make sure that her brothers were coming. This was the first morning that William was walking with his brothers, and since her brothers appeared to be closer, she increased her speed. By the time she reached the footbridge she was practically running in her brand new shoes.
When her feet touched the slippery wooden planks of the footbridge, her feet flew out from under her, almost like she was skating on ice. Even before her brothers realized what had happened, Alice’s angelic mother from her dream earlier that morning, was welcoming her into Heaven with arms wide open.
When Alice slipped off of the footbridge, she fell into the rushing torrents below her. The swift, churning water sucked her down to the bottom and pushed her so hard against the rocks that her tiny neck snapped, and she died instantly.
William saw his sister tumble from the footbridge and he gasped as if he was trying to catch his breath. At the same instant he pointed in the direction of the footbridge. His older brothers ran to the bridge but stopped short because they saw a mass of broken eggs that were everywhere. If Alice had not been so excited and if she had not looked around to see her brothers, she would have seen the eggs too. But it was too late for Alice now. She was gone so fast that nothing could be done to save her. Joseph and Josh saw her new shoes that she had been so proud of, racing down the stream. They did not see little Alice anywhere.
Poor William stood in the same spot where he saw his sister fall from the footbridge. He was screaming and crying but no sounds were coming from his throat. His face was turning blue because he could not catch his breath. All that he could do was stand there shaking and try to call his sister back with his silent voice.
Joseph ran back home as fast as he could to get their daddy. When Tom saw him running toward their tiny house, he knew immediately that something was horribly wrong. Tom ran down the track to meet his son, and when they did, Joseph collapsed in his daddy’s arms. He was crying and shaking so violently that Tom had to squeeze him tightly to keep him from falling onto the cold, hard tracks.
When Joseph was finally able, he screamed, “Alice! Alice! Fell from the footbridge! She’s gone daddy! We couldn’t see her! All that we saw was her shoes! Hurry Daddy! Hurry!”
Tom gathered his oldest son into his arms and ran down the track toward the footbridge. He did not understand how Alice could have fallen, especially since he had repaired the bridge on Saturday. Every conceivable reason came into his mind in the few minutes that it took to get back to the bridge. Everything that is, except the broken eggs. A Halloween prank had cost him the life and love of his precious child.
Tom picked up William and carried him, along with Joseph, to the place where their brothers were standing. All of them except William were crying hysterically. He was staring at the churning, muddy water, and taking short, choppy breaths. The shock of what he had just witnessed with Alice was more than his mind could comprehend. He saw her fall from the footbridge and he knew that she was gone, but it would take some time before he would realize that she was gone forever. The heartbroken family walked slowly back to the little house on Jewel Ridge Mountain to grieve alone.
Not too far up the tracks another family was grieving for a lost son. The Halloween pranks that unknowingly cost one family a precious daughter and sister, had cost this family a mischievous but loving son. A son who was doing what teenagers do on Halloween. Pranks that went a littletoo far had caused two families to pay the ultimate price.
Monday started like any other day for Mrs. Boatwright at Mountain School. She was always first to arrive and last to leave each day. She made routine checks to the grounds, turned on lights, and built a fire, if needed. If Carl and the other boys had been there to witness the toilet check, and the mailbox check, they would have been disappointed. The snake had crawled through a hole in the mailbox, that was made by a Halloween prank several years ago, and the rats had escaped through a crack in the floor boards.
Carl and Sam did arrive at the school earlier than usual, but it was to inform Mrs. Boatwright about Jay’s untimely death. She became very upset at the news, and she could tell that Carl and Sam had been crying. Deep down she suspected that the tragedy would make the boys finally realize that delinquent behavior could only hurt everyone involved. She decided that she would contact the minister, in hopes that his words might somehow comfort the students.
The minister had not been as lucky as Mrs. Boatwright in regards to the blacksnake. When he opened his mailbox door, the snake became startled. It struck at him, and even though it was not poisonous, and even though it missed its target, it did however, fulfill its purpose. The minister saw the serpent as a sign from God that he was slipping from the fold. He practically ran back into the house and kissed his wife for the first time in months. While she was running errands, he threw away certain items that only God knew that he owned.
When the bell rang for classes to begin, the teachers noticed that none of the Hill children were at school. Since cold and flu season had arrived it was not unusual for students from the same family to be absent together. However, Miss Coalson knew that Alice would not miss school, especially with the results of the contest to be announced. She spoke to Mrs. Roberts and finally Mrs. Boatwright, who agreed that something must be wrong. They decided that at the end of the school day, they would visit the Hills. If all of the children were sick, Mrs. Boatwright was sure that Alice’s prize for winning the contest would, at least, make them feel a little better. All of the children loved books and Alice’s first prize was a storybook.
The walk after school was uneventful until they reached the footbridge. Although the broken eggs were dried by then, the three educators could tell that the bridge had been treacherous earlier in the day. Their worst fears were realized when they reached the tiny house. News of Alice’s disappearance and sure death was overwhelming to them. Through her tears Miss Coalson could tell that little William was in shock. He was pale and listless and trembling as if he was very cold. She could not imagine what was going through his mind.
Along with being grief stricken, William felt guilty for his sister’s death. He thought that only if he had been walking with Alice, the tragedy might not have happened. Why did he listen when the kids at school teased him about always being with her? Some of the older boys called him a ‘sissy’, and even though he did not even know what a ‘sissy’ was, he knew that it had to mean something bad. He reasoned to himself that if he was not with Alice so much, the other boys would leave him alone. At that moment he decided to start walking with his brothers to school. Alice understood William’s situation, so on that Monday morning she pretended not to mind when he told her that he was going to walk to school with his brothers.
He was asking himself now, why did he care what the other boys said? Why did he let her walk by herself? Why did his only sister have to die? William had not made a sound since he saw his sister tumble from the footbridge. He suffered his grief and guilt in total silence.
Tom asked Mrs. Boatwright to step outside while the teachers were comforting his children. He told her that Alice’s tiny body had undoubtedly washed downstream, and that he was beside himself because he could not leave his boys to look for her. Mrs. Boatwright had never felt as much compassion for anyone in her life. She assured himthat she would notify the authorities. She also made it clear to him that the boys would need a sufficient amount of time to grieve, and that she would see them back at school only after that time had passed.
When they returned into the house, Miss Coalson was talking softly to William. She tried to pick him up, to hold him, but he resisted. Under any other circumstances he would have melted to her touch, but now he felt ashamed to be touched by anyone. His world had turned upside down, and he did not have the will to try and hold on for dear life.
Miss Coalson cried uncontrollably on the way back to the school. She had become very attached to Alice and William in the short time that they had attended her class. She was going to miss Alice’s smile every day, but she was deeply concerned about little William. She had wanted desperately to comfort him but she knew deep inside her heart that something was seriously wrong with that little boy. She wished that she could get inside of his head to try and understand his true feelings. He was hurting and it worried and frustrated her that nothing she said or did seemed to help him.
Mrs. Boatwright was deep in thought as they walked along the tracks. As sympathetic as she was to the families of the dead children, her mind drifted back to her own tragedy. These two deaths brought her husband’s tragic end as painfully fresh into her mind as when it happened many years ago. Now she was not even sure that she could handle these tragedies without going over the edge herself. She had moved to Jewel Ridge Mountain to escape tragedies, not to be engrossed into two of them at the same time.
**********
While they were still newlyweds of less than one year, Alex and Sarah Boatwright moved to Fairfax, Virginia from Richmond. She was a teacher fresh out of college, and he was a recruit with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She had the job that she always wanted and it was very excitingfor Alex to be part of a relatively new government agency. The boundaries and limitations of his job had not yet been established, but he was looking forward to a promising career.
In those early days, most of Alex’s training was on the job. Experience in the field was the best teacher. Although he was not allowed to tell Sarah very much about the cases that he was involved with, she could tell that he loved his job.
After only two years of marriage, tragedy struck. While working on an interstate kidnapping case, Alex was fatally shot by a ruthless kidnapper who was never caught. Several children were killed by the same kidnapper over a seven year period. Sarah always thought that Alex died in vain and that true justice was never served. Frustration and deep sorrow convinced her to leave Fairfax. She moved back to Richmond and taught while she continued her education.
When the position of Principal opened in southwestern Virginia, she applied. At the interview she was discouraged from taking the position. She was told that men were more suited for the job because of the location of the school, and the many demands that were put upon the Principal. She maintained that she could do anything that a man could do, and all that she needed was a chance to prove it. She got the position, and up to that day she had done an exemplary job. These two tragedies would ultimately test her determination.
After they arrived back at the school, Mrs. Boatwright contacted the county Sheriff in Abingdon to report the accident at the footbridge. He told her that since the water was so high and treacherous, that it could be several days before the little girl’s body was found. He also extended his sympathy for the loss of the student who died from snakebites. They agreed to keep in touch and said their goodbyes.
The atmosphere at Mountain School was solemn for several days after the accidents. It was difficult foreveryone, including the teachers and Mrs. Boatwright to concentrate on the day to day activities. But the sooner that life got back to normal, the better for everyone.
The following Monday after Halloween, the three older Hills returned to school. Miss Coalson could not help but breakdown again when Joseph brought back the coat that had been given to Alice. Tom and the boys talked about what Alice would have wanted, and they decided that she would wish for another little girl to use the coat. William did not join in the conversation because he still had not spoken. He was as withdrawn and lethargic as the day when Alice disappeared. Tom kept William at home when the other boys returned to school. He reasoned that William needed more time to heal.
Days turned to weeks, and weeks into months, with no change in William’s behavior. He ate very little, and slept most of the time. But when he slept, he was with Alice, and they were playing and singing and laughing together. His dream world was so real and his conscious world was like a bad dream.
The county nurse came to visit two or three times, but his condition was always the same. She was so concerned about William that she wanted his daddy to put him in the mental hospital in Marion, which was about thirty miles away. Thirty miles might as well have been three hundred for Tom. The suggestion was completely out of the question. He would keep his son at home where he belonged.
William would be with the people who loved him when he was awake, but mostly when he was asleep.
The End of Part Two