Chapter 9

 

Fourth Of July Picnic

 

“Easy, Buck.” Jacob pulled back on the horse's reins to keep him moving slowly as the Bishop's flat bed wagon bounced over the ruts and rocks, jostling the passengers.

Pap had taken the side boards off the wagon so the children could sit along all three sides, dangling their legs over the edge. Once in a while, one of the older children grabbed one of the younger ones to keep them from pitching head first off the wagon when it bounced in a rut or over a rock. Nannie sat stiffly in the seat next to Jacob, trying to keep the large kettle of chicken and noodles from spilling in her lap.

“Mercy sakes! I'm glad to see the Parkin swimmen hole ahead of us,” Nannie said, checking under the kettle for spills. “I was afeared I was goen to be wearen these noodles afore we got here.”

“Hang on, Nannie. Yer doen fine,” soothed Jacob.

“Yep, Mama,” Lue teased. “Don't lose any of em noodles. We want to eat all we kin get of em fer dinner.”

“Humph!” Nannie grumped. She brightened when she recognized the people already gathered for the fourth of July picnic. The tranquil clearing around the Little River swimming hole was alive with jabber and laughter. “There's Doak and Otillie Woods. My, there's no getten ahead of em two when there's a meeten. They always get to it first. Hi Tillie! Hi Doak!” Nannie greeted then she climbed down from the wagon then reached for the kettle on the seat. “Jacob, pull the wagon over in the shade. Tillie, we can use our wagon to set the vitals on.”

Otillie reached onto her buggy seat to lift off a big, black, cast iron kettle The thin, older woman bent over from the strain of carrying the heavy kettle. “Lue, hep Tillie with that kettle. It looks heavy. I hope that's a mess of yer brown beans, Tillie. No one cooks beans like ya all do.” Nannie smiled down at her elderly friend.

“Thank ye kindly, youngun,” the older lady said to Lue as he took the kettle from her. She looked at Nannie. “But that's pure nonsense, Nannie and ya know it. Beans is beans, but good guess. That's what's in the kettle all right.” She busily pushed a loose hairpin back through her long, gray braids that wound around the crown of her head while they walked together.

“Doak, did ya bring yer fishen pole? Sid and me are ready to try out that catfish hole around the bend afore time to eat,” said Jacob.

“Sure did, Jake, and we better get goen afore it gets too hot to fish. Say, we haven the largest fish contest again this year? I won last time, member?”

“Ya never let us forget that, old man,” his wife quipped. “Ya three get goen now. Some of the men have got a head start on y'all.”

“Ever seed such a bossy woman afore, Jake?” Doak teased in a raised voice as the men walked away.

“Yep, Doak. I knowed of at least one more jest like her,” Jacob joked loudly. He knew behind them the two women would be standing side by side, clucking at their jesting.

The Bishop children needed no encouragement to head for the swimming hole. The boys rolled up their pant legs, and the girls brought their skirts up between their legs to tuck the tails in their waistbands. Soon the clear, sun sparkled water riled to a rusty brown from the invasion of children.

Nannie spread a crazy patchwork quilt on the ground under the shade of the hickory tree grove. She sat down with the other women to chat and watch the children play in the water. Patting the spot beside her on the quilt, Nannie motioned for Tillie to join her.

“Nannie, here comes the Parkins family walken in,” Otillie pointed upstream. “I declare, Sister Etta May and her Mister are skinny enough to blow away in a strong wind and their younguns ain't much better. Em younguns can sure move though. Look at em head for that swimmen hole.”

“Now, Tillie, not ever one puts on lard as easy as I do,” Nannie patted her thighs and laughed.

“Ya look jest right to my way of thinken,” Tillie said, softly. “Hey, Sister Etta! Brother Parkins, my Doak, Jacob and Sid jest went off to fish in the catfish hole with the other men ifen ya want to join em.”

“Thankee, Misses.” Touching the brim of his straw hat, Bennie Lee Parkins grinned, exposing pink, toothless gums, before he strolled toward the river bend.

“Etta May, put that dishpan down on our wagon. That's what we's usen fer the food table. Then join us,” Nannie invited, patting her quilt.

“Praise the Lord. We made it. Jimmy Bob and Susie Kate could hardly wait to get here. They hurried us faster than I like to walk,” Etta May drawled slowly as she plopped down. “Woo ee! I'm plum tuckered out from walken in this heat,” she declared, wiping her forehead with the hem of her skirt.

When the sun was high overhead, the women shouted, “Come and get it!”

Dripping water, the children stampeded up the bank to the shade trees. “Easy, younguns!” Nannie held her hands out to slow them down. “Line up. The men will be here in a minute. As soon as they fill their plates, ya all get yer turn. Mercy sakes, ya remind me of a pack of wet dogs. Ifen ya was to shake, ya'd drown all of us.”

“Did we hear someone holleren it was time to eat?” Jacob called, leading a group of men around the bend.

“Come and get the food afore these younguns get started clean everythen up. We’s haven trouble holden em back," called Tillie.

“By gum, we cain't have that,” Doak blustered. “Cause us men are starved from worken hard fishen this morning.”

Nannie leaned over and hissed in Otillie's ear. “Lookee there would ya? That ole Tutt Jones is comen with the men. Who invited him?”

“Must have smelled the grub from a ways off jest like always.” Otillie grinned at Nannie's inhospitable tone of voice.

“Mercy sakes, he should jest go on back home to eat,” growled Nannie. She glared at the slouchy little man ambling along with one strap on his overalls flapping behind him.

“Now, Nannie, that's not very Christian of ya with him a bachelor and all. He probably gets lonely and likes a good meal once in a while.”

“Look at that, will ya? He's sitten down by Dillard. Couldn't he sit somewhere else? He'll be fillen that youngun's head full of his tall tales like always,” Nannie moaned, ignoring Otillie's compassionate plea.

“Now, now, Nannie, Tutt's harmless, I think,” her old friend offered softly. “The younguns seem to like his story tellen. He entertains em. It'll work out all right, and we best get ourselves in line fer the food otherwise we might be the ones who don't get anythen to eat.” Otillie tugged on Nannie's arm to get her started.

Squatting down beside Dillard, Tutt wolfed down the food on his plate as if he hadn't eaten anything for some time. When the tin plate was cleaned until the shiny blue and white enamel showed, Tutt set it down beside him in the grass. He took a plug of tobacco from his shirt pocket and held it out toward Dillard, offering him a chew. He grinned when Dillard frowned at him and nodded no vigorously. Tutt gnawed on a corner of the plug until a piece broke off in his mouth and stuck the rest away. Wallowing the chew with his tongue around to his right jaw, he turned his head to the side to spit away from the others under the tree.

Tutt elbowed Dillard in the ribs to get his attention.“Ya been the one goen to the pasture after the milk cow lately, Dillard?”

“Sure, sometimes but most always she comes to the barn on her own. Why?”

“I jest wanted to warn ya to be careful about wonderen around yer pasture by yerself fer a while is all.”

“Why's that, Tutt?”

“Folks seed a black snake here abouts that's the grand daddy of em all.”

“That big, huh?” Lue butted in.

Tutt paused to look around to see how big an audience he had. “That big!” He declared, raising his voice now to include everyone.

“Tutt, I seed big snakes afore,” Dillard declared and snickered. “I ain’t ascared of any ole snake.”

“Ya ain’t seed one like this one. No sir, ya ain't. I heard tell this one could likely swallow ya whole if he be a mind to. He's bigger around than a man's arm and has a stub tail. Reckon he must have caught it in a trap or got it mowed off. That ole snake kin stand straight up on that stub and look ya right in the eye.”

“Aw, Tutt! Did ya ever seed him yerself?” Asked Dillard, doubtfully.

“Nope, not yet, and I don't much want to meet up with him either.”

“if I run into that ole snake, I'll be sure glad to let ya know his where abouts so ya can steer clear of him,” Lue teased, getting up to refill his plate.

Later, the women covered almost empty food kettles with dish towels to keep the flies from lighting in them. Everyone, with bellies full, sat peacefully in the shade. The smaller children napped on the quilts, but the older ones sat impatiently, waiting for the grownups to tell them it had been long enough since the meal so they could go back to the swimming hole.

Near the middle of the afternoon, Jacob and the rest of the men agreed that it should be safe for the children to swim. Letting out war hoops of joy, they stampeded down the bank and splashed into the river. Some time later, above the children’s screams and laughter came a cry for help.

“Look, Jake!” Is that yer youngun, Don, waven his arms around off in that corner by hisself?” Doak shouted. “He looks like he's in trouble fer sure!”

“Jacob, go hep Don!” Screamed Nannie.

Jacob and Tutt jumped up to run toward the river while the rest of the group followed behind them. The two men stepped off the bank and waded into the shallow, muddy water. They swam across the deep hole to where Don was waving his arms up in the air. Before they could get to the boy, his head went under the water, then coughing and sputtering he came back up. That time no sound came out of him as his blue face went under again. Grabbing hold of the boy, the men lifted his head above water and swam for the shore. Two other men rushed to the water's edge to help drag Don onto the bank.

Jacob rolled Don onto his stomach and began to pump up and down on his back. Suddenly between coughing and gurgles, red, river water spurted from the boy's blue lips. Turning Don over, Jacob propped him up in his arm. “What happened out there, son? Ya okay now?”

“I got cramps so bad I couldn't move. Sure scared me!” Don declared, coughing. He spit out a mouthful of water.

“By gum, it scared us, too,” laughed Doak as he fondly roughed up Don's wet hair. “Tutt, hep Jake get this boy into the shade over there. Lean him against a tree to rest fer a spell. The lot of us kin go back to haven a good time. No harm done now that the excitement is over. I don't know about the rest of ya men, but heat or no heat, I'm goen fishen. I want to catch that big fish yet this afternoon soen I can win the contest again!”