Ben didn’t start down the hill to see Francine until noon. That morning he had to find the old cradle in the barn loft and work on it. Becca should have had him searching that out weeks ago. It wasn’t like baby Carlene was a surprise. He told his mother as much.
“That’s my fault,” Ma said. “Feels like bad luck bringing the cradle in before the baby. Better to be sure all is well first.”
Ben frowned. “You made a baby quilt and clothes.”
“That’s different.”
“How so?” They were out on the back porch scrubbing the cradle while spatters of cold rain blew in on them.
His mother stopped working and stared out at the rain. “I ain’t never told you young’uns this, but when I was expectin’ my first, I wanted ev’rything to be perfect. Your pa made this cradle his own self.” She stroked the side of the cradle. “I sat it in the middle of the house months before my laying-in time, and then the baby come too early. Tiny little thing never took a breath. Instead of laying him in this cradle, I had to put him in a box and bury him in the ground.”
Ben touched his mother’s arm. “I’m sorry.”
Ma tightened her lips and blinked a few times. “Anyhow, after that, your pa put the cradle out of sight in the barn. The next time I was carrying, I told him to leave it there until I had the babe safe in my arms, breathing and crying.”
She looked over at Ben a little shamefaced. “I reckon it was silly me carrying over my superstitious fears to Becca, but I couldn’t help myself. I kept telling Becca I’d get around to dragging the cradle out soon. Then when Nurse Howard had to deliver that baby in the truck, I feared the Lord might be punishing me for my faithless superstitions.”
“Everything turned out all right. Carlene is doing fine.” Ben could hear the baby crying inside the house.
“It was good the nurse was here.” His mother started scrubbing on the cradle again. “She’s a heap stronger than she looks. Strong in her spirit.”
“She’s a good nurse.” Ben kept his eyes on the cradle.
“And pretty.” When Ben stayed silent, she went on. “Becca tells me she had a feller from the city come see her. That she overheard they once considered marrying before the war.”
“That’s what the man said.” Ben kept his voice level and kept washing the rockers of the cradle.
After they worked in silence a few minutes, Ma said, “Could be you should go put in your own bid ’fore the man comes down this way again.”
Ben sat back on his heels and looked directly at his mother, who met his eyes without smiling. After a moment, he said, “Could be.”
“Good.” The corners of her lips turned up a bit as she bent back to the task of cleaning the cradle. “If’n I was you, I wouldn’t wait overlong.”
Ben rinsed out his rag in the bucket of soapy water. “She might chase me back up the hill.”
“Could happen.” Ma didn’t look up, but her smile got a little wider. “But I’m thinkin’ not. She’s a sensible girl.”
“That’s just it. Sensible would go back to the city where life is easier.”
“But without the mountains. I’m thinkin’ Nurse Howard has done let her feet grow roots down in these mountains.” Ma looked up at him. “One thing sure. You won’t know if you don’t ask.”
She shook out her rag and stood up. She put her hands on her hips and stared down at the cradle. “I think we’ve got it in fine shape for my grandbaby. Carry it on in and then you can be on about whatever needs doing.”
She held the door while he carried the cradle inside. Behind him, she started humming. It took him a minute to recognize the tune. Froggie went a-courting.
The tune circled around in his head all the way down the hill. It was beyond him why his mother would hum that and send him off courting. No happy endings there. The mouse the frog went courting got eaten by a black snake and a duck ate the frog.
The rain slacked off into a drizzle, with fog settling down on the mountains by the time he got to the creek. The water was still crashing along, but Captain was a strong swimmer and didn’t have any problem getting across. On the other side of the creek, the horse headed straight for the center.
Ben heard Sarge barking before he got to the yard. Not his usual bark. Ben kicked Captain to a faster trot. Only a wisp of smoke rose up from one of the chimneys. None from the other. That didn’t look right.
When barks were the only answer to his knock on the door, Ben pushed it open. Sarge tried to shove past him, but Ben held him back while he closed the door. The dog sat down and whined, his ears drooped down.
“Hold on, Sarge.” Ben made a quick round of the center. Nobody there. The fire was nearly out in the fireplace and the cookstove was cold. Somebody must have come after her, but Sarge always went with her. Always.
The dog ran back to the door, whining. Sarge wanted to go after her. And why not? Ben could just build up the fire and wait. He could, but what if she was lost in that fog up on the mountain? That girl could get lost in the sunshine.
She could be in trouble. After all, big black snakes were out there. Maybe not the slithery kind here in late December, but plenty of other dangers. Especially in weather like this, with tides crashing down the mountain.
Plus, if he sat down and started thinking of all the reasons Francine should choose that city fellow over him, Ben might lose his courage and ride on back up the hill. Tell his mother Francine wasn’t home. That she was probably never going to be home for him.
You won’t know if you don’t ask. His mother’s words echoed in his head. She was right. He did need to ask Francine if she could ever look on him with favor. Better to know a yes or no so a man could face facts and move on. But first he had to find her.
As if reading his thoughts, Sarge started scratching on the door.
“All right, Sarge, let’s go find her.”
The dog sniffed around the yard and then took off for the creek. Without hesitation, he jumped in to swim for the other side. Ben followed on Captain. The current swept both the dog and the horse down creek. But once on the other side, Sarge put his nose to the ground and after a few minutes headed up the hill.
“Hope you know a horse can’t always go where a dog can,” Ben muttered as he followed. But then Francine would have been on a horse too. He should have checked her barn. What if both horses were there and she was lying hurt somewhere in the barn? But Sarge wouldn’t be chasing up the hill if that was true. At least, Ben hoped it was.
At first the dog seemed to be heading toward his house. Francine could have gone to Granny Em’s while he was helping his mother with the cradle. But then the dog took a turn to the east past a few houses without slowing down, even when a dog barked and rushed toward him.
On past the houses the trail got steeper and rougher. As far as Ben knew, only one family lived up this way. The Caudills. He’d started up this hill a half-dozen times, but something always stopped him. Providence, his mother would say. No need starting a feud when Woody could have been hit by a stray shot the way the sheriff decided. That could have been.
One of the Caudills might have come for Francine. Homer Caudill’s wife appeared to be beyond childbearing age, but somebody said Homer’s father was poorly. Maybe it was something moonshine couldn’t cure.
The fog socked down on him like a curtain falling. One minute he could see the dog in front of him on the trail and the next he was swallowed up by gray. Ben slid off Captain and called Sarge. The dog came to him, his tail dragging.
He kept the dog next to him while he considered what to do. In fog like this, a man could step right over a cliff edge. Even a dog might take a wrong way, although animals generally had a better sense of the terrain than people.
Ben pulled a rope out of his saddlebag and attached it to Sarge’s collar. “Just while we consider the best thing to do,” he said.
Surely if Francine had gone to the Caudills’ cabin she would stay there and wait out the fog. But then she might not know how fog could go from bad to impossible here in the mountains in a blink of the eye. Maybe he should go on to the Caudills’ to see if Francine was there, but he wasn’t all that certain he could find the cabin in this gray world.
Sarge whined and perked up his ears. Then he was back on his feet pulling at the rope. Ben listened but didn’t hear anything except water dripping off the trees. But he turned toward where the dog’s nose was pointing and shouted, “Hallooo!”
No sound came back to him, but the dog jerked against the rope. Ben took a better hold on it and followed Sarge across the hillside, leading Captain behind him. He held Sarge back and moved slowly to give Captain a chance to find his footing on the narrow path. Sarge dug at the ground to go faster, but Ben held on.
Then a rock turned under his boot and he slid down the hill. Nothing for it but to turn loose of the rope and the reins to keep the animals from going with him. He grabbed a tree to stop his slide. He scrambled back up the wet hillside to what passed for a path. Captain was there waiting, but Sarge was gone.
Ben whistled, but the dog didn’t come back. Ben picked up Captain’s reins and headed on along the path. But truth was, he was every bit as lost in this fog as Francine might be if she was here on this hill.
“What in the world am I going to do now?” he whispered.
All at once, his father’s words were in his head, clear as the day he’d said them to Ben the week before he left for the army. There’s times in life when no way looks clear. You’re bound to face some of them over there, but when you do, just put your trust in the Lord. He’ll show you a way.
Ben wasn’t over there now, but the Lord was on this side of the ocean too. He was on this mountain. A prayer rose up inside him that the Lord would point the way.