Page 30

missing? A monster baby, icky with running sores. "STILLBORN!" screamed Sarah, jumping out

of bed and seizing the baby from my arms. She

hugged it close, kissed its poor half-face a dozen or

more times before she threw back her head and

howled out her anguish like one of those mountain

wolves that screamed at the moon.

"It's Luke an his damned whores!" Wild and

crazy, she ran like a fury to where Pa sat outside, and

she called his name just once before she shoved the

baby into his arms. He held the baby with expertise,

then stared down with incredulity and horror. "SEE WHAT YA DID!" yelled Sarah, her

single shapeless garment stained with the fluids of

childbirth. "YA AN YER ROTTEN BLOOD AN

WHORIN WAYS DONE KILLED YER OWN

CHILD! AN MADE IT A FREAK, TOO!"

Pa yelled out his rage. "YOU'RE THE

MOTHER! WHAT YOU PRODUCE AIN'T GOT A DAMN THING T'DO WITH ME!" He threw the dead child onto the ground, then ordered Grandpa to give it a decent burial before the hogs and dogs got to it. And away he strode, to jump into his truck and head to Winnerrow to drown his sorrows, if he had any, in moonshine, and later he'd no doubt stagger into Shir

ley's Place.

Oh, how terrible was this Sunday when I had to

bathe a dead child in the tin tub, and get it ready for

burying while Granny took care of Sarah, who

suddenly lost all her strength and began to cry like

any ordinary woman would. Gone the Amazon

fighting strength, only a woman after all, a sobbing

bereaved mother on her knees asking God why a baby

had to be cursed by his father's sins.

Poor little thing, I kept thinking as I washed

away all the blood and froth of birth from the pitiful

tiny body that lay so limp and still. I didn't even have

to be careful to keep its half-head above water, but I