Read Online Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith - Free Book Online Page A

so much as a bye-your-leave, and them all watching too suprised to say ary a thing, Tenessee waving goodbye goodbye with a little lace hankerchief that she pulled out of her black bead purse.
    She has got it still Mrs. Brown, that lace hankerchief wich is now all gray and soiled from her holding it. She still keeps it in the bead purse and takes the bead purse everwhere. Why she had it ther sitting on the steps, the nigt we berried my daddy.
    And Tenessee never has said one word about where all she went or what she done in those three months she was gone, or even if she got maried. I gess she dont know if she did or not. It dont matter anyway. The drummer went into politics we have heerd, and lives in Charleston West Va. where he is famous.
    So my aunt Tenessee was drinking this likker wich Oakley had give her, when Mister Green Patterson stood up on the porch and cleared his throat like he was fixing to say something, now he is real important at a berrying, and Tenessee giggled. Mister Green Patterson cleared his throat agin and says, Well, is everbody here that is coming? and Victor says yes. Clarence Wayne is not coming in for the berrying? Mister Green Patterson axed and Victor said no, nor was anybody else yet to come, he said. Then Mister Green Patterson said we had best get on with it, and him and the other men went in and lit some more lamps that they had brung up from the store, and stood up around the coffin.
    Do you want a prayer Maude, Mister Patterson axed Momma, and she said Lord no, Green.
    But aunt Tenessee out on the porch started laghing and laghing, she said, Father Son and Holy Ghost, the one that drinks the fastest can have the most. And so Granny come and taken her back in the other side of the house. The men stood ther around the coffin the rest of the nigt, it is just what you do, with little Garnie standing amongst them so big-eyed like a little owl. Momma stood too with her face as hard as a mans face, not crying now nor looking like she ever culd of cryed, and they stood ther all nigt, and come first ligt they nailed the coffin shut and carried it outside, Early Cook put drawer handles on the sides to carry it with, and off we went, everbody that had stayed the nigt and was not drunk.
    It was the softest palest prettest morning. Everthing smelt so new because of the rain, it was like Genesis in the Bible. They caried Daddy in the box real easy, he didnt way hardly a thing, with me and Momma and Granny and Ethel and Garnie and Tenessee follering. We left Danny and Johnny back at the house with Beulah. Victor had gone ahead with some boys to dig him a grave at the berrying ground, and Silvaney run off in the woods. We past by the smokehouse and then we was on our way throgh the orcherd it was like the ocean I think thogh I have never seed it, or it was like clouds, white clouds on ever side. Somehow in the pale perly ligt these apple trees seemed the prettest I have ever seed them, and smelled the sweetest, and this on the day we berried my daddy wich shuld of been the worstest in my life, but somehow it was not. It was not. For he had been sick so long, and had got so little, that it was not like we had talked to him there on his pallet by the fire for a long time, Mrs. Brown. It was like we had talked to ourselves.
    Now, I thoght, Daddy is free to go, and the sun come up then and those white flowers looked even pretier, bees buzzing all throgh them.
    Get away, get away, said Tenessee, batting at a bee with her hand, and it obeyed her. Tenessee is good with animals, she has got a house cat that follers her everwhere around ther cabin at Dimond Lick, and one time she trained a deer but Major Little shot it by mistake.
    We past throgh the apple trees and past by Pilgrim Knob where our chickens run, and then we started up Blue Star Mountain on the trail we took when Victor taken us up ther after chestnuts, it seemed like years ago. We past by sarvis and redbud and dogwood, and all the trees had little