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Authors: Theodore Taylor
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aimed perfectly. Just as he jabbed it, Frank hollered, "Snake!"
Kilbie came out of the door as if his tail was torched. He ran across the flats with his pants down around his ankles. They heard his yelling in Chicky, and Mrs. Oden inspected his bottom for an hour trying to find fang marks.
But it did prove to Ben and Frank that Kilbie wasn't always smart, and that under certain circumstances he
was
afraid of snakes.
Kilbie seemed to be involved in everything around the village. He and his older brother, Everett, were the ones who dressed up on the eve of January 6, old Christmas, in a cow's hide and head, to charge up and down the streets of Chicky, pretending to be Old Buck, which the British professor had said was a direct descendant of St George's dragon. Actually, Old Buck was a direct descendant of the wild bull of Trent Woods, which was really an ox, according to Kilbie.
Ben went on down to the dock with Frank and Kilbie. High water had messed it up several times. It swayed some. John O'Neal had built it two years before he capsized. Filene and Jabez had worked on it twice, and Reuben had put in six new pilings on a trip home. Only time it was used for a boat was when someone brought a sharpie or bugeye along it Sundays to visit Rachel. The boys crabbed off it summers to pass time. They didn't eat the crabs. They were the same as "trash fish." Sharks, skates, and the like.
However, Ben, Frank, and Kilbie had also used the dock as a place to get away from prying ears. They'd been learning how to cuss the last summer and had spent some afternoons on the dock just cussing at each other between netting crabs. They had gone beyond "damn" and "hell."
Soon as they sat down, Frank asked, "You see her naked?" He was dying to know.
"Every pore of her," Ben answered proudly.
"How's she built?"
"All bones."
"Nothin' else? You know what I mean," Frank said.
"She's the same as Lucy, Frank," Ben replied, not really knowing, of course.
But he had seen Lucy in the pure ivory hull. They'd all three stood on a box looking into Lucy's room after she'd had a bath until Mrs. Scarborough came storming around the side of the house and threw a rake at them.
Kilbie said, "I can't figure out why she's speechless. It's the talk of Chicky."
"It's a medical word," Ben said. "She had her brains addled."
"Then she's crazy."
"I wouldn't put it past her."
Kilbie said, "Remember that mate, Armitage McNamara, off the
Sally Hubbard}
He come in on a surf. Prochorus Midgett had to rope him to get him off the island. I saw him. He was trussed up like a wild pig."
"We're not worried about that, Kilbie. She hasn't the strength to lift a bobbin."
"But I can't figure out why she can't talk. Even crazy people talk. Look at Mis' Peele. That's all she does. Not a word makes sense but they come out to never stop."
Frank said slyly, "Mebbe she don't want to talk? You thought about that?"
Ben hadn't at all.
Frank went on. "Mebbe she's an orphan an' lookin' for a good home."
Ben had to laugh. "Well, she could find a damn sight better than this one."
"Not if you're starved. You said she was all bones."
That was a thought. Although there weren't any on the Banks, there were orphans all over Carolina looking for homes.
Kilbie said, "Mebbe she's deef an' dumb?"
That was also a thought. Doc Meekins hadn't mentioned that. They talked on for about an hour until Frank had to go home. His papa docked about four usually and Frank had to help unload fish. Kilbie's papa was on duty at little Kinnakeet station and did not fish in the winter.
In the house, Ben said, "Kilbie thinks she may be deef an' dumb."
Rachel answered, "Kilbie's taken up medicine now?"
11
I N ANOTHER few days, Tee was almost recovered except that she was still speechless and acted like a spirit around the house. She sat a lot and stared with blue owl eyes. Ben could have sworn she found something remarkable in the comers of the living room. She'd seem to look vacantly into them for
Kilbie came out of the door as if his tail was torched. He ran across the flats with his pants down around his ankles. They heard his yelling in Chicky, and Mrs. Oden inspected his bottom for an hour trying to find fang marks.
But it did prove to Ben and Frank that Kilbie wasn't always smart, and that under certain circumstances he
was
afraid of snakes.
Kilbie seemed to be involved in everything around the village. He and his older brother, Everett, were the ones who dressed up on the eve of January 6, old Christmas, in a cow's hide and head, to charge up and down the streets of Chicky, pretending to be Old Buck, which the British professor had said was a direct descendant of St George's dragon. Actually, Old Buck was a direct descendant of the wild bull of Trent Woods, which was really an ox, according to Kilbie.
Ben went on down to the dock with Frank and Kilbie. High water had messed it up several times. It swayed some. John O'Neal had built it two years before he capsized. Filene and Jabez had worked on it twice, and Reuben had put in six new pilings on a trip home. Only time it was used for a boat was when someone brought a sharpie or bugeye along it Sundays to visit Rachel. The boys crabbed off it summers to pass time. They didn't eat the crabs. They were the same as "trash fish." Sharks, skates, and the like.
However, Ben, Frank, and Kilbie had also used the dock as a place to get away from prying ears. They'd been learning how to cuss the last summer and had spent some afternoons on the dock just cussing at each other between netting crabs. They had gone beyond "damn" and "hell."
Soon as they sat down, Frank asked, "You see her naked?" He was dying to know.
"Every pore of her," Ben answered proudly.
"How's she built?"
"All bones."
"Nothin' else? You know what I mean," Frank said.
"She's the same as Lucy, Frank," Ben replied, not really knowing, of course.
But he had seen Lucy in the pure ivory hull. They'd all three stood on a box looking into Lucy's room after she'd had a bath until Mrs. Scarborough came storming around the side of the house and threw a rake at them.
Kilbie said, "I can't figure out why she's speechless. It's the talk of Chicky."
"It's a medical word," Ben said. "She had her brains addled."
"Then she's crazy."
"I wouldn't put it past her."
Kilbie said, "Remember that mate, Armitage McNamara, off the
Sally Hubbard}
He come in on a surf. Prochorus Midgett had to rope him to get him off the island. I saw him. He was trussed up like a wild pig."
"We're not worried about that, Kilbie. She hasn't the strength to lift a bobbin."
"But I can't figure out why she can't talk. Even crazy people talk. Look at Mis' Peele. That's all she does. Not a word makes sense but they come out to never stop."
Frank said slyly, "Mebbe she don't want to talk? You thought about that?"
Ben hadn't at all.
Frank went on. "Mebbe she's an orphan an' lookin' for a good home."
Ben had to laugh. "Well, she could find a damn sight better than this one."
"Not if you're starved. You said she was all bones."
That was a thought. Although there weren't any on the Banks, there were orphans all over Carolina looking for homes.
Kilbie said, "Mebbe she's deef an' dumb?"
That was also a thought. Doc Meekins hadn't mentioned that. They talked on for about an hour until Frank had to go home. His papa docked about four usually and Frank had to help unload fish. Kilbie's papa was on duty at little Kinnakeet station and did not fish in the winter.
In the house, Ben said, "Kilbie thinks she may be deef an' dumb."
Rachel answered, "Kilbie's taken up medicine now?"
11
I N ANOTHER few days, Tee was almost recovered except that she was still speechless and acted like a spirit around the house. She sat a lot and stared with blue owl eyes. Ben could have sworn she found something remarkable in the comers of the living room. She'd seem to look vacantly into them for
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