The Land(81)

Sam Perry and I re-covered the chair, then climbed onto the seat of the wagon and his children climbed onto the back, surrounding the rocker, and we rode to the house. When we reached it, all the Perrys jumped down, and I pulled the tarp from around the chair. Sam Perry then gently lifted the rocker from the wagon and set it on the porch. There were then more words of praise for the chair as more Perrys came in from the fields. I chose to go at that point, but Sam Perry wouldn’t hear of it. “No, suh!” he exclaimed. “You done made this chair, and ya got a right t’ see how much my Rachel gonna love it. You stay right here!” At first I protested, but the truth is I wanted to see Rachel Perry’s face when she saw the chair. Though I did stay, I wasn’t figuring Rachel Perry would be any too pleased that the rocker so special to her husband and her family had been made by me.

After a bit, a wagon came rattling up the trail. The wagon held the eldest Perry daughter and her family, Nathan and his brother, as well as Rachel Perry. “What’s the matter?” Rachel Perry cried, standing up before the wagon was stopped. “Them boys ain’t said! Ah, Lord, one of my babies hurt! That’s what the matter, ain’t it?”

“No such thing!” denied Sam Perry, going over to the wagon. “And stop all that hollerin’, woman! Ain’t nothin’ wrong!”

“Then how come you t’ send for me like that?”

Sam Perry helped his wife from the wagon. “Ah, sugar pie,” he said soothingly as he placed his arms around her. “Jus’ wanted you t’ come.”

Rachel Perry pulled away furiously. “And you hafta go and send for me like that?”

“Now, don’t be mad, Miz Perry. No need t’ be mad! No need for worry neither . . . ’cepting for what’s on that porch!” He then put his massive arm around his wife again and pointed her toward the rocker.

Rachel Perry stared at the rocker and her mouth opened, but no words came out.

“You love it, Mama?” cried Caroline.

“Ah, naw . . .”

“So, you don’t love it?” teased Sam Perry.

“Ah, Luke . . .”

“Done had it made special for ya, baby, jus’ for you. Man here done made it, and Caroline done painted them there flowers—”

“All your favorite flowers, Mama!” exploded Caroline. “Every kind you done planted in your garden—your petunias and your marigolds and snapdragons, even your roses!”

“Your pansies too!” added Callie. “Ain’t they fine?”

Rachel Perry shook her head, unbelieving.

“Well, come on!” ordered her husband. “Don’t jus’ stand way back here gazing at it. Go on, take a closer look.”

“That’s right, Mama!” cried Nathan. “And sit in it! Caroline ain’t let me.”

“It’s your chair, Mama,” said Caroline with a chiding glance at Nathan. “Ain’t nobody sat in it yet. You be the first.”

“Come on, sugar,” said Sam Perry, and with his eldest son, Hugh, led Rachel Perry to the rocker as if she were a queen. Gingerly, Rachel Perry touched the arms of the chair. Then she touched the headboard and slipped her fingers across the flowers.

“You like it, Mama?” asked Caroline eagerly.

“Ah, sugar . . . it’s jus’ . . . it’s jus’ too much.”

“Well, go on! Sit in it!” ordered her husband. Rachel Perry obeyed.

All the Perrys clapped.

“Ain’t it grand, Mama?” asked Caroline, kneeling on the porch floor beside her. “Ain’t it jus’ too grand?”

“Ah, yes, sweet-pea.” Rachel Perry smiled and folded her hands over the knuckles of the chair. “Ah, yes.” Then she began to rock. Again all the Perrys clapped.

Sam Perry grinned. “So, I takes it ya like yo’ rocker, huh, Miz Perry?”

Rachel Perry grinned too. “Well, what you think, Mister Perry?”

“Well, if ya likes it, then you gots this man here t’ thank for it!” Sam Perry then extended his arm toward where I stood near the side of the porch. “’Cause Mister Logan, he the one done made it!”

Rachel Perry turned to look at me, and I truly believe she saw me then for the first time. She stared at me coldly, without a word. I returned her gaze, then turned away and headed for my wagon. Sam Perry seemed not to notice as his children continued to chatter, but Caroline rushed over to me. “Thank you, Mister Paul-Edward Logan,” she said. “You done made my mama mighty happy.”

I took a moment. “You called me Paul-Edward.”

“Yes, sir. Yes, sir, I did. I been thinkin’ on what you told me ’bout your name and I been figurin’ you a lot like my mama ’bout her name. I figure Edward was a name what yo’ mama wanted you t’ have, and yo’ daddy too, and to my way of thinking, I figure you deserve your name. So, I decided that’s what I’m gonna call ya from now on. I’m gonna call you Paul-Edward. Mister Paul-Edward Logan.” Her eyes probed mine. “That all right with you?”