some blood."
"I pay you, George Davis," Diamond called out as he came out of the barn, Jeb trailing
him.
Davis visibly shook, he was so angry. "My damn head's still ringing from where you
done walloped me, boy."
"You durn lucky then, 'cause I could'a hit you a lot harder if'n I wanted to."
"Don't you smartmouth me!" Davis roared.
"You want'a git your money or not?" said Diamond.
"What you got? You ain't got nuthin'."
Diamond put his hand in his pocket and drew out a coin. "Got me this. Silver dollar."
"Dollar! You wreck my still, boy. Think a damn dollar gonna fix that? Fool!"
"It done come from my great-granddaddy five times removed. A hunnerd year old it is.
Man down Tremont say he gimme twenty dollar for it."
Davis's eyes lighted up at this. "Lemme see it."
"Naw. Take it or leave it. I telling the truth. Twenty dollar. Man named Monroe Darcy.
He run the store down Tremont. You knowed him."
Davis was silent for a bit. "Gimme it."
"Diamond," Lou called out, "don't do it."
"Man got to pay his debts," said Diamond. He sauntered over to the wagon. When Davis
reached out for the coin, Diamond pulled it back. "Look here, George Davis, this means
we square. You ain't coming round to Miss Louisa for nuthin' if'n I give you this. You got
to swear."
Davis looked like he might put the whip to Diamond's back instead, but he said, "I swear.
Now gimme it!"
Diamond flipped the coin to Davis, who caught it, studied it, bit on it, and then stashed it
in his pocket.
"Now git yourself gone, George," said Louisa.
Davis glared at her. "Next time, my gun don't miss."
He turned mules and wagon around and left in a whirl of dust. Lou stared at Louisa, who
held the rifle on Davis until the man was out of sight. "Would you really have shot him?"
she asked.
Louisa uncocked the rifle and went inside without answering the question.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
LOU WAS CLEANING UP THE SUPPER DISHES TWO NIGHTS later while Oz carefully wrote
out his letters on a piece of paper at the kitchen table. Louisa sat next to him, helping. She
looked tired, Lou thought. She was old, and life up here wasn't easy; Lou had certainly
experienced that firsthand. One had to fight for each little thing. And Louisa had been
doing this all her life. How much longer could she?
By the time Lou had dried the last plate, there came a knock on the door. Oz ran to open
it.
Cotton was standing at the front door, wearing his suit and tie, a large box cradled in his
arms. Behind him was Diamond. The boy was dressed in a clean white shirt, face
scrubbed, hair pounded down with water and maybe sticky sap, and Lou almost gasped,
because the boy was wearing shoes. It was true she could see his toes, but still most of the
boy's feet were covered. Diamond nodded shyly to all, as though being scrubbed and
shod made him a circus spectacle of sorts.
Oz eyed the box. "What's in there?"
Cotton set the box on the table and took his time opening it. "While there is much to be
said for the written word," he told them, "we must never forget that other great creative
body of work." With a flourish to rival the best of vaudeville performances, he unveiled
the gramophone.
"Music!"
Cotton took a record out of a slipcase and carefully placed it on the gramophone. Then he
vigorously turned the crank and set the needle in place. It scratched the wobbly record for
a moment, and then the room was filled with what Lou recognized as the music of
Beethoven. Cotton looked around the room and then moved a chair against the wall. He
motioned to the other men. "Gentlemen, if you please." Oz, Diamond, and Eugene
pitched in, and they soon had an open space in the middle of the room.
Cotton went down the hallway and opened Amanda's door. "Miss Amanda, we have a
variety of popular tunes for your listening pleasure tonight."
Cotton came back to the front room.
"Why did you move the furniture?" Lou asked.
Cotton smiled and removed his suit coat. "Because you can't simply listen to music, you
must become one with it." He bowed deeply to Lou. "May I have this dance, ma'am?"
Lou found herself blushing at this formal invitation. "Cotton, you're crazy, you really
are."
Oz said, "Go ahead, Lou, you're a good dancer." He added, "Mom taught her."
And they danced. Awkwardly at first, but then they picked up their pace and soon were
spinning around the room. All smiled at the pair, and Lou found herself gigglingOvercome with excitement, as he so often was, Oz ran to his mother's room. "Mom, we're