Wish You Well(57)

dancing, we're dancing." And then he raced back to see some more.

Louisa was moving her hands to the music, and her foot was tapping against the floor.

Diamond came up. "Care to stroll the floor, Miss Louisa?" She took his hands. "Best

offer I had me in years." As they joined Lou and Cotton, Eugene stood Oz on the tops of

his shoes, and they clomped around with the others.

The music and laughter drifted down the hall and into Amanda's room. Since they had

been here, winter had turned to spring and spring had given way to summer. And during

all that time, Amanda's condition had not changed. Lou interpreted that as positive proof

that her mother would never rejoin them, while Oz, ever the optimist, saw it as a good

thing, because his mother's condition had not become any worse. Despite her bleak

opinion of her mother's future, Lou helped Louisa sponge-bathe Amanda every day and

also wash her hair once a week. And both Lou and Oz changed their mother's resting

positions frequendy and exercised her arms and legs daily. Yet there was never any

reaction from their mother; she was just there, eyes closed, limbs motionless. She was not

"dead," but what her mother was could surely not be called "living" either, Lou had often

thought. However, something was a little odd now with the music and laughter filtering

into her room. Perhaps if it was possible to smile without moving one facial muscle,

Amanda Cardinal had just accomplished it.

Back in the front room a few records later, the music had changed to tunes designed to

make one kick up his heels. The partners had also changed: Lou and Diamond jumped

and spun with youthful energy; Cotton twirled Oz; and Eugene—bad leg and all—and

Louisa were doing a modest jitterbug.

Cotton left the dance floor after a while and went to Amanda's bedroom and sat next to

her. He spoke to her very quietly, relaying news of the day, how the children were doing,

the next book he intended to read to her. All just normal conversation, really, and Cotton

hoping that she could hear him and be encouraged by it. "I have enjoyed the letters you

wrote to Louisa immensely. Your words show a beautiful spirit. However, I look forward

to getting to know you personally, Amanda." He took her hands very gently and moved

them slowly to the music.

The sounds drifted outside, and the light spilled into the darkness. For one stolen

moment, all in the house seemed happy and secure.

The small coal mine on Louisa's land was about two miles from the house. There was a

matted-down path leading to it, and that connected with a dirt road that snaked back to

the farm. The opening of the mine was broad and tall enough for sled and mule to enter

easily, which they did each year to bring out coal for the winter's heat. With the moon

now shielded by high clouds, the entrance to the mine was invisible to the naked eye.

Off in the distance there was a wink of light, like a firefly. Then came another flash and

then another. Slowly the group of men emerged from the darkness and came toward the

mine, the blinks of light now revealed as lit kerosene lamps. The men wore hard hats with

carbide lamps strapped to them. In preparation for entering the mine, each man took off

his hat, filled the lamp pouch with moistened carbide pellets, turned the handle, which

adjusted the wick, struck a match, and a dozen lamps together ignited.

A man bigger than all the others called the workers around, and they formed a tight

huddle. His name was Judd Wheeler, and he had been exploring dirt and rock looking for

things of value most of his adult life. In one big hand he held a long roll of paper which

he spread open, and one of the men shone a lantern upon it. The paper held detailed

markings, writing and drawings. The caption on the paper was printed boldly across the

top: "Southern Valley Coal and Gas Geological Survey."

As Wheeler instructed his men on tonight's duties, from out of the darkness another man

joined them. He wore the same felt hat and old clothes. George Davis also held a

kerosene lamp and appeared quite excited at all the activity. Davis spoke animatedly with

Wheeler for a few minutes, and then they all headed inside the mine.



CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

LOU WOKE EARLY THE NEXT MORNING. THE SOUNDS of music had stayed with her

through the night, and her dreams had been pleasant ones. She stretched, gingerly

touched the floor, and went to look out the window. The sun had already begun its rise

and she knew she had to get to the barn to milk, a task she had rapidly taken as her own,

for she had grown to like the coolness of the barn in the morning, and also the smell of

the cows and the hay. She would sometimes climb to the loft, push open the hay doors,

and sit on the edge there, gazing out at the land from her high perch, listening to the