thrashing in her stall, threw open the door, and put a rope around the terrified mare's
neck.
Eugene stumbled out of the barn with Sue, threw the rope to Lou, who led the horse away
with assistance from Louisa and Oz, and then Eugene went back into the barn. Lou and
Oz hauled buckets of water from the spring-house, but Lou knew it was like trying to
melt snow with your breath. Eugene drove out the mules and all the cows except one. But
they lost every hog. And all their hay, and most of their tools and harnesses. The sheep
were wintered outside, but the loss was still a devastating one.
Louisa and Lou watched from the porch as the barn, bare studs now, continued to burn.
Eugene stood by the corral where he had driven the livestock. Oz was next to him with a
bucket of water to dump on any creep of fire.
Then Eugene called out, "She coming down," and he pulled Oz away. The barn collapsed
in on itself, the flames leaping skyward and the snow gently falling into this inferno.
Louisa stared in obvious agony at this ruin, as though she were caught in the flames
herself. Lou tightly held her hand and was quick to notice when Louisa's fingers began to
shake, the strong grip suddenly becoming impossibly weak.
"Louisa?"
The woman dropped to the porch without a word.
"Louisa!"
The girl's anguished cries echoed across the stark, cold valley.
Cotton, Lou, and Oz stood next to the hospital bed where Louisa lay. It had been a wild
ride down the mountain in the old Hudson, gears thrashed by a frantic Eugene, engine
whining, wheels slipping and then catching in the snowy dirt. The car almost went over
the edge twice. Lou and Oz had clung to Louisa, praying that she would not leave them.
They had gotten her to the small hospital in Dickens, and then Lou had run and rousted
Cotton from his bed. Eugene had gone back up to look after Amanda and the animals.
Travis Barnes was attending her, and the man looked worried. The hospital was also his
home, and the sight of a dining room table and a General Electric refrigerator had not
comforted Lou.
"How is she, Travis?" asked Cotton.
Barnes looked at the children and then pulled Cotton to the side. "She's had a stroke," he
said in a low voice. "Looks to be some paralysis on the left side."
"Is she going to recover?" This came from Lou, who had heard everything.
Travis delivered a woeful shrug. "There's not much we can do for her. The next fortyeight hours are critical. If I thought she could make the trip, I'd have sent her on to the
hospital in Roanoke. We're not exactly equipped for this sort of thing. You can go on
home. I'll send word if her condition changes."
Lou said, "I'm not leaving." And then Oz said the same.
"I think you've been overruled," said Cotton quietly.
"There's a couch right outside," Travis said kindly.
They were all asleep there, each holding the others up, when the nurse touched Cotton's
shoulder.
She said softly, "Louisa's awake."
Cotton and the children eased the door open and went in. Louisa's eyes were open, but
not much more than that. Travis stood over her.
"Louisa?" said Cotton. There was no answer, not even a hint of recognition. Cotton
looked at Travis.
"She's still very weak," Travis said. "I'm amazed she's even conscious."
Lou just stared at her, more scared than she'd ever been. She just couldn't believe it. Her
father, her mother.
Diamond. Now Louisa. Paralyzed. Her mother had not moved a muscle for longer than
Lou cared to think about. Was that to be Louisa's fate too? A woman who loved the
earth? Who cherished her mountain? Who had lived as good a life as one could live? It
was almost enough to make Lou stop believing in a God who could do such a terrible
thing. Leaving a person with no hope. Leaving a person with nothing at all really.
Cotton, Oz, Lou, and Eugene had just started their meal at the farmhouse.
"I can't believe they haven't caught whoever burned the barn down," Lou said angrily.
"There's no proof anybody burned it down, Lou," replied Cotton, as he poured the milk
and then passed the biscuits.
"I know who did it. George Davis. Probably that gas company paid him to."
"You can't go around saying that, Lou, that's slander."
"I know the truth!" the girl shot back.
Cotton took off his glasses. "Lou, believe me—"
Lou leapt up from the table, her knife and fork clattering down and making them all
jump. "Why should I believe anything you say, Cotton? You said my mom was going to
come back. Now Louisa's gone too. Are you going to lie and say she's going to get better?
Are you?"
Lou ran off. Oz started to go after her, but Cotton stopped him. "Let her be for now, Oz,"