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almost crazy with fear and worry. Jack climbed out. One long breath escaped my chest. But, before he could say a word, Hobbs’s truck came up the drive. I sobbed and that wasn’t like me at all.
    Hobbs jumped from the cab and came at me yelling. “What the hell happened? Did he come here? Did he?”
    “Yes, he was standing on the edge of the woods just as you left earlier. It’s the third time I’ve caught him on this land.”
    Jack came closer. “Did you know the man, Nellie?”
    “I ain’t never seen him anywhere but in the woods and this yard. He dresses in clothes my grandpa would have worn.”
    Hobbs looked surprised and his friend Harper looked downright scared. “You didn’t see Maynard Connor!” Hobbs shouted at me. “Did you really see a man?”
    “Yes. I ain’t crazy!” I shouted.
    “We know that, Nellie. You’re scaring her worse, Hobbs.” Jack spoke with a softness Hobbs couldn’t even get close to.
    “Shut the blubbering up.” Hobbs looked like he could run through me.
    “She sure saw something.” Harper gave a little shiver.
    I gained some control.
    “It sounds like Hocket to me, boss.”
    “Shut the hell up, Harper. I ain’t in the mood for some stupid mountain tale.” Hobbs looked over at Jack. “Take her inside. I’ll go have a look. I’m going to kill Maynard Connor when I find him.”
    I gave Jack a long look. Lots of people said stuff like that when they were angry.
    “Come on.” Jack motioned me to the kitchen door.
    I stopped on the porch to gather some firewood and Jack took it from me. “I’ll take care of the fire. You go rest.”
    I nodded.
Hobbs was sound asleep and the whole house was quiet. At first I thought I was dreaming. Nellie. Nellie. I sat up with a cold chill working down my backbone. He stood in the same place he had been early that evening. The half moon showed on him in a milky-white kind of way. I ran down the stairs and out of the house. I didn’t want him to disappear this time. But he never moved.
    “You’ll die too.” The man spoke soft but loud enough for me to hear him over the river in the distance.
    “Why are you here? Why do you keep coming on my husband’s land?”
    The man stepped forward. “The question is, what did your husband do to me, ma’am?”
    “I don’t …”
    He turned and walked into the woods but not before he threw me a warning over his shoulder. “You’re in too deep to leave.” These words floated on the air after he disappeared into the black dark.

Eight

I ’d been on the mountain for two months. The only person I really talked to was Shelly, who hardly ever talked back but listened to every word. The work on the house was pretty much finished, but I didn’t want her to stop coming. So we worked on some rooms twice; me rattling on about Asheville, and her smiling and nodding.
    A week or so before Thanksgiving, Hobbs came home one chilly afternoon with some news. “I got to go away on business. That fire set me back too far.” His expression told me not to mess with him.
    “How long?” My shoulders slumped.
    “Hell, I don’t know. Don’t start asking me a thousand and one questions.”
    “I just wanted to get an idea—”
    He grabbed the front of my dress and pulled me near his face. “It ain’t none of your business.” Then he pushed me back.
    I bit back the words I wanted to say: Why you got to be so mean?
    “Be a good wife while I’m gone. You stay right here in this house. Don’t be out and about. I got my people watching.” He laughed and went upstairs.
    Good Lord, what did he expect me to do? I had been the wife he wanted. I never asked for one thing except Mama. He came back down the stairs with a shadow across his face. He wouldn’t be home anytime soon. That was clear.
The day before Thanksgiving, Jack brought me a turkey all ready to go in the oven. “Aunt Ida sure is grumbling about having dinner up here. But it’s good for her. She does too much and bosses everyone.”
    “Maybe