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done? I don’t think you do, young lady. It’s much easier for you to play dumb. You need to go home before he kills you. He killed his own stepmama even though they couldn’t prove it. Her ghost prowls that house. I’ve seen her looking out the window myself. God rest her good soul. Won’t one soul blame you for leaving the likes of Hobbs Pritchard. Go on home.” She shut the door in my face.
    I stood there for a minute staring at the wood. Then Iturned and walked. I walked back down that road as the light turned gray and the sky spit snow. When I was out of sight, I threw that pie, towel and all, as hard as I could into the woods. I thought on that moonshine still and Hobbs killing his stepmama. It was dark when I let myself in the house. There stood the woman I saw before. She smiled and walked right through the wall before I could say a word to her.
Nellie; again death was whispering in my ear. I jumped out of bed. The world outside was alive with light caused by a thick blanket of snow. Even the sound of the river was muffled. Winter had come sooner than later. The man stood closer to the house this time and looked at me. He took off his cap, gave a little nod, and walked toward the house until I couldn’t see him. I waited, thinking he would knock. But he never did. I went downstairs and the porch was empty. I was seeing things.
    Night left and day came, Thanksgiving. The world outside the window turned hard and cold. I put on my warmest clothes and a pair of Hobbs’s boots, put the turkey in the oven, and hightailed it outside. I would smother if I stayed in that house one more minute. The snow fell, turning the air icy. The water rushed over the rocks not far away. I twirled, a dancer, a child.
    That’s where Jack and Aunt Ida found me when they came to dinner. I was building a snowman. My hands and toes were frozen, but it didn’t matter. Jack laughed, thinking it was all in fun. But Aunt Ida frowned. She knew when she saw a woman giving in to the crazy part of her mind.
    “Did you cook them vegetables?” Her voice was stern.
    I laughed so hard I couldn’t get my breath to answer. Of course I took care of the whole dinner. I was the kind of wife who waited at home until her husband got good and ready to come back.

Nine

T he next morning I heard a soft knock on the door. Shelly stood on the porch with a bundle in her hand. It wasn’t her day to come clean.
    “Shelly?” The sun hadn’t made it over the tops of the trees yet.
    “I figured you could use some help after dinner and …” She looked away.
    “And what?” I motioned her inside. The cold went straight to my bones.
    “I heard about your visit to the Connors.” She bumped snow off her flimsy shoes and stepped inside so I could close the door.
    “So. And I guess they know I threw a perfectly good pie in the ditch, along with a pretty tea towel?”
    “I didn’t hear nothing about no pie. Actually, Mrs. Connor was the one talking, and she was nice, considering. She said you was just plain stupid when it came to your husband.” She stopped to see if I would get mad.
    “You want some coffee?” I took my cup off the shelf.
    “Mama don’t believe in it. She says money is too hard to come by these days to be wasting it on coffee.”
    Hobbs probably owned every family on the mountain—except the Connors. Taking folks’ coffee and eggs was stealing and pure meanness no matter how I tried to paint the picture. Thinking about how he held the needs of others over their heads made me so mad I could spit. How could I love someone like him? But I wasn’t stupid. I knew if he walked in the door, I’d fall right into his arms. He had some kind of magic over me. Hobbs was to me what whiskey was to Daddy. One glass was never enough for him. He had to drink the whole bottle. I was lost in Hobbs and might never get back to being me.
    “I got some milk. You want some?” Again I noticed the pouch in Shelly’s hand.
    “Yes ma’am.”
    I poured