Secrets at Dillehay Crossing- Chapter 5 - A Bruising Dilemma
Lilly stopped her car beneath the wrought iron head gate that marked the entrance to the Mason property and stared up at it. How have I never noticed that head gate before? How did the Masons come to own this piece of property? I wish I knew more. And what about that old, abandoned farmhouse? What’s its story? I’d like to know more about it, too. But how? Will someone tell me? Who? Granddaddy Dave? Relda? Nick? She inched her car forward; stopped again; and followed the mid-afternoon sun’s rays as they trickled through the pecan and bois d’arc trees—their bark whispering about dreams from bygone days. She rolled down her car’s windows; a gentle summer breeze blew from the south making the trees rustle like living things. “The summer breeze,” Grammy once told Lilly, “oft times tells the tales of unspoken secrets and hidden truths.” Lilly closed her eyes and listened to the trees softly gossiping amongst themselves hoping they might reveal some secrets about the family that once lived in the old dilapidated farmhouse.
Lilly opened her eyes and saw the slender figure of an elderly man striding along the trail that snaked through the Mason property. Is that Granddaddy Dave? What’s he doing out here all by himself? Lilly drove closer to him and shouted out the car’s window. “Granddaddy Dave?”
The man paused; turned in the direction of the voice; and stepped closer to the car. “Lilly?” A look of confusion flashed over the elderly man’s face.” Is that you?” He leaned into Lilly’s car window. “Gee willikers! It is you. I didn’t rightly recognize ya’. I thought some new cowgirl had come through town and was trespassin’ on my property. By the look of things, I’m a guessin’ you’ve been to see Dusty. Am I right?”
“Correct, Granddaddy Dave.” Lilly smiled with the utmost satisfaction. “Do you need a lift back to your house? You’re pretty far from home.”
“Oh, no, Darlin’. I’m doing what the doc told me to do—walkin’ two miles every day. I’m feelin’ a tad weary, though. Would cha’ mind takin’ me over to see my grandson? If’n so, I’d be mighty grateful.”
“Sure thing, Granddaddy Dave. Hop in.” Lilly reached across the seat and unlocked the passenger side door.
Granddaddy Dave dusted off his boots and climbed into Lilly’s car. Using his calloused hands, he buckled his seat belt and shut the passenger side door. “Ain’t it a beautiful summer day?”
“Yes, it certainly is. I love summer days like today!” Lilly put her car into gear and eased her way down the windy gravel road.
“How wuz your day at work? You know,” he rambled on a bit awkwardly, “I couldn’t ever live at a place like Hickory Pines. I duzn’t much care for most ol’ folks.”
“Seriously? Why’s that?”
“Mostly they complain or are jest downright feisty and a bit ohnry, if’n ya know what I mean.”
“You’re absolutely right, Granddaddy Dave!” A pinched, tension-filled expression came across Lilly’s face. “Our newest resident is more than just a little feisty. He’s out n’ out rude; but I’m guessin’ he’s had a tough life. Then again maybe getting old and sick is what makes him grumpy.”
“Everyone’s life is tough. No doubt about it. Just ‘cause a feller’s had a tough life and is getting’ old and feelin’ poorly duzn’t mean he has the right to treat people bad, ‘specially a lady. Has he been treatin’ you bad, Lilly” he asked, his face showing signs of agitation. “A man ain’t never got no right to be mean to a lady. Pure ‘n simple. So, if’n he’s been disrespectful to you, just let me know. I’ll bring my shotgun up there and scare some kindness into the ol’ codger’s soul! Ya know we Mason men take care of our women folk. Women are special!”
“That’s downright thoughtful of you, Granddaddy Dave.” Lilly reached over and patted his arm. “The shotgun’s not necessary right now, but I’ll keep you in mind.” As Lilly wound her way along the gravel road, she turned toward Granddaddy and nonchalantly asked, “If you aren’t in a hurry to see Nick, I was wondering if we could drive through the Mason property. Now that I’m a Mason, it’s high time I learn a bit more about the place and my new family’s history.”
“Well, um, I s’ppose so. I ain’t got no pa’ticular place to be by no pa’ticular time.”
“Nick tells me you’ve lived on this property most of your life. Is that right?”
“Yeppers, Darlin’. Ya see, my pa purchased this land in about 1884; then in 1886 he up and moved us here from Tennessee. I wuz just four, but I remember makin’ that long trip walkin’ ‘long side pa’s rickety wagon. Sometimes, though, he let me ride pick-back on the oxen. Since my ma wuz expectin’ my sister at the time, we traveled purdy slow, only about two miles per hour.”
“Oh, I didn’t know about your sister,” Lilly interrupted. “Nick’s never mentioned her.”
“Not surprisin’ since Francine passed long ‘for even Nick’s father wuz born.”
“What about Nana Relda? When did you two meet?”
“I saw Relda one Saturday night at a local square dance. She wuz the purdiest piece of calico on the dance floor and a damn good dancer. But I didn’t know the first thing about dancin’ in them squares and figured she’d have nuthin’ to do with me. I just stood on the sidelines and watched her dance tip after tip but memorized some of the moves jest in case. Each time she passed me, I tipped my hat and smiled. Then lo and behold between tips she came up to me and asked, ‘What’s a lady got to do to get a dance with you?’ That’s my Relda! She’s always had more gumption than me. So we danced a few of the tips. After that night, I courted her pretty regular.”
“Did you and Nana Relda date for a long time?”
“Darlin’, back in them times, a man didn’t court a gal for very long, ‘specially the purdy ones. My Relda wuz the sweetest and purdiest woman south of the Red River.” He closed his eyes savoring the moment. “I didn’t want no other man to court her. So just a couple of months later we got hitched. Marryin’ Relda made me the luckiest man this side of Dallas!”
“You’re right, Granddaddy Dave. You’re one lucky guy!”
“After we wuz married, me and Relda moved into that ranch house over there on your right. Relda and Francine became best friends. It wuz my Relda that told Francine she should notta married that man,” he said with a savage edge to his voice. “But Francine married him anyway. Relda started seein’ them bruises on Francine’s arms and knew what wuz happenin’ over at their house. Mind ya, a man ain’t never got no right to be mean to a lady. Francine loved him so she never said nuthin’ ‘gainst him. But,” Granddaddy Dave pounded his fist on the dashboard, “that man wuz a no-count, god-fer-nuthin’ grifter who brought nuthin’ but pain and disgrace to this family.”
At first, Lilly cringed at his blaze of anger and didn’t quite know how to respond. She patted him on the shoulder and shifted the focus of their conversation. “Sounds like your Relda knows how to read people pretty good and isn’t afraid to say what’s on her mind. She strikes me as a mighty strong woman.”
“My Relda’s tough as nails when need be,” his voice softened, “but she can also say her peace with sweetness. Life here on the Texas prairie is pretty hard scrabble, and Relda’s had more than her fair share of hard times. A course, when I married her I didn’t know jest how strong Relda wuz. Ya’ know she even offered to raise Francine’s son, the bad seed that he was, but that lowlife of a husband was stubborn and refused Relda’s help. Had Relda raised Francine’s son, maybe he would’a turned out better. And then when our son, Nick’s dad’, wuz killed in that tornado, she could’a become mean ‘n bitter; ‘stead she took to raisin’ Nick. Even though some nights she cried herself to sleep, she’s always held me ‘n Nick together.”
“I’d say both you and Nick are better men because of her.”
“I reckon you’re right,” Granddaddy Dave said, his brows knitting together in a thoughtful frown.
They wound their way through the Mason property until Lilly came upon a narrow, one-car bridge that crossed over Dillehay Creek. She stopped shy of its wooden piers. “Are you sure this old bridge won’t crumble beneath me?” she asked in a shaky, disbelieving voice.
“Not to worry, Darlin’. She may be old ‘n rickety-looking like me, but she’s sturdy. Jest ease across her gentle like.”
Lilly crept onto the bridge’s wooden piers, staring down at her car’s reflection in the creek’s waters below her. She leaned out her car window and listened; she heard the echoes of horse-drawn wagons and the gentle thud of horses’ hooves as they struck the bridge’s wooden planks. If only this humble, old bridge could talk. What might it tell me about the people who’d crossed it? What secrets might it divulge? What truth might it whisper? What burdens of sorrow might it reveal?
The sun splashed brightly on the road ahead allowing Lilly to once again catch sight of the old, abandoned farmhouse she’d seen earlier that morning. “Oh, I know where I am now!” she said enthusiastically. “I jogged past that old house just this morning.”
“Ya didn’t go inside, did ya, Lilly? Ya otta never go inside that old house!” Granddaddy Dave frowned, and a piercing wrinkle appeared between his two eyebrows. “It’s a crumblin’ down, and them floors ain’t safe fer walkin. ‘Sides ya jest never knows what kind of snakes, critters, and varmints might be inside the walls and under them floors.”
“Well…um…um…I was curious so I did go inside.” Lilly’s eyes met his gaze.
“I jest duzn’t understand.” He pressed his lips together. “Why on earth does ya want to go inside that empty, broken-down, old house? I guess I shoulda torn it down years ago.”
“It’s kind of hard to explain, Granddaddy Dave.”
“I’m a listen’.” He folded his arms across his chest.
“All I can tell you is that ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been drawn to vacant, old houses. I could spend hours poking around in them. In the emptiness and silence I try to imagine who lived there, what kind of people they were, and what their lives might have been like.”
“Still don’t make no sense to me.”
“Sometimes in the silence I believe that if I listen hard enough I might actually hear the secrets an old, vacant house might tell me.”
“But that pa’ticular house got secrets that should otta not be told.” Granddaddy Dave shifted in his seat. “So, dun’t ya go a wondering about that place, listenin’ to them voices, and askin’ questions that otta not be asked. Jest let the past be! Ya hear!”
Lilly’s throat tightened, and her words caught in her throat. “Oh, Granddaddy Dave, I’m sorry.” She swallowed, clearing her throat. “I didn’t meant to get you all riled up.”
“Well, it’s jest ‘cause that’s the house where my sister and that ol’ rip lived.” He tugged on his collar. “Nuthin’ good ever came from that house! Nuthin! Many a time he’d get all roostered up, and that’s when he put them bruises on Francine’s face ‘n arms. I blames him for her dying so young, and I blames me for not interferin’. But, I’ve said ‘nuf so I ain’t talkin’ no more ‘bout that ol’ house and what went on there, especially after Francine died.” He glared at Lilly. “Diggin’ up the past is jest too painful, and there ain’t no need.”
“I understand.” Lilly gave Granddaddy Dave a long, pained look then broke eye contact with him. “Sometimes my curiosity gets the best of me.”
“So, I recon we understands one another. Then there’ll be no more explorin’ and no more talkin’ about the comin’s and goin’s over there!” He sounded stern and serious. “Ya hear me, Lilly?!”
“Agreed” was the only response Lilly could muster. She continued driving in silence, sporting a counterfeit smile, and avoided making eye contact with Granddaddy Dave.
“Duz ya see that large wooden gazebo off in the woods to the right?” Granddaddy Dave broke the silence. “That’s where me and Relda was married and where we has the Mason July 4th shindig. If’n you’ll make a turn back to yer left, you’ll be able to head d’rectly into your driveway.”
Lilly turned and pulled into her driveway. “Thanks, Granddaddy Dave, for taking me on a tour and sharing some of your memories.”
Granddaddy Dave opened the door and walked over to Lilly’s side of the car. “Sorry if’n I was harsh with you back there. I wuz just thinkin’. Memories are kinda like bees. Sometimes they stings ya, and sometimes they brings ya honey. I likes the ones that brings me honey.”
Granddaddy Dave wasn’t one to apologize, but in his own endearing way he’d just apologized and explained himself. His words surprised Lilly and deeply touched her; and she felt a connection she hadn’t anticipated which left her not knowing quite what to say. “Me, too, Granddaddy Dave,” she said softly, nodding an understanding nod. “Me too.”
He turned around, but Lilly stopped him. “Oh! I almost forgot.” She reached for the sack of cigars behind her seat. “I stopped in town and picked up those cigars you wanted for the July 4th shindig.”
“Thanks, Darlin’. Now you’ve gone and made me feel special. You’re sweet as pie.” He shot her a big grin. “Aren’t you comin’ inside? My grandson’s p’bably a missin’ ya by now.”
“Not right now. Nick knows I’m going over to your house to try on some of Relda’s boots.”
“Oh! That’s right. I forgot. Ya know, my mind jest ain’t what it once wuz, and I sometimes forgets things. Speakin’ of rememberin’ and forgettin’, did you remember to invite your Grammy to the shindig? She’s like kin now, and me ‘n Relda would love to have her here.”
“I remembered, Granddaddy Dave. I’ll see Grammy in a couple of days, and I’ll invite her then. I’m sure she’d love to attend.”
“Okay, Darlin’. I best get inside. Tell my Relda that Nick will bring me home around supper time.”
“Will do, Granddaddy Dave.” Lilly looped back through the Mason property and spotted the old farmhouse, focusing upon it. Despite her promise to Granddaddy Dave, Lilly still yearned to return to the abandoned farmhouse. She sensed that her yearning was a force that was bigger and stronger than her obsession with old houses, her mild curiosity, or even her crazy imagination. In her heart she felt as if she was drawn to the house for a reason—a reason she did not yet understand. Yet, returning would definitely be seen as an act of defiance. Lilly was at a crossroads and faced a bruising dilemma. Do I dishonor Granddaddy Dave and defy him by going back inside the abandoned farmhouse? Or do I honor my agreement with Granddaddy Dave but defy my own instinct, the instinct that serves me well, and never go back into that house? What should I do? What should I do?
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