Side by Side

68

“Who kidnapped you, child?” the woman asked, her brow creased with concern.

“I didn’t know them. Buck and Dixie. These two big twins. A large man who drives a black truck. Near here.”

“Those got-damned Smoots,” the man said bitterly.

“Ed, language. You poor things. Come in, dear,” the woman said, putting her arm around Lucy’s shoulders.

“Are they important people in these parts?” Lucy asked.

“They’re crooks and worse. Some like them. More’s just scared of them. That Buck is a monster,” the man said.

“You’ll be safe here,” the woman told Lucy.

The old man stepped off the porch and stood for several seconds, gazing out at the road.

Lucy went into the kitchen with the woman. The old man came in behind them, closed the door, and turned off the porch light. She saw a long gun leaning against the wall beside the door.

“Sit down here,” the woman told her. “Let’s get y’all cleaned up. Your little boy looks starved. Ed, go get some diapers from stock. I’ll make these poor people something to eat.”

“Tell me what happened,” Ed said, not moving to obey his wife. His eyes looked worried.

“Where are we?” Lucy asked.

“Tuttle’s Ford,” the woman said. “About nine miles from Skeene.”

“My father is Judge Hailey Fondren in Charlotte. Please call him. He’ll give you whatever you want to get us back.”

“That’s not necessary,” Ed said.

“Those horrible people!” the old woman said. “Those horrible, horrible people. Evil. Just pure-dee evil.”

“It’s not a good idea to call anybody about the Smoots,” Ed said. “They got kinfolks all around here and some are on our party line. I expect Smoot would pay a lot to keep you from telling anybody what he did. Money is hard to come by out here.”

“You still have party lines?” Lucy said.

“Might be the only one left on earth,” the woman said, smiling. “We want privacy, we write letters.”

“We’ll get you cleaned up and fed and I’ll take you out to a phone that’s safe, or drive you to Charlotte. I’m Ed Utz and my wife’s Edna. We had three children ourselves, but they’re grown and living all over.”

“Seven grandchildren,” Edna added proudly. “Three greats. We lost a grandson in Iraq this past July. Roadside bomb. There’s a lot of evil in the world, honey, and you don’t have to go all the way around the world to find it either.”

Lucy looked at the mirror on the kitchen wall and was stunned by the sight of the pitiful creature whose ruined, grime-streaked face stared back at her. Elijah, as filthy as his mother, sat in her lap silently, watching the elderly couple through wide-open eyes.

“You want to take off that rain slicker?” Edna asked.

“Sorry. I don’t have any clothes. I’m wearing an old T-shirt under this.”

“You’re closer to Ed’s size than mine,” Edna decided. “If you don’t mind wearing his pants, we’ll get you in something warm and dry.”

Five minutes later Lucy had put a diaper on Eli and washed both her own and her son’s faces and hands using a warm washcloth Edna furnished. Feeding her son a bowl of cereal and milk, Lucy told the couple the story. They listened quietly to her as they shook their heads in disbelief.

“We never liked the Smoots,” Edna Utz said when Lucy had finished. “They shop here from time to time, but we never cared at all for any of them. Wanted to sell us stock at a discount that they probably steal. Ed told them absolutely not.”

Ed said, “I can call your daddy from the pay phone out front. Peanut Smoot had it put there, but it might be safe enough. Never could imagine why the Smoots couldn’t get a phone put in at their place instead of having one out on my porch that nobody but them ever uses.”

“It’s handy for people you don’t want using your phone,” Edna said. “At least the Smoots don’t have to come inside to make calls.”

“Give me your daddy’s number,” Ed said. “I’ll go call him.”

Lucy scribbled the number on a church bulletin Edna handed her.

Taking the shotgun with him, Ed Utz went out through a door that led into the darkened store.

“So it was you started that big fire,” Edna said.

Lucy nodded.

“Very appropriate,” Edna said, nodding. “Didn’t the good Lord use the very same instrument to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah?”