Free Child of the Mountains by Marilyn Sue Shank Page A

living thing, he was so very kind
.
    One night I saw a big fat coon climb into a tree
.
    I called old Rattler right away, to fetch him down for me
.
    But Rattler wouldn’t fetch for me, because he liked that coon
.
    I saw them walking paw in paw, later by the light of the moon
.
    Here, Rattler, here! Here, Rattler, here!
    Call old Rattler from the barn. Here, Rattler, here!
    We’d pretend like we was really calling Rattler when we come to that part. Gran and me would put our hands up to our mouths and yell real loud. Sometimes I expected old Rattler to come a-running through the woods.
    Gran always said she was taking me to nature’s school, and she was my teacher. She learned me real good. I know about good mushrooms and bad toadstools. I know that the milkweed’s root can be used in a tea to help you breathe better, but the sap is dangerous for your heart. Heal-all is a mint that can help a sore throat. Dandelion leaves be good to eat in salads or boiled. They help clean the poisons out of your system.
    Bittersweet is a devil’s weed. They’s nice to look at and have pretty berries, but them berries could kill a young’un. Bittersweet also strangles other plants. Gran heard that it was used in witch’s brew. And the devil’s trinity is three leaves. I stay away from them plants.
    Gran also learned me about animals. Sometimes we would stop what we was doing and just listen. Then I’d know we wasn’t alone in the woods. We’d hear chipmunks arguing about a acorn. Sometimes we’d follow some tracks and find a deer drinking water from a creek. My favoritewas the birds. We’d see cardinals, whippoorwills, chickadees, bluebirds, and nuthatches. Their whistles and calls filled up the woods with songs. The woodpeckers’ rata-tat-tat kept the beat.
    BJ comed with us on the walks when he was old enough. But sometimes I was glad that BJ was in the hospital so’s I could have Gran to myself. I feel like crying just thinking that I felt that way.
    Losing Gran was real hard for me and Mama, but I think it was hard on BJ most of all. Gran tried her best to help him get better.
    We had to take BJ to the hospital in Ohio more and more. And he stayed longer and longer each time. Uncle William finally got so tired of driving back and forth that he learned Mama how to drive.
    When BJ had to go to the hospital, Uncle William would bring the car to the cabin. Mama would take him home, and we would drive to Ohio.
    Gran hated them doctors at that hospital. Gran’s mustard plasters and special tea helped BJ a whole lot more than them doctors did. Gran worked real hard on that tea. Me and Mama helped her gather up coltsfoot, horehound, lungwort, licorice, and pleurisy roots. She added some honey to it so it would taste sweet. BJ started drinking it when he was real little, and he drank it like most grown-ups drink coffee.
    But the first time BJ went to the hospital in Ohio smelling like a mustard plaster, them doctors and nursesgot real perturbed. “You’re not going to cure that boy with witchcraft,” one of them doctors told Gran.
    Gran raised herself up real tall so she could look him square in the eye. “I ain’t no witch, you sorry excuse for a no-account doctor,” she said. “I’m a God-fearing woman who loves the Lord with her whole heart. I sure ain’t seen you doing nothing to make this boy right.”
    Mama had been real quiet around them doctors until then. “We have had us enough of this foolishness,” she said. “I’m taking my son out of here.”
    Gran smiled at Mama, real proud-like.
    “You’re not taking Benjamin anywhere,” the doctor said. “You signed papers giving us the right to treat him and stating that you would not interfere.”
    “Well, we’re changing our minds,” Mama said.
    “I’m afraid it’s not that easy. Benjamin’s care has been paid for by a research study. If you pull him out now, you’ll owe us thousands of dollars. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you do not