Free Ghost on Black Mountain by Ann Hite Page B

but the wet dirt after a good spring rain is the best smell ever. The little seedlings popping up overnight always make me feel like a little girl again. I like the flowers more than the work.” We were quiet for a few minutes.
    He watched me put a platter of eggs on the table. “It sounds like you had a good life in Asheville.”
    “Yes.”
    We ate eggs, biscuits, and ham together, laughing over old stories he told about living on the mountain.
    “Me and AzLeigh got in the worst trouble for hiding that skunk in the barn.” There were tears in our eyes. “The poor thing was hurt. AzLeigh convinced me he wouldn’t spray the ones who helped him. Well, she was wrong about that.”
    I nearly choked on my eggs. “Stop. You have to stop.” I held up a hand, giving in to the giggles that sprayed crumbs everywhere.
    “Hobbs threatened to beat me up because his horse stunk to high heaven too. But he couldn’t stand the smell of me, so I lived another day.” Jack wiped his eyes with his handkerchief. “Me and AzLeigh had to work out in the fields with Henry James for a week. Now, that wasn’t no big deal for me because I worked with him all the time. But AzLeigh whined until her daddy sent her home to Ma.” He shook his head.
    “That doesn’t sound fair.”
    Jack shrugged. “Truth was, I liked working out there in the sun with Henry James. His stories were worth listening to. He always said I’d end up with the farm.” A shadow passed over his face. “But I shouldn’t have listened to him. I would never be as important as his own flesh and blood. Hobbs got the farm.”
    A headache worked at the back of my eyes. “I’m sorry.”
    “I got to be going, Mrs. Pritchard.” He winked and gave me a nod.
    It wasn’t hard for me to see how hurt he must have been. Hobbs had taken the one thing that mattered and never really wanted it. He hated farming. I gave Jack a quick hug at the door and tried not to notice how he stiffened, or how I breathed in deep to catch his smell. All of this was foolishness on my part. Jack wouldn’t see me as anything but his sister-in-law. He was good to a fault and only a good woman would catch himone day. That was too bad for me. I had to settle on making him my friend.
    After he was gone, I went up to the attic. I got me two of them empty diaries that belonged to my mother-in-law. Then I grabbed the wooden box with the necklace and hair. I settled on the sofa in the front room.
January 23, 1939
I’m going to write my thoughts like Hobbs’s mama. Not that they matt er nearly as much as hers, but it might help me sort this confused feeling. Hobbs has been gone since right aft er Christmas and I ain’t missing him. I don’t expect him back for a while. Actually I pray he don’t come back at all. Maybe someone will kill him. That’s a horrible thought for a girl who claims to be a Christian. But I got my own bunch of questions for God. Like, why in the world would He let me marry someone like Hobbs Pritchard? If He were real like Mama always said, why would He let Hobbs hurt the people he hurt? Does Hobbs get another set of rules? And what about ghosts? Where do they come from and why aren’t their souls in heaven? Mama says there’s no such thing, but she’s wrong. Sometimes I can feel someone watching me, waiting. And I heard the voice today. Maybe I’m just going crazy. What would I do if I were a man? Cause men can do anything they want. I’d walk right off this mountain and never look back. That’s all. That simple. If Hobbs tried to stop me, I’d put him in his place. Where is his place? One of these days I’m going to get the nerve to leave. Until then, I’m going to do more than make do. I’m going to live.
    The next morning I put the book and the box in a drawer in the sideboard of the dining room, under some table linens. Hobbs would never look there. A thrill that only a secret can give rushed through me. Jack’s mama wouldn’t mind me keeping her necklace safe