Free A Tale from the Hills by Terry Hayden Page B

very pretty besides. He already had a job lined up in Abingdon, and Amy was a secretary at the local newspaper. Tom was sad that his oldest son was leaving, but he was happy that Joseph was doing so well for himself.
    Alan took advantage of the joyous occasion to confess that he was also moving, but not as far away as Joseph. He would be living in two rooms over the general store as soon as he finished cleaning them up. There had been several break ins in the surrounding communities, and his boss thought that it would be a good idea to have someone living close to the store. The sheriff reinforced the idea. Alan jumped at the chance to live closer to Silvie, the boss’s daughter. Before long, he predicted to himself, he would be making an announcement similar to Joseph.
    It was going to be different around the house with two brothers moving away. William was a little sad to see his brothers leaving, but at least he would see them again occasionally. It would not be like the disappearance of little Alice that was so sudden and permanent. William knew that he would never fully recover from that tragedy even if he lived to be a hundred. The coming of school would focus his mind on other things besides family matters. He was going to have to work very hard just to keep up with the other kids because of his many years away from school and life in general. He looked forward to the challenge.
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    William was better prepared for the first day of school than he was six years ago. He knew exactly what to expect this time. For the past weeks since his nightmares had stopped, he had been looking at books and reading for practice. He read all of the book that Alice won in the drawing contest from cover to cover. Next to the old family Bible, Alice’s story book was the most prized possession in the house. He was careful not to bend the pages, and he always washed his hands before he opened The Treasures of the Past Storybook. Tom was so proud to see him appreciating the book and feeling so well that he spent almost all of the daylight hours with him, reading and practicing writing, and doing numbers tables.
    On Sunday night before school started on Monday morning, the house was much calmer than it was those six long years ago. William and his daddy felt nostalgic for that other Sunday night, but both of them knew that things could never be the same again. Joseph and Alan were gone, and Josh was visiting his girlfriend. Before William took his bath in the old washtub beside the kitchen stove, he and his daddy practiced numbers and some spelling words. He went to bed feeling a little sad and a little excited at the same time.
    The walk to school on Monday morning was uneventful. The most thrilling part was the walk across the trestle above the footbridge. His heart beat faster knowing that a train might approach while he was crossing. Even though a train was not expected for another hour or so, the thrill was still there. When he arrived at the school, it was the first day for everyone. There was an air of uncertainty and insecurity among most of the students. The other kid’s faces were all new to him. The teachers’ faces were new too. The biggest surprise was the Principal, who was a man. He had a stern look about him that made all of the students apprehensive.
    When the bell rang for classes to start, the childrenbegan filing into different classrooms, all except William. He was not sure where that he should go. He was too old for the first grade, but he was unsure if he went to the middle grade or the upper grade level. He was standing there with a puzzled look on his face when the new Principal noticed him. The Principal motioned for him to come over to where he was standing. William got nervous and insecure about himself.
    The Principal spoke, “Young man, do you know where you are supposed to be?”
    “No sir.” William answered. “I have not been to school for a long time.”
    “And why is that?” asked the