Appalachia is so much more than it's glorious mountains, so much more than its trails where hikers scurry like ants for the sunlit peaks that reach for the sky. It is so much more than sweeping valleys, where daisies and jonquils bounce into spring, declaring their unabashed joy to be alive.
Deer trails crisscross the landscape, and on either side of those trails, Appalachia's woodlands, 'lovely, dark and deep' shelter the secrets of the mountains, hiding the human dramas, the back porches of small cabins where moonshine stills abound, and the rutted roads that jolt and bump bright yellow buses that carry the children to school.
There are spirits in these mountains, animal and human. Were you ever in any doubt? And in the spirit of this blog, of looking beyond the realms of possibilities, here's something you'll enjoy!
In her new book, "Them That Go", my friend, and fellow author Becky Mushko, has captured that spirit that lives deep inside the mountains and the people who live there.
One of those people is Annie Caldwell who rides the bus to school everyday, over 15 miles of rocky, winding roads. She sits in the back because she's different. She isn't like the others. She isn't like one of the stereotypes that go to her High School. She isn't vivacious and pretty like Loniss, the flirtatious cheerleader, or clever like Bert the nerd, who isn't like Lucas, the handsome quarterback who loves the cheerleader, or Sarenda Lovejoy, a free-spirited hippy child. And she is nothing like the girl who spouts the bible to put people in their places. Annie is different.
Her best friend is Aunt Lulie who happened to be born at midnight in these hills where it is well-known that if a baby is born at midnight, she will have second sight and will be able to see and talk to spirits. It's even more auspicious if that baby happens to be the first born girl. Many thought of Lulie as a witch with her long grey hair and missing teeth. But Annie loved her. Her kinship with Lulie is deep on many levels, including the fact that she is able to hear and speak to animals.
She has known that animals can speak for a long time. Ever since Rhody, the cow, began to tell her things that nobody else knew. Then one day, it was discovered that all the laying hens were missing; and Annie was the only one who knew where they were. She knew because one of the hens told her that they had been stolen by Silas Mosby. When the hens were found (In a shed on Silas's property) the hell fire and damnation preacher Elder Stoutmire, was summoned to exorcise the demons out of Annie.
But Annie knew what she knew. She continued talking to woodland animals and, more importantly, to the pets around the neighborhood who seem to know Everything. She took it all in stride, vowing never to tell another soul what she knew.
Until that became impossible, when Annie finds herself embroiled in the tangled mess of murder.
This is Becky Mushko at her best. Superbly written, "Them That Go" is set in Appalachia in the 1970's. She has lit a torch and shone a light through the woodlands and valleys of the mountains exposing the illiteracy, poverty and the joy that coexists in 'them thar hills.' It's a telescope into the often stereotyped secretive existence of a musical people, sometimes gun-toting, hard-drinking, bible bashing folk we hardly know.
In my opinion it's a valuable learning tool as we, so many of us transplanted from other places, try to get a handle on the people who live around us. Our neighbors, who are so like us in so many ways. Except for Annie who is 'different'.
Becky will be presenting her book at The Franklin Co. Library on March 22nd at 6:00 p.m. and at the West Lake Library on April 14th at 2:00 p.m. I hope you'll be there, and I hope you'll share this blog with your own friends and neighbors. The book is a treat!
More 'beyonds the bounds of known possibilities soon'! Take care.
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