Chapter One - Terry's on Fire!
"Wait Pledge," I shouted to my older brother as he ran ahead of me. We were on our way to Mr. Depense's General Store. Mama wanted Pledge to buy a ½ lb. of pinto beans and 2 lbs. of sugar.
Four of us ran after him as he tried to out-run us to the store. He hated for his brothers and sisters to tag along but Mac, Terry, Marcella and I wouldn't miss the short trip for anything. If Mr. Ben was there we would each get a peppermint. Sometimes it was chocolate drops.
All the hurry was for nothing. Mr. Ben was not in the store. He was at his house painting the porch. His wife was behind the counter waiting on a lady customer, Mrs. Snootkin.
"Here comes the Hudddle gang, stampeding into your store like a herd of buffaloes," she quipped to Mrs. Depense.
The storekeeper smiled and said, "They are regular customers, my dear."
When Mrs. Snootkin was out of the store Mrs. Betty spoke. Mrs. Betty was what the townspeople called Mrs. Depense. "How are the Huddles from the gray house this nice summer day?"
"We are fine," answered the five of us.
"Minnie Mae," she said, looking me over. "I heard that you had poison ivy."
"Yes, Ma'am," I replied. "Last week I was a sure mess but look I'm right good now. No rash."
"Good for you. Now what do you Huddles want to purchase?"
"Mom wants 2 lbs. of sugar and ½ lb. of pinto beans," said Pledge. "Charge it, please."
"You children tell your ma that she owes me five dollars and forty cents."
"She's going to pay soon as she collects the money for the sewing she does for Mrs. Hannah," I said. "Mama is making seven dresses for Ruth and two shirts for Benny."
"Have you heard anything from your Papa?" asked the store lady.
"No, Papa is still away looking for work," replied Pledge. "He will be home one day soon."
"I hope so," remarked Mrs. Betty. "Your Mama is the hardest working woman in the valley. She needs help to raise you youngin's."
None of us children said anything; we just walked past the glass counter that held the nice things like the red, yellow and green beads, pocketknives, flashlights, combs and dishes. We often lingered to discuss what we would like to buy if we had the money. Marcella had her eyes on a doll, with real brown curly hair, dressed in ruffles and lace. I wanted a looking glass made of tortoise shell with a tortoise shell comb. I was eleven now, big enough to think about my beauty. Pledge was twelve. Terry was nine. Marcella was eight. Mac was six. My three brothers all wanted the pearl inset pocket knives. Maybe some day Papa would buy us all these things.
Once out of the store our bare-feet hit the ground and we were on our way to the gray house at the end of a dirt road.
Years before the gray house had been painted a light soft-gray with white trim around the windows and doors. It was such a long time since the house was painted that the window and door trim was turning an ugly gray from being weather-beaten. It really was a gray house and everyone called it the gray house. But it was home sweet home to us who lived there. The house did not look bad when the red roses and hollyhocks were blooming. All the red flowers around the gray house looked very pretty. On the banisters of the front porch Mama grew in pots pink and red geraniums and begonias. Then in the cold days of winter the house took on its dreary atmosphere when we brought the plants inside.
"Minnie Mae," Mama called out from the front door as we came through the gate. "You and Marcella get in the back yard and finish the washing."
Marcella and I hated washing clothes but Mama said, "You have to wash because I have to sew." We knew what she was talking about. We did not want to go hungry so we tackled the load of dirty clothes.
The water was cold but we rubbed the clothes on the washboard and the hard rubbing gave us red warmer hands. When the cake of soap was big we used both hands rubbing the soap lather into the soiled garments.
I tried to rinse but it was so hard I just dropped the half-rinsed clothes into the big black pot of water where Terry had built a fire under it.
Marcella had only washed part of the clothes in her tub so I helped her finish the job. Then with an old broom handle I lifted the last towels into the black wash pot.
Pledge poured out the soapy water from the tubs and carried water from the pump to fill them again for the rinse water.
We could rest on the back porch while the clothes boiled.
Mama came out to lift the hot wet clothes from the black pot into tubs of cold water.
We rinsed the clothes in warm water because the hot garments had warmed the rinse water. The rinsed garments quickly filled the white enamel dishpan.
Once more Pledge emptied the tubs and filled them with clean water. This was the last rinse and I was glad because I was tired.
Finally Marcella and I were laying clothes on the shrubs and hanging the overalls on the short rope line connecting the woodshed and the corner of our house.
It was one o'clock when we went into the kitchen. Mama was taking baked potatoes from the oven. Boiled eggs were on the table and there were six glasses of water. Also, there was a small flat dish of red radishes. On the work table nearby were golden brown muffin cakes.
Three of us Huddles slid onto the bench near the window and the other three sat in chairs on the other side of the table.
Mama said grace. We ate. The only food left on the table was one red radish.
After mealtime we all lay down to rest for an hour. Mama was tired from sewing. I was tired from doing the laundry.
I could see on the bed in Mama's room a stack of new dresses for Ruth Hannah. Oh, how I wished that I could have a new dress but I knew that must wait, maybe until Papa came home from his new job.
"Are we ever going to get a washing machine?" I asked Mama.
"Maybe someday, dear," replied Mama. "This depression time is hard on most people. We are not the only ones who have it so hard."
"When will Papa come home?" asked Marcella. "I miss him so much."
"I don't rightly know," returned Mama with tears on her cheeks. "I miss him, too."
We didn't lay down for long. All the children were soon stirring. Marcella and I went to the kitchen to wash dishes and put them away.
Pledge chopped wood. Terry and Mac carried the kindlin' and larger pieces to the wood shed to stack there.
In a little while Mama called, "You youngins can play until supper time then there are chores again after you eat."
"Yippie!" shouted Mac. "We can play and play."
"Let's play hide and seek," suggested Marcella.
"Minnie Mae, you're it," said Pledge as he started running around the house.
Four children ran in different directions. There were many places to hide. There were two chimneys one on each side of the gray house. There was a crawl space under the front porch but the latticework was not always the best place to hide. The spreading chestnut tree was a wonderful place for hiding if one kept moving around it when approached by the hunter. There were lilac bushes and other shrubs to hide behind. This hiding game was fun for brothers and sisters and lasted for a while.
Finally Marcella said, "I'm tire; let's quit."
The others agreed except for Terry. It seemed that he was no where to be found. We looked at all the hiding places we could think of. Still Terry was missing.
"Where could Terry be?" I asked.
"Who knows?" returned Mac. "Maybe he ran away".
"I know," said Pledge, "He is probably under the stairway in the house. I'll find him, maybe."
Pledge went through the house - upstairs and downstairs. He could not find Terry.
Marcella, Mac, Pledge and I sat on the grass to rest and wait.
A small limb fell from a near by tree and we heard a giggle.
"There you are," I said, looking up. "You little monkey, making us wait so long."
"Let's go in, "I said to my sister.
"Yeah, we can play upstairs," suggested Marcella.
"We are going to play marbles," announced Pledge and went under the porch to get a cigar box containing little bright colored balls.
Terry drew a large circle in the dirt with a stick and the boys proceeded to see who could knock the marbles from the center of the circle to the outside. They began to drive the marbles forward with their thumbs.
My sister and I had to think of something that we could do.
"Let's get the button box," said Marcella.
We spent some time looking through Mama's buttons. She had plenty of leftover buttons given to her by the women she sewed for.
"Wish I could have a rose-colored dress with buttons like this one down the front of it," I said, admiring the flat mother-of-pearl button.
"Hey, Minnie," said Marcella, "Look at the blue flower with four holes in it."
"Mama said that she gets awful tired sewing but she must like looking at the pretty buttons," I said.
"When Papa comes home with money, I want a princess dress just like the one Mama made for Ruth Hannah but a color print she don't have," my sister declared.
"Let's take this tiny red button and play a game with it," I suggested. We ran to tell Mama. Then we went outside to see if the boys were still playing marbles.
"We'll play who has the button?" agreed Terry. "Anyway Pledge won the game."
Five of us sat on the front steps and played and played the button game.
Mac jumped up and ran to the back of the house. We all followed and began playing tag.
Suddenly Terry stooped down by the wash pot and put something in his pocket.
"That better not be matches," I reminded him.
He just grinned and ran from Mac who was about to tag him. Just then his body brushed the wash pot and his overalls caught fire from the matches he had picked up.
"Mama!" Terry screamed loudly.
Pledge shoved Terry into the dirt and rolled him over until the fire was out but Terry was still yelling to the top of his lungs.
Mama came out of the house quickly. "Minnie run to Pearl's house. Ask her for a piece of ice."
I flung open the front gate and ran as fast as I could go. I could hear Terry hollering as I got near Mrs. Pearl's house.
"Hurry," I cried to Mrs. Pearl. "I need ice for Terry so he won't die." I just knew that I would lose a brother if she had no ice.
Mrs. Pearl did have ice and put it in a bucket for me to carry home and she followed me in a quick walk as I ran very fast.
Meanwhile Mama was pouring cold water over Terry's backside and he was still screaming.
After Mama held the ice to him for a while his screams softened into groans and sobs. The rest of the afternoon and evening he groaned.
That night Mama closed the door to the boys' room. Marcella and I felt left out. We couldn't even see Terry to know how he was doing.
"You girls can't go in there; your brother has to sleep naked tonight to help him heal faster," explained Mama.
Mrs. Pearl had gone home right after the screaming stopped and came back just before night. She brought buttered rolls for our supper. And she had a bottle of medicine. I never did know what was in that bottle.
"Give Terry a spoonful now," said our neighbor. "If he wakes during the night give him another spoonful. This will help him sleep; also the rest of you can sleep.
"Much obliged," said Mama. "What would the Huddles do without you?"
"If I can help in anyway," Mrs. Pearl offered, "Don't hesitate, send Pledge to get me. I'll come."
Mama hugged our good neighbor. Then Mrs. Pearl went back to her house to fix supper for her husband Wayne and her brother Theo.
Terry was alone in his room while the rest of us ate the buttered rolls for our supper. Terry didn't feel like eating. After supper we took a bath in the big dishpan, girls first, then our brothers.
I never saw Mama wash up. She went to her room, looking weary. I peeped in the door and saw her sitting at the vanity, brushing her long wavy auburn hair. She looked so beautiful. Mama didn't know that I was watching her and saw the tears falling down her cheeks.
I ran to tell Marcella that our mother was crying.
"Do you think it is because Papa hasn't come home?"
"Yes, I do," I answered almost in tears myself. "Do you think something has happened to Papa?"
"No, I don't!" Marcella answered quickly. "He is having a hard time finding work, that is all."
"Let's go to bed, Marcella," I said. "We got things to pray about."
We went to bed.
Next Terry wore an old shirt that belonged to Papa. He was much too sore to wear his overalls. Mama said that he must stay inside the house until his blisters went away.
"Minnie Mae, I want you to carry this basket of eggs to Mr. Depense at the store," said Mama. "Trade the eggs for a bag of flour and 2 cans of pork and beans. Pledge can carry the flour home. Now do be careful with the eggs."
"I'll be real careful," I promised our Mama. We would to anything for Mama because she was so special to us.
"Tell Mr. Depense that I'll be in tomorrow with the money I owe him," she said. "I must not leave your brother here alone."
Terry wished he could go with the rest of us.
Pledge, Mac and Marcella ran ahead of me to the store. I would keep my promise to Mama and not break any eggs.
By the time I entered the door Pledge had already told the man in the store about Terry and his burns. Mr. Depense was sorry that something awful had happened to our brother.
The storekeeper traded flour and beans for our eggs. Then he gave us each a peppermint and dropped one in a tiny poke for Terry.
All of us were fond of Mr. Depense.
We passed Mrs. Snootkin on our way out the door.
"Do you hear anything from your pa?" she asked.
"Not yet," I replied.
"Humph!" returned the woman. That is all she said, but she curled her lips in a mean way.
When we arrived at the house Mrs. Pearl was there. She and Mama were having a cup of tea. Terry was in the kitchen. He had on Papa's shirt.
"I feel like a sissy without overalls or trousers on," he complained and then he groaned.
"Don't worry, child," said the neighbor lady. "You will feel fine in a few days."
"When you play with matches you can get burned" I said.
"That's enough, Minnie," scolded Mama. "Terry has learned a lesson the hard way. Now you fetch the laundry basket and bring in the clothes we left out overnight. The sun is hot; the clothes should be dry now. Be sure to shake the things before you put them in the basket. I wouldn't want a spider in the house."
Mama told Mrs. Pearl that she was so glad it had not rained the night before.
After we brought the clothes into the house, I folded the towels which were getting so thin one could almost see through them but not quite.
With what was left of Terry's overalls after he caught on fire Mama cut patches from the leg cloth to patch a pair of overalls for Pledge and she found a worn pair of overalls in the closet that belonged to Pledge. These she would repair for Terry.
Mama and her neighbor talked about many things. They mostly talked about the depression and so many men out of work. Mrs. Pearl had read in the newspaper that President Roosevelt closed all the banks.
"I didn't know that anyone could close all the banks," said Mama. "I never saw a time like this before."
"Poor Mrs. Dexson died from pneumonia because there was little food and no heat in the house," informed Mrs. Pearl.
"I'm so sorry," Mama was deeply hurt. "I never knew she was sick. I've been so busy with my own brood. I wish I could have helped. Who is taking care of Margaret?" asked Mama.
"Margaret went to live with Mrs. Dexson's sister in Flatville. The woman has four teenage boys. I don't know how that will work out; Margaret is such a thin little creature," said Mrs. Pearl.
"I like Margaret," I said, "I'll miss her at school come fall and we get to go. Maybe we can all go if we get shoes."
The sandals I had were worn and scuffed up by rocks. Anyway they wouldn't do when the snow fell in winter and the cold rains came.
Mrs. Pearl said that her old brown Oxfords were still good and I could have them. That made me very happy. I would polish them and make them almost like new. I was glad she had small feet.