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missing? A monster baby, icky with running sores. "STILLBORN!" screamed Sarah, jumping out
of bed and seizing the baby from my arms. She
hugged it close, kissed its poor half-face a dozen or
more times before she threw back her head and
howled out her anguish like one of those mountain
wolves that screamed at the moon.
"It's Luke an his damned whores!" Wild and
crazy, she ran like a fury to where Pa sat outside, and
she called his name just once before she shoved the
baby into his arms. He held the baby with expertise,
then stared down with incredulity and horror. "SEE WHAT YA DID!" yelled Sarah, her
single shapeless garment stained with the fluids of
childbirth. "YA AN YER ROTTEN BLOOD AN
WHORIN WAYS DONE KILLED YER OWN
CHILD! AN MADE IT A FREAK, TOO!"
Pa yelled out his rage. "YOU'RE THE
MOTHER! WHAT YOU PRODUCE AIN'T GOT A DAMN THING T'DO WITH ME!" He threw the dead child onto the ground, then ordered Grandpa to give it a decent burial before the hogs and dogs got to it. And away he strode, to jump into his truck and head to Winnerrow to drown his sorrows, if he had any, in moonshine, and later he'd no doubt stagger into Shir
ley's Place.
Oh, how terrible was this Sunday when I had to
bathe a dead child in the tin tub, and get it ready for
burying while Granny took care of Sarah, who
suddenly lost all her strength and began to cry like
any ordinary woman would. Gone the Amazon
fighting strength, only a woman after all, a sobbing
bereaved mother on her knees asking God why a baby
had to be cursed by his father's sins.
Poor little thing, I kept thinking as I washed
away all the blood and froth of birth from the pitiful
tiny body that lay so limp and still. I didn't even have
to be careful to keep its half-head above water, but I
