Part 14 (2/2)

”Tastes better than any ol' store-bought chicken, that's for sure,” Tansy saidas she led her to the kitchen. She opened a drawer and handed Alex a greenap.r.o.n. ”Here, put this on a'fore you get food all over that purty outfit ofyores.”

Alex blushed. Her jeans and soft pink sweater were hardly special. She lookedacross the small kitchen, the counter s.p.a.ce filled with delicacies. ”I'm soglad to be here, Ma.”

Blotting her eyes with a handkerchief, Tansy smiled. ”You belong here,Alexandra.”

Alex smiled, feeling teary-eyed herself as she took the flatware handed toher. The table was in the kitchen, hand hewn from walnut and carefullycrafted. The cloth, a pale yellow linen, was obviously old and lovingly caredfor. Putting the heavy ceramic plates at each place, Alex fell into a kind ofunspoken rhythm with Tansy.

”Me and Pa were hopin' like the d.i.c.kens you two young 'uns could make it backhere for the holiday,” Tansy said with a smile.

Alex watched as Jim's mother brought three lightly browned pheasants out ofthe oven. The kitchen was hot from the wood-burning iron stove. Freshly bakedbread sat up above in the warmer.

”I agree with Jim,” Alex said, helping move the stuffed birds to a huge whiteplatter. ”There's no place like home for the holidays.”

”Yes, and with the way that boy of ours has been workin', I've been worried.He's not putting on much weight.”

No one worked harder than Jim. Alex patted Tansy's tiny shoulder. ”He'sdriven.”

”I know, I know. It's as if his past is a shadow on his heels or somethin'.”Tansy stood back and looked at the birds, a pleased expression on her thinfeatures.

”Those two jobs he has get him up at six o'clock, and he doesn't get homeuntil midnight,” Alex confided. She brightened and met Tansy's worried blueeyes. ”Did you know Jim just got a scholars.h.i.+p?”

”No!”

Alex laughed. ”I think he'll be able to quit his night job soon because of thegrant money.”

”Maybe things are starting to turn around for you two young 'uns.” Then Tansy muttered, ”I still worry. Here, would you like to carry in the birds? Johnsure peppered the heck out of them. You'd think he was afraid they might flyaway after the first burst of buckshot. No, he had to pepper them twice. Ihope I got all those pellets dug out of them 'fore I baked them. Just telleveryone to eat carefully. I don't want no broken tooth complaints.”

Before long, the table was ladened with food, and they all sat down. Tansysaid a short prayer and everyone settled down to eat. She'd preparedmouthwatering homemade bread, black walnut stuffing, gooseberry Jell-O, bakedpotatoes from the garden out back of the cabin and spiced crab apples withcranberries. Alex didn't realize how hungry she'd become. To herconsternation, she ate nearly as much as Jim.

For dessert, Tansy proudly produced a squash pie and freshly whipped cream.Cream, she informed Alex, that had been skimmed off the top of milk producedby Bessy, their guernsey cow. As Alex sat enjoying the food and company, shewas struck by the simplicity of the McKenzies as opposed to her own family.Everything on the Vance table would have been catered. The food here tastedbetter, more alive, and the kitchen was a place of so many mouth-wateringfragrances.

Afterward, Tansy herded Alex and Jim out of the kitchen. John lit his corncobpipe, sat down in his rocker near the stove in the living room and listened tothe antique radio in the corner by the small, brightly lit Christmas tree.Even now, the McKenzies had no television. Alex tried to help Tansy in thekitchen, but she wouldn't hear of it.

”You go be with Jim, honey. From his letters, you ain't spent much timetogether 'cause he has to work so hard. You be with him for a while.”

Touched, Alex nodded and thanked Tansy. Jim had come from his parents' bedroomopposite the living room, and he had their coats under his arm.

”How about a walk to work off some of that food?” he teased, holding her coatopen so that she could slip into it.

Alex laughed. ”I feel like one of those stuffed pheasants! A walk's exactlywhat I need.”

Outside, the crisp freshness of the winter air was tinged with the sweetishsmell of decaying leaves and other heady scents of late autumn. It had yet tosnow. Jim smiled and tucked Alex beneath his arm as they strolled off thecreaky wooden porch and onto the dew-laden gra.s.s.

Alex inhaled deeply as they moved away from the cabin. There, just above thewoods that surrounded the small meadow, a b.u.t.ter-colored full moon loomed hugeon the horizon. They stood in each other's arms in silence at its beauty, atthe moonlight skimming the tops of the maple, elm, walnut and ash trees.

”It's so beautiful,” Alex breathed, glancing up into Jim's shadowed features.Since they'd arrived, his face had lost its tension, and for that, Alex wasgrateful.

”Full moons are all of that,” he whispered, gazing down at Alex. ”But what I'mlooking at now is even purtier.”

Alex stretched up to gently kiss his cheek, then they continued their walkdown a well-trodden cow path that led into the fenced meadow. ”You make mefeel pretty,” Alex admitted. ”You always have.”

”Just being honest,” Jim countered seriously. The day was almost gone, a palestrip of blue showing along the western horizon, with a curtain of ebonyfollowing on its heels. The air grew even more chilly and their walk wasbrisk.

”Where are we going?”

”Oh, a special place.”

”Tell me about it.”

”Raven Holler is what we call it,” Jim told her. ”It's how the community got.i.ts name.” They left the meadow and moved into the woods, stepping on thedamp, fragrant leaves. ”When I was a kid, I used to come here a lot and justdaydream. I used to try to imagine what my life was going to be like.” Helaughed. ”Of course, it didn't turn out anything like what I expected.”

Alex rested her head on Jim's shoulder. She tightened her arm around hiswaist. Although they were in bulky winter coats, she craved his closeness. ”Isyour life better or worse than you imagined?”

Jim steered her down a slight slope. ”Much better,” he a.s.sured her. Easingaway, he gripped Alex's hand and helped her negotiate a sudden, steep decline.

Alex could see a small pond of water surrounded by dried gra.s.s and a rollingexpanse of open land. She sensed something different about Raven Holler as Jimled her over to the pond. Beside the water were two huge limestone rocks.

Jim halted by the water. ”Do you feel it?”

She nodded. ”What is it?”

He shrugged. ”A long time ago, the Cherokee people used to live here. TheMcKenzies settled here sometime in the mid 1700's, and discovered this place.”Jim pointed up to a tall old maple tree, now dead, that hung at an angle overthe quiet pond. ”The story goes that the raven clan of the Cherokee peoplelived here until they were killed by the white man's disease, smallpox. Thisplace was sacred to them, and they came here for ceremonies. I can remember asa boy hearing the calls of a raven family and coming here. Those huge blackbirds used to live up in that tree, bear their young and teach them to fly offit. The hill folk believed Raven Holler was magical.”

Jim smiled wistfully. ”The story goes that if you have a wish you want to cometrue, you come here. You lay food at the base of that old maple tree, makeyour wish and leave. When you come back the next day, if the food gift isgone, then you were granted your wish by the spirits who live here. If thefood is still there, well, you didn't get your wish.”

Alex sighed. ”I love everything about you, about the people here in theOzarks, Jim. Maybe that's where you got your wonderful romantic streak, yourway of looking at life.”

”My way of looking at things has caused me a lot of trouble, too,” he remindedher wryly.

”Not in my book,” Alex said. She turned in his arms and smiled up at him. ”So,are we going to make a wish?”

Jim caressed her warm, velvet cheek. ”I brought some food. But there's anotherstory, the real reason I brought you here.” He held her soft gray gaze.

”Because of the magic of this place-a place where wishes come true-every manwho wants his gal to say yes to his marriage proposal, comes here. It's beensaid that when a woman says yes here, the blanket is never split betweenthem.”

Touched, Alex whispered, ”Blanket split?”

”Sorry.” Jim laughed nervously. ”That's hill slang for divorce.”

Alex gazed at the quiet pool, now beginning to reflect the silver light of therising full moon. Jim dug into the pocket of his coat and produced a smallblack-velvet box. Alex's breath snagged. Her heart started to beat hard in herbreast.

Jim released Alex, and his long fingers fumbled with the box. Finally, thetiny latch was released. He glanced over at Alex, his own heart pounding.

”I've been saving for this,” he told her, his voice unsteady, ”and I've beenwaiting for the right time.”

Jim lifted his head and looked around the quiet area. His gaze settled back onAlex's upturned face. ”I hope I haven't blown it with you, gal. The way wemet, we didn't have time to really know each other, until recently. I feltlike it was the right time to ask...” He swallowed hard, the words coming outhoa.r.s.e. ”Will you marry me, Alex? Will you be my wife? My best friend?”

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