A Parchment of Leaves Page 26

  He held his hands out to her. At last she simply slid off the mount, like someone slipping down a mossy bank toward deep water. When her feet hit the ground, he put his arms around her and breathed her in.

  “It don’t matter,” he said. “Nothing matters but you.”

  “Saul,” she said.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”

  Vine stood within his arms for a long time. She buried her face in his chest and held her hands curled into fists against his back. He did not move, either. She felt that she might be lulled to sleep by the steady rise and fall of his chest. She could drift off in this peace of being forgiven. Maybe, she thought, forgiveness made up for all the evil in the world.

  She flattened her hands against his back and let them smooth up his shirt. She put one hand into the nape of his neck, where sweat stood in the lines of his skin. The smell of water came to her on the air, and she knew that it was raining somewhere far across the mountains. She opened her eyes to look over his shoulder. The road here was like a tunnel made of leaves. The trees were ancient and curled over in a green, moving arch. A little wind came up off the river and rippled past. The leaves turned their white sides to face her: God passing through.

  Acknowledgments

  I AM DEEPLY GRATEFUL to my entire family, especially my cousins and my daughters, who provide inspiration every day. And to my grandmother Mae House and my great-grandmother Martha Size-more, whose spirits live within this book.

  The following people offered friendship, support, and help with research: Donna Birney, Virginia Boyd, Jeanne Braselton, Steve Flairty, Shelly Goodin, Judy Hensley, Gretchen Laskas, Maggie Laws, Reneé Lyons, Craig Popelars, Grippo Reynolds, Ingrid Robinson, Sandra Stidham, Julia Watts, Lynn York, and all my friends from the Hindman Settlement School. Special thanks to my true blues, who sustain me: David Baxter, Mike Croley, Sister Pam Duncan, A. J. Hicks, Genie Jacobson, and Marianne Worthington. Thanks to my editor, Kathy Pories, for patience, wisdom, and above all, grace. Lastly, to Larry, Lee, and Hal, my gratitude for good letters, friendship, and broken windows.

  Poetry of the region played a pivotal role in this novel, and for their wonderful words I thank Kay Byer, Michael Chitwood, Danny Marion, Ron Rash, and especially the late James Still. Poets Jane Hicks, Lisa Parker, and Noel Smith should receive special recognition.

  The following books and albums were especially informative and inspirational to me: Trails Into Cutshin Country (Viper: Graphic Arts Press, 1978) and The Pioneer Families of Leslie County (Berea: Kentucke Imprints, 1986), both by Sadie Stidham; Trail of Tears by John Ehle (New York: Anchor, 1989); The Cherokee People by Thomas E. Mails (New York: Marlowe,1996); Out of Ireland by Kerby Miller and Paul Wagner (Dublin: Roberts Rinehart, 1997); The Snowbird Cherokees by Sharlotte Neely (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1993); and the Foxfire books, edited by Eliot Wigginton (Garden City: Anchor/Doubleday, 1972–93). Listening to music of the era helped me to put myself in this place and time. The following were especially helpful: Both Sides: Then and Now by Betty Smith (Bluff Mountain Music, 1994); The Bristol Sessions (Country Music Foundation, 1991); Barren River Breakdown, Hindman Show (Siamese Records, 2001); Two Journeys by Tim O’Brien (Howdy Sky, 2001); and Mountain Music of Kentucky (Smithsonian Folkways, 1996).

  Published by

  ALGONQUIN BOOKS OF CHAPEL HILL

  Post Office Box 2225

  Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27515-2225

  a division of

  Workman Publishing

  225 Varick Street

  New York, New York 10014

  © 2002 by Silas House. All rights reserved.

  The author is grateful to the University Press of Kentucky for its generous permission to use lines of poetry from James Still’s From the River, From the Valley. Copyright © 2001 by James Still.

  Excerpts from this novel appeared in a slightly different form in Ace Weekly and on NPR’s All Things Considered.

  This is a work of fiction. While, as in all fiction, the literary perceptions and insights are based on experience, all names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. No reference to any real person is intended or should be inferred.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

  E-book ISBN 978-1-61620-291-0

  Also by Silas House

  Clay’s Quilt

  The Coal Tattoo