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Oh, RubenI take a deep breath, bloay the sorrow Above me a solden slanting light Bitsy and I call her the "water bird" because of her song, like water in a brook running over the stones

"Water bird," I whisper, wipingmyself up on ht life into the world If I were a religious woman, I would call upon God to ease ht of the World, take this sorry heart and cleanse it Take ive

I hold ht, then bend over and wash theuilt and sorrow I cup the cold water and wash my face, wash away the tears, all those tears I once was lost, but now I’ at the Wildcat Mine cave-in, then I lean back and stare up at the evening star

A few years ago, I would have been afraid to lie in the leaves alone in the darkening woods Now I find peace

40

October 5, 1930 Rainbow around the albird, 10 pounds! The third son of Addie and Norton Hubird, the Indian family of Dark Hollow The baby was born without fuss in their log cabin along the creek Mr Hubird stayed in the kitchen, and Addie was very self-sufficient I just rocked in a chair and Bitsy tended to everything, then we did the delivery together Very little bleeding No tears Mrs Huave

Target Practice

It’s been a few cold rainy days, but around then the sun coh the front , lead Star out of the gate, heading, I ie lately, running over to the Wildcat Mine and to Hazel Patch nearly every day Twice I saw her sneaking food from the cupboard wrapped in a white dishcloth If she wants to take food to Thoh I haven’t really ad around the house, the sound of her voice

"Bitsy!" I lock my journal and stuff it under the cushions, then throw open the blue door "Bitsy! Can I cos "Okay," she says, surprised, and pulls me up on the horse behind her

Cloudless blue sky, s over its banks in the distance

We clop along Wild Rose Road, riding double, and I wave to Mrs Maddock, who sits in her wheelchair on her front porch She’s wearing her blank public face today, but she nods If I hadn’t had tea with her a feeeks ago, I would never have guessed the war to hunt?" I ask un balanced in its case over Star’s neck "What for? Ducks? Geese? Turkey?"

"Just target practice I don’t like to do it around the house The sound of the rifle ht I have been a little snappy lately

I surprise myself when I ask her, "Will you show me how?"

Since Blair Mountain, I haven’t touched a firearm and before that never, not even Ruben’s Colt revolver

I can’t seein front of ainst my chest "Sure I didn’t know you were interested"

"I don’t know if I am I just want to feel what you feel when you shoot I know you like it, and who knows, sos as if she can’t iet to the dirt path that winds down to the raging water

"I have targets set up along the bank" We slide off Star’s back, lead her through the brush, and tie her to a small sycamore On a rise where the s thin out, ns to the trees: a red Coca-Cola sign with a soda jerk peeking out fron, and a Days Work Chewing Tobacco sign, all riddled with bullet holes Scattered along the trunk of a fallen tree are tin cans, which we begin to set up