"Maybe a car will come along,"
said the children's mother
hoarsely.
"I believe I have injured an
organ," said the grandmother,
pressing her side, but no one
answered her. Bailey's teeth
were clattering. He had on a
yellow sport shirt with bright
blue parrots designed in it and
his face was as yellow as the l
shirt. The grandmother decided
that she would not mention that
the house was in Tennessee.
The road was about ten feet
above and they could see only
the tops of the trees on the
other side of it. Behind the
ditch they were sitting in there
were more woods, tall and dark
and deep. In a few minutes
they saw a car some distance
away on top of a hill, coming
slowly as if the occupants were
watching them. The
grandmother stood up and
waved both arms dramatically
to attract their attention. The
car continued to come on
slowly, disappeared around a
bend and appeared again,
moving even slower, on top of
the hill they had gone over. It
was a big black battered
hearse-like automobile. There
were three men in it.
It came to a stop just over them
and for some minutes, the
driver looked down with a
steady expressionless gaze to
where they were sitting, and
didn't speak. Then he turned
his head and muttered
something to the other two and
they got out. One was a fat boy
in black trousers and a red
sweat shirt with a silver stallion
embossed on the front of it. He
moved around on the right side
of them and stood staring, his
mouth partly open in a kind of
loose grin. The other had on
khaki pants and a blue striped
coat and a gray hat pulled
down very low, hiding most of
his face. He came around
slowly on the left side. Neither
spoke.
The driver got out of the car
and stood by the side of it,
looking down at them. He was
an older man than the other
JOY FEELINGS | DECEMBER ISSUE
240