WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:11.640 Twelve. It had no value to him other than it 2 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:15.800 gave him something to do all day long. The summer 3 00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:21.079 had been an unmercifully and overbearingly hot one. The coal shaft, 4 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:24.359 even several feet under the ground, provided none of its 5 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:27.839 typical cooling, and the trees that surrounded the hole where 6 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:31.480 he lived gave their usual shade, but they also seemed 7 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:36.799 to enclose him in a cell where no breezes were permitted. Everywhere, 8 00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:39.600 whether above or below ground, seemed to be trying to 9 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:42.880 deprive him of breath that he didn't have to struggle for. 10 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:47.759 Moving about to try and find even a temporary acceptable 11 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:52.840 existence was a constant and exhausting chore. But lying perfectly 12 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:55.719 still while he tried to wait the worst out only 13 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:58.960 afforded him the opportunity to lie in a wash of 14 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:02.840 his own sweat and smell the ever growing stink coming 15 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:06.280 from his damp body. It was at the pool where 16 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:09.760 he had come up with the idea. The pool had 17 00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:13.760 supplied him with water every day for more than fifteen years. 18 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:16.959 The pool was also a draw to the animals that 19 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:20.799 he snared each day for his daily meal. He would 20 00:01:20.840 --> 00:01:23.640 not have survived a week, much less more than fifteen 21 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:27.400 years without it, and aside from the coal shaft, it 22 00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:29.560 was about the only thing he could think of to 23 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:33.799 be thankful for. But it was small, not so much 24 00:01:33.879 --> 00:01:36.599 larger than a pot that his mother always used for 25 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:40.480 making soap, in large enough to give him ample water, 26 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:43.000 but small enough that it wasn't so much of a 27 00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:45.200 job for him to break all the ice away with 28 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:48.280 the rifle barrel when it froze over. A few times 29 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:52.519 each winter, in just bare feet and trousers, he went 30 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:55.040 again to the pool with the sole purpose of lying 31 00:01:55.079 --> 00:01:57.920 on his stomach in the leaves and splashing water on 32 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:01.840 his face every time he grew warm. He expected to 33 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:04.560 be there all day and possibly well into the evening. 34 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:07.920 It was much too warm to think about eating something 35 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.520 directly off the fire. He did not recognize the man 36 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:16.439 staring back at him. He knew who he was, because 37 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:20.960 he just knew, but he did not recognize him. With 38 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:24.840 sweat inching down the sides of his face, Reuben continued 39 00:02:24.840 --> 00:02:28.199 to gaze at the surface of the water. So far 40 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:30.080 as he knew, it was the first time that he 41 00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:32.840 had looked upon his own image since before leaving the 42 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:37.599 battlefield in Maryland. It was a shocking and disturbing ghost 43 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:40.680 of a man that stared back at him. His first 44 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:43.599 thought had been accusingly of this place and what it 45 00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:46.599 had done to him, the man looking back from the 46 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:49.280 surface of the pool, with his long and matted gray 47 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:52.960 hair and beard, the sunken cheeks and the vacant eyes, 48 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:56.599 the deep lines and crevices marking a once smooth and 49 00:02:56.759 --> 00:03:01.039 fair face. This place had he done this to him. 50 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:04.800 It had isolated him and ravaged him little by little 51 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:08.439 over the past decade and a half. But then he 52 00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:10.840 thrust his hand into the water so that he could 53 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:13.520 splash some one into his face in order to cool 54 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:17.479 it and to make the other man disappear. He didn't 55 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:20.719 ever want to see him again. But the heat displaced 56 00:03:20.759 --> 00:03:23.479 for just a moment, and droplets of water falling from 57 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:26.639 his beard. He thought about this place and knew that 58 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:30.840 he had been wrong earlier. This place had not done 59 00:03:30.919 --> 00:03:34.560 these terrible things to him. This place had sheltered him 60 00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:38.240 and provided for him. It had taken him in even 61 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:42.639 knowing that he was an embarrassment and a disappointment. He 62 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:45.840 was a coward, a coward that had betrayed the trust 63 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:48.319 of the men that he had sworn to stand beside, 64 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:52.199 and that had stood beside him. He was a man 65 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.560 that had turned his back on all that he had 66 00:03:54.599 --> 00:03:58.840 been taught growing up about honor and faithfulness, and still 67 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:02.719 this place had won welcomed him. When he had sat 68 00:04:02.759 --> 00:04:06.000 weeping on so many nights over the loneliness his heart 69 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:08.199 felt for the one who had said that she would 70 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:12.080 love him forever. This place had offered him warmth and 71 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:15.400 a dry place to lay as the tears dried and 72 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:19.920 sleep finally came. Blaming what he had seen on anything 73 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:23.360 other than himself was just as cowardly as running from 74 00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:27.319 the battlefield had been. It was he who had brought 75 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:30.720 all of this about to himself, and the blame could 76 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:34.360 be laid nowhere else but at his own feet. If 77 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:37.360 he had stayed, like all those thousands who had been 78 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:40.519 just as scared as he had been, had stayed, then 79 00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:43.120 perhaps he would have died as he had been afraid 80 00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:46.519 of doing. But at least he would have rested in 81 00:04:46.600 --> 00:04:50.399 peace and rested honorably instead of enduring a living death 82 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:54.920 each day. And now the days would be worse now 83 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:58.480 that he knew what he looked like, not pleasing to 84 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:04.519 behold neither inside nor outside anymore. It was the heat 85 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:08.040 that pulled him from his dark thoughts. He had changed. 86 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:10.959 The image on the surface of the pool had proven that, 87 00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:14.279 but the heat had not, and it was still stifling. 88 00:05:15.399 --> 00:05:18.480 He lay still, aside from the splashing of water onto 89 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:21.480 his face every couple of minutes, and he forced his 90 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:25.000 mind to become empty. It seemed there were no good 91 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:28.360 thoughts left to be had in this world. Then it 92 00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:31.439 occurred to him to how relaxing it would be if 93 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:33.800 he could just sit down in the pool, like he 94 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:36.360 had in the place that was walled out large enough 95 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:38.680 for him to swim a little in back home when 96 00:05:38.680 --> 00:05:41.800 he had been a child. He opened his eyes and 97 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:44.920 allowed all the gold and purple specks brought on by 98 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:49.079 the bright white sun to disappear. The pool as it 99 00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:52.720 sat was much too small to get in, and even 100 00:05:52.759 --> 00:05:55.560 if he could, it would not be a relaxing way 101 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:59.000 of reclining. But if the pool were enlarged a bit, 102 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:03.720 that would be altogether different. He reached his hand over 103 00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:06.560 the edge and grasp a handful of sodden dirt and 104 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:09.360 moss that seemed to be forming the rim, and was 105 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:12.600 surprised at how easily it pulled away with just a 106 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:16.360 tug from his hand. He was sure that farther away 107 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:19.199 from the water, the ground would be less inclined to 108 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:22.959 let go, But he wasn't intent on fashioning a lake, 109 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:27.839 so he gave no worry to what might be. Handful 110 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:31.399 After handful, he pulled and threw across the pool into 111 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:35.600 the surrounding trees, and then abruptly stopped. The water had 112 00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:39.600 become murky and cloudy as a result of his ministrations. 113 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:42.720 He heaved himself up from the ground and went back 114 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:46.079 to the coal shaft. He should have thought earlier to 115 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:49.480 fill his canteen with clean water before doing as he had. 116 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:52.759 There was a trickle from the spring a few yards 117 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:54.959 up from the pool, but it was harder to fill 118 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:58.399 the canteen from there. He would allow the water to 119 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:00.959 settle and clear, and then he would plenish his water 120 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:05.839 supply and began again. The following afternoon. He had enlarged 121 00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:08.600 the pool in width and length enough to sit in 122 00:07:08.680 --> 00:07:12.639 it comfortably, but it was still too shallow. Well, that 123 00:07:12.839 --> 00:07:15.879 was the bad news. The good news was that digging 124 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:18.120 out the death could be done while sitting in the 125 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:21.639 cool water. Sitting in the water came almost to the 126 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:24.879 tops of his thighs. Lying on his back, it barely 127 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:28.160 reached his hips. But it was cooler in the water 128 00:07:28.279 --> 00:07:30.959 no matter how he was positioned, and he made no 129 00:07:31.079 --> 00:07:34.319 great efforts to grab handfuls of leaves or muck from 130 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:38.360 the bottom. He would extract a handful and toss it 131 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:41.199 over the side, and then use his fingertips to drizzle 132 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:45.199 the water over his chest. After a couple of minutes, 133 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:47.800 he would pull a bit more up and toss it away. 134 00:07:48.680 --> 00:07:51.680 The rubon was not on a mission. He was content 135 00:07:52.120 --> 00:07:56.319 and labored only in the pool when he felt the urge. However, 136 00:07:56.720 --> 00:07:58.959 just as he was about to let go of a handful, 137 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:02.720 a glitter caught his eyes attention, and he clamped down 138 00:08:02.839 --> 00:08:05.439 hard with his fingers before it could be thrown into 139 00:08:05.480 --> 00:08:09.519 the foliage. Perhaps it had been part of a brightly 140 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:12.439 colored leaf that had tumbled down during the fall of 141 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:15.839 the year and somehow managed to avoid the right process. 142 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:19.519 Perhaps it had been the shell of something like a 143 00:08:19.560 --> 00:08:22.439 crawdad or a snail that had caught the light just so. 144 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:27.000 But when his fingertip flicked away all the slimy debris, 145 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:30.759 what was left was a nugget made of pure gold. 146 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:34.720 The size of a musket's mini ball. Most would have 147 00:08:34.840 --> 00:08:37.840 examined and adored it for a moment, and then replaced 148 00:08:37.879 --> 00:08:41.120 it securely on the bank before plunging both hands up 149 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:44.159 to the elbows back into the muck in search of 150 00:08:44.279 --> 00:08:49.840 more Reuben Miller wasn't like most people, though. He washed 151 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:52.919 it thoroughly so he could admire it and all its splendor, 152 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:56.200 and then he tossed it over onto his trousers, where 153 00:08:56.200 --> 00:09:00.200 it rolled off into the leaves. He reminded himself to 154 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:03.159 make sure and relocate it before he left for the evening. 155 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:06.519 He very much wanted to see how it glittered and 156 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:11.720 brightened when illuminated by the firelight. He continued to deepen 157 00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:16.279 the pool, but only whenever the mood struck him. He did, however, 158 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:19.600 take glances through the muck before simply throwing it into 159 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:23.320 the trees and scrub it. Became something to do, and 160 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:25.960 that was something he hadn't had in a long while. 161 00:09:27.799 --> 00:09:31.080 Over the following two weeks, the pool grew deeper, and 162 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:34.799 his comfort level in the pool was considerably higher, and 163 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:37.120 one of the two bowls that he had carved years 164 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:42.000 ago now held more than two pounds of gold nuggets. Chips, flakes, 165 00:09:42.039 --> 00:09:45.720 and dust. He didn't have a pan of any kind, 166 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:49.320 so the usual method of extracting gold, specks and dust 167 00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:52.159 from the mud wasn't available to him. But the other 168 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:56.120 bowl was. Each evening before leaving the pool, he would 169 00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:58.840 fill the bowl full of mud and then return it 170 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:01.120 to the coal shaft, where he would empty the black 171 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:05.240 contents onto the rocks that surrounded his firepit to dry, 172 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:08.559 and the next morning he would scrape the dried material 173 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:11.399 from the rocks into his palm, and with the tip 174 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:14.320 of his knife, he would separate the dirt from the gold. 175 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:18.600 It was a tedious and mind numbing exercise, but he 176 00:10:18.679 --> 00:10:21.320 had nowhere to go, and he was in no hurry 177 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:25.080 to build up his riches. Others would have torn down 178 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:29.279 half the hardwood ridge to collect more, but others had 179 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:32.480 things they could spend the wealth on in places that 180 00:10:32.519 --> 00:10:35.759 they could go to spend the wealth, and Reuben hadn't either. 181 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:40.000 To Ruben, collecting the gold was the same as whittling 182 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:43.200 or bird watching, just a new way of filling in 183 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:45.759 the hours between when he awoke and when he laid 184 00:10:45.799 --> 00:10:49.639 down again. He was thankful for finding the gold, but 185 00:10:49.879 --> 00:10:52.440 not for the same reasons that others would have been. 186 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:57.200 On occasion before he could stop it from happening. His 187 00:10:57.279 --> 00:10:59.519 mind would wonder, and he would begin to think of 188 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:03.080 all that he could do with his newfound wealth. Not 189 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:05.879 a large one, because the years had taught him how 190 00:11:06.039 --> 00:11:09.759 very little he needed to be sheltered and comfortable, but 191 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:12.480 a fine house somewhere with a porch that caught the 192 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:16.360 rising sun. He wouldn't mind having one of those on 193 00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:20.720 a lot with grass, and a picturesque town somewhere, a 194 00:11:20.759 --> 00:11:24.039 town with an eatery that served meals on tables with 195 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:27.919 white tablecloths and kept plenty of cool buttermilk chilling in 196 00:11:27.960 --> 00:11:31.200 the spring house. He didn't think that he would ever 197 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:34.399 want to prepare another meal for himself if it could 198 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:37.559 be helped. But not that being wealthy made and want 199 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:40.679 to have people serving him. He was just tired of 200 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:44.840 killing and cooking his own food. A piece or two 201 00:11:44.840 --> 00:11:47.240 of fried chicken a couple of times a week wouldn't 202 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:51.720 go down badly either, and skewered robins and woodpeckers roasted 203 00:11:51.720 --> 00:11:55.360 over a coal fire were not the same thing. Owning 204 00:11:55.399 --> 00:11:57.799 more than one pair of pants and two shirts per 205 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:01.559 year wouldn't be bad. Sometimes it seemed as if his 206 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:04.559 clothes didn't even need him in them to stand up 207 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:08.320 on their own. Pants that weren't full of holes all 208 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:11.879 the time would be nice. He was always dripping rabbit 209 00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:14.879 or possum blood as he prepared a supper for cooking, 210 00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:17.879 and the blood always managed to fall on the parts 211 00:12:17.879 --> 00:12:21.919 of his pants where his bony legs showed through pants 212 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:25.480 that covered his legs entirely all the time. Well, he 213 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:28.720 wouldn't feel awkward walking to the cafe and pants like 214 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:32.840 that once every couple of weeks. Walking down to the 215 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:36.399 barbering shop would be something to look forward to and 216 00:12:36.440 --> 00:12:39.080 not minding sitting on the bench and waiting his turn, 217 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:41.519 because other men would be there and they would be 218 00:12:41.639 --> 00:12:45.240 telling stories about how well a particular pair of dogs 219 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:48.840 had worked during a quell hunt, or whether red worms 220 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:51.720 or night crawlers had been the preferred bait. On their 221 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:54.360 last visit to the river to do some fishing for 222 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:58.360 blue channel catfish, he would make sure that he had 223 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:01.320 located into one of those towns that had a center, 224 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:04.200 one of those places right in the middle of town 225 00:13:04.279 --> 00:13:07.399 where they had a nice little stage or platform built, 226 00:13:07.799 --> 00:13:11.120 and sometimes during the warm months when the weather was agreeable, 227 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:14.080 folks would go up on it and play music and 228 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:17.600 have singings. He had heard from some that he had 229 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:21.080 served with that there were towns like that, and back 230 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:24.960 in Marion, the Seilers each spring would straighten their place 231 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:27.879 up and throw a barn dance, and that was fun. 232 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:30.679 But he'd never seen a singing right in the middle 233 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:34.480 of town before. He'd heard lots of singing, but it 234 00:13:34.519 --> 00:13:37.360 had always been in a church house, and they do 235 00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:42.200 more than frown on dancing there. All of that had 236 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:45.759 an undeniable appeal, but it would never come to pass. 237 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:48.879 And Reuben thought, as he stared at the goal that 238 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:52.799 was slowly sifting through his fingers, you have to go 239 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:54.879 to a town like that before you can live in 240 00:13:54.919 --> 00:13:57.960 a town like that, And going anywhere was out of 241 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:01.600 the question. He couldn't leave this place until he knew 242 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.519 for sure that the war was indeed finally over with, 243 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:07.360 and he would never know that if he never left 244 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:11.240 this place. It was a bit of a snake eating 245 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:14.879 its own tail sort of affair. And even if he 246 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:18.000 did somehow discovered that there had been a secession to 247 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:21.679 the fighting and that everyone had shaken hands and made up, 248 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:24.600 he would never know if a man was just looking 249 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:28.120 at him wrong, or was eyeballing him to identify him. 250 00:14:29.159 --> 00:14:32.279 He was safe here, and he was secure here, but 251 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:36.600 he was also trapped here. Thinking any way other than 252 00:14:36.679 --> 00:14:41.159 permanent residence here was just foolishness that gained him nothing 253 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:46.360 other than sadness. Besides, what good would it do him 254 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:48.759 to go to a town like he had conjured up? 255 00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:51.759 Even if he could get there and set up housekeeping. 256 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:55.759 All the money he could carry might buy him something 257 00:14:55.879 --> 00:14:59.039 to wear other than rags, and it might put good 258 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:02.440 food in his belly. But when he went back home afterwards, 259 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:05.000 he would be walking alone, and the house would be 260 00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:09.120 dark when he arrived there. Those things would not bring 261 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:12.799 him happiness. The one thing that would was days and 262 00:15:12.919 --> 00:15:16.720 days of walking away and probably mourning over an empty 263 00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:20.279 grave if she remembered him at all. That was a 264 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:23.919 new thought. He shook the gold dust from his hand 265 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:27.039 back into the crude bowl and sat back to ponder 266 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:32.759 all these years with nothing for companionship save his own thoughts, 267 00:15:33.240 --> 00:15:37.360 And still he could have a new one now and again. Well, 268 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:40.600 that took him by surprise. Of late, he had begun 269 00:15:40.679 --> 00:15:43.279 to think that he had used up all his allotment 270 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:47.639 of original thoughts. And while the revelation was heartening, the 271 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:52.240 subject was less so, simply because not a day in 272 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:54.960 more than fifteen years had passed that he had not 273 00:15:55.080 --> 00:15:57.840 thought of her and all that was to have been 274 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:00.919 it did not mean that she had passed her time 275 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:05.840 in the same way. It was a sobering and dreadful notion, 276 00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:10.279 but one he could not blame her for. Old Man 277 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:14.799 Whitlow remarried two weeks after his Eynez took her last breath, 278 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:17.960 But he and Story were to have been different from 279 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:22.000 those around them. What they had formed was stronger than 280 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:24.919 log chains. At least that was the way he had 281 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:28.200 always thought of the bond. She had been young and 282 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:30.639 beautiful when he had walked away to fight in a 283 00:16:30.679 --> 00:16:34.240 war that neither of them truly understood, and while there 284 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:37.320 were deep concerns on both of their parts, it was 285 00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:40.720 her hope and his intention to walk that same road 286 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:44.440 back to her one day. But because he had not 287 00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:47.679 done that, had he had the right to expect her 288 00:16:47.720 --> 00:16:50.720 to grow old and maybe not so beautiful while she 289 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:55.200 waited alone. Nothing had ever pleased Reuben so much as 290 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:59.360 seeing Starry smile. It was her happiness that made him happy. 291 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:03.000 Shouldn't he be sitting in his burrow, hoping that she 292 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:06.039 found a way to be happy, after finally realizing that 293 00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:10.440 he was never coming back to her. No, he said aloud, 294 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:14.519 storry is to be happy, but only because I am 295 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:17.599 near to her. That was the vow that we made 296 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:21.119 to each other. Never once have I forsaken her or 297 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:24.519 forgotten to think of her in all these many years. 298 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:28.279 I know Story better than any one. I know she 299 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:31.519 has kept her promise and has done the same. No 300 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:36.200 one was ever so true as story. Reuben felt better 301 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:45.039 after reminding himself of that fact. Thirteen the musky dines 302 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:47.559 were ripening in The basket that he had woven from 303 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:51.519 oak splits and lined with fur was nearly full, but 304 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:54.279 he flung it aside and threw himself into the nearest 305 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:57.200 depression in the ground, and he held his breath as 306 00:17:57.200 --> 00:18:00.680 he listened. The horse that he had heard was close, 307 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:04.079 not a few trees away and loping down the ridge, 308 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:07.440 but close enough to hear. At least, he believed the 309 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:11.000 sound to have come from a horse. He listened intently 310 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:13.960 for a repeat of the sound. If he heard it again, 311 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:16.880 he was almost sure that he would be able to 312 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:21.559 verify his assessment. Or stand corrected. He just needed to 313 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:25.599 hear it again to know there was a sound. Or 314 00:18:25.640 --> 00:18:28.480 he thought that maybe he had heard something he wasn't 315 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:31.960 sure about the latest possible noise, And then it reached 316 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:36.079 his ears again. The horse sound, not the possible other thing. 317 00:18:37.240 --> 00:18:40.480 It was almost definitely the sound a horse makes when 318 00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:44.799 it screams, either from terror or pain. Some don't know 319 00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:48.440 that horses can scream, but they can. He had heard 320 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:50.640 them do it often enough when he had still been 321 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:54.559 in the ranks. The horses are tough and strong, just 322 00:18:54.599 --> 00:18:57.480 like men are tough and strong, but both will scream 323 00:18:57.559 --> 00:19:01.599 under the right circumstances. He had heard the screams of 324 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:04.759 both often enough, and the screaming had been one of 325 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:08.759 the deciding factors in his decision to run away. He 326 00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:12.319 began to listen even harder, not for the sound again, 327 00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:15.440 so as to identify it. He now knew what he 328 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:18.240 had heard. Now he needed to hear it again so 329 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:21.960 he could know where it was coming from. Sounds here 330 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:26.079 bounce off trees and stone and the ridges themselves. Yet 331 00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:29.240 to listen closely else the sounds would send you off 332 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:32.759 in all directions. Owing to how noises swirl around here, 333 00:19:33.880 --> 00:19:37.920 it fell on his ears again, only softer and weaker, perhaps, 334 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:41.160 but enough that Reuben thought he knew from where now. 335 00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:46.039 The leaves made no sound as he walked. Today had 336 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:48.079 been the first day that he had awoken out of 337 00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:51.759 the past six that it hadn't been raining. It hadn't 338 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:54.519 been a heavy downpour all of that time, but it 339 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:58.480 had been steady and constant. He had been afraid that 340 00:19:58.599 --> 00:20:01.240 all the rain might have washed the musky dines from 341 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:03.880 their vines, but it was still early enough in the 342 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:07.559 season that they held on strong. It was why he 343 00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:09.480 had rushed to pick them up as soon as he 344 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:12.480 had seen that the rain had stopped. He used to 345 00:20:12.519 --> 00:20:14.920 pick them every year as a boy for his mother 346 00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:20.799 to make jelly, just as he did with blackberries and crabapples. Obviously, 347 00:20:20.839 --> 00:20:24.039 he couldn't preserve the ones he picked now in any way, 348 00:20:24.839 --> 00:20:27.440 but they were sweet and good for eating straight from 349 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:30.200 the basket, so long as it was done in moderation. 350 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:34.640 Enough would induce scours, and he neither wanted or needed that. 351 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:38.880 The sound of the distressed animal came to him again, 352 00:20:39.240 --> 00:20:42.920 and it was unmistakably weaker than before, but he believed 353 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:47.200 himself to still be walking in the correct direction. It 354 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:51.000 made sense the direction he was traveling. The sounds he 355 00:20:51.079 --> 00:20:53.720 was curious about were leading him toward the road that 356 00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:56.839 he sometimes watched as he sat with his back against 357 00:20:56.920 --> 00:21:00.839 a tree. If a horse was to be anywhere near here, 358 00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:03.400 it was logical that it would be in the proximity 359 00:21:03.559 --> 00:21:07.160 of the road. There was no certainty. He was simply 360 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:11.279 guessing about things as each tidbit of information revealed itself. 361 00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:14.000 But since he now believed he knew exactly where the 362 00:21:14.039 --> 00:21:17.119 horse was, Reuben felt that he could walk a little 363 00:21:17.160 --> 00:21:21.440 faster and with less caution. He wanted to see what 364 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:24.319 was going on. It had been a very long time 365 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:28.200 since anything of note had occurred. This must have been 366 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:31.240 how I felt as a sprout when the traveling side 367 00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:33.559 shows would come through and my father would take me 368 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:37.559 to see them, he thought. It took a few moments 369 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:40.599 to decipher what he was looking at. The jumble that 370 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:45.039 filled his eyes was disorganized and messy and not immediately discernible. 371 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:49.240 The horse screamed again. It was a weak scream, and 372 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:52.079 there would be very few more unless something was done 373 00:21:52.119 --> 00:21:55.640 in quick order. The other sound that he had heard 374 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:58.680 came again, also, and it was weaker than that of 375 00:21:58.720 --> 00:22:03.720 the animal, several somethings needed doing, or all would be 376 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:07.640 silent soon. Reuben inched up a few feet for a 377 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:10.119 better look and sat down on the wet leaves while 378 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:12.720 he took it all in and gave what was before 379 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:17.160 him some thought. All the days of constant rain had 380 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:20.079 done more than prevented Reuben from going out to pull 381 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:23.759 wild fruit from vines. He supposed that he might have 382 00:22:23.880 --> 00:22:26.839 considered a few of the hardship's people that lived in 383 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:29.960 the real world might be struggling through at the same time, 384 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:32.599 if he had given any time to thinking about it. 385 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:36.119 But he had not done that. He tried hard not 386 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:38.240 to think about the world that he was no longer 387 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:42.160 part of if it could be avoided. So among all 388 00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:44.960 things that he had not considered as he sat by 389 00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:48.240 his fire during those days of constant rain was the 390 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:51.680 beating the roads were taking because of the current conditions. 391 00:22:53.079 --> 00:22:57.480 The road just yards below him had suffered greatly. It 392 00:22:57.599 --> 00:23:00.759 never had been used heavily, so it was prepared for 393 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:04.799 the assault. The once mediocre road was now little more 394 00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:09.200 than a winding brown strip of bog and slop. Maybe 395 00:23:09.240 --> 00:23:12.079 the wagon had been too heavily laden, or had been 396 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:15.680 loaded improperly, or had been trying to take the slightly 397 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:21.240 more than gradual curve too quickly. Reuben neither knew nor cared. 398 00:23:22.279 --> 00:23:24.599 All that was certain was that a few yards away 399 00:23:24.759 --> 00:23:27.279 a wagon was more off the road than it was 400 00:23:27.480 --> 00:23:31.440 on it, and a chubby, balding fellow of advancing years 401 00:23:31.559 --> 00:23:34.799