Silas Thrasher -- 1871

Wintertime had long set in across North Alabama. It was a time of much needed rest for the good earth, as it was for the good men who farmed it. The long months of plowing and reaping now lay behind them but also lay forever before them.

Silas Thrasher was no exception to the rule. The sweat on his brow was the salt of the earth and the blood in his veins was made up of red dirt and creek water. Silas was grandson of Noah Thrasher and the eldest son of Benjamin Thrasher and the father of William Reason Thrasher. He was an honorable man and an honest man who took stock of who he was and pride in what he did..

On cold, slow days Silas and the other farmers would mostly spend their time at Young Brothers General Merchandise, or Young.Bros. Gen. Mdse. as the rough-painted sign proudly proclaimed. Young Brothers was the only store within ten miles in any direction. During the winter months, the glowing warmth of the pot-bellied stove there and the company of good friends was a welcome respite while waiting on the spring and the plow and the 18 hour days that came with them. There were three Young brothers but Quill Young ran the store. 

On this day Silas sat silently near the stove at the back of the store, smoke rising lazily from his pipe, slowly whittling away on a stick. He was a big man, a hand taller than six feet and as strong as a mule. His best friend and closest neighbor, Joe Jimmy Jenkins, was also there as was Redbeard Malone. Redbeard was a bull of a man who could stand toe-to-toe with a black bear if he had to but most times was as peaceful as a Sunday morning. Joe Jimmy owned a 100 acre spread that joined up with Silas’ on the north and east. He was as good a friend as a man could ask for.

Redbeard was staring at Silas but only because there wasn’t much else to look at. “What are you awhittlin’ there, Silas? It don’t look like much.”

“I’m just whittlin’, Red. Don’t have to make something, do I? I guess I’m just making a little stick out of a big 'un.”

Redbeard chuckled. “I reckon you made one of them yesterday.”

“Yep…reckon so…what are you doing anyways, besides looking at me?”

“Me? Why, I’m makin’ sure these here sacks of cotton seeds I’m sittin’ on don’t git up and run off.” Redbeard patted the seed and leaned a little further back. “Maybe I should just take up awhittlin’ like you Silas. Don’t look like a man would need much trainin’….”

“Nope. Guess not, Redbeard. You want me to find you a stick?”

“No…that’s all right. I ain’t in no big hurry. I can just watch you if’n ye don’t mind.”

“Not a’tall, Red. Not a’tall.”

Joe Jimmy woke up from his nap, acting like he’d been awake all along. “How’s that hound dog of your’n, Redbeard? Is coming along alright? I hope he’s learnt not to tangle with a bobcat.”

Silas stood up and stretched his long legs, and then sat right back down. “Mornin’, Joe Jimmy. Good to have you back with us. You reckon you might throw another log in the stove there? It’s about your time. It’s gettin’ a mite nippy in here.”

Joe Jimmy shook his head. “I guess you’d rather sit there on that bench and turn plum blue than get up and walk ten feet to the woodpile.” He chuckled to himself. “You just sit right there, Silas. I’ll get us a log. You rest them old bones of your’n. You’re gettin’ too old and too wore out to be up much anyways.” He looked back at Redbeard. “What about it, Redbeard? Is he up and about? I’d shore hate to lose a good dog like that.”

“He’s better, Joe Jimmy. I appreciate your asking. Doc Jackson said he should be near good as new afore too long. He might not move as fast as before but I don’t know how ye’d tell. He ain’t never been one fer movin’ fast. Fer th’ last couple of years he ain’t been able to catch much more’n a nap. He’ll be alright though. I’ve had that dog fer near 10 years. He’s just one of the family…and a mite smarter than my brother Ham.”

“That’s good to hear, Red. He ought to have another few years in him. I imagine he can find a bevy of quail better’n ol’ Ham too.” Silas and Redbeard both smiled and nodded their heads. “Ham’s a good man though. He might not be the sharpest plow in th' shed but he can out-work me.” Joe Jimmy tossed a log into the stove. “There you go, Silas. You want me to put another’n in there? I can ask Quill if’n he has a quilt fer ye if ye’d like.”

“Naw, Joe Jimmy. I'll be alright. Did you bring your pipe?”

“Yep. Always do. Why do you ask?”

“Maybe you should stick in your mouth so’s to stop your yappin’.” Redbeard laughed out loud but didn’t say anything. Joe Jimmy looked over at Silas. “How’s young Will doin’, Silas? He sure is growing up quick. I can remember when he wasn’t knee-high to nothin’….life goes by too fast sometimes, don’t it?”

“Will’s fine, Joe Jimmy. We have to plant another acre of garden to keep him fed these days.” Silas sat up a little straighter. “He’s a good boy, Joe Jimmy. It would be hard to run the farm now without him.”

“Yep…he’s a good ’un all right. If he'd like some work to do for a few days, I’ve got to put up a barbwire fence around ten acres of pastureland here before too long. I could use another pair of hands and a strong back.” Joe Jimmy paused for a second. “I think he’s getting kind of sweet on my Edna, too. I know she surely has taken a liking to him.”

“Yeah, I reckon you’re right, Joe Jimmy. He does seem a bit taken by her. Give ‘em another two, three years and I figger they’ll be gettin’ hitched. That’d make me and you in-laws, wouldn’t it? Them’s natural enemies in most parts….”

“Yep…I figger….” Joe Jimmy poked the fire. Redbeard hadn’t moved more than an inch or two in hours. “If Will can help out he can stay over to the house if it gets too late for him to get home before nightfall. He can sleep on the hay out in the barn. He’ll be warm enough. There’s a couple of old horse blankets out there if he needs ’em.”

“Where’s Edna going to be?”

Joe Jimmy laughed. “She’ll be in her room under lock and key. Besides, Will is going to be too tuckered out from stringing barbed wire to be thinking about anything but resting.”

“You reckon so, Joe Jimmy…?”

“Naw….” there was a grin on Joe Jimmy’s face “but it’s a big lock....”

WILL, EDNA AND GOLIATH

It was early on a Monday morning just after sunup and Will was already on his way to help Joe Jimmy put up his fence. It was a cool, clear late February day and the brisk wind blowing across the open pastures made it seem even colder. This day would have been a good one to spend sitting by the stove at Young Brothers but Will was still a year or two away from spending his days at the general store with the menfolk. Besides, he had work to do anyway. There was a spring in Will’s step and a grin on his face not normally seen on those of a young man heading off for a back-breaking day of putting up fence posts and stringing barbwire.

But he could hardly wait to see Edna.

When they were young and still by their mama's side, he and Edna spent a lot of time together playing and helping with simple chores like shelling butter beans or picking tomatoes from the vine. Now, it seemed to Will that they hardly ever saw each other at all. Will knew he’d get to spend time with Edna today, and that made the day a good one for him regardless of anything else. He was used to hard work, but he just couldn’t get used to the feeling he felt inside him whenever Edna smiled at him or held his hand. He didn’t ever want to get used to it.

Will didn’t have much to carry with him; Edna’s mama would make sure they had a good breakfast and enough hard biscuits and water to carry with them to last a while and, Will was hoping, Edna would drop by around lunchtime to bring them out some sweet tea or fresh lemonade and a picnic basket. “She surely is nice” Will said to any critter that happened to be nearby. He chuckled at himself, kicking at a dirt clod like a ten-year old. “And she seems to enjoy the pleasure of my company.” A hawk soaring overhead against the early morning sky caught Will’s eye. “Good morning, Mr. Hawk! I hope you are doing well.” Will laughed out loud at himself. “I surely am glad nobody is close enough to hear me. They’d all think I’d been sneaking down to the still for sure.”

Will had a knapsack with a fresh change of clothes slung across his shoulder. He wanted to be at his most presentable for supper. The mice and barn owls he’d be sleeping with didn’t care at all what he wore, but he was hoping for…well he was just hoping that’s all.

Before long, Will was within shouting distance of the Joe Jimmy's place. He’d walked at a pretty good pace. Even in the half-light of an early morning he was already close enough that he could see smoke rising from the chimney and the outline of the barn. Maybe he’d even get to spend a few minutes with Edna before he and Joe Jimmy went off to put up fence.

What Will did not see, unfortunately, was Joe Jimmy’s Brahman bull -- 1800 pounds of pure-bred dynamite named Goliath with an attitude properly befitting a specimen of his stature, and his fuse was very short and easily lit. Goliath wasn’t the only bull Joe Jimmy owned but he was most definitely the one at the top of the food chain.

Goliath did see Will, though, very early on. He watched Will with wary eye and more than a passing interest. Why would this two-legged creature dare disturb him so early in the morning? Goliath was the master of his domain and he didn’t take kindly to intrusions. Still, perhaps things would have been okay that morning if it hadn’t been for that red fox which Will also failed to notice running across the pasture trying to catch his breakfast. Will’s eyes and his complete attention were fixed solely upon his objective still 500 yards in front of him.

Will picked up his pace and began to walk more briskly, almost running. Goliath was becoming very agitated.

Will squinted his eyes. There was someone standing near the edge of the field behind the house. Why, it was Edna. And she was waving at him! “Gollleee!” Will was grinning from ear to ear. “She can’t even wait until I get to the house!” Will started to break into a full run but thought differently of it, a decision he would come to regret. “No…no…I can’t seem like I’m too excited. I’ll be there soon enough. She is really waving hard, though.” Will waved back. “What is she…she’s saying something….what could it be?” Will stopped so he could better hear her dainty voice. Only, on this morning, her voice was not so dainty.

“Will!! Will!! Run!! Run for your life! Goliath is MAD!!’

For the briefest of seconds Will froze in his tracks before spinning around to see a four-legged freight train 300 yards away barreling down on him with hot steam shooting from both nostrils. And he was closing fast. Too fast. Will dropped his knapsack and started running toward the house with every ounce of purpose his young heart and stout legs could muster. “GOLIATH! IT’S ME, WILL THRASHER. I’M YOUR FRIEND!” But Goliath had no friend.

“Hurry Will! Hurry! Goliath is going to catch you! RUN!” Edna was beside herself, but she was helpless to do anything but watch and it was going to be very close as to which of the two would reach the fence first. Goliath was properly enraged but Will was running like a rabbit from the hounds. “Hurry Will. Run faster!”

Perhaps, if the ground hadn’t been so uneven…or, if only he’d had another five or six seconds warning…. Perhaps if there hadn’t been that dirt clod just in the wrong place….

Ten feet from the barbwire fence that separated the field from the yard and just three steps ahead of Goliath, Will tripped. Fortunately, he didn’t exactly fall. I suppose it was more akin to flying.

With flailing arms and the fear of death in his eyes, he sailed through the air for six or seven feet before landing hard on the frozen ground. Goliath slowed ever so slightly, most likely not sure of exactly what he was seeing. Will clawed and crawled as fast as his arm and knees would let him and finally slid head first under the bottom strand of wire -- just in the nick of time as Goliath reached the fence half a second behind him, bellowing as if Satan himself was inside. Goliath then casually turned around and ambled slowly off toward the cedar stand where this whole ordeal had begun. His mission was accomplished.

That was the good news. The bad news was the fresh cow pie Will was unable to avoid. It wasn’t just bad, it was awful.

For a long two or three seconds there was silence. Other than his ego, Will was not seriously injured but he did not want to get up. What would Edna think? Would she hug him and be thankful he was still alive?

Apparently not. She began laughing and she could not stop. She was laughing so hard she could hardly breathe and she had to sit down on the cold ground to keep from falling.

Poor Will just laid there, his face in the dirt, wishing he were a hundred miles away.

After a few minutes that seemed more like hours, Edna did stop laughing. She stood and walked over to Will and gently stroked his soiled face with her young-lady hands. “Will, you are something else! I never knew you could run that fast.” She leaned down close to Will and kissed him on the cheek. “I think I’m falling in love with you, Will Thrasher. Every time I see you, my heart skips a beat.” She kissed his cheek again. “Mama’s got some hot water on the back porch. Get cleaned up some and come in for breakfast.” She smiled as Will finally stood up and faced her. “Don’t you ever change, Will Thrasher.” She laughed at herself. “Well, perhaps you should change those clothes.”

The look on Will’s face could have written a story. He was embarrassed and stunned at the same time. His jaw dropped. “What…what did you just say, Edna? Did I hear you say that you’re…”

Edna smiled and interrupted him. “I said that you need to change clothes, Will. That cow pie was pretty fresh.” She laughed again. “I’m sorry, Will. I just can’t help it.” Then she walked back to Will and put her lips to his ear. “And, I said I think I’m falling in love with you.” She stepped back and straightened her ruffled dress. “Isn’t that a terrible thing for a young lady to say?” She was blushing but Will couldn’t see anything but stars in his eyes.

And for the next 65 years, whenever he looked at Edna, that was all he ever saw.