Getting back to that night at the social, Donald came over to me and asked where Dora was. I told him Dora was at Ruth’s and that I had come to the social alone he hung around and when it was time to go home he said he would take me.
Wilbur had already left and I was sure he would be waiting for me along the way. As we went out and got in Donald’s car I was thinking of Dora she had been trying to get him to take her out, and here I was in his car. We started for home and must have went a mile when he stopped the car and reached for me, and pulled me against him, and before I knew what was happening he had me down on the seat and was on top of me.
I grabbed his hair and jerked his head back knocking his glasses off. I got my knee up and kicked him in the stomach, he let out a yelp, as I opened the car door to get out he grabbed my arm as he said, “OK, OK, I’ll behave, just help me find my glasses.”
I took the matches he gave me and after lighting about six matches, I found his glasses. I was surprised to learn he couldn’t see anything without the glasses.
Picture courtesy of https://wvhistoryonview.org/catalog/005882
When Donald insisted on taking me the rest of the way home I didn’t say no, I still didn’t trust him, but I knew Wilbur was out there waiting for me. When we got to Wilbur’s barn I told Donald, that was far enough. I would walk the rest of the way, I didn’t want mother to see the car light, that he could turn around beside the barn.
There was no fence beside the barn just a manure pile, a ditch, and muck that was caused by the drainage from the ditch on the upper side of the road, the swamp grass was just high enough to hide the ditch and muck.
I jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped and ran for home. When I had went up the road a short way, I heard the car spinning, quickly I crawled through the fence into mother’s truck patch and hid behind the hedge, and watched. Donald was spinning the car wheels and the car headlights were shining at an upward slant, into the tree. He had done just what I hoped he would do, he had backed into the ditch and muck. I was laughing to myself when I heard voices, Wilbur was talking to Donald, I couldn’t hear what they were saying, I was sure he had been waiting for me. I wished I could get back at him, then it came to me what to do. I ran across the truck patch and climbed over the fence to Wilbur’s chicken pen, quickly I opened the gate and propped it open so the chickens would be out as soon as it got daylight, I was sure they would do a number on his garden.
The moon wasn’t shining real bright that night, but enough that it wasn’t real dark and my eyes were adjusted to the dark. So when I passed Wilbur’s woodlot where he chopped wood, his ax was sticking in the end of a log, I just picked it up and took it along home where I put it in the granary behind father’s tools. As I went in the house I could hear Donald’s car spinning trying to get out of the muck .
Mother was waiting for me and wanted to know how things went. I told her I didn’t go with Wilbur as he walked too slow, she believed this because she knew I never walked I was always running.
When I went to the well for water the next morning. Wilber saw me and came over saying “you let my chickens out last night, you do that again.. I’ll,” I said “you stay away from me or I’ll tell my mother.” he said “I wasn’t going to do anything,” and I said “just stay away from me or I’ll fix you good.”
The week that followed was a busy one for mother and I, and I worked extra hard and hoped she would let me go to the square dance Saturday night. I knew father wouldn’t be home so I was hoping there was someone I could go with.
Saturday afternoon Dora came home she was excited when I told her about the dance that night. She had some new clothes and couldn’t wait to wear them.
We got to the party early, there were only a few people there mostly family. Dora and I were sitting on the porch talking when a car stopped in front of the house. Mary Cupp a friend of ours stuck her head out the car window and hollered, “come on, go along, Lena Spiker’s getting married and everybody’s invited.” Lena Spiker was the daughter of an elderly farmer, she was around 40 years old, real tall, long legs, skinny, always wore man’s clothes, had a mouthful of rotten teeth, chewed tobacco, and could outcuss and outspit any man around. She had invited everyone to her wedding. And they were going out of curiosity and to poke fun. Everyone was wondering what kind of a man would marry her.
I looked at Dora, she looked at me, we both started to laugh as we got up and walked out to the car.
Boyd Smith, Mary and Bill Lawson were in the front seat.
Mary got out of the car and told Dora to get in front, then she got in the back with Bill, and another guy, and told me to get in.
I tried to see who was in the back seat, but it was too dark. As much as I wanted to go, I was afraid to get in the car. I had an urge to run, and was about to do so, when the guy in the back said, “come on, you have to sit on my lap but I won’t bite you” and I recognized that voice, it was Woodrow Cupp the guy that had bought the mine post from mother.
I couldn’t believe he was here, I had told him about the dance, but I never dreamed he would come. I got in the car and sat crosswise on Woodrow’s lap, he was so long legged all I had to sit on was his knees, and every time the car hit a bump I slid off. I tried holding on to the back of the front seat but Bill Lawson in the front seat teasingly said, I was trying to hug him.
Everyone laughed but I didn’t think it was funny. I put my arm around Woodrow and braced myself against the back seat.
We got to Lena’s just as it was over. And I must say everyone was surprised, or a better word was shocked.
Lena got married down in the pasture field, under a beautiful old tree, alongside a small Creek. She had on a white dress, she had her hair in a bun on top of her head with some flowers in it, she carried a bouquet of wild flowers.
The man she married was the biggest shock. He was about her age, not as tall as she was, but heavy set, not fat, just big bone, partly bald. He had on a suit, white shirt, and tie. He was a nice looking man except for, like her, he had a mouthful of rotten teeth. His name was Wheeler, except for that no one knew where he came from or anything about him.
Everyone was invited into the house for a piece of wedding cake, but we didn’t stay, saying we wanted to get back to the dance.
We went back to the dance, but there wasn’t many people there, mostly older married people.
Boyd Smith was driving the car, he said, “let’s go for a drive.” And he drove 3 hours, then he took Dora and I home. As we got out of the car, Woodrow said “you sure you weigh only 90 pounds, my legs are paralyzed.” And he had his arm on my shoulder using me as a crutch pretending like he couldn’t walk.
Boyd Smith loudly said “come on Woody, let’s go.” And Woodrow said “goodbye kid, take care,” “I’ll see you sometime,” and for some unknown reason I didn’t know why, I ran to him, threw my arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips. He said, “whew, you’ll be seeing me again.”
I watched as he got in the car and they drove away.
It’s just 3 weeks later, mother, Dora and I were eating breakfast, talking about the reunion that was to be at the church on Sunday.
When the telephone rang, mother answered it, Dora and I kept on talking, suddenly we noticed mother wasn’t saying anything and she was crying. We knew the phone call was bad news so we waited till mother hung up the phone. She sat down at the table and looked at me and Dora then said “Woodrow Cupp was killed last night” I was stunned, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t swallow. Mother started talking, she said, “the cable on Woodrow’s truck broke, and hit him.” She didn’t know anything else.
I ran out of the door and back over the hill to the big spring, where I cried until I had no more tears, then I went back to the house.
On Sunday, instead of going to the reunion we went to Woodrow’s funeral he lived at Uniontown Pennsylvania but his parents brought him back to Shady Grove West Virginia for burial. Dora and I sat in the back of the church, when it was time to go up to the casket we held each other’s hands when I started to choke, Dora said “cry, dont hold it back.” Somebody put an arm on my shoulder and I turned to look, it was Mary Cupp, behind her was Bill Lawson and Boyd Smith.
As I looked at Woodrow for the last time, I remembered what he had said, “you’ll be seeing me again.” I touched his hand and went back to my seat tears running down my cheeks.
The church was full of people and I think everyone was crying, Woodrow had a lot of friends and relatives.
The weeks that followed was rough, I had my first case of puppy love, and I had been dealt a hard blow, but nobody felt sorry for me. They went on as if nothing happened. Dora was always yelling at me to hurry up, and she always gave me the hardest part to do.
Mentioned in this chapter: Ada Bell Guthrie Boyd 1921-2005, Donald Redburn Moyers 1910-1997, Dora Guthrie McNair 1916-1982, Ruth Guthrie Seese 1912-2007, Wilbur Finley Frankhauser 1870-1957, Clara Bell “Carrie” Maust Guthrie 1889-1965, Mary Grace Cupp _____ – ______, Lena Mae Spiker Wheeler 1889 – 1948, Kenneth Boyd Smith 1928-2011, Mary Lawson 1914 – 1965, Naaman William “Bill” Lawson 1921-2007, Woodrow Wilson Cupp 1912-1936, Dorcey William Wheeler 1881-1968, William Henry Wheeler 1849-1930, Lucinda Caton Wheeler 1863-1934,