Excerpt From Step One
of this fact-based novel of discovery and loss

by Marcia K.
Novel includes treasured family recipes, old and new!

This morning had started out like any other. After a meager breakfast of burnt
biscuits and scorched coffee, Edd Gillen prepared to set out for a long day. He
lifted the worn leather gun belt from the hook behind his chair and strapped on
his 45's. They looked like toy guns on the big man.

Edd bent down to drop a kiss on top of his 9-year old namesake's head. Edna looked
up at her daddy, and he took in her chameleon eyes, sea green this morning playing
off of a pale blue sweater.

"You be good, Edna-Modene", his deep baritone voice joining her first and middle
names, an endearment only he used. It made her feel special.

She took up her post at the front room window, parting the chintz curtains to
watch her daddy as long as possible. Dark clouds scudded overhead.

Edd saddled up Jezebel, swung himself up on her back and set off for his morning
stint as part-time constable for the small coal mining town of Adamsville,
Oklahoma, population 2387. By three in the afternoon the promised storm had
failed to materialize, and Edd was hard at work at the mine, on the outskirts of town.
Walking home from school, Edna heard the dynamite blasts he was setting off, to
expose the pits for the next day's mining effort. Between the two jobs of town
constable and as shotfirer' at the mine, Edd made enough money to keep body and
soul together, but it left him precious little time with his wife and daughter. He
wouldn't get home until nearly suppertime.

As Edna neared the family's small, two-story house, she could make out Ruby's
diminutive form in the front window, arms folded across her chest. Looking at her
now, Edna knew she could never call Ruby mama, no matter what her daddy wanted.
To her, Ruby was just the woman her daddy had married. Ruby wasn't her mama.
Lily was her mama. And Lily was dead and gone, buried in a dark hole in Adamsville
Cemetery.

For nearly five years now, Edna had puzzled over what she could have done that
was so wicked that her mama would abandon her forever. For a long time she hoped
and prayed her mama would forgive her and return. And her father would smile a
real smile and their family would be whole again. But at nine years old, Edna had let
go of that dream. She knew better now. Now there was Ruby, but no mama. No, Edna
didn't have a mama. Not anymore.

Ruby turned from the window, as if the view had been tainted, and Edna further
slowed her pace. Even in winter's chill, it would be too early to expect to find the
door unlocked. Edna perched on the stone wall that rimmed the curved approach to
the house, and scratched lazy circles in the parched earth with a stick, waiting. She
didn't want to go in anyway. It didn't feel like home anymore.

The dark wood frame building had once made a perfect backdrop for Lily's colorful
patchwork of flowers. Lily had lovingly cultivated vigorous hollyhocks that stood on
tippy-toe to reach the eaves. Flower beds overflowed with deep purple irises, or
'flags', framed with splotches of orange and gold gaillardia, Oklahoma's state
wildflower, so readily available. Lily was a great believer in using what's at hand.
"Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without", she would admonish Edna, playfully.

Now the flowers were mostly gone. Only a handful of gaillardia straggled wildly near
the water pump, mingling with a few 'volunteer' morning glories that clamored up the
handle every spring. The property was barren in comparison to years gone by. Too
many hot Oklahoma summers without Lily's care. Flowers, like little girls, need love
and a nurturing hand.

The first edges of twilight began to wrap around the faded house, perched alone
near the top of the hill. Supper was almost ready and soon Jezebel would labor up
the steep road, bearing her weary master home. Ruby had unlocked the door and
allowed Edna inside to do her chores. It wouldn't do for Edd to come home and find
the door locked against his precious daughter. The locked door was their secret.
Daddy was not to be bothered with Edna's transgressions that led to her banishment
whenever Edd was away.

But tonight Edd did not come riding up the dirt road. Instead, the sound the whole
town feared, the long low whistle that announced a mine disaster sounded in the
distance. Whole families poured out of their homes and headed for mine number 27,
the only mine still in operation. Each one dreaded the news, but they had to know.
They all had loved ones who had worked the mines and they shared a common bond
as close as that of any family. Their souls were inextricably linked.

All of Adamsville had heard the multiple blasts reverberating through the hills.
Today, by this time, most of the men had returned home safe to their families. Even
Edna knew there was only one man who would still be at the mine.

Edna fled to her room and fell across her bed. She cowered under the weight of the
covers, clutching the rag doll her mama had made for her, waiting for her world to
fall apart. She didn't have to wait long.

About Famished Heart

References and Hot List

Contact Information

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About Famished Heart

Pertaining to U. S. Indian Boarding Schools
Indian Boarding Schools and "Let all that is Indian within you die"

Pertaining to Orphan Trains
Orphan Trains of Kansas and The Orphan Train Experience

Pertaining to Latvian Culture
Latvian Names and "Name Day" and Latvian Cuisine

Personal Sites

Visit Our Rockin' 50's Drive-In Webpage

Marcia's "Minglement" - Quilts & Crafts

Meet the Red-Headed Tap Dancing Librarians

History of the Cherokee
Cherokee Links, including genealogy

for further information, please contact the author at:
madfeese@lucernevalley.net
Return to Famished Heart Home Page:

Thank you David Bristol, for your
help with "empty apple" graphic!

visits since 25 May 2002