The Ridge: The Whisper of the Leaves - Chap. 47

“Sim.”

“Marsh.”

I didn't see my father come up behind us as Mr. Borden and I sat on the bench. I felt him put his hand on my shoulder though and could smell the pipe which he had already lit and was puffing.

“How ya been doin’, Sim?”

At 67, my father's voice had lost little of the strength which I had heard in it for years. And other than being a little grayer, he looked and acted pretty much as I had always remembered him. Old age seemed to be coming on him slower than with other men, and he was making the most of it.

"Fine, Marsh," Mr. Borden said as he stood and shook my dad's hand. "Real sorry about Miz Edna."

"Thank ya, Sim."

"I was just tellin' Mark some of the things that happened when we were kids."

"That so?"

My father looked at me a long moment then back at Mr. Borden.

"Yea, he wanted to know about James. So, I was tellin' them all about ya brother."

My father only nodded slowly, then after a moment I saw the slightest hint of a curl form at the corner of his mouth. At the same time, the sad, tiredness his eyes had exhibited since my grandmother’s death suddenly looked a little sadder and more tired.

But he held this look for only a moment then his eyes lifted as he looked up at the cloudless sky. He studied it for only a moment then slowly his head came down and he was staring off in the distance toward the Ridge.

And there his eyes remained as he took a long drag on the pipe then blew out a long stream of smoke.

“Ya know,” He almost whispered. “Tonight, just might be a good night.”

“For what?” Mr. Borden asked after a moment and I couldn’t help but grin at the question, for I knew.

“For a coon hunt, Sim,” Dad said feigning surprise Mr. Borden didn’t know what he meant. He then glanced with a grin then looked back at the Ridge. “For a coon hunt, Sim. I was thinking about gettin’ the dogs up and seein’ if I could go up on the Ridge tonight and scare up a coon or two.”

He hesitated a moment then asked Mr. Borden, “Ya wanna go?”

“No-o-o, not me, Marsh. Too much walkin' fer me. Thanks, though.”

“Well, how about it, Bub?” Dad turned to me. “Been a while since we went out huntin’ together.”

As I looked at him something in his face was a little different. He was still my dad and I was still his son, but there was something more now…..something beyond just the blood tie we had. I now knew what had happened so long ago and that knowledge had changed both of at least a little.

Of course, it would have been fine with my dad if I had never known about the events in the pool hall and all the things that happened in those two weeks afterward. He would have had no problem with me never hearing about a marine named Sgt. Parker, or about two Lawrence girls, one as evil as her father and the other who ended up having a little bit of good in her. And most of all, it wouldn’t have bothered my dad if I had never heard about a man named Cubby Lawrence.

But I had learned about all of those things and more and in doing so, I had gained even more respect for this man just about everyone called Marsh. But who I just called….Dad.

“Sure, Dad,” I answered, grinning a ridiculously broad grin. “Sure?”