Preface: The First Glance

The wind was blowing hard against the old farm house in the middle of the field off of Parrish Lane. It wasn't the prettiest house in the county, but it had been in the family for four generations back, the farm even longer. Farming, drinking and going to church were the only things to do in Miner's Fork, Tennessee.

Their farm was not large but they did have a little bit of everything; One cow, some pigs, four chickens, a couple of llamas, some sheep and a few goats. There the family grew their own crops here. You name it, and it was in the garden or in the fields. Inside the old blue and white farm house with the beaten porch lived the Baxter family.

The father, Mark, was a Pastor for the local church, Our Saving Grace. His wife, Lillian, was a teacher at the elementary school and taught Sunday School as well. The Baxter's  had three children who were their pride and joy. John was the oldest, then Matthew and Theresa was last; she was their little girl and Mark doted on her like she was a princess. Mark practiced what he preached, he taught his children to love and fear God, anything other than Christianity did not exist in his world.

The wind rattling her window is what woke little Theresa in the middle of the night. She quietly got out of her bed and tip toed across the shadow laden room. When she approached the window she couldn't see for a few moments, the light pouring in was due to the giant lamp post her father and brothers had installed. After her eyes had adjusted to the change of lighting, she peered out into the yard. First she gazed at the barn wondering if Bessie was frightened by the winds.

She was staring out in space thinking of nothing but childish non-sense. Suddenly, something moved in front of the barn's doors, looking oddly like a person. Theresa didn't get a good look, and glanced at her clock. The display read 2:57 AM in jarringly red color. No one should be up quite yet, Papa won't wake up for at least another hour and he won't wake up John and Matt till at least 5:00 AM. Theresa looked back to the windows hoping she would get another chance at seeing who was wandering around her farm. She stood there in front of her window till her legs got tired. Just as she was about to give up and chalk it up to sleepiness, she saw something move just a little.

Stretching onto her tiptoes, she was attempting to wake her legs and get a better view of who was out there. Whoever it was seemed to know when she was looking because every time it moved and she would search for it, it would stop. She was getting very tired of this. She quietly crept through her room, slowly opening her door. Here she paused for a second to make sure no one else was awake. She walked very softly down the hallway, and started her descent down the stairs doing her absolute best to avoid the squeaky planks. When she made it to the bottom she paused again, making sure she didn't disturb her mama and papa. She would be in a lot of trouble if she was caught out of bed at this time of night. She approached the back door that faced the barn, and peering through the window she could see something moving around the far side. She grasped the door knob and turned, pulling the door slowly, hoping it wouldn't make too much noise. She didn't have to worry about the porch door as it was practically brand new.

She was out in the yard before she could talk herself out of it. It was chillier than she thought it would be for late August. She wrapped her arms around herself as she quickly trotted across the yard. When she got to the barn she slowed down a bit, she didn't want to spook whoever was messing around. She walked around to the back of the barn hoping the person would have their back to her. As she rounded the corner she could see that the person was messing with Bessie through the window. At first she thought the person was trying to hurt Bessie, then she realized they were petting her and whispering to her. Theresa moved closer to the mystery person, the closer she got, the more she could see of them. 

The figure was hard to make out, Theresa thought They were older, that she could tell by the way they carried themselves. They were wearing aged overalls and a gray or white shirt, it was hard to tell in the shadows of the barn. The person must have either heard Theresa move or sensed her because they turned to face her.

It's Pop pop!!!!! I haven't seen him in so long and I have missed him. Theresa ran to her grandfather with her arms wide open.

"No Theresa, you can't hug me right now, you are not supposed to see me"

" But why Poppop? Don't you miss me?"

"Of course I do little one. Why are you out here this late?"

"The wind woke me up and I was looking out my window and I saw you. I had to make sure nothing ill was going on out here but I'm glad it was you."

"Little one you should not be out here, you need to go back inside where it is safe. Poppop will come to see you tomorrow, ok?"

"I will only go in if you walk with me Poppop."

"Of course a gentlemen always walks his lady to the door."

Poppop and Theresa walked quickly across the yard to the back door. The whole time Poppop kept looking all around them as if he expected something to jump out and yell Boo! at any moment. He opened the door for her and gently pushed her through the door way and got down on her level.

"I will be here tomorrow night at 12:00 you will have to let me in and then we can talk. Ok, little one?" he whispered to her.

"Yes, Poppop. I will be here with bells on." Theresa quietly went to her room, laid in bed and had dreams of her and Poppop playing. Little did she know that this would be one of the last times she slept in her own home.