Ociee Nash, the Finale

OCIEE NASH, THE FINALE

By:

Milam McGraw Propst

Ociee Nash, the Finale

Published by Milam McGraw Propst at Smashwords

Copyright 2012 by Milam McGraw Propst

Cover Art Copyright 2012 Miss Mae

Cover Art by Miss Mae

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Ociee Nash, the Finale is a work of fiction. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author. Brief quotations may be embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Chapter 1

July 1900: Chattanooga, Tennessee

Ben, where’d you go?

Clutching my traveling bag and Mama’s quilt, I turned in circles frantically searching for my brother in the bustling stranger-packed Chattanooga train terminal. Ben had vanished.

My heart skipped a beat, only to rise up into my throat and choke me.

I swallowed hard and shouted, Ben Nash!

My stomach was churning fast as river rapids. My knees wobbled. He was no where to be seen. The clock above my head chimed 2 o’clock. Bong. Bong. Our train was standing ready to depart in ten minutes. Ten short minutes! Ten minutes until Ben and I would be left behind smack dab in the middle of Tennessee.

I hurried back to the place we stepped off our train from Asheville. Surely my brother would be standing there anxiously waiting for me to find him.

He wasn’t.

Ben was twelve, a full year older than me, but sometimes he acted as if he had no sense whatsoever. I could have kicked myself for letting up and allowing him out of my sight.

Had he been kidnapped? Poor Ben! What if he had fallen under the spell of yet another snake oil salesman like Dr. Lamar Beetlesbum?

I tried to convince myself Ben had simply run ahead of me and managed to find his way to our next train.

Please, Lord, let it be.

With my heart still stuck in my throat tighter than a butter bean in its hull, I spun around and raced back toward our Memphis bound train. How I wished our big brother Fred would magically materialize as he had once before.

You can pop up and surprise me any time now, Fred.

I scanned the huge crowd praying for his strong, welcoming arms.

Hurry up, Fred!

I must have shouted extra loud because a kind lady stopped and asked if I needed her help. My pride took over, and thanking her nicely, I told her no. The second she turned the corner, I could have jerked a knot in my cocky neck.

Of course, I needed help! Ben had managed to lose himself in the Chattanooga terminal. Now, if he hadn’t somehow found our train, we were certain to miss the bloomin’ thing. My mind raced faster than my feet carried me. Poor Papa, he would be beside himself with worry while Aunt Mamie and Uncle Lynch would surely go to pieces blaming themselves for letting us go alone. I burst into tears.

Mama, where are you?

No scent of her lavender embraced me. No loving voice whispered to me. No vision of our mama came down from Heaven. I tried to gather myself together.

Just ahead I saw our train starting up. The engine roared. Its thick black smoke distorted my view of the people boarding.

Pleeeeze be waiting for me, Ben! I gripped both our tickets. Please be there.

No Ben.

ALL ABOARD! shouted the conductor.

I slid sideways into him and jerked on his sleeve.

Please, sir, I said panting and gasping for breath. How long ‘til we leave?

You’re cutting it close, little lady, he replied. Give me your ticket and hurry to your seat.

But, sir, my brother’s gone missing. I can’t leave without Ben!

Best find him quickly, missy. He checked his watch. You have two minutes. We can’t be holding the train for anybody.

I turned and ran into the crowd.

BEN! Ben Nash!

I saw no boys; there were no children whatsoever, just grown people, big people, far bigger than they were supposed to be people. Tears streamed down my face. If not a snake oil salesman, what if my kind Gypsy friend had an evil cousin, one who kidnapped children? Maybe that awful man came into the railroad terminal and carried off my Ben!

Perhaps my brother had somehow talked his way onto another train and was heading out west to California? Ben always dreamed of prospecting for gold. Our family never believed he’d actually go. He loved us too much to leave. Or did he?

Dear Lord, bring Ben to me!

Last call. ALLLL ABOARD for Memphis, Tennessee!

Helpless, I stood and watched our train pull out of the terminal. I envisioned our papa, George Nash, standing at the Memphis station happily awaiting our arrival with a broad smile on his face. He’d be bragging about his Ociee and his Ben to anyone who’d listen. The passengers would begin to file off one by one, everyone but us. Papa would chuckle assuming we were playing a silly trick on him.

The train would empty completely; no Ben and no Ociee ever stepped off. Our papa might drop over dead from disappointment. No, he would not! He’d race onto the train and comb it from top to bottom frantically searching for us children.

What’s wrong, little girl? asked a man in a policeman’s uniform.

My pride melted away as panic shook every bone in my body. I was near about to upchuck.

We missed our train! I screamed waving our tickets in the man’s face.

Now, now, he said in a calming voice. Come with me. I can take care of this for you."

I breathed deeply for the first time.

First, young lady, where’s the other part of your ‘we’?"

That’s just it, Mr. Policeman, my brother is lost!

Lost?

Yes, sir. I’ve searched everywhere for him.

Ocieeeeee, I found you! shouted Ben.

Running through a sea of giant people, he threw his arms around me. I was afraid we were gonna miss our train.

We did.

What?

Ben, the train just left.

All the blood left my brother’s face. He turned whiter than biscuit dough.

Where in the world WERE you, Benjamin Nash?

He stammered, Wellllll, Ociee, I was walking along right behind you, just like you insisted I do.

AND?

I thought I spotted Fred’s railroad friend, Edward, the nice fellow who met us here last month. Naturally, I ran after him.

Without telling me where you were going?

Sorry, Ociee. I was just so excited to see him. Trouble was he didn’t turn out to be Edward.

Really. My flat reply was edged with fury. The very idea he took off without alerting me was how we got into our predicament.

You don’t have to be so fussy, Ociee. Guess what happened next?

What? I growled through clinched teeth.

I spotted a real juggler! Just like the one we saw at the circus in Holly Springs, only this man was a whole lot better. Wish you’d seen him, Ociee. He could juggle eight clubs at a time!

Good for him, I said rolling my eyes at the policeman.

Ben laughed. Don’t you remember that circus’s ferocious bear? He was billed as the most fearsome beast, yet the only thing he did was roll around and grunt at all us children!

"Forget about the bear, Ben! Don’t YOU remember? Don’t you remember we promised Papa and Fred and Aunt Mamie and Uncle Lynch we could make this trip all by ourselves?"

It’s not my fault, Ben replied. YOU got lost, not me.

For pity’s sakes, I said. Then I simply quit trying to reason with him. The fact was we still had to get to Memphis and fast. There, quiet as death, stood the policeman. I had to believe even though we were carrying on like two angry roosters, Ben and I weren’t the first children to be in our situation.

Mr. Policeman, what should we do?

To begin, Mr. Policeman is a nice enough name, but you may call me Sergeant White. More importantly, I think I can get you and your brother on another train. Follow me.

See, Ociee, I knew everything would work out fine, said Ben.

No thanks to you, I fumed.

Ben sighed. Deep down inside, he realized he’d messed up. My brother was stubborn and impulsive, but he was also sweet-spirited. Sometimes Ben’s enthusiasm simply got in the way of his better judgment.

I do remember the funny bear, Ben, I said as we followed Sergeant White. I’m really glad you got to watch the juggler. What other feats could he do?

Feets? He didn’t juggle with his feet, Ociee. He used his hands."

A f-e-a-t is something a person can do, like juggle.

Oh.

As Ben elaborated, I sensed our mama’s closeness. Most likely, she’d been with us for our entire journey. The memory of her smile always brought me comfort. Also, even though train smoke masked her lavender and the terminal’s loud clattering muted her voice, I believed I heard our mama whisper, Good for you, my darling daughter, I’m watching over our Ben along with you.

Unfortunately, these two got separated and missed their connection, announced Sergeant White. They need to catch the next train to Memphis.

You might like to know, mister, we’re not ordinary passengers, I explained. Our big brother Fred Nash works for the Illinois Central. He’s a fireman training to become an engineer.

The ticket man smiled.

I nodded at Ben. We knew full well what I told the man would improve our situation. I was right.

Yes, indeed, young lady. Your brother probably told you we railroad folk look out for one another.

Yes, sireee, said Ben, who’d perked up considerably. My brother knew he was off the hook.

The ticket man pulled his eyeglasses down to the tip of his nose and ran his pen the length of a list of train schedules. Yeeeessss, ah, here. We have it. He looked over his glasses at me and Ben.

"If you two can behave yourselves and stay together, I have a train leaving for Memphis in two hours time."

In no time he handed the policeman our new tickets.

I believe Sergeant White will want to walk you children to where you need to get on. Right, Sergeant?

Even though the kindly policeman said yes, I was miffed the man implied I had misbehaved. I struggled to keep my tongue from spilling out about Ben’s antics. If that wasn’t already difficult enough, my brother made my resolve all the harder by mimicking the fellow saying, If you TWO can behave.

What’s that, son? asked the ticket man.

"We two will be good as gold, sir."

I’m sure you will.

As we stepped outside the ticket office where neither he nor Sergeant White could see me, I kicked Ben’s leg.

Ouch!

Anything wrong? asked the policeman.

No, sir, we both responded with sing-songy voices.

We followed Sergeant White through the busy terminal.

Now, sit yourselves on this bench for forty-five minutes, he said pointing to a large clock. I will come back by and check on you, said Sergeant White. You must stay put.

Yes, sir, said Ben.

I promised, too.

Once the policeman was out of sight, Ben said, Ociee, I’m truly sorry I caused this disaster.

It’s all right, I could tell my brother was being sincere.

Fearful my temper might take over, and I’d give him up the creek for being so foolish, I fetched my journal from my traveling bag.

As we left Asheville this morning, Aunt Mamie came riding down Charlotte Street on Elizabeth Murphy’s bicycle! It was a grand and very funny sight to behold. Uncle Lynch had to catch her as she screeched to a stop in front of the railroad station. She was carrying the Milam Madstone! We all jumped up and down cheering. After thinking I’d lost the magic stone forever, I did not want to let it out of my sight. As soon as our train pulled out of the station, I retrieved it from my bag and held it with both hands.

Our trip went fine. Tired as Ben and I were, we slept much of the way. I nodded off and missed saying goodbye to the Blue Ridge Mountains. We awakened just before arriving in Chattanooga and reminisced about our visit with Aunt Mamie and Uncle Lynch and Elizabeth, and how much we both liked getting to know Oli McBride.

I tossed down my writing pen. Just where do you think you’re going, Ben?

I can’t keep sitting here, Ociee. My nervous feet are making me wiggle all over.

Walk with me to the telegraph office. I need to send Papa a telegram. We have enough time before Sergeant White comes back.

Are you gonna tell Papa what happened?

No, I don’t have enough money to pay for all the words I’d need!

Ben hung his head.

I’m sorry, Ben. Reckon I’m still kinda mad at you.

As we walked, I continued to look backwards to make sure I knew exactly where to return. Wish I’d thought to drop crumbs like the children did in Hansel and Gretel.

Suddenly Ben took off.

Wait up! I screamed.

Ben stopped. I was just checking to see if you were paying attention.

I pursed my lips. "Sometimes I wonder how I got to be