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Carl Ward remembers a 'Mountain Wedding'

For this Valentine's issue, Carl Ward of Sylva shares his short story "Mountain Wedding" taken from his 'Smoky Mountain Haze' collection.

By Carl Ward

Heart and quote graphic The mating call has a universal effect on all animals - man is no exception. When the affliction strikes, an otherwise sane individual starts behaving in irrational ways that, under normal conditions, would be considered childish at best and insane at worst!

The folks who lived in the wild headwaters of Bark Town Creek were no different than the rest of the world when it came to seeking and securing a mate. The Jones family lived on the Left Prong of the creek. A mile away, past the Smith homestead to the west, resided the Brooks clan. Both families had a house full of children. The Jones were blessed with mostly boys, while the Brooks were over run with daughters.
Ike Jones was 18 years old when the "love bug" bit him. The object of his affection, Laura Brooks, was 14.

They acted pretty well normal until they got around each other- then they moved into another world. It didn't matter if they met at the store, church or on the trail; it was always the same. These chance meetings went on throughout the spring.

As summer season arrived and the farm work slacked off, Ike took to visiting the Brooks household every weekend. He normally arrived on Saturday evening just after supper. Then he started arriving earlier so he could eat with the family. The couple didn't hold hands and such - just sat about or walked around the place under the pretense of looking at the orchard or the livestock.

When darkness set in, Ike would hit the trail towards home to rest for the next day's work. By today's standards and customs, it was a most peculiar courtship indeed.

In the meantime, Tom Smith had remarried and left the valley to live in the village with his new bride. This left the Smith farm and house open for someone else to rent or buy. As the weeks went by the couple became more serious about their intentions, and both youngsters approached their parents with the idea that they were considering marriage. The parents allowed that it was what was right and set about securing the Smith place as a rental farm for the couple.

By the time of the first frost, all was in order. The preacher was due shortly to take his monthly rounds and a letter was sent out telling him there would be a "marrying" when he next came to the valley. All was set for the big day.

While waiting for the preacher, the families cleaned the Smith house and outfitted it with enough necessary furnishings for the couple to survive. Both families donated part of their winter supplies with promises of corn and fodder to be added later in the fall.

Everyone seemed happy about the event except for the Jones brothers. They full well knew that their life would now be harder since they had to divide up the work that was handled by Ike. They were going to get even - one way or the other.

On the day of the wedding Ike and Laura were scrubbed and sporting new clothes - courtesy of their mothers. Everyone met at the Brooks place in the middle of the afternoon and sat quietly talking, drinking and scuffling around waiting for the big event and the supper that would come afterwards.

When the older Jones boys got all the corn liquor they could hold, they began plotting against their brother. They finally slipped away from the small crowd and headed out the trail towards the new couples' home - the old Smith place. They were gone about an hour, then quietly slipped back into the gathering.

The ceremony finally was consummated and the dancing and eating phase of the activity got under way. The merry making lasted until sundown. At that point the couple said their good-byes and rode the traditional rail up the trail towards their new home. The serenaders soon left the newly weds to their own devises and returned to the party.

When they opened the door Ike and Laura found brush piled about on the floor, wet creek rocks piled in the bed, the fire had been watered out, Ike's bear dogs had been shut up in the kitchen and the milk cow was standing on the back porch tied to the back door latch. The place was a disaster.

Laura put Ike to work cleaning up the mess. She lit a candle with their one remaining match and joined in the effort. Sometime up into the night they had done enough to inhabit the place and went on to bed. When morning arrived they finished straightening the place up and headed for the Jones farm carrying along an iron pot to fetch back some fire coals on their return trip. It was a poor way to start off married life, but, being pragmatic mountaineers, they walked to the source of their troubles to settle the issue. It was a quiet trip filled with seething anger that needed to be vented.

Ike and Laura arrived just at dinner time (noon) and were expected to join in the meal. They did - reluctantly. Everyone at the table knew something was wrong. Only four of them knew what.

When the meal was finished, Ike took his father out back of the house and told him what had happened. After a bit of talk the two were able to figure out exactly who had pulled off the stunt. The father said that he would punish the boys. Ike said not to bother, that it was between the three of them and he would handle it. Then Ike called for his two older brothers to come out and join them.

When Ike accused the boys, they just "horse laughed" him. That did it. Ike went after both of them. When he finished his job, both brothers were on the ground and all three sported a variety of busted noses and black eyes! The three dragged themselves down to the creek and cleaned up their faces. That was when Ike told them never to set foot on his place again. He went to the house, got his pot of coals, his wife, and headed back home.

The brothers never did settle their differences as far as anyone knew. The two older brothers left for other parts of the world, and Ike spent his life in the community barely grubbing a living from the harsh mountainside farm.

Long after the names were lost to memory, folks talked about the tricks pulled on the two young folks on their wedding night.

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