Gem of the Mountain

A Story by S.A. Rollison

Pennies. That oh so familiar metallic taste of Rabbit's own blood filled her mouth. She had bit her cheek while rough housing with Butch. Sitting in the dirt where he had shoved her, overalls dirty from an afternoon of playing, Rabbit refused to stay down. "Is that all you got?" she spat blood on the ground as she spoke.

The girl was fiery. Nothing to disregard. Rabbit had never learned how to back down or when she pushed people too far. If it weren’t for the copper locks plaited on either side of the freckled twelve-year old’s head most people would have thought she was a boy.

"I don't have time for baby games Rebecca! you're gonna get yourself hurt." Butch had grown a few inches over the summer of 1942 and the boy was full of himself. He had been bossing Rabbit around all day.

Butch and Rabbit had been friends and rivals since the dawn of time. Racing and scrapping. Today was no different. It was a hot September day in Tennessee. Butch lived up the road from Rabbit and they were supposed to be making their way home from school. They had taken their daily detour which took them along the creek bed at the base of Coalminer's Mountain.

"Don't ever call me that again, EUGENE!" Rabbit had pulled out the big guns. Butch's legal name had been a closely regarded family secret, one that Butch had been stupid enough to tell Rabbit. Everyone knew Rabbit's name was Rebecca, they also knew better than to call her so.

"Why I oughta...! Come here Rabbit! Ima show you what for!" Butch yelled as his long legs carried him the short distance to Rabbit. He was a tall strapping boy of 13. Chestnut hair grew in ringlets, which bobbed carelessly in the wind. Like most inhabitants of the county, there was Cherokee blood in Butch. This fact was responsible for his summer tanned skin and high cheekbones.

The girl knew to stay just out of Butch's reach. If he caught her she might not be able to struggle away. Rabbit's sole satisfaction in life was driving Butch crazy and living to fight another day.

"You can't catch me!" Rabbit sang as she deftly leaped from flat rock to flat rock across the shallow creek.

"I can and will little girl and when I do you'll be sorry!" Butch was clumsily making his way across the creek after Rabbit, soaking the bottom of his jeans in the process.

Rabbit had already made it across the creek and up the embankment. She danced quickly up the hillside leading to the trees which covered the base of Coal Miner's mountain. Always just out of Butch's reach. Then it happened, the fiddle came out.

"Hey there, Fall down boy! You look so sad cause you broke your toys!" Rabbit voice rang out between the trees. The vibrations of the fiddle, emphasized the taunting ditty.

Butch stopped dead in his tracks. "Rabbit you put Lucine away, you know that's not fair!"

Fiddling had been something Rabbit's family had prided themselves in. Less than a hobby and more of an internal language. Fiddles kept food in their fields and money in their pockets. They fought with fiddles. Rumor had it that Rabbit's grandmother Mee Maw, who was a bit of a Mountain witch, could even heal with fiddles. Many a fevered bed side had been occupied by Mee Maw and Daniel Boone, Mee Maw’s fiddle's name.' There was magic in them fiddles', Butch thought to himself.

"Hey there Fall Down boy! You look so sad and lonely boy! Trip and Fall and Curse them all! They're aint no Joy for a Fall Down Boy!" as the notes fired out of the fiddle Butch was stumbling up the hillside after Rabbit. Every time Rabbit sang this familiar chorus Butch had a mysterious fit of clumsiness and fell down or stumbled over a rock that he hadn't seen before.

"Remember what I said the last time you tried to witch me!" shouted Butch, as he struggled against the rhythm. "If I catch up to you it'll be the last time you see Lucine in one piece!"

Rabbit's feet knew it was time to bail. Her family’s fiddles were closer to pets or familiars. She couldn't risk anything happening to Lucine. Rabbit would make a break through the forest, then a shortcut through the field and then she would be safe at Mee Maws.

As they climbed steadily high up the trees grew dense. The sun had trouble penetrating the forest floor and it was significantly cooler and shady. Rabbit's shoes felt squelchy trapping on the damp ground. Her feet narrowly escaped getting caught on the gnarly roots of the trees which carpeted the base of the mountain. She popped Lucine back into the quiver she had made for her and ran without looking back.

Rabbit's family knew the woods well. They had lived there for generations. Most of her family were coal miners at some point in their lives, up until they shut the mine down twenty years ago. Her uncles showed her the way of forest. Where the abandoned entrances to coal tunnels were. Which animals could hurt you and which berries to eat. Rabbit could hide all day from Butch if she wanted to, she certainly had before.

“This is the last straw Rabbit!”, Butch called out from a distance. “That’s it! I’m going home and we aint pals no more! I don’t need to hang around babies anyways!”

Rabbit was listening close to the woods, expecting Butch to come at her again. All she heard was a bit of falling rubble from downhill. An animal maybe, she though nothing more of it.

Suddenly the wind changed. Rabbit realized their playful chase had eaten away at the day and the sun had begun to dip beyond the horizon. There was no sound from Butch's direction and she realized she was alone on the side of the mountain. A chill fog was rolling in deep from the creek bed.

Butch had probably grown tired of the chase and made his way back home. The game had lost its joy and Rabbit headed home. More than likely their feud would resume tomorrow after school.

Rabbit squeezed under the slats in the fence which formed the property lines which defined her family’s land. She had made it back to the house just as the sun had completely disappeared behind the mountains.

The Wickets had lived on this land for generations. There were three houses total on the land plus a barn for the livestock. One of the homes was occupied by her uncle and her cousins. The main house was occupied by Rabbits mother and father and her baby brother Cal. The third was a small cottage at the back of the property which was inhabited by Rabbit’s Grandmother Mee Maw.

Having a separate place for Mee Maw worked for everyone. People from the entire county knew about Mee Maw. She was a woman of all trades. Midwife. Doctor. People knew her as a fixer. The cottage enabled her to run her business as she pleased. Her clients could access the cottage from a small path that led off the main road for confidentiality.

It was this trail which Rabbit was traveling now. Her parents were used to Rabbit taking supper with Mee Maw. They knew Mee Maw and Rabbit had a special relationship and a kind of apprenticeship. Someone would need to learn the family business and as Mee Maw had no daughters of her own, Rabbit would have to do.

Although, Rabbit had shown a fair bit of raw talent growing up. The moment she could hold the fiddle she knew what to do with it. She would chase mice from the garden and make a breeze come when it was warm. Plucking out basic rhythms and childlike rhymes, much like the one she had used against Butch today.

The cottage glowed like a jack o’ lantern as she approached. Ivy had overgrown it almost completely obscuring the logs which form the small A frame dwelling. It was ancient just like Mee Maw. It was where their family had started. The cottage was where Rabbit’s father and uncle had been born. Rabbit’s Paw Paw was buried just around the back of building next to the massive herb garden which provide Mee Maw with her necessaries.

The door swung open easily, Rabbit knew it was never locked. The small cottage smelled like the lavender that was drying from the low ceiling beams. The wood burning in the small stone fireplace made the little one room house the coziest place in Rabbit’s world.

There was a small table between two squishy chairs in front of the fireplace. On the table were two bowls of piping hot soup and some crusty bread. “Have a bad day?” inquired Mee Maw still facing the fire. She always seemed to know when Rabbit was there or how she had been feeling.

“Not too bad, but I think I made Butch mad. He must of stormed off home.”, admitted Rabbit.

“Using Lucine again?” Mee Maw always knew when Rabbit had been naughty. “Didn’t I tell you not to use her on other people? Certainly not for teasing boys, why that’s an improper use of your talents”

“I know Mee Maw I know.”, muttered Rabbit as she sank into the chair opposite the fire so she could look at Mee Maw.

The old woman’s log silver hair had been plaited into two long braids and woven with red and green ribbons. The bowler hat Mee Maw wore had belonged to Rabbits Paw Paw and had a crows feather tucked in its brown suede band. She was a solid woman, who still sat tall and strong despite her age. No one was really sure of how old exactly Mee Maw was, as she was older than everyone Rabbit knew. Firelight flicker on her brown lined face. A face that told of the many babies she had delivered and the many folks she had outlived.

“Well, Mee Maw” Rabbit tried to explain herself, “Butch thinks he’s all grown now and I just wanted to take him down a peg or two!”

“It aint your job to teach Butch no lessons! Only lessons you need to fret about are your own.”, pointed out Mee Maw “Something’s in the wind you know. You can’t even break a fever with Lucine yet. What are you supposed to do if something really dangerous comes along?”

Bug, Mee Maw’s prized bloodhound gazed up mournful from the carpet in front of the fire. Bloodhounds only had one expression and it was always pretty mournful but this time he seemed as if he knew something Rabbit didn’t. A log crackled in the fireplace, emphasizing the growing silence between Rabbit and Mee Maw.

After a few quiet minutes Mee Maw spoke up, “I think it’s time I taught you something useful on Lucine.”

“Really!” Rabbit spoke with excitement, “Like chasing Snakes away or attracting Butterflies?” She had seen Mee Maw do this on occasion.

“No, I said something useful. Those are just more parlor tricks for lazy summer days. Now eat your stew and then bring me Daniel Boone.”

After eating Rabbit did as she was told and brought Daniel Boone down from his shelf on the wall. Daniel Boone was as old as Mee Maw at least. His weathered cherry wood still sang true though and many a night Rabbit had been serenaded to still by the ancient fiddle. She handed him with care to Mee Maw and waited on the edge of her seat for her lesson to begin.

“There is a song, as old as these mountains.” Mee Maw tuned Daniel Boone as she spoke, “Just a tune before it had words, which people used to cast away demons and witches.”

“I thought you said witches weren’t bad. Just a bad word made up by men folk for a good thing they don’t understand”, Rabbit had heard Mee Maw say this in defense of her trade many times.

“You’re half right my Jack-rabbit.” Mee Maw smiled warmly at her granddaughter. “But just like there are good and bad people, there are good and bad witches.”

Something in the fire popped loudly and startled the girl. Bug lifted his head slowly at the noise and then slowly replaced it on the carpet. Rabbit bit her lips and shuttered as she listened. Imagining someone as powerful as Mee Maw but evil was terrifying.

“Anyway there are certain weapons that come as a song. Weapons which can hurt people, just like the one you used on your friend Butch. Whom you must apologize to first thing tomorrow.” Mee Maw looked at Rabbit sharply to emphasize her point.

“Yes Mee Maw” Rabbits head lowered in shame. Butch had been right, using Lucine on him just wasn’t fair.

“Now you just dry those eyes and open your ears Jack Rabbit and you might just learn a thing or two. Tune Lucine up and repeat after me.” Mee Maw placed her gnarled fingers carefully on Daniel Boones neck, while drawing the bow slowly across the strings to check the tuning. Then she began.

Rabbit was a fast learner and picked up on the eerie tune quickly. Mee Maw always taught her the tune before the words. Mee Maw had always said the words weren’t where the power was, it was in the tune. A tune on Daniel Boone could save someone or put someone in their grave.

“Keep playin’ Rabbit.” They practiced long into the night. Mee Maw’s eyes were closed. Her head cocked to one side she was listening hard for something in the music. Something that couldn’t be heard. “You must get stronger. Lots out in these hills and valleys, a fiddler needs at least one or two ditty’s ready.”

“Will you teach me the words soon?” asked Rabbit sleepily. Bug was now snoring soundly on the carpet and the fire had burned down to its last ember.

“Words will come to you when you need them, just keep playing” Mee Maw listened with a faraway gaze until Rabbit’s head was bobbing in and out of sleep. With withered hands she took Lucine away from Rabbit just before the fiddle hit the floor. Mee Maw could not shake the feeling that something bad was brewing under those mountains.

“Let’s pray you learned something tonight my Jack Rabbit.” Mee Maw whispered to the walls as she covered her granddaughter in an old quilt and blew out the small oil lamp on the table.

The next day Butch was not outside his house as usual for school. Rabbit waiting outside the fence for a few minutes, until she got fed up and decided he must have left early in a huff. Fine, Butch was still she mad at her, thought Rabbit. This put Rabbit in a foul mood. As most foul moods went, they came from knowing you have done something wrong and not knowing how to undo it.

Rabbit arrived at the small red school house ready to either apologize or punch Butch square in the jaw for not giving her the option to apologize sooner. Butch was nowhere in sight.

Maybe he had left late to avoid her instead, thought Rabbit. As the school room filled up, Rabbit noticed Butch was not at his desk. By the time class had started he had not arrived. Butch was home sick, or as Rabbit suspected he was playing hooky in the woods. If Butch wasn’t so mad at her she would be out there with him. This fact fueled Rabbit’s inner tempest.

The day was long and hot. When it was finally over, Rabbit decided to go straight home. She would not look for Butch in the woods. He could go on festering over the incident for all Rabbit cared now. Also the girl had other things to do, like go home and help Pa with tooling on things.

Rabbit’s Pa was a fixer too, but of a different sort. Just like Mee Maw, folk came from all around to have Rabbit’s Pa fix random odds and ends for them. People brought everything under the sun which had broken and Pa would miraculously fix it. Tractors, iceboxes, once someone had even brought him a television set. Pa had never even seen one, but somehow managed to repair it.

Rabbit liked to help her Pa tool things up, as he called it. Mostly Rabbit would just pass him tools and listen to Pa’s tall tales. Often her tiny fingers would help him inside of engines where he couldn’t reach.

“How goes it Jack Rabbit?” Pa’s voice was coming from under the body of a Ford he was fixing for Mr. Wilkinson. Wilkinson owned the pharmacy in town and was trading for goods. Most people in the area did their business this way. Rabbit’s Pa had been payed in eggs or beer many a time.

“Ok, I guess” said Rabbit pulling on her own braids. A habit she had when she was less than forthcoming.

Pa rolled out from under the truck, “That bad, huh.”

“Had a little tiff with Butch yesterday in the woods and haven’t seen him since” admitted Rabbit.

“Haven’t I told you to be mindful of those woods?! Not to go crossing over the creek.” Pa’s tone was stern as he stood up. A small man, Pa could seem quite tall when he wanted to be.

“Yes, but we were being careful. You and Uncle Boyd taught me well enough. Besides I wouldn’t have crossed it if Butch wasn’t gunning after Lucine.”

“What Lucine got to do with this?” demanded Pa. “You been fiddling against Butch?” Pa grabbed Rabbit by her shoulders and gave her a hard look in the eyes. “Now I’m not gonna repeat myself after this. You are not to go using your fiddle on people and you are not to go messin’ in those woods beyond the creek! Understand me Jack Rabbit”

“Yessir” Rabbit lowered her head to her father, she knew when she was licked. “But why Pa, what’s in the woods to be scared of?”

Pa leaned up against the Ford. This was the stance he took when he was about to tell a story. Rabbit had heard mostly tall tales from him. Winter’s cold enough to freeze your soup in front of you and the like. Though something in Pa’s face told Rabbit this was a true story. Those were the ones really worth listening to.

“It was a long time ago, around 1921 when the mine was young and the mountain was ripe. Men moved here from miles around to get work mining. Gold first and when that ran out coal. Mining was a dangerous job and many men died in the mine, but some met a different fate.”, Pa’s eye cast downward as she spoke, remembering.

“What happened to them?” Rabbit asked, leaning against an old heap of parts.

“There was a rumor of a spirit living in the mine. Something old and vengeful. Tired of being taken from the mine wanted it’s due.”

“They called her the Gem of the Mine, those unlucky enough to fall under her spell. A witch, powerful and beautiful. Young handsome men and boys would start to stay longer and longer in the caves.”

“Ghosts started coming home instead, hallowed out versions of themselves. They stopped eating and started stealing things from their homes to bring back to the spirit of the mountain. Then they stopped coming home altogether.”

“But didn’t people go looking for the Gem, to stop her?” Rabbit questioned her father with brows knit in fear. A feeling in the pit of her stomach had come up. A cold icy fear, without knowing why.

“There were search parties each time. Each time nothing.” Stated Rabbits father wiping his hands on an old piece of flannel he kept in the pocket of his jump suit. “Their wives and mothers came to see your Mee Maw, she looked at the leaves for them,” said Pa nodding in the direction of Rabbit’s Grandmother’s cottage, “but she saw nothing. There was no hope in the bottom of the tea cup.”

“Well, the disappearances must have stopped somehow Pa.” Rabbit spoke adamantly, clearly men and boys didn’t just pop up missing anymore.

“A boy named Peter. He was the last to go missing, only twelve.”, Pa almost whispered this. His eyes cast downward wringing the flannel. Rabbit knew her father must have known Peter, it was there in his face.

“The town was done. They blew several of the shafts in the areas the boys had last been seen, in an attempt to end it. Some entrances were blocked up completely. That was when the mountain dried up. It gave no more coal and took no more men. Those shafts have been abandoned for nigh on twenty years.”, finished Pa.

“But if it’s all sealed up and such, why shouldn’t we be free to play in the woods?” asked Rabbit, more to put that icy feeling to rest than anything.

“I think she is still in there somewhere, hungry and mad as hell”, Pa said “and it’s not you I’d be worried about.” He was holding back; Rabbit knew what he wasn’t saying. Pa didn’t want the same fate for Butch as his friend Peter.

“Anyway Jack Rabbit, this Ford aint gonna fix itself. Why don’t you go help your Ma with something, I’m sure she’s need a hand with supper.”, Pa quickly rolled underneath the truck signifying the end of the conversation.

That night, after putting away the food and washing up, Rabbit lay down to sleep. The girl tossed in turned, she was lost in a dream. Rabbit felt the oppression of being deep underground. Walking what felt like forever, as she went deeper the air got thinner and thinner. Music, some old timey tune she couldn’t place. It echoed in Rabbit’s dream, filling her mind with fear. Just when she thought she would keep walking forever, Rabbit turned a sharp corner.

“I’m so happy to see you my darling boy…”

Rabbit woke in a cold sweat, her bangs plastered to her forehead. Dread, pure dread was the feeling Rabbit woke to. Not for herself, but for someone else.

“Hey Butch wait up!” Rabbit called ahead on the road. The next day was warm and the sun was growing hotter by the minute. Butch was already on the road to school, but made no response. “He’s probably still sore about the day before yesterday,” thought Rabbit.

Running to catch up to him, Rabbit caught Butch at the elbow.

“Hey I’m sorry about yesterday…” but she stopped short when Butch turned to look her in the eye. He looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. Butch was hallow and haunted looking around the eyes.

“GET YOUR PAWS OFFA ME RABBIT!” the boy snapped as he tore his arm away from Rabbits tiny grasp.

“Butch you okay? You don’t look so good.” Rabbit was concerned for more than one reason. In all the years they’d hell catted around he had never spoken to her so harshly. Butch didn’t seem like the boy she had left in the woods yesterday, he was changed.

“I’d be fine if you just leave me alone.” Butch’s voice was softer now but still bitter and unfamiliar. The youth turned his back on her and continued on.

“Butch! Butch, I said I was sorry…” the girl was at a loss. She followed Butch in silence at a distance all the way to school.

All the day Butch refused to look or speak to Rabbit. Also he fell asleep a few times in class, even Miss Steadmen had trouble rousing him at one point. Rapping her ruler several times against his desk in anger. Butch took almost no notice of this, but managed to keep conscious the for rest of the day’s lessons.

After school Rabbit went to follow Butch home, hoping the ice would thaw and he would accept her apologies.

“Butch, come on you can’t stay mad forever!” Rabbit called from behind him. Butch was also headed the wrong direction, he was taking the long way towards the creek and the mountain.

“Where are you going?!” hollered Rabbit, it was as if he couldn’t hear Rabbit at all. Rabbit was done, she might have done wrong but she refused to be ignored. She pulled Lucine from the quiver and gave it all she had.

“OOhh friend of mine, I done you wrong.” Rabbit sang out and Butch stopped in his tracks. “Please forgive my sorry song! This day was hard and lonely long, so please forgive my sorry song”

The boy turned about face, took three long strides back to Rabbit and stared her in the eyes. Maybe the song had done its work, thought Rabbit, maybe things would be okay.

Butch reached out and snatched the bow out of Rabbit’s hands and snapped it like a twig over his knee. He had done it so quickly it hit Rabbit like a slap to the face, tears began filling her eyes.

“I told you, I am too grown for baby games.” Butch shoved the pieces of Lucine’s bow back in her open hands, “Now run along home, Jack Rabbit…” He turned and crossed the creek, disappearing into the trees beyond. Rabbit just stood there, broken bow and heart in hand.

She didn’t know when she stared to run, but she didn’t stop until she was back on the path to Mee Maw’s house. Tears streaked Rabbit’s freckled face. Her rust colored braids had unknit themselves and her hair was streaming out behind her.

The boy in the woods just now was not her friend. Something was very wrong and Rabbit only knew one person who might know the reason. Lungs screaming, Rabbit practically fell through the door of the cottage. Landing on her knees gasping and sputtering. The remnants of the bow still clutched to her chest. “Butch did it!” Rabbit sobbed, “But it wasn’t Butch, I know it!”

“Shhh shhh shh, calm down now and tell me slow what the heck has gone on today.”, Mee Maw speaking gently to the small pile of weeping child.

Mee Maw had a cool cloth on Rabbits forehead. The girl was seated on the floor in front of Mee Maw facing the fire. The old woman had an ivory brush and was carefully re-braiding Rabbits hair. Bug had snuggled up next to her on the carpet and had placed his head in her lap.

“Rabbit, Ima read the leaves for you, see if we can’t put some of your fears to rest.”

Mee Maw already had made up a pot of hot water to pour over the leaves in her scrying cup. As before she knew Rabbit would be there and that she would need to be read for.

The girl gulped the hot liquid and replaced the cup on the mahogany table between her and her grandmother. The old woman gazed deeply into the porcelain cup. Almost through the cup, as if to bore a hole in the floor. Times like this Rabbit wondered if her Mee Maw could see clear through the earth and out the other side.

“No.” said Mee maw suddenly afraid, still staring at the leaves. “Not yet, she aint ready”

“Mee Maw, what do the leaves say?” Rabbits voice was urgent and frightened.

Rabbits grandmother’s worried expression changed to one of resigned acceptance, she raised her head to look into the girl’s eyes.

“Your feelings are right Rabbit. Butch is in danger. Not any kind he can get himself out of. A spirit even older than your Mee Maw has got hold of him”

“It’s the gem in the mountain isn’t it? The witch?” questioned Rabbit all the while knowing the answer in her heart.

“Yes, and Rabbit you must go into the woods yourself and save him. I cannot go with you. No one can. Only you have the power. You and Lucine that is.”

“Are the leaves ever wrong Mee Maw?” asked Rabbit.

“No, the leaves are never wrong Rabbit. They can be read wrong, misunderstood.” Mee Maw said. “I been reading leaves since before the creek cut these hills. I’m not wrong. It must be you and you must go alone.”

Rabbits eyes raised to meet Mee Maw’s, “but what if I’m scared?”

“Then be scared,” said the old woman bluntly, “but we all have roles to play on Destiney’s wheel. Rabbit even if you are scared it will keep turning. The leaves can’t be wrong but they can change. If you don’t go then fate will still happen. Then and only then will things go differently and you don’t want to know what the leaves say for Butch if you don’t go.”

“So be brave my Jack Rabbit and be swift. Know I’ll be watching you the whole time.”, finished Mee Maw indicating the tea cup.

“What about Lucine’s bow?”, Rabbit’s magic couldn’t be performed without Lucine.

“Well yes I suppose you can’t go into battle without a bow”, Mee Maw stated slyly. There was an old umbrella stand by the book shelf on the far wall of the cottage. Mee Maw rose and walked over to it. Her shawl enwrapped form hunched over the umbrella stand for a few moments rummaging for something.

“Ah ha!” The old woman had found what she needed.

It didn’t look like any bow Rabbit had ever seen. It was bowlike or bowish. Mee Maw brought it over and placed it in the girls out reached hands.

“Is this?... Is this made of bone?” Rabbit said in a low voice

Mee maw smiled “Yes, very good Rabbit, it’s a rib”

“But it is too big. What did it come from?” Rabbit spoke as she ran her fingers up the stiff horse hairs that formed the bow. It was surprisingly warm to the touch.

“Something I killed a long time ago, something that don’t roam here no more. Take it, it will give you strength and this...”, as Rabbit’s Grandmother spoke she removed her Paw Pa’s bowler hat and placed it on the girl’s head.

“Fit is a little loose, but now you at least look like you mean business.” Mee Maw dusted Rabbit’s shoulders off and gave a last tug on her braids. Then the old woman stooped to kiss her Grandchild’s forehead. “Now go Rabbit and save your friend before it’s too late.”

Rabbit was a mess. She knew it must be her fault. She had driven Butch away. Her taunting. Rabbit had to have the last word. Now it was up to her to save Butch from whatever spell he was under, before it was too late. If he was out there in the forest Rabbit would find him.

She quickly made her way up the road towards the school. Night had already fallen, but the light of a bright full moon lit Rabbit’s way. Her mind was buzzing, desperately searching for what she would do when she did find Butch. If it was this fabled Gem, spirit, witch, whichever, what exactly was Rabbit going to do. She had the tune her Grandmother had given her, but still no lyrics. Her thoughts pouring through her mind, Rabbit didn’t even know how she had reached the creek so quickly.

It was at that very moment Rabbit saw him. Butch’s tall figure making his way through the trees. He seemed in a daze, but he still walked with purpose. As if his feet knew exactly where to take him. He looked tired and worn.

Rabbit hopped silently across the creek. She heard an Owl’s screech as she safely reached the other side. She tracked her friend’s movements through the woods. The trees blotting out the moon’s light as she continued up the hill now.

Keeping low Rabbit followed quickly behind Butch to the base of the mountain where the abandoned entrances of the mines were. The Moon had reached its highest point and the mountain mist had begun to emerge. Writhing around trees and coating the ground in a slimy dew.

Butch stopped when he reached what looked like an old mine entrance that had been blocked up with stones. As he approached the stones one by one began to tumble and roll away. The large pile of rocks had cleared itself away within a minute, revealing an open mine shaft entrance. There was a faint green light glowing from within, reflecting on Butch’s trance-like expression. He entered the opening and disappeared from view.

Rabbit didn’t want the entrance to close up so she made a break for it. Whatever was drawing Butch to the mine couldn’t be good, but she had to try and save her friend. The spooky green light lit Rabbits way. The mine had been abandoned for decades. A few rusting carts and picks were all that reminded Rabbit that it had ever been a working mine.

As she followed closely to the wall Rabbit could make out the sound of music. It was crackling and far away. The melody seemed to come from the left. Rabbit made the decision to follow the sound. The scene felt all too familiar. Rabbit walked on for what felt like forever. She became aware of the lack of oxygen underground. Rabbit knew she had to be careful.

The green light seemed to get brighter as she descended. The song grew more clearly audible, it was jazz. Old stuff her Uncle Boyd played on evenings when he had some whiskey in him. The music and light were now just beyond a bend in the tunnel. She slowly leaned around the earthy wall which separated Rabbit from the space beyond. Rabbits eyes grew wide.

The woman was nothing of the world or time Rabbit lived in. It was 1940, woman hadn’t styled themselves like this in decades. Kohl rimmed eyes gazed from under her golden circlet, they seemed like amber cat’s eye marbles. Lips drawn in a cupids bow shape, like the starlets Rabbit had seen old movies posters in the town hall. Except the woman wasn’t black and white. She was pure gold. Gilt hair curled around her face cropped short. The strands seemed to glisten. Her skin and hair even seemed to be dusted in gold powder. Topaz beads dripped in strings of fringe along the hemline of her knee length dress. The gilt woman reclined on a chocolatey velvet chaise lounge.

A gramophone which was set on a wooden table to the left of her was responsible for the low sweet melody Rabbit had been hear. The record crackled and came through the brass bell, it had a distorted quality which chilled Rabbit to the bone. A green glass lantern was fixed to the wall behind her.

Seated at her feet was an admiring Butch. The boy looked as if he hadn’t slept in years, and his eyes had a tinge of blue grey beneath them now. He had something in his hands which Rabbit couldn’t quite make out, it was large and wrapped in newspaper.

“I brought you a gift,” Butch said quietly to the lady. “My mother won’t miss it much”, Butch began unwrapping the offering. Rabbit could make the shape out from where she spied, it was a large golden hair comb with jewels set into the filigree. The girl knew it was one of Butch’s mothers prized possessions.

Rabbit’s heart was beating rapidly, barely hidden by the shadows, she was terrified. She knew she must get a better look at the chamber. She pulled a shaving mirror she had pinched from her father’s dresser out of her overalls pocket. Holding the mirror out at arm’s length, Rabbit looked on the scene behind her.

Rabbit took the entire chamber in, it was filled with golden treasures of various natures. Piled up behind the woman, like a dragon’s horde. When Rabbit looked closer the items varied from mundane utensils to ornate bobbles. All seemed to be made of gold. Turning the mirror to try and see the woman better, Rabbit’s breath stopped short.

An old crone piled in shabby rags was perched on the velvet couch next to Butch. Slobber dripped from a slit-like mouth. When Rabbit turned and looked over her shoulder the woman was young again. Looking back in the mirror the creatures withered claws were reaching out for her young friend’s chin.

“Oh my darling boy,” the woman cooed gently just like in Rabbit’s dream, “How delightfully exquisite! You have done well. Without breaking her gaze at Butch she gentle tossed the comb on the pile of gifts behind her. “Now come and lay your head on my lap, young sir and let me stroke your hair.”

Butch did as he was told and closed his eyes as the woman combed his hair with her long tapered nails. It was then that a green light shone from Butch’s face. Glowing brighter and brighter until the light itself left Butch and hovered up to the woman. She held the green glowing orb with her gaze, then breathed it in deeply like a sweet perfume. Butch’s limp unconscious body slid from her lap to the ground below.

Rabbit had no hope and no plan. It was now up to Rabbit to save Butch, and she decided to do the thing she did best, fight a fight she knew she couldn’t win. She stepped out and stood tall in the open chamber.

“Howdy Witch Woman” said Rabbit in a clear loud voice, tipping the hat her grandmother had given her towards the woman.

“I was wondering how long you were just going to sit there and watch me drain the life right out of your little friend.” the woman said casually. Rabbit had been made long before she’d come around the corner.

“I have got to hand it to you Old Crone,” Rabbit watched the Witch’s eyes flash with anger as she spoke, “you’ve got quite the collection there behind you. Everything a woman could possibly want.”

“The treasure is but a mere perk. I need nothing but life.”

“But what is life without company?” questioned Rabbit.

“What kind of company would you be Child?”, the Witch said sharply.

“I could stay here with you and keep you entertained forever”

The woman let out a laugh like the tinkling out piano keys and it echoed back through the tunnels as a horrifying cackle.

“Entertaining though you may be little one, I tire easily and then what?”

“I could play for you,’ Rabbit said as she pulled Lucine from her quiver, “if it pleases you.” Rabbit bowed low to her treacherous new queen.

“I have no need for music” said the woman motioning to the old gramophone and the pile of records next to it, “a gift from a young friend”. Her smile sickened Rabbit. Every item in the chamber signified a life stolen.

“Those old tunes?!” the girl spoke as brazenly as she could muster. “Why you must be sick of them! I could play you songs so sweet as to bring a tear to your eye.”

“A tear!” the woman’s exclaimed, her laugher shaking the mine, “to MY eye! Now that would be entertaining. Go ahead and play something for me. If you are as good as you say you are I’ll let him go and you can stay.” The woman turned and took the needle off the record. Silence where the tune had been was deafening.

Lucine felt warm in Rabbit’s hands. She decided to let the fiddle lead this song. The girl focused her mind on the lost souls who never came home. As low woody notes began flowing from Lucine, she thought of the wives and mother’s left behind pining for their lost loves. All of this came through in the music, there was no need for lyrics, the melody painted the story on the cave walls.

A tear rolled from the Witch’s cheek and down her chin. She was silent and awestruck. Quickly she knelt down and kissed Butch’s forehead. Butch’s eyes opened, as he yawned and stretched. Rabbit knelt to help him up, confused and slow, he stood supported by the little girl.

“You have played well Cherie, darling girl. The boy may go free and you will stay to play awhile.”

“Rabbit, what’s going on?” asked Butch weakly.

“I’m saving you’re hide that’s what,” whispered Rabbit as she propped Butch against the stone wall next to the entrance to the chamber. “Be ready to run when the time comes.”

“How about one more song before my friend goes, for old time’s sake?”

“But of course, Cherie.”

The tune was ready, now all Rabbit needed was words. Words to seal the evil in the mountain for good. The girl looked down to the fiddle and tuned Lucine’s strings slightly. Sliding her small fingers into place, and there they were, the lyrics were in her the whole time.

“Devil done me wrong,

took my woman and held her long,” Rabbit’s voice and the tune vibrated through the rocky chamber. The woman sat up right on her seat the moment the notes left Lucine.

“What are you doing Cherie?” Her voice was worried and urgent. The Witch’s eyes started searching wildly around the mine.

“Devil hear my sound,

throw another stone on my love in the ground”, Rabbit smiled slyly down the neck of the fiddle in the direction of the Witch. Now a rumbling horrible din had begun. The rocky walls shook as the notes bounced off of them.

“Devil run from the town,

curse that woman and hope she stays down”, the girls voice was calm but loud now. The words echoed in the mine, traveling further throughout all the tunnels before returning. Pieces of rock started falling on the Witch and her pile of treasures.

“Stop it! Stop it or I’ll skin you alive!”, she was writhing now. “Curse you Witch child!” she began transforming as Rabbit let the melody dance on Lucine for a while. Her golden aura had tarnished and her face became loose and whiskery. Twisted papery claws now stretched upwards as she convulsed.

Her appearance as Rabbit had seen it in the shaving mirror, slobbering and foul. Looking back at Butch for a moment she saw the terror and revulsion on his face. The boy had pressed himself as far as he could against the wall. He had learned his lesson, that all that glittered was not gold.

Rabbit’s tune was working, and she kept at it, giving her all. That is when she heard it. A hallow boney clatter was coming from the tunnel to the right of the Witch’s lair. Skulls, hundreds of them, rolling from the next chamber in the mine.

When the Witch saw her collection of souls rolling towards her she let out a blood curdling scream. Butch covered his ears to shield from the mind piercing sound. Rabbit played on, she knew what came next.

“Devil fear my sound,

Don’t come back from the cold cold ground.

From the ground,

Keep that woman in the cold, cold ground.”

The skulls kept rolling and piling up around the Witch. Clawing and scrambling to be free they were swallowing her up. Stones continued falling from above. Rubble shook from the top of the chamber and filled the Witches mouth as she attempted another scream.

“Butch let’s go! Run!”, Rabbit called to her friend as she replaced Lucine in her quiver. She knew the mine was going to cave in on itself now. “Come on!” yelling as she grabbed the stunned boy’s hand and took off at full speed.

Speeding through the tunnel higher and higher, the sound of boulders dropping behind them along the way. The children made their way to the surface. Now, standing huffing and puffing in full moon light, the children watched in fear. The entrance caved in on itself, the sound thundering through the woods, never to open again. The mist rolled in thicker, the children stood in silence and the mountain grew quiet once more.

The dirt and leaves which covered their path back home crunched beneath their shoes. Butch was still stunned. He had been through quite a bit. They were both dirty and bruised, but they had made it out alive. The moon was still high and they would make it home soon.

Rabbit had decided to take Butch home to Mee Maw before sending him on his way. Her Grandmother would be up and ready to play nurse. The girl was sure there would be stew on the table when they arrived, Mee Maw always knew when it was needed.

As they continued on the path, Butch was quiet, and then he suddenly stopped.

“All those skulls, do you think she tricked them just like me?” asked the boy.

“Yes, they saw what you saw. Felt how you felt”, spoke Rabbit “and now they can have her to themselves forever.”

“You think my momma is gonna be mad about the hair comb?”, Butch looked down at his feet in shame as they walked.

“No, I think she will be happy to have gotten you back.”, as Rabbit said this she realized how happy she was to be on her way back to the cottage. The gem was sealed in the mountain. They had won. “Remember, those other folks never made it home.”

The quiet returned between them as walked along the road. The sounds of the country filled in the gaps. Bullfrogs and night birds sang. Crickets sawed away. Lightening bugs flashed every so often along the way.

“I am sorry Butch.”, Rabbit broke the silence. “You know for using Lucine against you that day in the woods. If I hadn’t maybe this whole mess wouldn’t have happened.” When the girl said it, she knew it was true.

“Don’t be,” the boy rested his arm on Rabbit’s shoulder, “I was wrong to go about tryin to act so grown. If I wasn’t acting a fool, you wouldn’t have tried her on me.”

“Although, seeing what Lucine is capable of, I would appreciate it if you didn’t do it again.” Butch looked at her sideways with a grin. “You think your Mee Maw might teach me a tune or two? Just in case of emergency of course.”

“I don’t know that you got the right qualifications, but yeah you might pick up a ditty or two” said the girl, picking a stone in the road a chucking in into the trees. “You know; I might not always be there to save you.” Rabbit shoved him gently as she said it. Butch pushed her back and just like that they were as they had always been.