Ballad 11 Prayers the Devil Answers by Sharyn McCrumb

Author:Sharyn McCrumb [McCrumb, Sharyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

My swearing-in ceremony was nothing like the formal event Albert’s had been. Punch and cookies did not follow, either. Everyone would probably have expected me to bake them myself. The commissioners had not even suggested having a reception, and as a recently widowed woman in mourning, I suppose I would not have accepted the offer had it been made. I officially became the new sheriff in a hasty, private event in an office in the courthouse with only a few people present.

The decision to appoint me came quicker than I had expected. Late one afternoon Vernon Johnson had stopped by the house to tell me he had met with the men of the sheriff’s department, and none of them had objected to my appointment. I was glad of that. Once all the deputies had agreed to work for a lady sheriff, the commissioners had held a private meeting that very night. According to Mr. Johnson, there was only a brief objection from two of the oldest and most hidebound members of the board, but the majority agreed to allow me to serve out the remainder of my late husband’s term as sheriff.

When he brought me the news, Vernon Johnson told me that the swearing-in—lasting all of five minutes—would take place in the courthouse the next afternoon. “We’ll put a little notice in the newspaper announcing your appointment. We might even send word to the Knoxville Journal. They might want to talk to you, too. After all, a lady sheriff is news. Do you have a picture we could send in with the notice?”

“No, sir. And I surely would not want the newspapers to run one.”

“As you wish.” As he was leaving, he stopped at the front door and smiled. “Since you were dead set on his, I’m glad we were able to do it for you, and all of us wish you well. But don’t you go doing anything rash, Mrs. Robbins. We don’t want you trying to be a hero. We won’t pay you enough for that.”

He meant for me to smile back, so I did, and I promised to be careful. Being appointed so quickly pleased me, not only because it meant money coming in again, but also because it seemed the surest way to get on with my life. It suited me just fine to begin the job at once with as little fanfare as possible. I didn’t need any distractions.

The day after the commissioners made the appointment official, I got to the sheriff’s office an hour early. Before I went to work, though, my day began as it always had: getting out of bed well before sunup, making a fire in the woodstove, and starting breakfast. The only difference now was that instead of sending Albert off to work, I would go myself. Just past daybreak I woke the boys and took them a bowl of clean water to wash with. Then I packed lunches—one egg sandwich for myself and one for Eddie—in brown paper sacks saved from the grocery store.

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