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Excerpt fromMississippi Bloodby Greg Iles
We found the house Carl Sims had described without too much trouble.
Credit: Courtesy William Morrow
The road itself didnt register on my GPS unit, but it was there nonetheless.
Behind the dwelling was junk-filled gully filled with trees being slowly strangled by kudzu.
No one answered our knock.
What do you think?
Sure enough, the ends of its four legs had been jammed into slits in faded green tennis balls.
And youre Dr. Cages boy.
I can see it in your face.
Youve got his eyes.
Dr. Cage was a true healer.
Thank you, maam.
This is my friend, Serenity Butler.
Shes a writer, too.
Well, I cant read no more, since my eyes gone bad.
I used to take the Readers Digest.
But yall come on in.
And hey be patient.
I cant get around like I used to.
The old lady stumped toward a battered La-Z-Boy recliner.
If any of my babies get in your way, just giveem a shove with your foot.
Only then did I realize the house was full of cats.
Felines of all sizes occupied every horizontal surface.
I smelled at least one litterbox, but the house didnt actually stink, as I would have expected.
Maybe Mrs. Washington spent what energy she had cleaning up after the cats rather than doing housework.
I wasnt sure how to start the conversation, but Serenity took care of it.
The old lady laughed.
Lord no, thats my husband, Lemuel.
Hes a handsome man.
Lem was a good man, too, but hes gone thirty years now.
Got crushed by a log, loading a pulpwood truck.
Im sorry, I said automatically.
My family were pulpwood cutters, Serenity said.
Cutters, haulers, you name it, they did it.
Bleeding for turpentine, if you go further back.
Mrs. Washington had gone still.
Then she squinted at Serenity.
Where you from, girl?
Longleaf pine country, back in the old days.
All those old trees are long gone, though.
Sho is, baby.
And the men who cut em gone too.
Or workin at the sawmill.
White men do the proper logging round here.
Yall push them cats out these chairs and set down.
Tell me what you come to find out from the old Cat Lady.
Lots of bad things happened round here back in my day.
Nobody cares about that now, though.
We care, Serenity said.
The watery eyes closed, and the lined face tightened with grief.
Oh, Lord, yes.
I wish I didnt.
But Ill never forget.
