Where the Lilies Bloom

At the end of October, great winds come into Trial Valley, damaging the roof and revealing how shoddy the house is. Romey is bone-tired of this kind of life, constantly working; he plans to move far away one day. Mary Call mentally goes through the contents of their cellar, noting what provisions they have stored. She fears it is not enough when she considers how long winter lasts. Romey worries about the cow outside in the winter, and he houses her in his room, causing everyone to laugh. Stones are heated in order to warm their feet at night in bed. More snow falls, and the temperatures drop.

Mary Call and Devola talk about Thanksgiving; this year’s dinner table will be much barer than in previous years when Roy Luther was alive. They would eat a lot of food on the holiday and then go “back to starving the day after” (126). Mary Call’s sarcasm and bitterness causes Devola to scold her, and Mary Call defends herself, saying she is the one who has to make sure the entire family does not die or get separated by the county. Devola stresses that Mary Call has really become mean lately. A man also came by when Mary Call was not home, wanting to take Devola to see Kiser in the hospital. Mary Call wonders briefly if she will have to kill Kiser, but she knows it is a sin.

During the night, the weight of the snow causes the roof to collapse. Their mother’s rocker is also broken, causing Romey to cry. Devola and Ima Dean try to comfort him. Mary Call has no sympathy for him, thinking he has turned into “a real sissy” with “no backbone” like their father (131). The pig and rooster come sniffing around the room, and Mary Call notices the fox she saw during the night staring at the animals. She begins to talk to the Lord, begging him for guidance and support. The animals make noises, and the fox leaps, but Mary Call, as if possessed, whacks him in the head with a piece of wood. She feels the adrenaline coursing through her; she doesn’t even realize there is a splinter in her hand. The siblings help her and place their mother’s rocker in Roy Luther’s room.

Harsh winter conditions abate; the sun comes out, the melted snow mixing with the dirt to cause mud. The “faces” of Sugar Boy and Old Joshua are “streamed with water” (134). Mary Call, trying to parse out what to do in the muddy conditions, calls it a “false spring” to Romey and expresses her fear that it means the winter will soon come back with a vengeance. While wildcrafting, they laugh about the idea of having a picture of this moment, disheveled and covered in oozing mud. Mary Call dreams about having an office one day.

Goldie Pease, Kiser’s sister, unexpectedly arrive from Georgia, aiming to take Kiser back home with her so he can recover. She is shocked at the state of things, eyeing the Luther house with scorn, saying it looks “seedy…downright disgraceful” with its fallen roof (136). She insists that she is actually the owner of the house and land, and Kiser did not have the right to sign any assets over. She demands to talk to Roy Luther when he wakes up. Mary Call believes Goldie when she says that the signed document means nothing. Goldie is not educated, but she is aware and “crafty.” Goldie also wants a new family to move in; she doesn’t want her brother’s “leftovers”—the Luthers—whom she doesn’t trust; thus, the family has to leave the house within two weeks.

Mary Call assures the family that she will figure out a plan. Romey tries to calm himself, citing the fact that the radio announced a bad cold spell was coming to North Carolina, which would keep Goldie away. Mary Call berates herself, calling herself ignorant. She starts to cry but insists that she isn’t crying, scaring the siblings. She thinks of resorting to Romey’s tactics and shooting Kiser in the head. Desperate, Mary Call comes up with the idea of living in a cave. She momentarily imagines the bliss of the family dying in their sleep together in a cave. That night, a winter blizzard descends on the mountains and valley.

The winter, Mary Call writes, “clamped its icy jaws around us and sucked us into its frigid mouth” (143). They drink melted snow and eat what vegetables they have. The electricity cuts out, leaving them without a radio. Romey believes life was never this bad with Roy Luther, but Mary Call points out that he is just not remembering correctly. Romey, hungry and irritated, criticizes Mary Call’s appearance and announces that the Lord has forgotten the family. He doesn’t say it with fierce anger but with a geriatric resignation. It depresses Mary Call, who cannot even formulate a response; she fears it is true, the Lord has forgotten the people, the land, and the family. She wonders why their family even exists. This incites her to feel some excitement that immediately makes her dismiss everything Romey has said—the family exists, and they must make the most of their lives. Soon spring will come again, “bluets and the trillium and lilies” blooming (146). She tries to uplift and encourage Romey, saying that the Luther name means confidence and capability. He refuses to listen, running away to Roy Luther’s room and then disappearing. Devola informs Mary Call that he has gone off to see Kiser in the hospital, hoping to get the house back.

Trundling through waist-deep snow and harsh winds, Mary Call sets off to look for Romey. She falls into the snow, and a blackness pervades her that she fights off by cheerleading herself, calling herself “Guts Luther” (148), although she is “bawling.” She finds Romey in the snow, his ankle sprained. She lectures him on begging and looking for charity, something that “demeans” people, taking away their freedom and dignity. Devola tends to Romey’s ankle, and Mary Call realizes that she has always underestimated her sister.

With the coming of the rain, Mary Call knows that Goldie Pease will come over soon and make them vacate the house. She decides that she will marry Kiser Pease, get ownership of the land and house, and then separate from him.