Wish You Well

A week later, the community stages a large Fourth of July celebration in Dickens. Cotton drives everyone down to see the speeches and fireworks. Although local politicians crow about endless prosperity, Cotton is skeptical that good fortune can last forever.

A few days later, the children are hard at work tending crops. Lou asks Louisa why Jack never returned to the mountains. Louisa explains that Jack’s mother abandoned the family, and Jack’s father died of a broken heart. She pushed Jack to leave when he grew up because he needed to share his writing gift with the world.

After this conversation, Lou resolves to seek out the cabin where orphaned Diamond now lives. Louisa gives her directions, and Lou surprises the boy at home. The two children talk about their shared sense of loss, and Diamond reminds Lou that she still has her mother. She denies this is true because Amanda is mentally absent. Diamond says, “Looks bad now, but it be okay. Folks don’t never leave out, less we fergit ’em. I ain’t knowed much, but I knowed that” (228). 

One midsummer night, the family awakens to the sound of Billy Davis pounding on the door. His mother is in labor, and she’s asked for Louisa to help with the delivery. Lou goes along to assist. To Lou’s relief, George remains outside in the barn because a horse is about to deliver a foal.

Inside the cabin, the Davis family lives in squalor. The children are all malnourished and fearful. When George realizes that the Cardinals are in his house, he threatens to shoot them until the scream of the local mountain lion diverts his attention to his farm animals. With George out of the way, Lou and Louisa manage to deliver a healthy baby boy. Its mother wants to name the child “Lou” in honor of her junior midwife.

After sunrise on the ride back home, Lou notices how much property Davis owns. He is obviously doing well but begrudges sustenance to his own family. Louisa says she pities him, despite his prosperity: “But I got to feel sorry for him in a way, for he be the most miserable soul I ever come across. Now, one day God’ll let George Davis know ’xactly what He thinks of it all. But that day ain’t here yet” (244). 

One day, the children are returning from market when they come across a baptism being performed in the McCloud River. Diamond explains that the sect performing the ritual is known as the Primitive Baptists. When Lou tells him that she and Oz are Catholic, Diamond seems perplexed by the number of rules Catholics must follow. “Huh. Who’d thunk believing in God be such hard work? Prob’ly why ain’t no Catolicks up this way. Tax the head too much” (247).

Before they continue on their journey, both Eugene and Diamond get dunked in the river by the Baptist preacher. Diamond says he’s been baptized many times under the theory that he’ll get more angelic protection because of the number of times he’s performed the ritual.

That night, Oz asks Lou to read him Amanda’s letters from the packet that Louisa gave her. Lou finally opens the bundle and reads the first letter to Oz. Once he falls asleep, she picks up another letter and keeps on reading.

In early fall, Diamond leads Lou and Oz to witness a nearby spectacle. Eugene has set a dynamite charge in the small coal mine that Louisa owns. The dynamite will loosen enough coal to supply them for the winter.

As the children wait for the explosion, Jeb chases a rabbit into the mine. Diamond runs to retrieve his dog. When Jeb emerges without Diamond, Eugene runs back inside to rescue the boy, but it’s too late. Diamond is killed in the blast.

After the funeral, Cotton tries to comfort Lou. She asks him why God would allow such things to happen. The lawyer replies, “I suppose it may be God’s way of telling us to love people while they’re here, because tomorrow they may be gone” (260). Lou unexpectedly says that she would like to start reading to her mother. Cotton encourages her because he believes that Amanda can only be called back to herself by someone she loves. 

When harvest time arrives, the family is rewarded with a bumper crop. They are busy from morning until night with preparing food for winter. Late one night, a wagon shows up at the barn. It’s driven by Billy Davis.

Over the years, Louisa has secretly been sharing the yield from her farm with the Davis family, unbeknownst to George. Lou protests this benevolence. “‘That’s not fair. He sells his crop and makes money, and we feed his family.’ ‘What’s fair is a momma and her children eating good,’ answered Louisa” (265).