The Saving Grace

Chapter 1

A soft April breeze blew through the green leaves of the oak trees that looked over the green fields like timeless guardians. Only a few people strolled through these fields, stopping at the granite stones that sat atop the dirt. The dark hair of one particular person blew in the breeze with the leaves, soft curls tangling around each other as she knelt down to the lush grass. In her hand was a bouquet of tulips, yellow in color and sweet to the smell. She placed them down in front of her so that they would just barely touch the heavy grey stone in front of her. Soft, pale fingers ran across the etchings in the granite. 'KERSHAW' it read, and a twinge of grief pulled at the young woman's heart.

"Hey mama. It's me, Holly. I just came t' see how you were, and t' tell ya that I hope you're doing alright." Holly took a ragged breath and let her hand drop from the head stone of her mother. It had been many years, but the pain was still there as if it had just happened yesterday. "Beyah wanted me to let you know that she's doing well, and that this is her second month into her job at the Mandson Memorial Hospital. She says she's very happy there. You would be proud of her. She even found 'erself a suitor. He's a nice man. Gramps has taken a shine to him." Another shaky breath was released as the now twenty one year old Holly wiped a tear away from her eye that was trying to escape. The breeze blew a little harder, rattling the paper that was wrapped around her mother's fresh bouquet of tulips.

"Oh, and Jess was accepted fer his tour in the air force. He's leavin' here in three days. Said he'd be by to tell you goodbye later on. I know that's some news that you probably ain't too pleased with, but he wanted to follow in your father's footsteps. As for me, I've been helping work the farm some. We hired the Sutherland boys from down the road to come help us, since Gramps in't feeling like he used't. And I got myself a job at Mrs. Elaine's store. She said she could use the help, seeing as she fell last month and almost broke her leg. She pays good, and I'm trying to save up enough so that maybe I can get some higher education. 'Course I been taking lessons from Beyah, and reading her anatomy books from when she was learning. Maybe I could work as a nurse too, huh?" There was a pause of silence, as if the young woman was waiting for a response from her mother. Of course one would never come, but Holly often had these talks because they made her feel better.

Life had been very hard growing up for her. She had lost both her mother and her father when she was fifteen. Her father was buried in the memorial cemetery for soldiers who died in the line of duty and for the veterans who got to live out what life they had left. It was rare, if not forced, if she went into that place to see her father. The disdain for him had only grown over the years, and she was glad he was gone now. A scowl formed on her pretty, heart shaped face before fading into a smile for her mother. "I guess I'll see you later, let you get back to whatever you were doin' up there in heaven." Pressing a kiss to her fingers, Holly stood up and pressed those same fingers into the top of the head stone before turning on her heels and walking down the row towards the cast iron gates of the cemetery. She was going to head back into town to the church where some of her friends were at choir practice for the upcoming Sunday. She should have really been there practicing too, but she knew most of the songs by heart. It was something of a tradition her mother had instilled in her. To memorize gospel songs.

With deep brown, large almond shaped eyes, Holly looked over the other people coming to visit the people they loved. A few faces she was familiar with, others were people she had seen around town, but never talked to. With a tired sigh, she stuffed her hands into the pockets of the trousers she wore. In this day and age, it was rare to see a woman wearing pants of any kind, but Holly had found that she could work and move better in them. So, she had taken up sewing her own clothing. Trousers, blouses, dresses, sock, you name it she could probably create it. That was why Elaine Beckham had asked to hire her into her store, an alteration and cloth store. Most of the time, they were just selling fabrics, needles, and the likes needed for the craft. But there were also times that they were the ones fixing the mistakes of those who weren't as good as the profession as they were. It made the job easy.

It also kept Holly out of trouble. She had a habit of getting into verbal fights with the boys and the men of the town over her choice of attire. There were a few times when she was younger that she had actually punched some of the boys her age that knew her for patronizing her. They learned their lesson quickly. Most of the time though, they never said a word, just looked at her weird. Now people were just used to seeing her in such attire.

On her stroll back up the street to the church there came a loud sound that made her stop in her tracks. The sound had been like metal on a hard surface, but certainly nothing that big could have been dropped so heavily to the cobblestone road. Then came the scream. A blood curdling scream of a man in pain. Holly's heart stopped before she, and several of the other bystanders rushed to the scene. There was lots of yelling mixing in the cries of pain as she came up to the scene. And what she saw was absolutely gruesome.

Trapped beneath the broken end of an old truck was a young man, someone she knew from around town, but wasn't acquainted with. He was writhing in pain, trying to push the truck off of himself. Men were jumping in to lift the back end of the truck up. "Get it up! Get it up!" some were yelling as the stronger and younger were working to rescue the young man. Holly jumped in amongst the crowd and down to the accident.

"Pull him out! Let me pull him out by the mat!" she yelled as she took hold of the burlap mat he had been laying on underneath the truck. She pulled him out by it, others forming a small circle to see what they could do to help. A wave of relief washed over her for a moment that he was free, but fear immediately took its place. Now they had a bigger problem. The man was bleeding out from his belly. Something had punctured him when the accident had happened. Without the hesitation that she would normally have around blood, Holly started applying pressure to the gushing wound, which looked to be about as big around as her pink finger, but there was no telling just how deep it was.

"I'll call for an ambulance," Harold, one of the courthouse clerks, yelled as he turned to run inside.

"No!" Holly yelled at him. There was no time, there wasn't going to be enough time! "He'll bleed out b'fore it gets here! Go get yer truck, we'll drive him there!" she shouted frantically. Blood poured out from around her fingers the more the man beneath her struggled. "Somebody get me a rag!" They had to stop the bleeding. As Harold ran around the side of the courthouse for his pickup truck, another man pulled out his large cotton handkerchief. Holly moved so that he could place it on top of the wound and apply pressure. Without thinking, she pulled her belt off, and with the help of some others, was able to get it underneath the wounded boy. The belt wasn't very long, but it would be enough for a tourniquet until they could get to the hospital six miles away in Mandson.

After what felt like an eternity. Harold came racing around the side of the courthouse with his truck, tailgate down, and ready to carry the now critical young man. The men that had helped get the belt around him also helped get him up into the bed of the truck. One even helped hoist Holly in so that she could keep applying pressure, while another got into the cab with Harold, and they sped off like the devil was on their tails.