Cultural
Background
Storyteller's Cabin
An hour later, Granny Echols arrived to care for Elizabeth, and Howard roared down the treacherous mountain road toward town. The logging companies had torn the dirt road to pieces, and Howard's rickety old car pitched and swerved in the furrows and mud holes cut by the lumber trucks. Sometimes the muddy road would plunge straight down the steep mountainsides without guard rails, forcing Howard to proceed at a snail's crawl. But nothing was going to stop him from fetching help.
When Howard finally arrived in town, he learned that the doctor had left a neighboring town and wouldn't return until the next day. By now a fierce thunderstorm was lashing the hills, and Howard had no choice but to wait out the storm overnight and find the doctor in the morning.
When the doctor finally returned the next day, Howard drove him back up into the hills. The evening's rain had made the slippery roads even more treacherous, and the two men had to occasionally get out and push the car out of deep mud holes. After what seemed like an eternity, they arrived back at the Bishop homestead. Howard leaped out of the car and bolted for the house.
"I'm home!" yelled Howard as he threw open the door. "I brought the doctor..."
He then saw Granny Echols sitting on his wife's bed, tears streaming down her face. As Granny turned to face him, Howard sensed the horrible truth. He staggered over to his wife's bed and looked at her pale, lifeless body. He was too late.
Howard wailed in anguish, his cries of pain reverberating throughout the surrounding hills. He then rushed over to the crib, only to encounter a second tragedy - his young daughter lay cold and limp, much in the same position as when he left her. The dreaded "mountain fever" had claimed two more victims.
