The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

On the way to her next drop, Cussy Mary thinks about her own baby with distaste. As she goes into the woods, a snapping twig gives her a hint that someone is waiting. It is Vester Frazier, her husband’s cousin. A pastor, Frazier is interested in people with unique attributes, which he believes are signs of the devil that must be chased out. However, he harms people when he tries to exorcize them. Pa has tried to protect Cussy Mary from him in the past and chased him off their land when she was born. Later, he talked to the sheriff about Frazier.

Cussy Mary is scared that Frazier has been waiting for her, and Junia is getting ready to fight. Dismounting, Cussy Mary tries to lead Junia past Frazier, but Junia bites Frazier, hurting Junia’s mouth in return. The preacher asks if Cussy Mary is spreading the word of Satan, and she responds that she’s just working for the WPA, for the government. He claims he wants to save her, but he reminds her of her husband. She tries to get him off Junia, but he kicks the mule in the muzzle, and she startles, running away. Frazier pulls at Cussy Mary, accusing her of being sinful; she argues back that her mother taught her from the Bible. She is frightened, as there is nowhere for her to escape. She remembers another librarian who was accosted by a bootlegger and whose horse was stolen. When the sheriff found the bootlegger, he whipped him outside the Library Center, vowing “harsh consequences” for anyone treating librarians similarly.

Cussy Mary doesn’t know where Junia is and threatens Frazier with the sheriff. Frazier brushes off this threat, saying that they’re related, though they don’t get along. He proposes baptizing her now, but she’s afraid he’ll drown her. Touching her inappropriately, he kisses Cussy Mary. She spits in his face, bleeding where his teeth scraped her. He kisses her again, reminding her of her husband. Junia approaches, chasing Frazier off.

When Junia comes back, Cussy Mary prays, but she feels strange about it because she doesn’t take part in organized religion. Back on her route, she admires Lovett’s Ridge and the beauty of the area. Jackson Lovett, the new patron, tells her to leave the book on the porch. She picked it out carefully for him: A Plea for Old Cap Collier. Cussy Mary’s books fall, and Junia is restless; Lovett tries to help, but Junia bites him. Cussy Mary apologizes as Lovett puts alcohol on his wound. She gives him the seeds, explaining about the Moffits and that they need help because Willie’s been shot. However, Jackson knows this is because he tried to steal a chicken. He takes out a knife to slice an apple for Junia, but Junia takes the whole apple. They discuss books; Jackson has already read this one and wants Steinbeck. Cussy Mary remembers how much her mother loved books and how her father saw them as an indulgence; most men on her route focus on practical books. Jackson asks if Cussy Mary likes people, but she evades the question. As he approaches Cussy Mary, Junia tries to bite him again. Cussy Mary finally tells him her name, which he thinks is pretty. Cussy Mary tries to leave, though Junia is slow to get moving.

After making her last stop, Cussy Mary goes home. Her father is waking to go to the mine, and she realizes that she’ll be lonely while he’s gone. She is also still afraid of Pastor Frazier coming for her. However, when Pa asks Cussy Mary if anything is wrong, she lies and says no. She rationalizes this lie by thinking that if Frazier had come onto their land, her father could have done something. Because he didn’t, it would be too risky for her father to seek revenge: In their area Blues are whipped, go missing, or are hanged for even minor offences.

Pa and Cussy Mary discuss Lovett, whom Cussy Mary likes, as she makes Pa’s lunch. She discovers her father is going to a union meeting, which worries her, but he tells her it’s not a woman’s place to worry about it. She worries about his work, as workers often die and the Company’s managers are brutal, enforcing bad labor conditions. Pa’s brother Daniel was tricked into going into a mine, where he was trapped during an explosion and died two days later. Another miner, Jonah White, was trapped when a pillar collapsed, crushing his arm. The Company made him pay for his mule that died. Cussy Mary challenges her father: Why is he always the one chosen for the union meetings when he hasn’t had a day off in a month? He says that’s why. He walks to the meeting rather than riding Junia.

After Pa leaves, Cussy Mary cleans the house, which is a difficult task because of all the coal dust. She worries about her father as she cleans the house and prepares a bath. Junia calls in the yard, and Cussy Mary goes to her, knowing she’ll alert her to any trouble. Seeing nothing, Cussy Mary continues with her chores. She re-binds Angeline’s book and goes over a library scrapbook. She currently has three scrapbooks, two of which are borrowed, and which contain recipes, home remedies, cartoons, and other miscellaneous materials. She thinks that she needs more material.

Cussy Mary goes to her calendar, marking Lovett on her route. She looks over the rest of her week and the stops she’ll make. Tired, she takes a pillow down to the table and rests her head. The pillow is made out of blue cloth her mother used for dresses for her and Cussy Mary, which she thinks makes her skin look lighter. Mama was buried in her dress. Cussy Mary falls asleep, waking when Junia brays in the yard. She gets a shotgun but can’t see anything, though she suspects it’s hunters. When Junia quiets, Cussy Mary goes up to the loft with her gun.

Cussy Mary goes into town to the Library Center, as she does the second Tuesday of every month. As she tethers Junia, she sees Doc outside the post office. She tells him about the Moffits, but he’s going to see someone else. When she tries to give him Angeline’s seeds, he tells her that it’s a waste to heal a thief just so he can go on and steal from others. Cussy Mary protests that Angeline is present and they have no medicine; her grammar slips as she becomes more impassioned. However, Doc just reiterates his position: “there’s no place for thieves in Kentucky” (57). Relenting, he tells Cussy Mary that if Angeline will come to town, he’ll give her a free examination. He also wants to examine Cussy Mary, since it has been three months since she was married and she may be pregnant, but this makes her nervous. She remembers how bloodthirsty Doc acted when her mother died, asking for a sample of her skin and blood. At the end of their conversation, Doc drops the seeds in the dirt; Cussy Mary picks them back up.

Cussy Mary goes into the Library Center at the back of the post office. It is nothing fancy—just a space where the librarians work to sort materials. Her supervisors are there gossiping and sorting books, and Cussy Mary begins to unpack books. She sets books aside for her outpost. The Pack Horse librarians have a courier who will deliver materials to outpost stations closer to their routes; hers is in a chapel, though she also takes books when she comes to the center.

Outside, Junia nickers, and Cussy Mary sees Jackson Lovett outside the store. He has an apple and gestures to Cussy Mary, asking if he can give it to Junia. She nods. Inside, Harriett is gossiping about Lovett and how handsome and rich he is. She mentions the Pie Bake in three weeks, where unmarried people will pair off based on the sale of pies the women bring. However, there is a No Coloreds sign at the bake, so Cussy Mary can’t go. Harriett starts to become suspicious about Lovett with Junia. Afraid to touch Cussy Mary, Harriett shows her prejudice by teasing Cussy Mary about her blushing. Junia cries out; Lovett is standing back from her, and she finally takes the apple. Lovett then comes to the window, asking Cussy Mary if she’s heard of his new book, Fer-de-Lance. She says she has, and he leaves, puzzling her.

Cussy Mary continues to go through the donations, picking out books for her patrons. she finds a grammar book, which she wants to take for herself but will give to Angeline. She comes across a book, The Stars Look Down, which she knows Harriett wants, and offers it to her. Harriett is suspicious but takes it. Cussy Mary then finds an almost-new newspaper, which she peruses. Eula takes it from her and tells her to go tether Junia in the back so she doesn’t scare passersby. Eula dislikes the mule, saying she should be shot for meat.

Queenie, the “Negro Pack Horse Librarian,” comes in with a wound. She explains that she was passing Junia when Pastor Frazier hit the mule with a stick and Junia almost tore his sleeve off. When Queenie tried to calm the mule, Junia accidentally bit her instead. Knowing that Frazier is outside scares Cussy Mary, but Harriett tells her to get back to work. Realizing that Harriett could easily be a follower of Frazier’s, Cussy Mary feels hunted.

Now that Frazier is gone, Queenie and Cussy Mary talk. Cussy Mary offers to clean the wound, but they are not allowed to go into the new bathroom, as it has a No Coloreds sign. Queenie applied to the program five times but was always rejected until she applied to the WPA directly. To be accepted, she had to read a book aloud; she read two pages from the dictionary she always carries in her bag. Cussy Mary thinks that her route is a hard one, second only to her own. Harriett refused to train Queenie, so Cussy Mary did it. The two women talk about books and life; Queenie’s husband and father were both killed in mine explosions, and she has three children and a grandmother to look after. Cussy Mary thinks about the bathroom sign: There are only eight people of color in the area, including herself and her father. However, Eula emphasizes that she’s only allowed to clean the bathroom, not use it, saying that she has to go outside. Harriett concurs, saying that Cussy Mary could be carrying a disease.

On Monday morning, Angeline is missing when Cussy Mary arrives at her house. She waits in the yard for a time, thinking that the young woman is probably out hunting. Continuing on the route, Junia doesn’t want to go down the trail where she saw Pastor Frazier, so Cussy Mary uses a different path, leaving loans for her clients. At the school, she sees the teacher, Winnie, and all of the students who are excited to see the “Book Woman.” They tell her about the books they’ve read and the books they want. Winnie, the teacher, also gets books. Winnie’s husband works in Detroit, at a factory. She was Cussy Mary’s only caller after Charlie Frazier died, never asking her questions about him but instead just supporting her. Once, Cussy Mary had to stay overnight in the schoolhouse during a summer storm, but she felt so awkward about it, she left in the middle of the night.

Winnie asks if Cussy Mary will read to the children. Although she is already late on her route, she does. The children gather around her, thin and looking hungry. She reads them an excerpt of a book by Laura Ingalls Wilder. One child, Henry, says he wants to be a librarian, too, and the other children make fun of him for this ambition, saying that he’s not a woman and that even so, he couldn’t get married. Cussy Mary tells them that the project has widows working for it, too. When she leaves, Henry gives her a present he got for winning the spelling bee, telling her to open it later. He spells pineapple for her.