Chapter 10
Beth pulled over to the side of the narrow mud and gravel road, happy to avoid another giant rut right through the middle. She leaned forward and rubbed her face again, then gasped. That wasn’t ringing in her ears. The tone was shifting, modulating from flat noise into a rising and falling song. Tears filled her eyes at the mournful sound even though she couldn’t make out any words.
“Is that him?” Beth whispered, looking around.
She spotted a huge, modern coal storage tipple just over the ridgeline to the right, the squared-off, pale blue tower sharp against the bare trees and dark gray winter sky.
“That’s who I been hearing all these long years. We’re right near where all the troubles happen, ain’t we?”
Beth pulled out her phone, amazed she got reception. Once she got a lo
