Great-great Grandpa Henry and Great-great Grandma Mary's Lost Baby

With the first cold snap of October on this dark dreary night comes the remembrance of a story that took place long ago...

I never knew the baby's name.  Never knew if it was a boy or a girl.  It seems the memory was so horrible that no one ever spoke of it, other than the warning of the story.  Sometimes that is enough.  It happened in the place where I grew up, just a few pastures from the home place.  It happened on a very dark cool October night, late in the middle of the night...

It seems Great-Great Grandpa Henry & Great-Great Grandma Mary had had a new baby, born in early September.  At that time the woman stayed in with the newborn at least a month.  In fact, my daddy insisted I also do that.  He told my husband that I needed my rest and so did the baby.  We followed this advice as well.  So, after a month of staying in, I felt like I understood how my Great-Great Grandma Mary felt.  I was told that after her month, she begged Henry to take her over to the neighbors for a visit.  He consented.  The day they chose was so beautiful that Henry decided not to hitch the mule to the wagon.  Mary was concerned but he consoled her with the thought that the walk and fresh air would be good for her and the baby.  Way back then they were pretty use to long long walks and this one was several miles.  They set out early and arrived at their neighbors in time for nursing the baby, then lunch, naps, and finally some front porch visiting that went way into the night.  Great-Great Grandma Mary was quite upset at how dark the night was and how fast it had come upon them.  The neighbors begged them to stay the night.  This was not uncommon in those days,  in fact most people stayed several days after such a visit and such a walk ahead of them.  But, Great-Great Grandpa Henry was quite a stubborn man.  He had a cow that needed milking, chickens that needed feeding, and a hog that needed sloppin'.  So he convinced her to set out with him.  Instead of taking the road, Henry decided a trip through the pastures would be much faster.  There were no dangerous bulls or anything in the pastures.  The worse thing was the barbed wire fences.  But Henry had made these treks so many times that he knew exactly how many steps were between each fence.  He told Mary he'd warn her when they were coming up on the fences.  So with adventure in his heart and wariness in hers they set out.  Even though the night was dark, cold and dreary they really were enjoying their walk and the night air.  When they came upon the last fence, Henry said, "I'll go through the fence first and when I'm across you can hand me the baby, then you come through."  Of course Mary agreed.  Henry went through.  He said, "Mary, hand me the baby."  He waited.  She waited for him to help her through.  Then he said again, "Mary, hand me the baby!"  She gasped, she shrieked, she grabbed at him as she shouted, "I already gave you the baby!"  The hands that took the baby from Mary's hands were never found out and neither was the baby.  Henry and Mary did have other children.  But on dark nights, in October, no one was allowed to leave the house...