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Gods of Appalachia

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presents, stacking

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the odds, a

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tale for the

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season. Bauer

5:03

County, West

5:05

Virginia December 21,

5:09

1939.

5:14

Bauer County lay under a light

5:16

blanket of snow that sparkled in

5:18

the sunlight as Nina Jennings steered

5:20

her car carefully up the road

5:22

that wound a round oak mountain

5:25

to her mama's house. Snow flurries

5:27

had come the previous afternoon, growing

5:29

a little heavier after dusk, but

5:31

by morning the skies clear to

5:33

the sun shone down, melting the

5:35

snow from the roads and making

5:37

her visit possible. There

5:39

are still a few icy patches in the areas

5:41

where the trees cast more shade than the weak

5:43

winter sun could penetrate, so she took her time.

5:46

But most of the trip had

5:48

been easy, and even pleasant as

5:50

she drove through a sparkling winter

5:52

wonderland. The trunk

5:54

of Nina's Packard held presents wrapped

5:56

in simple brown paper and tied with

5:58

ribbons of red and green - yard. A

6:01

huge huge tin filled with sausage two long

6:03

and two long strands of cranberry

6:05

and popcorn strung together over the course

6:07

of the last few evenings. Tonight her Tonight,

6:09

would her family would gather to celebrate

6:11

the winter solstice and trim the

6:13

Christmas trees tree as they year since she

6:15

could remember. remember. They And they

6:17

would not exchange gifts until Christmas Christmas

6:19

but Nina had finished wrapping all her

6:21

gifts, her she figured it was best to

6:23

go ahead and bring them over and

6:25

put them under the tree. over and Her

6:27

cat, Mr. Her cat, Mr. had an unfortunate

6:29

habit of chewing the paper off of

6:31

packages off well as a fondness for as a

6:33

fondness for Nina pulled her car to a

6:35

stop in front of the in front of the

6:37

tidy white It's bright bright blue shutters had matching rock in

6:39

the sunlight with a fresh coat of

6:41

paint with a cousin Tobias had applied that

6:43

summer. that applied began unpacking

6:45

the car, the car, up her arms with

6:47

as much as she could safely carry. safely

6:50

The front door was unlocked so she let

6:52

herself inside, calling out a greeting as she

6:54

crossed the threshold. as she crossed the I'm

6:57

here I'm here! Mary Gold Underwood, matriarch of the

6:59

of the family and fire of of the

7:01

mountain. noted just about everybody around these

7:03

parts as as Underwood hollered to

7:05

her from the back of

7:07

the house. of the house. in the

7:09

kitchen. darling. When I I told

7:11

you about in my dope. Sorry, Mama. Got my arms

7:13

my arms full. I couldn't catch

7:15

it Gold emerged from the from the

7:17

kitchen to help her daughter, her her hands

7:19

on a dish She tied her hair She tied

7:22

her hair up in a her and her apron

7:24

was liberally dusted with with flour. As As Nina carried

7:26

in an arm -load of gifts, she caught the

7:28

door behind her and closed it closed it see

7:30

Tobias has already brought the tree. the

7:32

I didn't see his truck outside. outside. He

7:34

went out and cut one one me

7:36

yesterday. yesterday. Had to to work this morning. He

7:38

should be here directly. The furniture The

7:40

furniture in Underwood's parlor had been rearranged

7:42

to accommodate a tall, lush, fir that was

7:44

was placed in a bucket of water

7:46

in front of the of the bay window. The

7:48

The bucket had been cleverly concealed behind

7:51

a draping of a pretty a and

7:53

green plaid flannel upon which Nina would

7:55

eventually arrange the arrange the for the

7:57

family. for the family. for now, she placed

7:59

him in the hall. closet so wouldn't be underfoot

8:01

during the tree trimming that evening. trim in that

8:03

-in -law that I thought you said I thought

8:05

was coming with you. He's over at

8:07

the school. He decided He children could use

8:10

one last rehearsal before the show

8:12

on Saturday. before the Evan on was the

8:14

teacher at was the teacher at the Booker

8:16

A single room wooden structure in

8:18

in which provided education for

8:20

black children in children in Bear County, 12.

8:22

to 12. He had had taken the position

8:24

after he finished his training his brother

8:27

-in -law Victor was promoted to superintendent

8:29

of the to District. of the As

8:31

the solo instructor at the As the

8:33

sole Calvin was responsible for everything

8:35

from developing each day's multiple lesson

8:37

plans to preparing school lunches to

8:39

providing janitorial services and this year

8:41

for directing the school's first annual

8:44

Christmas for directing the first he hoped

8:46

of many more to come. The

8:48

first he hoped of many more does love

8:50

those children. He He does. a great He's

8:52

a great teacher. a good He would

8:54

have made a good father had ever

8:56

had any of our own. still time, still

8:58

time it. the it wills it. just

9:00

has other plans be God just has

9:02

other plans for you, baby. not particularly

9:04

was not particularly disappointed she the

9:06

home she and Calvin shared been

9:09

not been blessed with children. When they

9:11

had first When they had first married,

9:13

they tried for a baby, but months

9:15

and eventually years passed and Nina never found

9:17

herself with child. child. Her Her heart

9:19

as she'd watched their friends and peers welcome

9:21

new life into the world world, and saw

9:23

the longing in her husband's eye. eye.

9:26

Calvin's mother had mother had died when

9:28

he was little more than an infant

9:30

and his his remarried. And while his father

9:32

had several siblings several were always plenty of

9:34

cousins were to play with at family gatherings,

9:36

around Calvin had grown up a little

9:38

lonely. Calvin had grown up a

9:40

was a kind man, was father,

9:42

a loving Their home was a quiet

9:44

place haunted by his by his grief. And

9:47

Calvin of having a family of

9:49

his own to fill his house

9:51

with laughter his house with music and games and

9:53

music and light and it had hurt. she

9:55

couldn't make that dream come true for him.

9:57

true for him. As the the years passed...

10:00

However, as she watched as her peers grew

10:02

tired and worn down by the sheer work

10:04

of raising children, the constant pressure of making

10:06

ends meet and the fear for their futures

10:08

that kept them awake at night, Nina began

10:10

to think perhaps it had been a blessing

10:12

in disguise for her. But

10:14

if not for Calvin. The

10:16

life of a mother looked utterly exhausting to her

10:18

and she wasn't at all certain she was cut

10:20

out for it. She found

10:22

she was quite happy with the life they enjoyed

10:24

together. Their evening spent curled

10:27

up by the fire, playing cards or board

10:29

games, listening to radio programs or reading

10:31

books, volunteering with the church, helping her own

10:33

mother with the work she did for

10:35

their community. and thus

10:37

she had taken her mom's advice to

10:39

heart. that they were meant to have a child. that

10:41

a child would come when the time was right. And

10:44

if not, that it simply wasn't

10:46

meant to be. Calvin will be

10:48

along later this evening. You come in

10:50

and watch the Christmas pageant, aren't you

10:52

mama? Why, I wouldn't miss it. It's

10:55

not every day a woman gets to

10:57

see her son -in -law's directorial debut. Don't

10:59

you dare tell him that. That man

11:01

is already planning how he can make

11:03

the show bigger and better next year.

11:05

He don't need you giving him a

11:07

big head. I'll tell him whatever I

11:09

want. The two women continued bantering back

11:11

and forth in the comfortable way of mothers

11:13

and daughters while Nina to finish unloading

11:15

the Packard. Though the majority of

11:17

the Underwood Clan would not arrive until

11:19

around 6 that evening, Nina and Tobias had

11:21

promised to come early to help with

11:24

preparations. Their annual source celebration was a potluck,

11:26

and everyone would bring a dish or

11:28

two, but there was still plenty to do.

11:31

Tobias will bring hollybows and mistletoe and

11:33

other decorative items from nature that needed hanging.

11:35

Chairs would need to be brought into the

11:37

parlor from other rooms or fetched up from the

11:39

basement to ensure everybody had a place to

11:41

sit. the good china had

11:43

to be set out and the silverware

11:45

polished, and of course there was the bacon. Marigold

11:49

had spent the past few

11:51

days making cakes, pies, and a

11:53

seemingly endless array of cookies.

11:55

There were the holiday staples, pecan

11:57

and minced meat pies, fruit

11:59

cakes and bourbon balls and then of of

12:01

course, there was her there was

12:03

her famous cake. Ranny Underwood stack

12:05

cake was a thing of stacked

12:07

cake was a thing of legend.

12:09

thin golden Consisting of 12 and possibly

12:11

thin each layers of a healthy cake, of

12:13

each slathered with a healthy coating

12:15

of spiced apple butter and sealed

12:17

with yet another layer of the

12:20

same. wrapped and The cake had been

12:22

wrapped and allowed to set for

12:24

the past couple of days to

12:26

soften allow allow the glorious flavors to

12:28

properly combine. Tradition

12:30

held that the cake had to be

12:32

tasted by at least by at different people.

12:34

On the same day it was cut

12:36

to was cut luck for the following luck for the

12:38

following year. For most folks, that part

12:40

was little more than superstition. more than

12:42

superstition. But a a static

12:44

cake baked by by mere Underwood. huh?

12:46

That was That was another matter altogether.

12:48

It was one of the many was one of the

12:51

many subtle layers of protection weaving had

12:53

been weaving around her family since she

12:55

was just a new bride and it it

12:57

worked. and also tasted

12:59

like pure heaven. So it had never been

13:01

it had never been too much trouble to find

13:03

12 people willing to eat it. was

13:06

The difficulty was making it last

13:08

through the a spare apron from the hook

13:10

pulled a spare apron from the hook on

13:12

the back of the kitchen door and tied

13:14

it around her waist, of the sound of tires

13:16

on on gravel their ear. Gotta be Tobas! be and

13:18

Marigold and into headed back

13:20

into the as just as walked

13:22

through the door dressed in

13:25

a fluffy red and white

13:27

Santa suit, complete with stocking cap. Ho, ho,

13:29

ho! Merry Merry Christmas! laughed The

13:31

two women laughed on earth did you

13:33

on earth did you find that? at

13:35

work asked for the fellas at it.

13:37

Said he outgrew it. It's he outgrew it. It's

13:40

nice, right? a right, handsome Santa you make

13:42

a I hope you bought a Santa

13:44

Claus. because we but I work to

13:46

do. clothes got we got work clothes

13:48

on oh, yeah, I got street clothes it.

13:50

I it. I just thought you ladies

13:52

might like a preview Tobias stripped off the

13:54

Santa suit, which was getting a little

13:56

warm already already, the three of them got

13:58

to work to work. Neither Nina and Tobias

14:01

swept and mopped floors, hung decorations, and and

14:03

the other matters of setting up for the

14:05

party party, while Underwood finished the last

14:07

the last of her cooking. By By the time

14:09

family and friends began to arrive,

14:11

there were candles lit in each window.

14:13

The The doorways were strung with

14:15

mistletoe. The had had been draped in balance

14:17

of holly and and the the was stocked

14:19

with an amazing assortment of sweets.

14:21

assortment of In the dining room, room,

14:23

the long cable had been been set up

14:25

buffet style, while the chairs had been

14:27

moved to the the parlor. Nina's sausage ball sat

14:29

at one into the and were soon joined by

14:31

a wide array of other array foods,

14:33

including her older her eggs and Tobias' pigs

14:35

in a blanket, a perennial favorite of

14:37

the grandchildren. favorite of the

14:39

grandchildren. Marigold's of place, held pride on a

14:42

silver cake tray that had been

14:44

an anniversary gift from her late

14:46

husband Lee some years ago. husband

14:48

Lee some years ago. cake looks beautiful. I

14:51

don't think I've ever seen you make

14:53

one so pretty so pretty. ain't lying,

14:55

lying, Nazi. There's one thong -looking

14:57

cake. cake. You sure I can't I can't

14:59

just on in here? speed speed

15:01

with which gold Underwood her nephew's

15:03

hand away was like the

15:05

kiss of a like the kiss of a

15:07

hummingbird's too fast to be perceived by the eyes

15:09

of the eyes of man. get your hands back.

15:12

You know better. You know better. let

15:14

you know when it's time. it's time. the distribution. of

15:17

Granny Underwood's apple stack

15:19

serious business. business. The 12

15:21

slices had to be consumed on the

15:23

same night, and and the baker of

15:25

the cake could not be the one

15:27

to eat the first or final slice. was

15:30

It was preferable that some slices be

15:32

consumed by blood relations and others by

15:34

guests. although the precise the process distribution

15:36

was of little This year Nina and

15:38

This year, would and Calvin would have

15:40

the first Tobias would take the Tobias would take

15:42

the third. were promised to have and

15:44

the fifth were promised to two Mr. and Mrs.

15:47

Mr. and Mrs. had come to see who had

15:49

come to see her regarding their daughter's

15:51

prospects for marriage in the coming year.

15:53

year. Now This was accomplished by a midnight

15:55

visit to the to the pig pen see whether

15:57

an old pig or a young pig

15:59

would speak. If an old pig gave the an

16:01

old pig gave the first grunt, then

16:03

the young woman in question would marry an

16:05

older man. man. While While a younger pig

16:07

squealing heralded matrimony with a younger suitor. younger suitor.

16:09

And sure enough, handsome young pig spoke

16:11

right upon their approach, their howling either for and

16:13

either fear that his time had come. that

16:16

his time had come. The were thrilled, were

16:18

and and had invited them to her

16:20

annual them to potluck and solstice a

16:22

slice of tree cake for add a

16:24

little of to the girl's prospects. add a

16:26

little luck to the girl's prospects. What

16:29

had had not. mentioned to the Sense

16:31

of Oz, was that when that when that

16:33

poor profit cried out to greet to

16:35

she hadn't heard a squeal of

16:37

the usual of the usual sort. Instead,

16:39

that that little future had looked her

16:41

right in the eye spoke her name.

16:44

her name. Marigold? Just like

16:46

that. Marigold? Granny Underwood

16:48

had quickly turned away and hurried

16:50

the Sense of Oz had quickly

16:52

turned away and hurried the cinzaballs

16:55

along in the general run

16:57

of things. things, hearing in an animal

16:59

speak. mean any number of things.

17:01

Animals speaking near near the solstice, however,

17:03

was a particularly bad omen. as

17:05

bad as if you sat as bad a if

17:07

you sat under a pine tree on Christmas which

17:09

which was a surefire way to make sure you

17:12

didn't live to see the next one. see the next

17:14

wasn't it wasn't good. Mary Gold was worried.

17:16

The signs worried. unclear in every

17:18

signs have been unclear in every attempt at in

17:20

the week made in the week leading up to

17:22

the turning of the season, and this didn't

17:24

help matters. matters. It had been

17:26

a long and difficult year for

17:28

Bauer and and the family. the year, the

17:30

union Early in the year, the Caber

17:32

of Mine at the that dragged on for months and

17:34

had dragged on for months and resulted

17:37

in bloodshed on both sides before an agreement

17:39

was reached and work resumed. an outbreak of

17:41

There'd been an outbreak of measles, which several

17:43

of her grandchildren Tobias had broken his arm had broken

17:45

his arm back in the spring out laid

17:47

up out of work for weeks. Although

17:49

to be fair, he had the house the house

17:51

late that summer by way of regain his

17:53

strength. And it was looking mighty fine. fine.

17:55

Her daughter, had had endured a rough pregnancy

17:57

and ended up confined to bed for its

17:59

two final months, requiring everyone in the family to

18:01

pitch in and look after her other two

18:03

young ones while her husband was at work. As

18:07

1939 drew to a close, however,

18:09

things had begun to look up.

18:12

All she needed now was some little sausage

18:14

factory bringing bad luck to their door. While

18:16

the cake wasn't the only work she would

18:18

perform to ensure her family's peace in the

18:20

coming year, she was determined to do everything

18:22

in her power to ensure it was a

18:24

success. Slice number six would go to Mr.

18:27

Jenkins, who lived a few miles down the

18:29

road on the way to town. Delmar

18:31

Jenkins, bitter -ass old miser that he

18:33

was, became an absolute sweetheart from

18:35

Thanksgiving through Boxing Day. Mayor

18:38

Gold figured was because he was half lit most of

18:40

the time, but every Christmas day for as long as she

18:42

and Doc had on Oak Mountain and that crabby old

18:44

son -bitch turned up with a dozen eggs and a box

18:46

of chocolates for their house. He

18:48

continued this tradition after dark past. Even

18:52

began dropping off eggs every now and again,

18:54

otherwise in on so he too had earned

18:56

his spot at the family solstice party. Marigold

18:59

herself would take the seventh slice,

19:01

seven being both generally an

19:03

auspicious number and Dock's birthday. She

19:06

heard the sound of footsteps on the porch

19:08

and Nina called out. Mama, Tamara and

19:10

Perry are here with Jeremiah and

19:12

Gregory. Oh, Looks like the

19:14

censor balls and the heart of some church

19:16

are coming up to drive too. Marigold

19:18

remained focused on her static cake, running through

19:20

the last five intended recipients in her

19:22

head. Auntie, you all right?

19:25

What? Oh, I'm

19:27

all right. Just want to

19:29

make sure everybody's gay. plenty to

19:31

eat. all due respect Auntie, don't,

19:33

don't play with me Tobias!

19:35

Tobias! sorry, ma

19:37

'am, but I know that tone.

19:39

That's the way you used to

19:41

talk to me before, you

19:44

know, before I knew. Knew

19:46

what, nephew? you know

19:48

about this hoodoo shit. Tobias

19:51

Tobias! Language! ah, ah, auntie.

19:53

that was not even fair

19:55

and you know it I'm

19:57

sorry, boy. Sometimes

20:01

too easy and I

20:03

can't resist. resist. I'm fine, Tobas.

20:05

fine, the way you've I've seen the way you've

20:07

been looking at a a all night. night.

20:10

What's going on, on, Auntie? Wait,

20:12

the cake ain't ain't haunted

20:15

or nothing, is is it? tell

20:17

me we tell eat eat the cake because

20:19

there's a hang in it. there's a hang

20:21

in it. There no no that

20:23

cake, baby. cake, baby. eat it,

20:25

eat gonna eat all of

20:27

it. We got got to. You

20:29

know that. Before Tobias Tobias could

20:31

ask anything else, Underwood went to went to

20:33

hug her grandbabies and make sure everyone

20:35

had full plates and were on their

20:37

way to were on bellies. to having full bellies.

20:40

I just noticed that she kept kept

20:42

on the stack cake and lancing around around

20:44

the room He saw her visibly

20:46

He saw her visibly her little

20:48

when her Bible crocheting companion, Martha

20:51

Ann, showed up with her her

20:53

friend and roommate, Ms. Barbara, slices number

20:55

11, respectively. Tobias

20:57

made his way across the rapidly filling

20:59

parlor and pulled Nina away from

21:01

an undoubtedly thrilling conversation with her husband

21:03

and brother -in -law about grading standards

21:06

in the county school system for which

21:08

she seemed grateful. grading standards you

21:10

noticed system for a

21:12

she seemed grateful. Have you

21:14

noticed Auntie is acting a

21:16

evening? know, mean, she's got

21:18

a I full of family. a house She done

21:20

run family. She all the food ready. She

21:22

might be a little tired. food think

21:24

she might be a a little tired. fixated

21:27

on the on the this year? year no matter

21:29

who she's no matter who she's talking

21:31

to on, what else goes on Look,

21:33

look, keeps checking Granny there she go

21:35

again on the sofa Underwood her on the

21:37

sofa next to her grandson, talking who was

21:39

talking about all about all the things he

21:41

hoped Sandy might bring him that year. him that

21:43

year. She kept nodding distractedly, her eyes her

21:45

eyes the window to back to the

21:48

cake back to the returning to Gregory in

21:50

his story. and his story. That I just wouldn't

21:52

like her at all. at all. There There

21:54

was one thing you'd normally have

21:56

to pry to away from. was her

21:58

grandchildren. was her grandchildren. See? She she keep. looking out

22:00

the window like she's expecting someone or

22:03

something. I don't know what the cake

22:05

got to do with it, but we

22:07

might have trouble and she wouldn't tell

22:10

me nothing. I don't know, Tobias. I

22:12

mean, did you ask her directly if

22:14

anything was wrong? I did, and she

22:17

tried to distract me. She kept making

22:19

jokes and brushing me off, Nina. She

22:21

was talking to me like I don't

22:24

know nothing about, you know. Who do

22:26

shit? Yes! Well, we can stand out

22:28

here whispering about her, or we can

22:30

ask her like grown folks. I just

22:33

saw her go in the kitchen. Come

22:35

on. The cousin stepped over to the

22:37

kitchen door and peered inside. Mary Gold

22:40

Underwood paced the linoleum with the nervous

22:42

energy most often seen in the hospital

22:44

waiting room. She wrung her hands and

22:47

muttered to herself. When she started toward

22:49

the door back into the parlor, no

22:51

doubt to double check on the cake

22:54

again, they quickly stepped inside. Tobias shut

22:56

the door behind them. Tobias is worried

22:58

about you. Why you gotta put it

23:01

on me? You hush. Go changing to

23:03

your Santa outfit. Give me and Mama

23:05

some privacy. You're worrying me Mama. Please

23:08

tell me what's going on. Nina honey,

23:10

we can talk about it later. I

23:12

just need to see you. Tobias is

23:14

right. You keep watching the windows. You're

23:17

hovering over the apple stack cake like

23:19

it's a pot about to boil over.

23:21

Mama, what's wrong? Is something coming? Do

23:24

we need to be ready? Cheers erupted

23:26

from the next room in a mighty

23:28

hoh-h-hoh-hoh! Reach their ears as Tobiz made

23:31

his entrance as Santa. Honey, I just

23:33

want to be sure that cake is

23:35

eaten for midnight. We need every little

23:38

bit of good fortune we can get

23:40

this coming year if it's anything like

23:42

the last one. Tobiz getting hurt people

23:45

getting sick and there's darker things stirring

23:47

out there in the world. I can

23:49

feel it. You got three black folks

23:52

in one house with gifts like ours.

23:54

You have to know trouble calling on

23:56

top of all that. A pig spoke

23:59

to me today. A pig spoke to

24:01

you. Mm-hmm. Look me to you. the eye

24:03

and said my name. That's me

24:05

dead it's not. and said my name.

24:07

he not good. and No, it's

24:09

not. now. But mama, lucky he

24:11

ain't ham and biscuits by Usually everybody

24:13

always eats your cake. Usually give hardly

24:15

any crumbs left. and You give it

24:18

to people who love and appreciate

24:20

you. Sharing that delicious thing that you

24:22

on so hard on lets them know

24:24

that they're loved and appreciated too. too.

24:26

How could we not get that that

24:28

blessing? I might have up.

24:30

You know, Tiller and You know Tilly

24:33

and Perry couldn't make it this year.

24:35

I know, but deserve to deserve to see

24:37

them babies think I You think I don't

24:39

know that? it leaves us it

24:41

leaves us one piece short without your

24:43

brother -in -law here to eat it. So I ask

24:45

somebody else, and they ask somebody else

24:47

and they ain't showed up to worry to worry

24:49

they may not make it. They

24:52

probably don't understand how important

24:54

sharing in this is to our

24:56

family. Not understand. Mama, who did

24:58

you ask? ask? I was down at

25:00

the bank I was down at

25:02

the bank handling some business that nice

25:04

Mr. Rowe who who works at the

25:06

front counter. counter. wish me

25:08

a me a Merry I wished him one

25:11

back. You know, he's a handsome young

25:13

man. he's a And he said, man. You

25:15

have a good holiday Miss Underwood and save

25:17

me a piece of that stat cake now.

25:19

save me a piece said I would. cake

25:22

now. I said I would. And in

25:24

fact... He He could come

25:27

join us a tree trimming and have a piece

25:29

a it's it's nice and fresh. Wait.

25:31

Can he row? That white boy that That white

25:33

boy that used to work at the gas

25:35

station till his daddy got him a

25:37

job at the bank? a job promised him a

25:39

piece of cake. a just been so helpful.

25:41

been so And he eels a handsome boy.

25:44

boy. And I was just caught up was

25:46

just caught up in spirit as a

25:48

mama. Why would he come would he come all

25:50

the way out here just to get a

25:52

piece of cake? cake? The Rose are town folk. They don't

25:54

They don't come up on the mountain. I am

25:56

very much aware of that, that baby. I just

25:59

just thought it... might us to spread

26:01

the luck around, around, some new

26:03

energy. Well, even if Big Shot Bank

26:05

Job Row doesn't come doesn't come see

26:07

us, it's not like you don't

26:09

have other protections in place. place.

26:11

Bad stuffs come come before. Mama,

26:13

we've gone we've gone chasing after

26:15

it if we're honest. Language. The

26:18

kitchen door swung The kitchen door

26:20

swung open and Tobias, who had

26:22

overheard the last bit of their

26:24

conversation, came into the kitchen. Still Mary and

26:26

red and white suit. suit. right right,

26:28

Auntie. We've been through a lot this

26:30

past year, sure, we but we've

26:32

faced worse before. matter what And no matter

26:35

what comes, we'll face it together. that. All

26:37

right, all right. that. you. Let's go

26:39

all right. I get on with it.

26:41

Oh, I almost go cut this cake and get on

26:43

with it. to tell you forgot. I was

26:45

coming in here to tell you

26:47

that some about the bank. something about the

26:49

bank. tore past tore past her nephew and

26:51

daughter blew into the parlor like a

26:53

hurricane. A A timid blonde

26:56

man in his mid -20s stood in

26:58

the doorway, doorway. holding a pair

27:00

of white gloves, looking very uncomfortable to

27:02

be the palest face in the

27:04

room the room sudden focus of everyone's

27:06

attention. attention. Mr.

27:08

Rowe! Uh, hi, Mr. Wood. You, uh, left your gloves

27:10

on the your gloves on the counter at

27:12

the bank yesterday. My My daddy suggested

27:14

I bring them up to him up to you. customer

27:16

and all that. all that. We appreciate 'all for

27:18

being loyal customers all these years. all these

27:20

said even when folks were scared to

27:22

keep their money in banks after the

27:24

stock market money your accounts open with us.

27:26

keep food on the table when times

27:29

were bad. Why thank you, us,

27:31

helped keep food on the thoughtful. times

27:33

were bad. Why You give my best to

27:35

your that it's very thoughtful. You Why don't you

27:37

stay and have a piece of that cake, I promise? stay

27:39

and have a piece I should really get

27:41

going. you. I should really get going. Sit

27:43

down, Kenny. you You eating this cake. And with

27:46

that Mary Gold Underwood cut and

27:48

her famous apple stack

27:50

cake. cake. It It was

27:52

sweet and spicy, golden and and

27:54

delicious as always. The solstice

27:56

had had come Underwood House met met

27:58

it with good food, good

28:00

friends, and good fortune.

28:03

Today's story was written

28:05

by Kim Collins and

28:07

Steve Shell. Our story

28:10

was written by Kim

28:12

Collins and Steve Brother Land Our

28:14

intro and outro music

28:16

is by Nina Jennings was The

28:18

voice of Nina Jennings was

28:20

voice of Tobias The voice of

28:22

Tobias Underwood was DJ And the voice

28:25

of And the voice of

28:27

Marigold Underwood, Fire of the the Mountain,

28:30

was Stephanie Hicklingbeckman. Happy

28:32

holidays from all of us

28:34

here at Deep Beckman. Happy

28:37

holidays from

28:39

all of us

28:42

here at DeepNurd

28:45

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