A Murder in the Hills of Kentucky
Ursula E. Howard
Evie, the protagonist, wanted to recuperate from her studies at Usher University in Indiana during the semester break and intended to visit her American Mother Mary, her former mother-in-law at their family’s home in Kentucky. Mary still considered Evie as one of her children even though she divorced Mary’s son, Bruno.
Evie was glad to have found a mother-figure, as her biological mother treated her like a rival of her father and hadn‘t given her the attention and care that she needed. Her natural Mom only showed interest in Evie when it bene ted her and only when she needed something.
As her estranged former sister-in-law Abigail was supposed to pick her up at the Grey Hound Bus Station to take her to the Harrod’s house, Abigail shared horrible news. Mom is dead. Evie’s whole body shook and her blood ran cold, adding to the fear of what was to come among the violent Harrods in the house without Mom‘s protection due to the fear of having to stay there.
Evie‘s stay without Mom in the house was a nightmare. All the memories of her marriage to Bruno seemed to come back especially since she was staying in her Ex’s childhood refuge. The room where Bruno had suffered from the brutality of childhood, adolescence and even adulthood when he visited his parents‘ house. Without Mom‘s presence in the house, Evie could feel the traumas and pain from Bruno and her own, fearing for her life. But this time, it wasn‘t just the shock and pain of Mom‘s death, but also the loss of security with the Harrods, who seemed to be a strange, brutal, but still loving family. The younger brother, Wayne, who was incarcerated at a Corrections Center in Crown Point, would be of no help if violence occurred.
Evie had often hung out at the entrance of the barn when she visited the Harrods. A few
months back, when Evie was relaxing in her hide-out, she overheard a heated discussion between the Preacher Charlie and her Mom, who accused him of teaching her the wrong thing, of raising her boys with the rod, and believing, as a true Baptist, fanatical fundamentalist, in the seeming goodness of the wrath of the God of the Old Testament. The preacher was shocked when was he found out that Mary had regretted her strict upbringing of the boys. She had an epiphany after receiving help from the Cherokees, and it sparked a new way of thinking through a Vision Quest.
At dinner before the funeral, Evie was accompanied by Abigail, her new boyfriend Tom, who never said a word, and Bruno. She thought that Dad pretended to not be able to speak because he seemed to avoid any hard topics of discussion. And Evie was obsessed from the beginning by the question who had killed her Mom.
The funeral service took place the next day in the chapel. Chaos ensued as Wayne lost his composure and screamed about his hatred for Mom, her way of punishing him when he was young, and his desire for her to die after Evie had lost control of herself.
The Baptist congregation was dumbfounded by the trauma Wayne was expressing. Then there was an infernal climax, the faithful with their heads bowed, motionless like the preacher at the altar, so immobile and speechless that he could not address his congregation while the evildoer was led out of the chapel.
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