Page 51 of Magnolia Summer

“Stop!” Celia could barely get the word out. “Don’t move!”

The girl looked down at what Celia was staring at and let loose an ear-piercing scream, clutching her basket against her chest.

Old Sallie whinnied and reared, pawing the air. Celia held on to her bridle.

She’d heard that a snake wouldn’t strike if you held perfectly still, but the girl was not holding still. She slid her feet backward, clutching at her arms as she hugged the basket tighter.

“Don’t move!” Desperation made Celia’s voice shrill.

The snake raised its head higher, shaking its tail. The snake’s rattles sounded like hundreds of tiny feet, marching, coming for them. The hair on the back of Celia’s neck prickled at the sinister warning.

The snake’s body was coiled, its head facing the little girl only two feet away, well within striking distance. If the snake bit the little girl, she could die.

A steely calm entered Celia’s veins and steadied her hands. She had to act quickly to save the girl.

She picked up a rock and threw it with all her strength. She purposely made it hit the ground a foot shy of the snake’s coiled-up body. Just as she’d hoped, the snake jerked its head from the girl’s direction to the rock, lunging and striking at it.

Celia yelled, “Get back.”

The poor girl sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks, as she crept backward down the road, back in the direction she’d come.

Celia looked around for something to use to kill the snake, now that it was facing in her direction. Old Sallie snorted and pulled backward on the bridle.

Celia couldn’t let the snake frighten her horse into charging. A long stick lay at the edge of the road. She bent and grabbed it. The outer layer crumbled. The stick was rotten. She threw it down.

The snake uncoiled itself and began to move toward Celia and Old Sallie. She only had a few seconds before the snake would be close enough to strike.

Fear tightened her chest and made her breathing shallow. Desperately, she looked around for something else. She spotted another stick lying farther off the road. She pulled Old Sallie after her as she stepped off the road and stretched her arm to reach it.

She grabbed hold of the sturdy limb. The snake continued its menacing pose, its forked tongue darting in and out, its beady eyes now trained on Celia, and its rattles shaking at her.

“I’m going to kill you, snake.” Celia’s voice trembled in spite of her bravado.

The little girl stood a safe distance away, sniffling. “Please don’t let that snake bite you.”

The rattlesnake slithered toward Celia. The girl screamed.

Celia got in front of Old Sallie and let go of the bridle. Clutching the stick in both hands, she brought the end of the limb down hard.

Thwack!

Oh no! She’d missed the snake altogether and hit the ground beside it, instead.

Chapter 15

Vibrations shivered up Celia’s arms, almost causing her to drop the stick.

The snake lifted its head, coiling itself in a striking pose, and Celia brought the stick down again, this time hitting the snake, but still missing its head, her intended target.

Though the blow made a tiny dent in the snake’s body, its head pivoted toward her stick. The snake’s glittery, diamond-patterned length coiled tighter, getting ready to strike.

Celia brought the stick down a third time, and this time she hit the head. She brought the stick down again and again, hitting the head several more times, and yet the rattles continued their tuneless racket. Finally, as she continued her assault, the snake’s rattles went limp on the ground.

Her hands trembled and her knees went weak. She couldn’t seem to take her eyes off the creature.

“Oh, miss!” The little girl stepped cautiously forward. “I never seen nobody kill a snake with a stick before.” The child came closer. The evidence of tears still shimmered on her cheeks, but they were smiling now. “You must be the bravest lady in Madison County.”

Celia laughed nervously. If she was so brave, why was she shaking like a leaf?