The Torment of Hampton Ford

 Here's a short story for your Halloween enjoyment. It was inspired by pictures I saw from a photo shoot a few years back. I kept wondering what was the story being told in the photos, so I came up with one. I hope you enjoy it.

          The Torment of Hampton Ford

By Thomas Garrett

© 2020

Hampton Ford was the loneliest man in the Ozarks.

A year had passed since the influenza epidemic took his wife Janie. It was an empty year, a year when Hampton’s field lay fallow and weeds grew tall around the house he and Janie shared for fifteen years. It was just them. They’d never been blessed with children, but with the love they had for each other life was good for the happy couple.

Now, the house was as empty as Hampton’s heart.

These days, Hampton -- Ham to friends and neighbors -- spent most of his time wandering through the Leatherwoods south of the White River. Sometimes he’d sit on the riverbank, but he didn’t fish anymore, just stared into the flowing water, longing for his Janie, sometimes thinking about just jumping into the river. He didn’t do much of anything he enjoyed any more. Actually, Ham didn’t do anything but wander the woods.

During the past year, Ham had suffered sorrow, pain, anger, regret, and ultimately emptiness. He no longer felt anything, as if both his heart and soul had left him. In a way they had. The influenza had taken them when it took Janie.

Sometimes he’d return to their home, but more and more Ham stayed in the woods where he’d sleep in a cave or a grove of oak trees, or just on the ground wherever he was when sleep overtook him.

Ham avoided people as much as possible. Their friends and neighbors were there for him at the funeral and during the first days after Janie’s death. Then they moved on with their lives while Ham took to wandering the woods alone. That was fine with him. He didn’t need people, he didn’t need their pity, their sympathy, their condolences, none of which made him feel any better nor would they bring back his Janie.

This day, Ham walked along a path through the trees near Matney Mountain. As always, his thoughts were far away, somewhere beyond the Ozark hills, somewhere dark and hollow. His slow steps almost were a shuffle with his hands jammed into his pockets. He’d lost weight in his year of mourning, and his faded overalls swallowed him, the galluses hanging on his narrow shoulders.

Ham’s hair had grown long, reaching his shoulders. It was greasy and matted. His unkempt beard hadn’t been trimmed in a year and touched his chest. Through dull eyes he stared at the ground as he walked, nothing registering with him as his mind wandered as aimlessly as he. He passed beneath a giant oak tree with a huge limb crossing above the path.

“How long do you plan on mourning and wandering the hills like a ghost, Ham?” asked a throaty female voice above him as he passed beneath the limb.

Ham stopped and turned to look up into the giant oak. Sitting on the big limb, her back against the tree trunk, was a woman in black. She was a dark woman wearing black pants and black leather boots that reached her knees. A buttoned leather vest, also black, covered her torso and revealed bare arms covered with strange markings and odd symbols. Hair black as night in a cave framed her face, and her lips were a deep red. Dark eyes sparkled from her face. Ham thought the woman was beautiful, in a dark, ominous way.

“Well?” she asked. “Have you given up speaking as you’ve given up on everything else?”

Ham cleared his throat. Indeed, it had been a while since he’d spoken to anyone, even himself.

“Go away, woman, and leave me be,” he croaked, turning to walk away.

The dark woman shifted her position and dangled her legs from the limb.

“Why Hampton Ford, is that any way to speak to a lady?” she said.

Ham stopped to turn and face the stranger.

“How do you know my name?” he asked. “Who are you? I’ve never seen you before.”

Pushing away from the limb, the dark woman jumped and landed catlike on the path. She straightened up and was as tall, or taller than most men in the county.

“Oh, I know much about you, Ham,” she said. “I know more about you than even you may know about yourself.”

“Are you a witch?” whispered Ham as the dark woman stepped toward him. “’Cause if you’re a witch you can’t curse me any more than I already am.”

She laughed, a deep laugh. “No, Ham, I’m no witch. Nor am I a conjuring woman, or an enchantress. I just know many things.”

Ham swallowed hard and again spoke in a whisper. “Who are you?”

“You can call me Mara,” said the dark woman.

“Mara. Kind of an odd name,” he said.

“It’s an old name,” she replied, now standing in front of Ham, hands on her hips. She was nearly a head taller. “Now, you haven’t answered my question. How long do you plan to keep on mourning like this?”

“You’re not from around here,” said Ham.

“No, I’m not,” said Mara, frustration in her voice. “My question.”

Ham stared at her, his eyes dim, creases beneath them. He had no more tears to shed.

“As long as I want,” he answered. “I have nothing else anymore.”

He turned to walk away. If he didn’t want to talk to those who knew him, then he surely didn’t want to talk
to a stranger, especially one as strange as Mara. Wanting to get away from the woman, Ham changed from his usual shuffle to steps.

Mara followed a few paces behind, taking her time. Her stride was long enough that she didn’t need to hurry after him. Ham glanced over his shoulder at Mara, who smiled and waved. He returned his attention to the trail ahead and picked up his pace a bit.

“Stop following me. I want to be alone. Go away,” he snapped at her.

“Do you really want to be alone, Ham? Is that truly what you want?”

“Yes, it is. Now leave me alone.”

“You really don’t want to be alone, do you? You hate being alone.”

Ham tried ignoring her, looking straight ahead, and walking a bit more briskly. Mara reached out, brushing her hand against bushes beside the path as she kept pace.

“No one truly wants to be alone, Ham, cut off from everyone around them, isolated from the entire world,” said Mara. “People weren’t meant to be alone. In the Bible that’s why God made Eve for Adam.”

Ham stopped and spun around.

“Then why does God take people away!” he shouted. “Why does he take those we love and leave us alone? Tell me that!”

Mara smiled. “It’s all part of his plan, whatever it may be.”

“Well, I hate his plan. And I’m not feeling particularly fond of him now, either,” said Ham. He looked skyward. “Sorry, lord, but that’s how I feel.”

Ham turned on his heel and started away.

“It’s understandable,” said Mara, following him. “You and Janie had so much love for one another, love that made life worth living for each of you, love no one else could understand.”

Ham turned to Mara. “What do you know about Janie? How do you know about Janie? How do you know about me?” he demanded.

“I just know things, Ham,” she replied.

Ham stared at her, looking deep into her dark eyes. Mara cocked her head to the left and smiled.

“Are you … a demon?” asked Ham, his voice barely audible.

Mara laughed, a hearty, strong laugh.

“No, honey, I’m not a demon,” she said, still chuckling.

“Are you sure about that, sweetie?” asked another voice. A woman’s soft, sweet, gentle voice.

Ham and Mara turned to look at a rock outcrop above them. Atop it stood a woman in white. She wore a flowing white gown with big, billowy sleeves. Long, wavy blonde hair cascaded past her shoulders. The woman in white stepped off the side of the outcropping and started down the hill. Ham could have sworn it looked as if she barely touched the ground.

“What are you doing here?” asked Mara, clearly disgusted and angry.

“Who are you?” asked a baffled Ham.

The woman in white reached the base of the hill. Like Mara, she was about a head taller than Ham. Her skin looked like porcelain, her eyes were a pale blue, and pink lips framed a small smile. She looked as fragile as a china doll.

“My name is Lily,” she told Ham. “And I’m here to help you, Ham.”

He was more confused than he’d ever been.

“Are you an angel?” he asked.

“Please, her an angel?” said Mara flippantly.

“Don’t get catty, dear,” said Lily.

Ham looked from the dark woman to the woman in white, several times, trying to comprehend what was happening. Who were they? Where were they from? Were they even real?

That’s it, thought Ham. They’re not real. I’m seeing things, hearing things, he told himself. Yes, that had to be it. He’d wandered through the woods so long and so alone that he’d finally lost his mind along with everything else. It was just his imagination, there were no women with him, He smiled to himself. Yes, thought Ham, I’ve gone crazy.

“You haven’t lost your faculties, Ham,” said Lily softly and smiling.

“No, you’re not crazy,” added Mara. “You’ve just suffered so much and so long that we’ve come to help you.”

“Help me? How could you possibly help me?” demanded Ham.

Mara, eyebrow raised, looked to Lily, who crossed her arms and cocked her head to the right. No one spoke. The woods fell silent. Not even birds chirped. Overhead, gray clouds moved across the sky.

“Are you angels? Are you demons?” he asked.

“We’re messengers,” replied Lily.

“And we’re here to help you make a decision,” said Mara.

“What decision?” asked Ham.

“What you will do with the rest of your life,” answered Lily.

Ham was dumbfounded. What he would do with the rest of his life? Without Janie he had no life. No desires, no ambitions, no goals, no dreams, Nothing. He had no life; he was just a shell of himself. He had no idea what he’d do tomorrow let alone with the rest of his days. That was his life now.

He stared at the two women, more confused than ever. He still had no idea who they were, where they came from, if they truly were real, or just in his head.

More clouds gathered above, darker ones. Mara and Lily stood quietly waiting for Ham to grasp what was happening, if he could. They’d found sometimes people couldn’t get a grip when they arrived. Ham sat on a stump, confusion covering his face. He stroked his wild beard with his right hand and stared into space.

“I’m going crazy,” he said softly to himself. “That has to be it. I’ve finally lost my mind like I have everything else.”

Mara, stepping beside Ham, placed a hand gently on his shoulder. Her touch startled him. Ham hopped to his feet and backed away from Mara.

“Don’t touch me, whoever or whatever you are,” he told her.

Lily moved forward.

“You, either! Just stay there,” said Ham. “Both of you just stay where you are. Don’t come near me, don’t touch me. Don’t talk to me. Just … leave me be.”

Mara looked to Lily, who shrugged. The wind picked up, humming as it passed through the leaves. Mara, feet apart and hands on her hips, stood in the path. Lily joined her in the same stance.

“You’re not crazy, Ham,” said Mara. “You just need to decide what you’re going to do. Surely you know Janie wouldn’t want you to keep doing this to yourself. You can let go of the pain and get on with your life.”

“You have to decide if you want to see Janie again,” interjected Lily. “It’s a decision you have to make.”

“See Janie again? How can I do that?” asked Ham,

“That’s why I’m here,” said Lily.

“But it’s not time for you to join Janie yet,” said Mara. “You can’t join her now.”

“Yes, he can,” said Lily.

“The cost of such a decision would only keep him away from Janie for much longer. There’d be no peace for him,” argued Mara.

Ham took a few steps back from the women. This was insane, he thought. For a year he’d longed for nothing more than to see Janie again. He would have given his soul to see her, hold her once more, smell her lilac-scented hair, feel her soft skin. But it wasn’t possible.

“This is insane. There’s no way I can be with Janie again,” said Ham. “There’s no way either of you could reunite us.”

“But you can,” Lily told him. “You just have to decide.”

“Decide what?” he asked. “How can I be back with Janie again?”

“Choose which one of us will help you,” said Mara. “But if you choose wrong …”

“If I choose wrong?” said Ham, interrupting her. “How could I choose wrong if it brings Janie back to me? What could I even choose?”

“It’s possible,” replied Mara. “It’s not as simple or easy as you might think, but it’s possible.”

Slowly, Lily approached Ham. “It’s as easy as coming with me,” she said, her right hand extended.

Her pale blue eyes sparkled, her pink lips parted for a small smile. She gazed into Ham’s eyes, and he gazed back. He couldn’t look way. Her eyes seemed to grow the more he stared into them. They became two giant pale blue pools that beckoned to Ham.

Off to the side, Mara watched, realizing what Lily was doing. Ham stood frozen in place. His breathing slowed, and Mara could sense his heartbeat slowing, too.

Ham felt Lily’s eyes engulfing him, drawing him in deeper until it seemed he was surrounded by pale blue. Janie, he thought. Janie’s favorite color was blue. She loved all shades of blue from the brilliant blue of wildflowers on a hillside in spring to the deep blue of the sky just as the sun slipped behind the horizon. Hence, Ham loved blue, too.

For the first time in a year, Ham felt comfort lost there in Lily’s gaze.

Mara stood behind Ham. He was mesmerized by Lily, paying no heed to Mara or anything around him. She walked to Lily, whose wide eyes looked positively wild. This was wrong, she thought.

“You can’t do this, Lily” said Mara. “You know the rules. He must exercise his own judgment, his free will. Only then can we act.”

“You know he will be mine, one way or another, sister,” said Lily without breaking contact with Ham. Her lips never moved. She spoke directly into Mara’s head. “He will choose me. Almost all do.”

“Maybe so, but he must choose on his own,” answered Mara, speaking mind-to-mind to Lily. “That is the way. We cannot bewitch him, otherwise I’d have done so when I met him to keep him from you and we’d be long gone. Sister.”

“I’d expect that of you, Mara,” replied Lily. She blinked once, twice. Her smile shrank, and her eyes were back to normal. “Now we will see what he chooses,”

Ham crumpled to the ground. Mara rushed to him and knelt.

“You’re all right, Ham,” she whispered sweetly. “You’re safe.”

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, then looked at Mara, who smiled. He turned his attention to Lily, who stood nearby and was smiling.

“You just had a few moments of relaxation,” said Lily, “something you really haven’t had in a long time.”

Mara gently brushed back his matted hair. Lily kneeled beside him and took his hand in hers. Ham looked back and forth at the two smiling women trying to comfort him. His eyes widened, growing wild.

“You’re witches!” he cried. “You’re working together to steal my soul!”

Ham shoved Mara and Lily away and pushed himself to his feet. At first unsteady, he got his footing underneath him as the two women rose to reach out to him.

“No,” he gasped, stepping back. “No! Leave me alone! Get away from me! Go away!”

Ham bolted down the path, moving faster than he’d ever moved. He ran as never before, jumping logs and rocks. Through twists and turns on the trail, he ran without slowing. He splashed across a narrow creek and up another hill. Dark clouds filled the sky, and the wind whipped at Ham’s back.

Occasionally, Ham glanced over his shoulder to see if the two women were following, but no one was there. He jumped off the path and broke through the undergrowth, ripping his way among the oak and hickory until he reached a clearing. He sprinted across the open field to the trees on the other side.

His foot caught on a root and Ham fell face forward onto the ground. Gasping for air, he pushed himself up, feeling a trickle of blood running down his face. Wiping it away with the back of his grimy hand, Ham broke into a run again, following the new trail up and down through the woods. Finally, he ran into another clearing beside a road and stopped.

Ham bent forward, his hands on his knees, and gulped down air. His heart pounded inside his chest, trying to break free.

Looking up, he saw a building, a church building. It was the Crossroads Free Will Baptist Church, a white clapboard building with a short steeple topped by a cross. At the top of the stone steps was a double door, and three tall windows lined each side of the building. About ten families in the area claimed membership in the church.

Ham raced to the church and up the steps to the double doors. As was the case at country churches, the doors were unlocked and Ham let himself inside, swiftly pulling the doors closed behind him. Still breathing hard, he rested his face against the cool wood. There was a rumble outside of distant thunder. Ham was glad he’d found sanctuary from the impending storm, and more importantly from those two crazy women. If they were real, he thought.

Closing his eyes, Ham tried to forget what he’d seen and heard, He was sure it all was just his imagination getting away from him after spending so much time alone in his mourning and pining for Janie. That had to be it, he told himself. Yeah, just his imagination, although his longing to see his wife again and to hold her was real.

“I can help ease your pain, Ham.”

“So can I.”

The voices came from behind him. Ham’s eyes widened in fear and he turned, leaning back against the doors. There, in front of the pulpit, stood Mara and Lily with their hands clasped in front of them. Thunder shook the small church rattling the windows.

“How … how did you get here?” asked Ham, afraid to move from the doors. “I left y’all behind in the woods.”

“That doesn’t matter,” said Mara. “What’s important is we’re here to help you.”

“Well, at least one of us is,” added Lily, looking at the dark woman beside her.

Mara glared angrily at the woman in white who only grinned.

Slowly, Ham shuffled away from the doors and down the aisle between the wooden pews like a hesitant sinner answering an altar call. Each foot scraped along the wooden floor as he moved forward, He felt as if he were being drawn to the front of the church.

Both women smiled, extending their arms to Ham.

“I can help ease your pain, Ham,” said Mara. “I can guide you through your darkness and back to your life, help you move forward through your loss.”

Ham stared at the dark woman. Her eyes were sympathetic as she returned his gaze, and a melancholy smile adorned her mouth. It looked as though the markings on her arms were moving. He was about halfway down the aisle.

“I’m the one who truly can help you, Ham. I’m the one who can give you what you want,” said Lily in her sweet and soft voice. “I know what you want more than anything. I can help you be with Janie again, I can bring you together once more.”

Ham stopped and gripped the end of a pew to steady himself.

“You can’t do that,” he told Lily. “You can’t bring back Janie to me. Nobody can do that. She’s gone forever.”

“I didn’t say I could bring her back,” replied the woman in white. “I said I could bring you together, I can take you to her.”

“Don’t listen to her, Ham. She will bring you only more pain and suffering,” interjected Mara. “Come with me and I’ll help you find peace in your life.”

“How can you give me peace? How can either of you do what you say you can,” demanded Ham, his voice shaky. “Are you angels, demons, wraiths, witches? Are you here to torment me more?”

“All we can say is that we’re messengers, and we’ve given you our messages. Now you must decide what to do, what direction you will take. You must choose,” said Mara. “I can help bring you peace. I can’t bring back Janie, or take you to her, but I can help restore your life.”

“I can’t tell you how, but I can bring you and Janie together once more,” said Lily. “I can reunite you forever.”

Lightning flashed through the windows followed by a thunder clap that shook the church. A hymn book fell from its place on the back of a pew, crashing loudly to the floor. Ham released the pew and slowly finished his journey to the pulpit. He stood face-to-face with Lily and Mara and looked from one to the other, back and forth several times.

Mara seemed sad, her eyes pleading with him. Lily’s face seemed to glow, her pale blue eyes filled with joy. Sweat trickled down Ham’s face, mingling with his tears. Lightning cracked again, and Ham screamed, grabbing his head and dropping to his knees. He bent over, touching his head to the floor and sobbing.

Both women knelt beside him and placed their hands on his back to comfort him. Ham whimpered.

“It will be all right, Ham. You can be all right,” Mara softly told him.

“You don’t have to keep going through this,” said Lily lyrically. “You can have relief. I can bring you relief.”

Face buried in his hands, Ham rocked on his knees, sobbing and wailing. All his pain and sorrow spread through his body and head until Ham thought he would burst, His body trembled, his hands shook.

“Make it stop!” he cried out in anguish. “Make it stop!”

He threw his arms open and looked upward beyond the ceiling and roof. “Make it stop!”

Lightning filled the church and thunder exploded. The double doors erupted inward and the glass in two of the windows shattered. Ham looked around him. Mara was behind the pulpit looking down at him, her right hand extended to him. The unusual markings on her arm appeared to pulse with faint light. She smiled at him.

“Ease your pain. Let it go. Let me help,” said Mara, her throaty voice now sounding smooth and peaceful. “Please.”

“Come with me, Ham. Let me take you to Janie so you can be together again,” urged Lily from behind him.

She stood in front of the open doors, her white gown billowing in the wind with its sleeves floating like wings on her open arms. With the dark sky behind Lily, lightning illuminated her with an ethereal glow. Ham stared at her as rain blew against her through the open doors. Lily’s long hair whipped in the wind.

“Let me help you,” pleaded Mara behind him. “Ease your pain.”

Ham turned to see her kneeling beside the pulpit, reaching for him with her right hand. Her markings had grown brighter.

“Let me reunite you,” called Lily.

Ham saw the gleam in her eyes and the smile framed by pink lips as she held her arms out for him.

“Ease your pain.”

“Reunite.”

“Ease your pain.”

“Reunite.”

“Ease your pain!”

“Reunite!”

Each time they grew louder as they whipsawed Ham between them. Then he realized their mouths weren’t moving. Somehow they were speaking directly into his throbbing head. Ham brought his hands back to his head, pressing against his temples as if trying to keep his skull from splitting open. His eyes were wide open and filled with fear and tears. He thought his head was about to crack open and his brain slide out.

“Reunite!”

“Ease your pain!”

“Reunite!”

“Ease your pain!”

“Reunite!”

Ham felt himself pulled in both directions, tugged by each of the strange women like a ragdoll being fought over by two children. He needed relief. He couldn’t stand the struggle much more.

“EASE YOUR PAIN!”

“REUNITE!”

“EASE YOUR PAIN!”

“REUNITE!”

Howling like an injured animal, Ham sprung to his feet and flung his arms wide. He looked upward, screaming.

“Take me!” he screeched. “Take me!”

Ham ran down the aisle toward the open doors and the smiling Lily.

“TAKE ME!”

Lily laughed and her eyes flashed red as a hot poker. Ham leaped into Lily’s waiting embrace amid an explosion of lightning and thunder that engulfed the world.

 ****

The sun shone brightly, and the sky was a brilliant blue. A light breeze blew across the grass and through the trees. Blue wildflowers covered the hillside and birds chirped. It was a beautiful Ozarks spring day. A perfect day.

“They found him outside the Crossroads church. Said he’d been struck by lightnin’.”

The gravedigger patted down his last shovelful of dirt.

“I heard he’d been inside the church house and went out into the storm,” said his partner. “Can’t imagine going out into a storm as rough as that one was.”

“Hampton Ford wasn’t quite right. Never was after his wife died,” said the gravedigger.

“Well,” said his partner, “at least they’re reunited now, side by side, together forever.”