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It was one of those perfect fall days! School was out early and I was allowed to play outside until Pop came home from the steel mill. Grammy was inside making supper. No microwaves in those days and all we had was a wood stove, so it took time to prepare meals. Pop was working the 7AM to 3 PM shift. I had some time to play!
Pal and Fritz and I were laying on our backs letting the leaves fall on us and we just laughed. Soon all the leaves would be down and we could pile them up and jump in them. That was good fun. Then Pop would rake them all up and burn them in the garden. Oh well..we could still have plenty of jumping fun.
I heard the back gate open and so did Pal, we both ran down the path to meet him. Something was wrong! Pop was not walking right, he was limping. �Pop, did you hurt yourself?� I didn�t like it when pop got hurt. He would have to lay in the bed and grammy would put stuff on his foot.
We came into the kitchen and grammy just looked at him. �Again the foot hurts Mikey?� �Again.� �Ok you go lay down and I go get the medicine.� Grammy disappeared into the cellar and was back in no time. �Mikey,no more moss!� Pop just looked at her. He called to me and I went into his bedroom. �Borka, you have to go to the lady on the mountain and ask her for more moss.� Grammy hollered �No she can�t go,it isn�t time� Pop disagreed and I was chosen. Grammy gave me a white sack and told me to wait for a minute. When she returned her good shopping bag was filled. �Here see if this is too heavy for you� I took the bag and said no it wasn�t. �Now listen,you know how to go to the lady�s house,ask her for some moss for Pop and then give her the shopping bag then the white sack and make sure you bring me home the shopping bag!� I was scared beyond words but this was a responsibility for me. All the kids and the people on the hill called her the mountain witch. I had to go, nothing else would help Pop�s foot but the moss. �Ok I�ll do it the way you say Grammy.� Pop just smiled at me.
I started out the front gate and up Hillside Ave. and disappeard into the woods and found the path that lead right to the Witch�s house. It seemed like forever before I got there. Her house was made of stone and she had a porch on the second floor. She must be rich. Well I didn�t see her anyplace ,and I even knocked on the door. No answer,so I sat down on a bench on her downstairs porch. Hmmm this bench looks familiar. I was looking at the bench closely and had decided it was Pop�s work. I didn�t see the witch lady come around the corner of the house �Hello child!� I jumped! �Don�t be frightened , it�s only me� �I know,I was looking at this bench,it looks like my Pop made it� �Yes,he did. You know his work well. It�s a good stong bench. The wood came from a tree right behind the house.� �Now why are you here?� �You know me?� �Yes I know you. I brought you fresh goats milk everyday when you were born. You couldn�t drink the milk from the cow.� That was true. Not many people knew that outside the family. �I like the goat cheese also that Pop finds in the mountain.� The woman laughed. �He finds it here! I make it from my goat� milk� I thought to myself,Pop is a story teller.
�I came here to get moss for Pop. His foot is hurting again real bad� I handed her the shopping bag. � Grammy said first the shopping bag then ask then give you this white sack� She looked at me and smiled. �Come, it�s time you learned where the moss grows. Bring the sack and follow me� Off we went up over the mountain and down the mountain and there we were at a spring. She stepped over a few rocks to get to the middle of the spring and pulled some moss off the stones, washed it clean then came back on the bank with me. �Now put this in the sack and off we go� We walked back to her house, she emptied the shopping bag. �Sit down child we need something to drink.� She went into the cellar and came back out with glasses of soda. �Here is some root beer I made from my trees, drink, then we go�. Well it was the best soda I ever tasted but it was so familiar.�Now lets get this moss to your grandfather for his foot. I know it must be hurting.� Off we went and I didn�t know what to do. The mountain witch was dressed all in black from head to toe. I was hoping the kids were all inside and wouldn�t see me with her. Everyone was afraid of the mountain witch and wouldn�t even go into that area of the mountain ! Even the grownups were aftaid of her and I didn�t know why. She was very nice.
It was almost dark when we got to our house, and Grammy was standing in the front door with a kerosene lamp. �Finally, I was so worried!�
�Nothing to worry about,you know I would never let any harm come to this child� Grammy took her right to the kitchen to fix the poltice, hollering to Pop on the way by his room � She is here and soon the poltice will be ready�
The mountain witch took charge in the kitchen (very unusual in Grammy�s House) Soon the poltice was on pops foot. He thanked her and she just smiled. The worried look was gone from Grammy�s face. She actually asked the mountain witch to eat with us and she accepted! We sat and ate and they spoke in Hungarian which I did not understand. Pop was standing in the door. � Ahh,the foot has no pain now� �No,and tomorrow I can go to work� �No work for you for 2 days ,you have to have the poltice changed everyday for 2 days or we have the trouble again� Pop agreed. Grammy was still quiet. Very unusual,very unusual. �Now I have something to tell you,the child knows where to get the moss and pick and clean it. It is her time now. You no longer need me to do it.� Pop and Grammy just looked at me very surprised, no more surprised than me! �The child can do it?� �I took her with me and showed her the way ,she knows� �Well,I don�t want her walking that mountain alone. You show me and I go for it� � The mountain is safe for her and it is she that must do it and learn.� Grammy was quiet. Again unusual.
Whenever Pop�s foot acted up,I was discharged to the spring and of course on the way I would knock for my soda and the Lady would watch me from her upstairs porch. I was never really out of her sight! This of course I didn�t know.
Years later I was told about Pops accident and how he hurt his foot. He was an engineer and drove the train at the mill picking up and dropping off steel, the train never stopped but slowed down for engineers at shift change. Pop slipped,caught his shoe on the step and it ripped the heel of the shoe and his foot off. It was surgically replaced but one spot never healed it calloused over the size of a half dollar.
The Doctors said he would loose the foot. That�s when the mountain witch came and looked at it and started the moss poltice treatments. When Pop died, it was the size of a dime. The doctors were oh so wrong.
Now the kids in the neighborhood called the lady the Mountain Witch because she dressed in black. She dressed in black because that�s the only fabric she had to make dressed from. Why? I never found out. But I can tell you this. For many years milk and cheese came to me from her goats,and all the birch beer or root beer I could drink. Pop would fix things for her around her house and that was his payment. When Grammy baked,I would get to take it to her house along with canned foods,and fresh meat when we butchered. She knew herbal medicine,offered to help many of her sick neighbors and families, but because she was a witch,they refused. I am so glad this woman touched our lives. She was a good Witch.
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