"Oh, the chicken's in the pen and the hawk he's in the pine tree,

Hidey ho a deedle dum day,

The hawk he said go and the chicken said to catch me,

Hidey ho a deedle dum day,

Chicken made a run and the hawk he made a high dive,

Hidey ho a deedle dum day,

Chicken's on the fence and the hawk he ate a bee hive,

Hidey ho, the chicken got away."

(The Hawk He's in the Pine Tree by Ken Curtis)

"Festus!"

The hillman stopped singing and went to the window, hat in hand. "Yes'm?"

Ma was leaning on the window sill. "What are you doing?"

"Washin' up all them curtains." Festus went over to the pot of boiling water he had set up in the back yard and scooped out some wet cloth. "See how nice'n clean they is now?"

Ma put a hand to her heart. "Festus, are those the curtains from the parlor?"

"Yes'm."

"My best white curtains?"

The hillman looked thoughtfully at the material. "They was white when I put 'em in." He stirred the pot some more and pulled out another article. "Mebbe I shouldn'ta put the red tablecloth in with 'em."

Ma sagged against the windowsill and Festus bit his lip. Seeing how crestfallen he looked, she rallied and said kindly, "That's quite all right, Festus. Those were old curtains anyway. Last year's style, in fact." She swallowed hard. "I'll just get some new ones for the parlor and those can go...somewhere else." The hillman smiled sweetly and she turned away from the window.

After he hung the curtains up to dry, Festus came into the house to find Ma hobbling across the floor on crutches. "Ma! What're you doin' up? You know Doc told you to stay in bed."

Ma said wearily, "Oh, Festus, I'm tired of staying in bed. I want to sit outside but I can't seem to get the hang of these crutches."

"Well, here..." Festus walked over to her and before she realized what he was going to do, he had lifted her in his strong arms and carried her outside.

"Festus, put me down!"

"Hold yore taters." The hillman settled her in a rocking chair, then went inside and got a hassock for her foot. He propped up her leg, then stood back and asked, "Anythin' else 'fore I go to the store?"

Ma smoothed back her hair and straightened her dress. "No, you've done quite enough. Do you have that list I gave you?"

The hillman put his hand to his vest pocket. "Yes'm."

"Can you stop by the post office too?"

"Sure thing."

"Well, then, off you go...oh, wait a minute!" Festus turned and she asked, "Can you bring me my crutches?"

"Golly bill, Ma, you don't need them things. I can tote you."

Ma took a deep breath. "That's very kind of you, Festus, but I don't want to be toted. I need to be able to get around by myself, you know."

"Well, all right, Ma, but crutches is awful wearisome. Don't go to tirin' yoreself out with 'em."

Festus' soft hazel eyes shone with genuine concern and Ma had to smile. "I won't, Festus. I promise if I get too tired you can tote me all over the house. Now will you get them for me?"

He smiled back and went into the house to fetch the crutches, then touched his hat to her and set off down the street.