The Boy Who Lived in the Barn

Jonah's entry into the world and the tale of the boy who lived in the barn was a story Nana loved to tell.

He had been born, so island legend said, under an evening star in the aftermath of a blizzard so fierce that the snow drifts reached halfway to the eaves of the old house, preventing his daddy from being there and even keeping the midwives away .Nina was attended to by her own hands and she brought her son into the world with exquisite pain and unwavering determination, cut the cord with her pinking shears, then wrapped the baby in blankets and lay down to die. And she might have, Uncle Shad said, ' Cept for the horses wakin' up that boy.

The horses had become restless during the night and woken the boy who lived in the barn, a young drifter who helped out with chores and kept an eye on the stock. In the after storm stillness with the snow heavy and bending the trees to the ground, with not the slightest sound except the far away ocean, he listened to the horses whinnying and pawing at their stalls and then he heard the baby cry. The boy climbed to the window in the loft, forced it open and listened - the cries were steady and desperate and the horses were becoming more and more agitated. With no particular plan in mind, he saddled one of the horses and managed to open the barn doors enough to pass through - the horse immediately sunk to his flanks in snow but somehow they made a narrow path to the farmhouse. He found Nina and the wailing newborn and without the first idea of what to do or how to do it, he washed the baby in warm water and wrapped him in clean flannel, then still holding him, covered Nina with clean blankets, re-kindled the fire, and heated up soup. He settled the child in the crib while he took the horse back to the barn and then trekked back, warmed milk in a saucepan and filled a bottle. The boy who lived in the barn spent the next three days caring for the baby, for Nina, for the horses - guided only by instinct, common sense, and prayer. On the third day, Rowena and Miss Hilda arrived with linens, herbs, firewood, two bottles of brandy and a basket of food. They were stunned and amazed to discover Nina, conscious although in need of a bath and shampoo, the baby asleep in the boy's arms, the fire blazing and the smell of cooking. Well done, young man! Miss Hilda exclaimed with a rare smile, Good show!

The boy studied his feet shyly. T'wasn't me, m'am, he said slowly, The horses knew somethin' was wrong.
Rubbish! Hilda snapped back, Don't be immodest, boy. She looked askance at him ( What's a scants, Nana? I interrupted and from the sunporch my daddy collapsed in a fit of laughter. It means suspicious, hon, he called,
probably the way your grandmother is looking at you right now.) before beginning to unpack bread and butter and glass jars of chowder. Rowena gathered the baby up and hugged the boy, Get some sleep, she advised him kindly,
You've earned it.

By the time that Josh got home another two days later, everyone knew of Jonah's birth and how the boy who lived in the barn had cared for him and his mother, likely saving two lives and generally being regarded as a hero. Wanting to thank him, Josh made his way to the barn only to find the stalls mucked out, the horses fed and watered, and the boy gone. No one remembered seeing him leave, Cap didn't recall him crossing on the ferry, there was no note - he had simply up and vanished, no easy thing to do on a twelve mile long island - and it was to remain an enduring mystery.
As all good mysteries should, my daddy said with a wink.