War was raging in Europe in 1940, but "The Shutter”, the town’s
newspaper, was thriving. Irma,
a gossip columnist, gathered gossip from community events like weddings,
funerals and baptisms. Seldom did anyone question her accuracy or sources.
"Is
this his first or his last wife?" Irma wondered, as Ida sat beside her
husband's coffin.
To Ida, the silence was
deafening. The minister looked solemn and stern. The church was full, but no
one said a word.
Irma knew talk would fly after
the burial. The sea of old crows dressed in black would come alive, as always.
The funeral service was not long and the burial over quickly. Everyone filed
past the grave as the proper thing to do. Then, they gathered in the
fellowship hall for lunch.
Ida sat alone, her daughter
close by. An older woman walked over and spoke to them, quietly.
"That's
his first wife," a woman beside Irma, whispered. "She had seven
children by him."
"The
first and the last, how interesting!"
"How
many children were there?"
"He
had eight wives," one woman responded.
"She
was pregnant when they got married?" asked Irma. “Gossip, the kind
readers want to read,” she told herself.
People
were furious when the gossip column came out. Ida was horrified.
"This
is malicious gossip. Ninety nine percent of it is untrue. I was his last wife;
that part is true, but not much else."
The
man's first wife appeared on her doorstep, the sane day the gossip column came
out.
"Gossip
is what sells the newspaper," she explained, sadly. "It always
has."
"Why
would I want to stay in town with my daughter now?"
"I
did," replied his first wife. "He was a good man. Our sons went
to Europe to fight for what is
right. We never had girls. He loved you and your daughter. In fact, he loved
all of us dearly."
"We
loved him, too."
"Truth
is like a scarecrow. It has the power to scare the old crows away."
"Maybe
we should shut the newspaper down?" Ida thought, later. "Or just let
the old crows feed their fancy? Their turn will come."
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