The Well
Mrs. Kathy fell sick a few weeks ago. She is now staying with her
daughter Cassi until she is able to live alone at her place again.
Her grandson David loves having his grandmother staying with
him and his mother, she tells him about things that happened a
long time ago. She tells him a lot of Bible stories and about the
things she done as a child.
David asked if she went to church when she was his age, and to
tell him about when and how was she saved? She said: Sit down
and I will tell you about how your granny was before I was saved.
I use to be a real mean one, people hated to see me a coming.
There was only one person worse than I was, her name was Phebie
and she was a witch, I mean a real black magic witch.
In 1898 she shot 3 men with a colt 45. The people around where
I grew up said, The 3 men were trying to steal her horses. They
were in her barn, she was on her front porch and it was around
midnight. She had them trapped in the barn, they tried to shoot
their way out. Phebie was a real good shot with that .45 she
carried. People said they heard that .45 ring out each time she fired
for miles around, it put cold chills up and down their spines.
They knew what ever she was doing, it wasn’t good, it never was.
No one went to check and see why she was shooting in the middle
of the night. The next day passers by seen the three men tied up
and laying on the ground in front of her barn. They reported it to
the sheriff, she ran him off with the gun, or so he said. Most
people think he was afraid that she would shoot him too.
He got the Federal marshals to go bring her in and get the
wounded men, that she had shot. She shot at the marshals too. She
said: Leave them where they are and the crows can pick them to
the bones. It was a stand off until she finally fell asleep from
staying awake watching for the Federal marshal to try and rescue
the men or arrest her. She slapped the Judge, when they took her
before him on the charges, but he ruled it as self defense and set
her free.
David said What does that have to do with you? She said People
always told me that I would grow up to be just like Phebie, if I
didn’t change my ways. I was about 16 years old back then in
1937, Phebie had to of been well into her eighties. David said:
How do you know she was a real witch, did you see her do magic?
She said, I only seen it once, she made a chair walk that I had been
sitting in. When I got up out of the chair, she had it follow me to
the door. I grabbed that chair up and threatened to hit her over the
head with it. I was almost as mean as she was back then.
She done her magic on other folks from then on and left me alone.
David said, What else could she do? Mostly make noises like
animals, she could do it without even being around. She scared a
friend of mine once, her name was Susan. She had to milk the
cows every morning before going to school and again at night
before she went to bed.
Susan went into the barn to milk the cows before going to bed one
night. While she was milking the cows, Phebie made it sound like
a Bob-cat was in the hay loft over head. It scared the cow too.
There was no Bob-cat to be seen, just the sound of its scream and
knocking stuff around. Susan’s Dad heard it and came running
with his shot gun into the barn.
Up in the hay loft was a bunch of empty jars they kept to can food
in. It sounded like the cat broke every jar up there while thrashing
around.
They even heard the sound of it jumping over their heads and
landing on the ground behind them, then of it running out of the
barn. Her father even shot at the sound, where it sounded like it
was, but there wasn’t nothing there, to be shooting at, nothing at
all. Afterwards her father climbed up in the loft to clean up the
broken jars, not a single jar was broken or even out of place.
Phebie done things like that all the time to people, until Brother
Lee came to our church for a little while. He didn’t know about
what was going on at first, people was afraid to talk much about it.
Phebie got her power from worshipping Satan, and told people so.
One winter, a neighbor of hers, named Jack, was sitting on the
edge of his bed one night. Jack was getting ready to go to bed.
The door opened and the devil came in and warmed himself by the
fire in Jack’s fire place. The devil smiled at Jack, and after he got
warm he went back out the door. Jack stayed up all that night
praying. Jack moved away soon after that happened, Phebie
bought his place real cheap.
David said: What did this Brother Lee person do? She said, Hold
your horses, I’ll get to that. I didn’t go to church at that time, back
in 1937. I was walking by the church and saw a white mule tied
up out in front of the church. I didn’t know it, but that was
Brother Lee’s mule. I decided to go for a joy ride on that old white
mule.
I rode that old mule hard for a couple of hours. That mule decided
enough was enough and just stopped, it wouldn’t go any further. I
tried everything, but that mule wouldn’t go, I kicked , hit and
whipped it. The stubborn thing just stood there, I got down off it
to get me a big club. That mule took off and left me in the middle
of no where, I had a long walk back home. The mule went right
back to church where it was suppose to be.
I think Brother Lee knew I took his mule that day. Everytime I
saw him after that, he would say: Kathy you can borrow my mule
any time you like, you don’t even have to ask, just jump on and
take off.
I didn’t want anything else to do with that mule, instead of me
walking just the 2 miles on home, I had to walk 15 miles after it
ran off and left me there. I was half the night getting home.
David said: What did Brother Lee do about the witch? She said:
When Brother Lee finally learned what all was going on, he went
out to Phebie’s place, a crowd went with him part of the way, but
most turned back before they even got close. The few that went on
to where the road passed by in front of Phebie’s house, took off
when she stepped out with that .45 in her hand.
Satan told her that Brother Lee and the others were coming. Satan
knew what Brother Lee’s faith and trust could do. Brother Lee
carried only a jar of water in one hand and the Bible in his other
hand. When Brother Lee arrived there alone, he took the lid off the
mason jar full of water. It had been blessed, he poured it in her
well.
Phebie emptied the .45 at him, but missed every time. Brother Lee
said, My Lord is with me, just as Satan is with you. Nobody
knows what else was said, because they wasn’t there. Brother Lee
witness to her the rest of that day. Phebie didn’t bother anyone else
any more, she had been born again and saved from the fires of
hell. She came to church regularly from then on. It wasn’t long
before she started taking care of the babies that was brought to
church for Sunday school, people liked her, after she was saved.
Brother Lee said that his work was done and left not long after
Phebie was baptized. He stopped by my house and handed me a
Bible before he rode on off, on that white mule that I didn’t ride
anymore. I read that Bible to see what was in it to give a man so
much strength and courage, and that could change a person like
Phebie?
Mrs. Kathy said: I found Jesus there. Jesus is what gives us the
strength and the courage we need to stand up against Satan, and do
what God wants us to do. Jesus’s love, is what can change a
person like Phebie.
David said, Why did Brother Lee pour the blessed water in her
well? She said: I don’t really know why, but I don’t think it had to
do with Phebie. I don’t think she even drank water from that well,
she had a hand pump in the house. After Phebie died, the Will was
read, she left all she owned to the church.
Later during a very dry Summer, that well was the only one that
didn’t go dry. People said the well had been blessed by the water
Brother Lee had poured into it. Then even after the other wells
filled back up with water, people kept getting water from that well,
and taking home to give to people that were sick. They say it
seems to help make them better.
Maybe that is why God had Brother Lee pour the water in Phebie’s
well, I don’t know. God doesn’t tell us all of his plans, we are to
do what he leads us to do, and trust that it’s all part of his plan.
Written by: Johnny lee Hall
3-19-2000
