White Christmas, bloody Christmas (3 page)

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bread and for dessert, there would always be several different types of cakes and pies. All of these wonderful foods were either raised or grown on the surrounding farms. It's interesting to note that, back then, paper plates were unheard of. We were royally treated to a "sit-down" feast at the table with the family's nicest china.

Early in November, just a little over a month before the murders, the Lawson family hosted a surprise birthday party for Sadie Hampton. It was a festive, lively celebration and, on the surface, everyone seemed normal and happy. But everything wasn't normal in the Lawson family. In the last month or two before the murders, the evening air had often carried the disturbing sounds of increasingly violent family arguments across the nearby fields and hollows surrounding the Lawson home. Anyone who happened to live in the nearby homes and was outside could hear the angry sounds coming from the Lawson household during one of these altercations. The sounds could be heard, but all of the exact words could not be made out. The main thing that most of the neighbors had come to be painfully aware of was that something was wrong in the Lawson household. Something was definitely wrong. Charlie was overheard to have actually verbalized a threat on the lives of his family during at least one of these family fights. The only family member strong enough and determined enough to control Charlie during one of these fights was his oldest son, Arthur. Many times, Charlie had become more than just verbal and had to be physically subdued by him. It has been said that Arthur was the only person that could handle Charlie during one of these times. In the weeks before the murders, Arthur had begun to sleep at night in his clothes, so that he could be up at amoment's notice should Charlie cause trouble in the middle of the night. Fannie and the rest of the family were beginning to be more than just a little fearful of Charlie.

Although the exact nature of these arguments was not

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clearly understood by most of the surrounding families, at least one person told me that he knew that there was a serious problem in the Lawson family, and he knew what it concerned, but because the nature of the problem was so personal and sensitive, he felt that he could not divulge the information. We respect his decision.

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uncomfortable as the summer progressed. Often, Marie would stay in the house with the smaller children, and Fannie would go out to the edge of the fields and sit beneath a tree to catch a cool breeze and watch Arthur and Charlie work in the fields. She loved to create beautiful pieces of embroidery and would sometimes bring her cloth and threads.

One evening, after she had cleared away her supper dishes, Sally Mabe, a close neighbor, walked over to the Lawson home. She had been concerned that Fannie was not feeling well. She found her friend resting in bed, propped up on a pillow.

"HowVe you been feeling lately Fannie," she asked her friend as she pulled a chair beside the bed and sat down. "I've been worried about you and thought I'd come over to see how you've been getting along."

"I reckon I'm coming along okay," said Fannie, smiling appreciatively at her good friend." Marie's been good to help out. The children have been trying to behave and all. Charlie's been real concerned about me, though." Charlie walked into the room. Fannie smiled at him as he handed her a warm, damp towel so that she could wash her face and hands. "The other day," she added, "he even helped me wash my hair. I haven't had a lot of energy to do things like that, you know, and it helped a lot. There's so much around here that needs doing, and I just haven't had the strength."

"Excuse me, Sally," said Charlie as he leaned in front of Sally to hand Fannie a cloth napkin and her supper plate.

"Sure, Charlie."

Sally stayed a while longer and visited with her friend while she finished her supper. As the evening light began to grow dim, she squeezed Fannie's hand and said, "Better be gettin' home now, Fannie. The folks'll be wondering where I ran off to. Hope you get to feeling better." ''Thanks, Sally. Glad you could come by."

Sally stepped down from the Lawson front porch. Carrie, Mae Bell, and James were running happily around the yard

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engaged in some very important game. Mae Bell and James had climbed in one of their father's trucks and were giggling and laughing with delight as Carrie happily taunted them from outside.

"You young'uns get out'a that truck!" shouted Charlie to his children. Sally, who was still only a short distance away from the house, turned and saw Charlie heading toward the truck with a small stick. She could see the children scurrying out of the truck and scrambling back inside of the house with Charlie close behind. She wondered if the children received a spanking...

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have moments that were filled with worries about the family...

Finally, the long-awaited return trip home was at hand. Charlie drove one of the old trucks to the hospital to pick her up. The baby nursed as the old truck bumped along toward home on the dusty country roads.

As Charlie pulled into the driveway, all of the Lawson children were waiting on the front porch. M arie was holding little blond haired Raymond on her hip while Carrie and Mae Bell excitedly bounced up and down. They were all grins. They were so anxious to see the new baby sister.

M arie sat Raymond down in Carrie's care and ran out to the truck. Arthur followed. As soon as the door opened, Marie swooped down upon mother and child and gently took the tiny bundle in her arms. Arthur lifted the suitcases from the back of the truck while Charlie walked around to Fannie's side.

As Fannie stepped down, her husband scooped her frail body into his arms and carried her toward the house. A few steps ahead of them walked the stately Marie, gently caressing the new sister's forehead and cooing to her in soft, motherly tones.

"M arie's becoming quite a woman, don't you think, Charlie?" observed Fannie as she looked searchingly into her husband's weathered face. "She'll make a fine wife and mother someday herself, won't she?"

Charlie didn't reply as he continued toward the front porch where his oldest daughter was introducing the newest Lawson to her brothers and sisters.

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could find a shady spot to catch a breeze. It seemed impossible to escape the winter temperatures in this old log cabin unless you were sitting directly in front of the fireplace or cooking at the stove. And when the cold winds of winter began to howl, one memory haunted her more than all the rest—the winter that William died...

Not long after the sun dipped below the horizon, the Lawson children were asleep in their straw tick beds, warm beneath the freshly aired homemade quilts. Fannie and Charlie usually were in their beds shortly after nightfall, as well. The morning chores came early on the farm and they would need their rest.

Mary Lou began to whimper. Fannie changed her diaper and sat down in the rocking chair with her in front of the fireplace. She always enjoyed nursing her babies. They all seemed so special and sweet at those times. She gently stroked the forehead of her tiny baby daughter.

A rush of cold air flooded the room as Charlie entered with an armful of wood for the fire. He stacked the wood up a couple of feet away from the fireplace and began to rearrange the partially burned logs so that he could place enough wood on the fire to burn through the longest part of the night.

Little Mary Lou had taken her fill and had fallen asleep at her mother's breast. Fannie lowered the tiny bundle into her crib and covered her with her blanket. She took another of the small crib blankets and held it a moment in front of the fire to warm it. Once it was warm, she tucked it in around her sleeping daughter. It wasn't unusual for small infants, in those days of fireplaces and woodstoves, to freeze to death in their cribs. Fannie always took care that her babies were warm at night.

With her baby resting comfortably, Fannie sat down in front of the fireplace to enjoy a few minutes of the golden warmth before going to bed. She lazily rocked back and forth, enjoying the flush of the heat on her cheeks.

Charlie knelt down beside of her rocking chair, took her

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hands in his and looked pensively at them, carefully avoiding her eyes.

"I have something I need to talk to you about, Fannie," he said, his voice wavering.

"What is it, Charlie?" asked Fannie, "Is something wrong?" She had never seen her husband act so strangely.

Tears began to roll down Charlie's cheeks. He wiped them back on his sleeve and said, " Fannie, have I ever done anything to hurt you or cause you to be unhappy with me?"

"Why, no, Charlie," she said, stroking his rough farmer's hands, "You've always been a good husband to me. What's wrong to make you ask such a thing?"

"I—I need to tell you something, but I don't know how to."

He hesitated.

"Tell me what, Charlie?"

"It's just something I need to tell you," he whispered, his voice cracking. Suddenly, he seemed to have a change of heart. "Maybe I can just tell you another time."Turning and looking into the fire, he said, "Not tonight—its not a good time tonight."

"Please tell me what's wrong, Charlie. Don't do this to me. Please."

Charlie wiped his eyes and stood up, pulling his wife up with him. "It really wasn't nothin' at all," he said, closing his arms around her. She let her face rest against his shirt. "I guess I just wanted to tell you I'm glad you're such a good wife. Don't worry no more about it. Come on, let's go on to bed."

Charlie turned away from her and began poking at the fire. Fannie turned her attention to Mary Lou. Charlie stripped down to his long underwear and crawled into their bed, turned, and faced the wall.

Fannie lay on her back for a long while, gazing thoughtfully at the flickering yellow patterns of firelight on the ceiling. She turned over and pulled the quilt up around her face. What had been wrong, she wondered. What was so bad

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that Charlie couldn't bring himself to tell her about it. She tried to close out the thoughts that had been haunting her for the past year or so. She had been wondering if—no—it couldn't be...

Sleep came slowly that night. Her thoughts took on a life of their own and would not let her rest.

Author's Note:

A few weeks before the murders, Fannie Lawson confided in some of her closest relatives about the problems she was facing in her home. They were serious, and yes, she did eventually learn what had been bothering her husband that night...

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here. Give me a minute and I'll get my shotgun and we'll head on out to the back side of the property. I know where there's a brushy place that oughta' be plumb full of rabbits."

"Well, I'm ready," nodded Burrows. "Any time you are."

By the time they had walked to the place Charlie had told him about, the sun had already peeked over the tops of the trees. It was going to be a brisk, clear autumn day. Charlie's two beagles, Sam and Queen, were excitedly loping along in front of the two men, eager to flush a rabbit from its hiding place. Rabbits were abundant on the Lawson farm and were often hunted by Charlie and Arthur as fresh meat for the family. It wasn't unusual for the neighbors to get together for a rabbit hunt. Being together in the woods meant that it would be more unlikely that hunters in the same area would accidentally shoot each other.

It didn't take Sam and Queen long to pick up the scent of a rabbit in one of the brushy thickets that grew along the edge of the woods. Within a few minutes they had flushed a large hare from his hiding place and were giving it chase. They ran around in front of the rabbit and turned it back toward the hunters. Charlie took careful aim on the animal as it fled the baying beagles. There was a loud crack as the shotgun found its mark. The rabbit fell motionless on the ground. Charlie Lawson was well known for being an expert marksman. He walked over to the rabbit, picked it up and hung it from his waist.

The two men had little to say to each other as the morning progressed. Mr. Burrows was well aware of Charlie's reputation for having a violent and quick temper. He spoke easy to Charlie to avoid any risk of making him angry. Lawson had only lived in the area for a little over two years and Burrows didn't feel all that comfortable with him. By the time a couple of weeks had passed, Burrows would also hear the rumors of violent arguments at the Lawson home...

By noon, the two men had killed all of the rabbits they needed for the day. The entire morning had passed without

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incident and Burrows came away feeling that Charlie Law-son was an all right sort of guy after all. Much later, after the murders, Burrows could not remember anything that Charlie Lawson had said or done that seemed unusual. Nothing about his behavior gave him any indication that Charlie Lawson might not actually be 'sane'.

As Burrows drove off down the driveway, Charlie began the task of skinning and cleaning the rabbits so they could be stewed for supper that evening.

He began by slitting the skin of the abdomen from one extreme of the rabbit's body to the other. Then he cut the feet off of the carcass. He took a firm grip on the furry skin of the rabbit's leg and pulled it down, much like he would have if he had been taking tight clothing off of the rabbit's body. He continued to pull until the entire skin came away, all the way down to the tip of the rabbit's nose. Having completed the skinning, he sliced through the muscles of the rabbit's abdomen, exposing the intestines and other organs. These he threw to the side. They were quickly claimed by Sam and Queen. Once the inner organs and the head was cut away, the rabbit was ready for Fannie's stew pot. He laid the rabbit off to one side and reached for another. This Thanksgiving evening, the Lawson family would eat fresh rabbit stew.

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children who would have to rideon the back of Charlie's old truck.

The children were very excited about going to the big city. Carrie and Mae Bell were especially bouncy today, anxious to pick out the pretty Sunday dresses they had been promised. They discussed between themselves what colors they would choose. Carrie wondered if she would be old enough to be allowed to buy some silk stockings.