Tennessee Murder Ballad
by Heather Jones
In April 1848, Preacher Paul Crane rides into a lonesome Appalachian town and kills Ellen Bridges, a widow-woman whose music he believes to be witchcraft, by throwing her into a well. A group of children, including her grandson, Carter, push him in after to avenge her murder. As the preacher disappears into the darkness, he curses the children, the town, and the mountains where they live. Eight...