He and another boy had decided that they hated the long hours they had to put in working on a farm - they wanted to have fun like the boys who had money in their pockets and sneaked into the nearby taverns on weekends. One of these boys was now in jail, but the boys decided that even jail was more exciting than their own hard life. So they saved up their pennies and planned to run away.
On the night they chose, they sneaked out of their homes late at night and began walking. They walked for miles and miles, and after a while a storm blew up. They were still in familiar territory and they knew there was a barn nearby, so they decided to shelter there for the rest of the night. At daylight they would be on their way again, for they had made up their minds to go to some faraway place where there would be no cows to milk or pigs to feed.
They knew people would be out looking for them, so when they got inside the barn they climbed up to the hayloft, took off their shoes, and settled down. Still whispering so they wouldn't be heard and wondering who would be the first to notice their absence, they drifted off to sleep.
Suddenly the other boy jumped up screaming "Help Me!" He seemed to be struggling with something on his face. Just as the little girl's brother got to him, the boy jerked the icy cold object away and threw it as hard as he could. It flew right back as if it were alive, slapped the brother's face and clung to his cheek. It was an unattached hand. The brother tried to fight it off but it had powerful fingers and it kept hitting his head and face. When he beat it off for a moment it flew to the other boy, and kept and it kept flying from one face to the other till the boys tumbled down from the loft and ran out of the barn. They ran all the way home with the hand slapping at them, and it was broad daylight before they noticed that they had left their shoes back at the barn.
My Grandmother had already heard about "The Hand." All the children had, though they were too afraid of it to talk about it much. It went after naughty children and unruly teenagers. Later when she was older, My Grandmother heard hundreds of tales about "The Hand" and everyone spoke of it with a shiver. Older folk could still remember it's touch for it was icy cold.
Children never went out after dark. If they had a chance to visit friends in the evenings, their mothers went with them. No one wanted "The Hand" to come after them.
