Sarah

Dear Wes,
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I hope this finds you in good spirits. I was cleaning out the garage last weekend and came across the enclosed Thermos. I started to throw it out but, on second thought, decided you might enjoy having it on account of its interesting history.
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1979 was the second or third time your Uncle Jeb decided to give up drinking. By all appearances, things were going well: he and your Aunt Betsey were on decent terms, he’d started working regular shifts at the store again, and he saved up enough money to rent out the apartment above Dave Horning’s garage. His old drinking buddy Hal Blankenship – who had by that time found Christ and given up the bottle for good – was ecstatic, and went to great lengths to encourage him to keep it up. It was Hal who suggested the camping trip at Old Crag to celebrate Jeb’s newfound sobriety.
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Your uncle still had a big duffle from his army days, but he borrowed a sleeping bag from your Uncle Paul and the Marlboro Thermos from your dad. Your dad wasn’t particularly fond of the jug: he’d saved the coupons from his cigarettes for nearly a year to buy a Marlboro denim jacket, only to discover they’d given them all away two weeks before he sent in his order. They sent him the Thermos and a free carton of cigarettes as a concession, but it was a raw deal to his thinking.
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Jeb and Hal packed their gear into Hal’s pickup one Friday afternoon, drove out to the trail head off 55 West, and headed into the hills. By all accounts, the first day of their trip was great – cool weather and an easy hike followed by a relaxed fireside dinner. The next morning, Hal was up with the sun, but your Uncle Jeb languished in the tent until well past eight. When Hal went to wake him, he smelled the whiskey on his breath and realized your uncle had been sneaking nips from the Marlboro Thermos all evening. Hal was livid. He flung the half-empty Thermos down the hill into the thicket by Mathers Creek. Still drunk, Jeb charged down the hill in pursuit of the remaining booze. Hal packed up his half of the gear and left, leaving your uncle behind.
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Jeb wasn't seen for three days but, honestly, no one had much noticed in light of all the hullabaloo around the Crissy Hatcher kidnapping. Poor girl went hiking alone along Mathers Creek, was knocked over the head, and came to in a cabin she didn't recognize. Mayor Hatcher paid up right away when he got the ransom call and Crissy was, thankfully, set free by the side of 55 West just three days after the whole episode began. Partially blindfolded for the duration of her ordeal, the only distinguishing detail Crissy could recall from the cabin was the presence of a Marlboro-branded Thermos.
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Mayor Hatcher made it known that he'd pay good money for clues related to the kidnapping. When Hal heard about the Thermos, he naturally decided to get in touch. Sherriff White picked up your Uncle for questioning shortly thereafter. Given that Jeb had been in the same vicinity, unaccounted for, at the exact time of the kidnapping, things didn't look good. Still, your uncle insisted he was innocent and I believed him. Jeb claimed his Thermos was still lost somewhere in the thicket where Hal had flung it, so your father and I set out to find it. After three hours of searching, your father tripped over the damn thing and it was located at long last.
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When we took the Thermos back to the station, Hal confirmed that he'd slung it into the woods and Sherriff White let Jeb go. A quick call to Marlboro revealed that one other Martinsburg County resident had ordered the same Thermos: Crissy Hatcher's ex-boyfriend. The boyfriend was eventually tried and convicted. Meanwhile, Jeb was scared straight by the whole ordeal. He sobered up again right away and started working for the railroad shortly thereafter.
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I didn’t actually realize that the Thermos was still around until last weekend. I suppose we must have used it at some point in the intervening years, but I honestly don’t recall. I thought it might lift your spirits to have the Thermos that came between your Uncle Jeb and eight years upstate. Don't worry - I'm sure you'll find your missing hunting knife soon and Sherriff White will realize that he has, once again, been barking up the wrong tree. Never lose faith.
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All my love,
Mama