Chapter One
She was a beautiful Baby. Samantha was born with a full head
of the brightest, most beautiful red hair anybody in north eastern Alabama had
ever seen. Her deep set dimples, destined to later just drive men wild when she
smiled, showed up at a very early age. Samantha was born in 1849.
Samantha was
fortunate to be born into a very nice family, with an older sister and brother.
She was born with a smile on her face, and in her early years she maintained
that smile most of the time. Her brother and sister simply adored Samantha. Her
parents did too. She never seemed to be in a foul mood, and nobody remembered
seeing Samantha cry. A truly gentle, loving child.
**
The Dudley’s
The Dudley Clan
had lived in the hills near Talladega, Alabama for generations. Nobody seemed
to know how long, for sure. They were not good neighbors, of that most everyone
in that part of the country was sure. Actually, nobody seemed to know much at
all about the Dudley’s. They kept to themselves, except for occasional trips
into town for supplies. They always seemed to have plenty of money, though
where it came from, nobody knew. The Dudley’s never seemed to be trouble makers
when they showed up in town. Just take care of business, buy their supplies,
and leave. They never spoke unnecessary words to others, and they never smiled.
In each
generation, according to stories circulating around Taladega County, a few
unfortunate beings had been overcome with curiousity, and set out to
investigate the hills of the Dudley Clan. Word had it none had ever returned,
according to the stories. But it happened so seldom, nobody could really put
their finger on whether this was really happening as a pattern, or was this
just fodder for campfire stories? It could well be that these curious ones had
simply gotten lost in those brush covered hills, and never been found. By now
everyone had heard these stories, and nobody wished to be the next poor soul to
disappear into the hills of the Dudley Clan. So, few alive knew anything at all
about the Dudley Hills. Except for the Dudley’s.
As time went on,
what with all the scary stories about the Dudley clan, fewer and fewer brave
souls wished to risk a trip into those hills.
Fear overcame curiousity. And,
since the Dudley’s never seemed to harm anybody in Talladega County, what was
the point? They obviously wished to be left alone, so Talladega County obliged
them.
One thing that
had been noticed, and talked and gossiped about a great deal by the old men
setting out in front of the hardware store,
whittlin’ and spittin.’ One never saw a Dudley man who was not carrying
a .50 caliber buffalo gun. They never seemed to have a pistol strapped on, as
was very common at that time. And they all bought a lot of ammo for that gun.
But the few neighbors of the Dudley’s who lived close enough to hear a report
from the big gun, claimed they almost never heard a shot. Just an occasional
deer hunter, or the like. But soon a Dudley would be back in at the store,
buying another four boxes of .50 caliber ammo. Where were the Dudley’s doing
all that shooting?
By far, the
single most notable thing about the Dudley’s was, they were almost all red
heads. Persons who knew about such things just explained that away with “Well,
they been inbreedin’ up in them hills fer generations. Most all th’ first
families to move in up thare musta been redheads.” And, nobody knew of an
outsider who had ever married into the clan. But if constant inbreeding was the
answer, why were the Dudley’s so big, strong, and healthy looking? Everybody
knows, constant inbreeding takes a heavy toll, after a while.
No comments:
Post a Comment