Part Three - Dead Eye Sam

    After two days of hard travel, Doodlebug decided to camp here, about half way between the two customers, but far enough away from both that they could still have a small fire.

After supper, he went over the plan. The farm up against the mountain would be the first business appointment. Less was known about the manpower there, and all of them might be needed. After the business had been concluded, the cleanup was finished, they would move to the primary target, the richer farm by the river.

     “ Alright, now, men. That second appointment will be the most touchy. Our extraction specialist, Billy Boy, will move in about two AM. Once he has taken out the primary target and moved her on down the road toward home a few miles, the exterminators will be in position at good daylight, about two hundred yards away from the house. They’s one man and a boy, take’um together, if we can a’tall. Then, we’uns will all clean up, load up, and be on our way. Billy boy will have th’ red haired gal far enough away that she will hear no shots, never know a thang. Billy boy will travel slow, to make it comfortable on the girl. He will be back to Taladega in two or three days.’’

     Billy Boy was the most highly trained. He could get into any house in the black dark, move as silently as a shadow in the house throughout, locate the main target, give her a dose of ether, and quickly be on his way. Nobody would ever know until morning.

     Kids just loved Billy Boy. He was friendly, soft spoken, and had a gift for settling young kids down quickly. His gentle prevarications were totally believable.  Samantha should be well attached to Billy Boy by the time they got to Taladega.

     The first business appointment went off well. No problems, and a good haul. By dark the next day, they were in position down by the river. The second appointment was even easier. Billy Boy, as usual, was in and out in 30 minutes, and was well on his way at daylight. The family was easy. They all rushed outside together to search for Samantha at about sunup, and they were all so upset, nobody even carried a gun. A really good haul. The wagons were both well loaded, so they had to travel a little slower than Doodlebug would have liked, but no problems arose. This team were all highly skilled business operatives.

     Mama Dolly was beside herself. She just loved raising children. She had a thing for pretty little red-haired girls, and this one was going to be really special, she had been assured by Slim, her husband. Slim was now the leader of the clan.

     Billy Boy had made good time, and he and Samantha rode in well ahead of the wagons. Mama Dolly just could not control herself when she had gotten one glimpse at Samantha. She was even more special that Dolly could have ever dreamed, with a big smile on her face and the brightest, most beautiful red hair she had ever seen. Billy Boy had done well. Samantha just clung to him. And Dolly could not stop hugging Samantha. And just look at those beautiful dimples! 

     It was hard, for a while. Samantha dearly loved her family, and she was really beginning to miss them. But Dolly, like Billy Boy, soon had Samantha believing she would soon see her family again. They were just away, for a time, visiting a relative who was ill. Her mother had asked Mama Dolly to look after her, for a time. The trip was just too long for Samantha, Mama Dolly said.

     Mama had an older daughter, Millie. She was close to the age of Samantha’s sister. She also had red hair, and was very nice to Samantha, as was everybody around Samantha these days. Samantha just loved Millie.    Continued