Sunday, January 1, 2017

Post 16 - Dead eye Sam

Hey readers - Hope you had a good Christmas and New year.
     Since most of you regulars read within two days, I'm going to start posting every two or three days. Thanks for your time and your attention - Pat Gillum



     Sam didn’t know that Millie actually had been hunting the townspeople, often going far off Dudley land to seek them out.   Sam didn’t know Millie had now killed four men who never stepped foot on Dudley land. And she did it from three hundred yards away, long before they even saw her. And she did it all just for fun.
     Sam did notice that Millie had disappeared from the compound. Sam knew that Millie had gone to live with kin awhile. Sam knew that, because that was what Mama Dollie told her. Sam didn’t know that Millie had been caught killing a man a little too close to town one day. Sam didn’t know that Millie was about to be put on trial for murder, because Mamma Dollie never told her.
     Slim came down to talk to Dolly privately.  “Look here, Dolly.
Millie has made her own bed. Now, she can lie in it, or climb out of it by herself. Millie kain’t be controlled, and she’ll be a liability ta th’ Clan as long as she stays around. Someone like her can bring th’ whole family down.”
     “Now Sam, she’s another case completely. She’s a full grown woman now, an we need her. I been patient with her. It’s time ta send her on a business trip with a couple of th’ men. See if she can cut it, once and fer all. If she kain’t, I’ll make a peddler outta her. Either way, she’ll be worth her weight in gold ta us. But she must not find out about Millie, cause Millie will likely hang, and Sam’s so close to her, she might kill herself if she ever knows th’ whole truth. I’ll send Sam out with th’ boys tomorrow, keep them gone from here while all this Millie trouble settles. Then we’ll see.”
                                                     *
It was early in the morning when Sam was told she had been promoted. She would ride with Doodle Bug and Darryl, the two most experienced businessmen, to far south Alabama to see a client.
     Sam had been kept completely in the dark about the true business of the Dudley’s all her life. Usually, a Dudley kid of twelve or so was brought into this work. But Sam was so tender, so soft-hearted, that she had been treated differently. Now, it was time. See what she was really made of. Get her started out on her professional path in life.
     Although Slim’s directions were very specific, Doodlebug and Darryl were totally worn down during the last four years, and they knew of a nice little farm only ten miles away that would be just as good, though it was still in the edge of Taladega County. They had no desire to ride four days right now. If they handled this right, and if Sam never told, then Slim would never know.
     Sam didn’t know that after a thirty-minute trial, Millie was hanged at three o’clock that same day. By the time she and her two business associates returned, Millie’s case would be old history. Over and done with.
     At daylight the next day, the three were hidden up on the hill, two hundred yards above the prettiest little farmhouse Sam had ever seen. Doodlebug, while very experienced, was not quite as skilled at handling touchy cases, like Sam, as Billy Boy had been.

    “Now see here, Sam. That man down there robbed a Dudley family two weeks ago, then killed th’ whole family,” he lied. “When he comes out, I’ll confront him about it. Then Darryl and I will ride down and sew up th’ loose ends. You stay here on lookout. Then, we’ll head up in the mountains to a nice little cabin we Dudley’s have, and have a fun vacation, fishin’ and such for a few days. Simple as that.” 

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