Tenny didn’t want to be Mrs. Dolly’s
little girl. She wanted to go home with her papa. She pushed his hand aside,
slid off the horse, and landed running. She looked back to see if he was gonna
catch her, and she saw Mr. Bob’s head disappear in a sudden red cloud. Then she
heard a shot from a long, long way off. She ran and ran. Pretty soon she fell,
and she was crying so hard, she couldn’t get up. She cried. Partially because
she was so scared, but also because she had ran from Mr. Bob after promising
she would not. Pretty soon, Papa was
holding her. He was crying too. Before long, they were both crying and
laughing. At the same time.
LaFayette was in a big hurry. “Quick – get
her on a horse! If the Clan heard that shot, they’ll investigate. We gotta go now!”
LaFayette’s wife took good care of Tenny
when they got back to Taladega. She gave her a bath, the first in many days,
and cared for her bruises and rope burns.
“Other than that, she seems to be fine.
But you need to let her rest up several days before heading back to Tennessee,
James.” She looked at James quietly for a moment. “No, James. She has not been
attacked.” James almost cried again.
While Tenny slept, her first real sleep for
many days, the men smoked a cigar.
James Spoke. “Thank you, LaFayette. I
think we’re even now. We helped you, and you saved our Tenny. After Tenny rests
up a few days, we’ll take the train most of the way home. But this time, Tenny
travels first class.”
“Yeah, James, I guess we are even. And by
the way, I think I mentioned we might go to Arkansas. Well, we’re leaving this
spring. I got kin at Atkins, in th’ Arkansas River Valley. They have never had
a constable in Atkins, but they have offered me th’ job, if we will come.
There’s a lot of homestead land fer th’ takin’ there, an I hear Arkansas is not
as torn up by th’ war as Alabama. Why don’t you meet us where the Arkansas and
th’ mighty Mississip’ join? There’s a town there, on the Arkansas side, called
Napoleon. We could go on up by river boat. Lots of good land fer th’ takin’. An
that girl Tenny, she sure has a lot of that red-haired spunk. Never had any red
hair in my family. Like to have some. My oldest boy, John Wesley, is about her
age, ye know! But that leaves out my youngest daughter, ‘fraid Josh is a little
too old fer her. If, that is, the new baby turns out to be a girl!”
They both laughed. But nobody, in their wildest imaginings, could have
guessed what strange matrimonial twists lay in store for those two families.
“You know, LaFayette, I’ve been thinkin’ about
Arkansas, an all that homestead land. Haven’t even talked to Sara yet. But
she’ll come around. I’ve got kin in Dover, which is also in that river valley.
Let me know when to meet you. We’ll see you this spring where the two mighty
rivers join. Count on it.”
“It will be sometime around the first of
April, James. I’ll telegraph you. Th’ lines should be back up by then.”
A
few days later, LaFayette saw James and Tenny off as they boarded the train.
The last thing LaFayette said as they stepped onto the train was, “Don’t
fergit! Atkins is waitin’ fer us, an Dover is waitin’ fer ya’ll! See ya this
spring where the mighty rivers join!”
Tenny stepped into the long aisle. She was
surprised at the big, comfortable seats on that train, and all the people.
But
Tenny is smart, and she was still thinking about what LaFayette said. “Are we
movin’ to Dover, up in Arkansas, Papa?”
James laughed. “You’re too smart for your
own good, Tenny. That was just talk. But don’t you mention that to your mama. I
haven’t even talked to her about that yet!”
*
Part 23
Once Sam was arrested, it didn’t take long
for Slim to figure out what Doodlebug and Darryl had tried to do. He didn’t
blame Sam for that, because he knew she was just following along with them. “But
I will deal with those two, if they ever show back up here.”
Once Darryl and Doodlebug came slipping
back to the Clan, and found out what had happened to Sam, they packed up,
sneaked out, and got gone in a hurry, before Slim could find them. They knew
what Slim would do. They would not be back.
Slim had laid out his thinking for
Sam. “Sam, you need to be away from here
fer a spell. The townsfolk are so riled up over your deal, they may cause
trouble for the Clan. I’m gonna give you money enuf to ride that train until
you’re far away from here. Wear this brown wig until you get there. Get you a room and even a job, if you want it,
and stay gone six months. That will give time for all this trouble to settle
down. Won’t take too long, once th’ townsfolk know yer gone. Then, you can come
back. Six months. Not a day more. Now go pack up.”
Mama Dolly was distraught. She had lost
one of her girls, now Sam was about to leave. But there was one thing that was
making her happy, at the same time. “Slim got a telegram yesterday. He said Bob
is bringing a little orphan girl to live with us. She’s jest a child, and her
name is Tenny. And guess what – She has pretty red hair, just like you, Sam! She
will be your little sister! When you get back, you can be her best friend, just
like you and Millie. Won’t that be grand!
*
Wearing her brown wig, nobody recognized
Sam when she boarded the train the next morning. She had two bags and a nice
long case containing her buffalo gun. She was not about to leave the one thing
that would keep her from ever having to shoot anybody. As she walked down the
aisle of the fancy coach, she looked at all the people. She was excited. She
had no plans to ever come back to the Clan. This would give her a chance to
start a new life, and Slim’s money was making that all possible. She felt bad
about taking Slim’s money. But he had taken her away from her life. It was only
fair that his money should help her start a new one.
Halfway down the long aisle, Sam saw a
little red-haired girl sitting beside a big man. But the sight of that little
girl sent Sam into shock. She had to quickly find a seat and sit down. She
couldn’t stop staring at her – her heart was racing wildly. Sam’s mind was a
blur, bombarded by flashbacks from the last time she had seen this little girl
– her real sister!
It took a few minutes for Sam to pull
herself together, realizing, finally, it’s not her. Her real sister
would be a grown woman now. This little girl was exactly the size Samantha
faintly remembered her older sister
being – before Samantha’s memories went blank, and her life turned so bad.
Mama
Dolly had mentioned that a little red-haired girl was coming to be her sister.
Could this be her? No, that can’t be, this train was going away from Taladega. Or could it be? Or did something go wrong? If
so, why did they turn around? The man beside
her was obviously not Bad Bob. He was big, but not that big. She had to think
this out, then find a way to talk to this little girl.
A seat was open opposite the man and
little girl. Sam had to think out her plan, then move up there, and strike up
a conversation.
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