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Carson Tubbs was a well-dressed, well
spoken, very nice man. He came into the restaurant one day, placed his order,
then asked to speak to Sam. She came over with her friendly smile. He asked her
to be seated. He had something to tell her.
“Sam, I travel the South a lot in my job.
Last night, I heard people talking about you. About your beautiful red hair,
about you skill with a buffalo gun. It got me ta’ thinking about something that
happened in Taladega County, Alabama, some time back.”
“They was havin’ a big trial goin’ on. She
was a pretty red haired girl, like you, and she was charged with the murder of
several men. They said she shot people, jest fer fun, and she killed them from
far away, before they ever saw her. With a big buffalo gun, like you. I never
saw her up close, but I was there the day she was hanged. I did see that. So, I knew it couldn’t of been you.”
Samantha was in shock. But she kept it
hid. She wanted to cry.
“Well anyway, last night I got to thinkin’
about what a coincidence this was. I knew it made a good story, and that you
would like to hear it.”
Samantha smiled. “Yes, Mister Tubbs. It
does make a very interesting story. Well, you know, they say everyone had a
double, like themselves, somewhere in the world. Guess she was mine.” Sam stood
up. She smiled. He loved her deep pretty dimples. “Be sure to try our apple
pie. It’s one of our favorites. Hope you are enjoying our town. Lots of
wonderful people here! Goodbye, Mister Tubbs.”
Sam had to get out of here. She was
fighting tears. She knew if they ever started coming, she would fall completely
apart. She sent word to Mr. Wilson she just had to go home. She had a bad
stomach ache. Which was, actually, totally true.
Twenty minutes later, Samantha was in her
room. She cried and cried. Then cried
some more.
Samantha was just beginning to realize
what a gullible person she had always been, back when she was with the Dudley’s.
She never suspected Millie had been hanged. And she had known nothing about any
killings, except the one she witnessed, the one that had almost gotten her
hanged. Mama Dollie had told her Millie had moved to live with relatives. She
had totally believed it, never questioned it. While Samantha had realized
Millie had a mean streak, she had never known just how mean. And, Millie had
always been nice to her. Without Millie, Samantha’s childhood would have been
one long, horrible nightmare. In spite of everything, she had dearly loved
Milly.
Samantha had always had a sister who was
kind to her. First her real sister, who was lost to her now forever.
Then Millie. Now Millie was lost to her forever also. She had no one. She
didn’t even know what her last name was. How could she live in this world
without a sister to love? Maybe life
was just not worth it, totally alone like this. Everybody liked Samantha, but now she had nobody to love, and be loved by.
Then she thought of Tenny. She had only
known her for two days, but she knew she was kind and loving, just like her real sister.
And she had no doubt that Tenny loved her.
Tenny was probably in Arkansas by now. Dover,
at that time, was the best town between Fort Smith and Little Rock. Samantha
could find it. And she then could find Tenny, who was still only a child. But she could locate
her, make sure she was all right, help her if she needed it. Then, as Tenny
grew older, they could be sweet, loving sisters forever. Tenny was all Samantha
had left in this life to love.
But that was all way down the line. She
had more immediate problems. She had left the Clan on Slim’s money. He expected
her to come back. Right about now. If that salesman could find Samantha, so
could Slim. She was famous. Finding her would be no problem for Slim. Samantha
had been really stupid, connecting her skill with a buffalo gun to her bright
red hair. Again. She might as well have put her face on a big sign, saying, here I am. Come get me. Samantha must
leave here. And she must do it now. She started making plans.
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