Sometime
later, Slim and Dolly disembarked from a river boat at Little Rock. He set
Dolly up in a nice hotel in Little Rock. He headed out on horseback to find the
right place.
He soon found out that most all the prime
river bottom homestead land to the north and west was taken. It didn’t matter,
the Dudley’s did not farm. They only sowed. Death. The hill country, west and
north of Little Rock looked better for their purposes, and few wanted that type
of homestead land, except Slim. It was located within half a day’s riding
distance from a small town, Atkins. A good place to get their supplies. Nobody
was claiming the land near this section, one mile square. Just in case more
land would eventually be needed, he filed claim on two sections. The Arkansas
River Valley was rich farm land, stretching on up the river far to the west, and
far down river. Good customer
prospects were quickly grabbing up that rich river bottom land, well past two
days ride from their choice spot. Another match made in Hell for the Dudley’s.
Now, he could go to Little Rock and file a
claim on that land. Under an assumed name, of course. Greasing a few of the
right palms in Little Rock would speed up his claim. In the meantime, he could
buy a team and wagon, load up all that money, and pick up Dolly. Afterwards,
they would head up to the claim, and start building their cabin. Other clan
members should start showing up in a few days, anxious to get their share of
all that money. He well knew, not all of them would make it. Many were not
smart enough to find Little Rock. And, some were tired of their life with the
Clan, and would go elsewhere. Oh well, that would be no problem. Just more
money for him.
In the end, eight families showed up. It
didn’t matter. Nobody knew of them in Arkansas, and they didn’t need all that
many men until they got set up, ready to do business. They could start out
slow, and build. When the money started coming in, all sorts of scummy people
would want to join the Clan. Then he could pick and choose.
*
While Samantha was busy keeping her
business going, keeping a low profile, and building her skill with her new gun,
she was also busy thinking. Samantha’s smart, remember?
The
Homestead Land Office was right here in Little Rock. She knew what kind of
situation the Clan would be looking for, so she decided to check at intervals
to see if any large claims were filed on land that would be ideal for the
Clan’s needs. Many large claims were being filed in the Arkansas River Valley.
Few were filed up in the hills north of the river, which she considered to be
the best location for the Clan. So far, all those claims had been too small.
Probably by small hill farmers. None large enough for the Clan were yet on the
books. But she would keep at it, week after week.
Jeff was keeping a close eye on the
political situation. Little Rock people were still at it, still choosing sides,
with a lot of conflict back and forth. But not a lot of violence as yet. The
only way Jeff could see this maybe turning into a shooting conflict was if, for
some strange reason, the Courts chose to side with Brooks. But nobody thought
there was any chance of that happening. Baxter still seemed to have control at
the State House, while the case continued to slowly make its way through the
courts. But Jeff was not ready to count Brooks out. Brooks lambasted Baxter daily,
and he was really good at it. Baxter just quietly went about the business of
running the State Government.
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