Epilogue for Samantha - The End

     With Tenny’s move to Wing, Tenny’s connections to Dover, and even to Samantha, were mostly broken. But Samantha would just not let that connection die. Automobiles were soon becoming the latest mode of travel, and Samantha bought the first model available. She never learned to drive, but she always found a driver to take her to Wing, on a regular basis.

     John Wesley died early, at age sixty. Tenny remained a widow for many years, working hard, and running the Gillum Clan.

      At Tenny’s last birthday party in 1941, a group photo was taken. The entire family was there, right down to the last child. Except me. I would not be born for three more years. Everybody seemed to realize it was Tenny’s last party. These were the people who surrounded me, and loved me, as I grew up. Some thirty strong. Studying that picture now, I note that only four survive today. Enjoy those around you who love you. Life is short.

     As a child, I could look at that picture and name everyone there. Except for one. A very, very old woman in the back row. She has a big smile on her face, and the deepest dimples I have ever seen. All anybody had ever been able to tell me was, she was a friend of Grandma Tenny.                                                  

     All of the Gillums are buried at Rover, Arkansas. Each year, on the first Sunday in May, Decoration Day is held there. All the graves are covered in flowers, and we kids played most of the day in the grave yard. I realize now that we were encouraged to do that so that we would feel comfortable in a cemetery, and bring our own family there for Decoration Day the rest of our lives. I still do.

     When I was seven years old, I was playing around the Gillum graves on Decoration Day. I noticed the oldest woman I had ever seen was sitting by Grandma Tenny’s grave. She was crying. I came by a couple of hours later, and she was still there. Still crying. I walked up beside her. She wiped her eyes, stood up, and looked at me.

     I smiled at her. “Hidy. My name is Pat.”  She returned that smile. Even with the deep, deep wrinkles in her face, I could tell she had the deepest dimples I had ever seen. “Pat, are you Tenny’s grandson?”

     “Yes ma’am.”

      She reached up and removed a necklace from around her neck with her shaking hands. She was shaking so badly I wanted to ask her if I could help her, but that would not have been polite.

     “I have something for you, Pat. Your grandmother gave it to me the day she died. She told me to give it to a grandson.”

     She placed it in my hand. On the small chain was a golden locket. “Put this locket in a safe place when you get home, Pat. When you are twelve years old, open it. Be very careful not to lose anything. Look carefully at the contents.  Close it back tightly, and bury it deep on top of your grandmother’s grave.”

     She smiled at me again. “Now, go back to your playing, little boy. This will be my last chance to visit Tenny, and I’ve got to make the most of it….. Oh, and Pat, will you run down to the front gate and tell the three fine looking men sitting there, that they can come help me to the car at sundown? Their names are Tenn, Hunter, and Colten."

     “Yes ma’am. Be glad to.” I stuck that locket deep into my pocket and ran.

     She carefully sat back down, waved at me one last time, and started crying once more.

     Well, I did just what she said. When I open the locket, five years later, I found two locks of red hair. One of them was the prettiest red hair I had ever seen.

      At the next Decoration Day, I buried the locket deep on top of Grandma Tenny’s grave. But for the life of me, as a boy, I could never figure out what all that meant….. Or who this lady was. I never saw that lady at Decoration Day again.  The End.

                                                   **

I hope you enjoyed Dead Eye Samantha as much as I did, writing it. I first wrote Forever Cry, about Tenny's life. It was inspired by my grandmother's early life, who grew up during The Reconstruction. While it is a historical fiction book, it is a mixture of non-fiction and fiction. Tenny's early life was very colorful, so this book leans more toward being non-fiction. Samantha was a fictional character in that book, but she attracted so much attention that I decided to tell her life story, also, which you have just finished. Some names are changed. If I tell no fiction about a character, I use their real name. If I tell anything about a character that was fiction, or tell of events I suspect actually happen, but cannot be proved, I classify it as fiction.

     Forever Cry was placed on Amazon.com just last night. It will be available in 3-5 days. Or, if you would like a personalized copy, order from me at barbandpat66@suddenlink.net. The price is around $16 dollars, including shipping, either way.  Unlike Samantha, Forever Cry is an adult book. After editing, Dead Eye Samantha will be on Amazon.com this summer.

Thanks again for reading Dead Eye Samantha! I would love to hear your feedback!
     I have one other book that is currently being edited. It will be available this spring. It is a boy-dog love and adventure story, entitled The Truest Friend - The Legend of Tooter. It is a mixture of fiction and non-fiction, about my best friend as I grew up in Wing.

I love to hear from my readers, and your comments are appreciated.