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CHAPTER ONE

1948

“Tarnation! I know it’s buried here somewhere.” Exclaimed the sandy-haired boy in dirty overalls. He was digging through a pile of fresh hay in the loft of a rundown barn. Many missing slats on the side walls allowed for bright shafts of light to crisscross each other. Particles of hay floated in the air by the thousands and sparkled as they spanned the illuminated light beams.

“Hurry up.” Whispered the young boy’s dark-haired companion. 

The pair cranked up their effort and dug and flipped through the pile, frantically causing a steady shower of hay to fall from the loft. 

“Looking for these?” A feminine, commanding voice interrupted their quest.

A tall, thin, brown-haired woman in her mid-thirties held a package of Lucky Strike cigarettes in the air.

“No.” Both boys answered sheepishly in unison.

“Whose are they?” She asked, ignoring their lies.

Both the culprits pointed to the other without flinching.

“Okay boys, climb on down here.”

The boys made their way down the ladder in slow motion, as if to avoid the punishment for as long as possible. They stood in front of their judge like two condemned prisoners awaiting their sentence, which they were.

“Eldon…this ain’t the first time I’ve caught you red-handed son. If you ain’t good at something you might as well quit. And you obviously ain’t good at smoking or sneaking.” She scolded.

She focused her attention on the child with dark hair.

“And Jessie…I thought you were a good boy. Don’t let my son corrupt your scruples this way. He’s a bad seed and you don’t wanna follow in his footsteps do ya?”

The boy scratched the ground with his dirty, bare feet. “No maam…you’re right. I shouldn’t let him be messin with my scruples. I done learn’t my lesson good and proper.”

Eldon flashed Jessie a dirty look as he knew his friend was about to be pardoned.

“Okay Jessie…you run along home while I consider if I’m gonna pay your Ma a visit.” The judge set the prisoner free.

As Jessie stirred up a cloud of dust and straw from his hasty departure he yelled over his shoulder, “Ain’t no use coming round Miss James, Ma’s outta town for a good long while.”

She snickered at his attempt then turned her attention to her thirteen-year-old son.

“Eldon…this behavior has got to stop. Smoking…skipping school…getting in fights…sneaking out at night.”

“Aw Ma…I only go out at night to coon hunt or fish. I ain’t causing no trouble.” He whined.

She grabbed his arm and turned him around, marching him out of the barn.

“And what about skipping school? You need an education.” She lectured.

“I’m glad its summer. I hate school…I ain’t learn’t a thing there and I get picked on every day. I ain’t goin.” He argued.

Fair-haired Eldon James was painfully short for his age. A foot smaller than all the kids in his sixth-grade class, and that was after being held back the previous year. Shorty, stubby, junior…these were the kinder of the insults he was showered with daily. Fighting was his way of coping and he wasn’t afraid to brawl with his classmates.

Eldon’s mother, Sarah, had done her best with the hand she had been dealt, but there were times as a single mother when it was all too overwhelming. Tending to a small farm, taking in washing from the more prosperous families in town and raising, or more accurately, trying to survive such a strong willed, ornery child like Eldon James, had taken a heavy toll. But what was the alternative living in the Ozark Mountain of Arkansas. There were none. Life goes on.

The drought, now in it’s second year, added to Sarah’s frustration. They relied heavily on green beans, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and most of all sweet corn. Most of the vegetables she canned and it fed them throughout the winter and spring. Several acres of sweet corn she sold to grocery stores as far as Little Rock. Those sales supplied the money for everything else they needed. And now in mid-July, everything was just barely holding on.

As they climbed the porch steps of the ramshackled house that was home, Judge James pronounced the sentence. 

“Go gather the eggs then clean the chicken coop boy.” She ordered.

“That’s it?” He exclaimed joyfully, followed by instant and intense regret. He slapped his hand over his mouth and squinted in anticipation.

His Ma grew a smile over his predicament.

“Ah…too easy on you was I?” Her smirk pushed out a giggle. “Then you can go weed the sweet corn when yer done with the chickens.” She pointed a slender finger at him. “See how yer quick tongue gets you into unwanted situations son. It’s a good lesson for ya.”

Eldon’s shoulders slumped. “Aw Ma…” He complained. It ain’t rained in months and even the weeds are dried up and dead. Ain’t even gonna have no corn again this year.”

His mother’s face turned red and her eyes started to get wet.

“Don’t you say that Eldon James! Don’t you say that! It will rain…it will.” She sniffed and wiped her eyes with her apron. “It will…it has too.”

The boy, though he was back-chatting, was right. There wasn’t a farmer for ten counties around that held much hope for a crop of any kind. Even the cotton and tobacco seemed sad and embarrassed, just dried up sticks in the ground. Things looked grim, very grim.

Eldon hugged his ma. “I’m sorry Ma…don’t cry. You’re right…it’ll rain…soon. No doubt about it.”

“Go on boy.” She tried to compose herself. “And take that hound with you, he’s been collecting dust and fleas on the porch all morning.” She pointed at Jasper, a walker coon hound and Eldon’s best friend.

“Come on Jasper, y’all better come with me before ya get the broom handle again.” The white, brown and black hound aroused from his slumber and dreams of running the timber with his nose to the ground, stretched his bones and followed his buddy to the chicken coop.

Sarah smiled as best she could at the pair marching towards the chicken coop, she opened the screen door which came off the hinges and flopped to the porch floor. 

“Tarnation! Can you believe it!” She hollered.