"This is my first crack at writing a novel. I was actually a runaway at age 16 and I used some of my own runaway experiences as I wrote the novel. Of course I never had too kill anyone!! but hitch hiking and riding freight trains was my main mode of travel during my runaway experience! these two kids had to run to save their lives! being verbally, physically, and sexually abused, they had no choice! they had to kill people as they traveled because it was self preservation! So they were brave kids and did what they had to do to survive!!"

THE BEGINNING

        As best as I can remember, I think I was happy when I was little, at the beginning of my life. I was born in Arkansas, in 1939. My mother and father had a little farm and we raised different kinds of animals. Even when I was very small I had chores to do everyday. Life seemed simple and we seemed to be simple people living a “God fearing” life like most other people we knew back then. It’s difficult to describe that life….The life I remember that now seems like a distant memory of a time that no longer exists.

          My Father would take me hunting and fishing with him during summer months. We only hunted and killed what we needed to survive the cold bitter winters of Arkansas. My Mother always had a good sized garden growing not far from our back door. We had fresh vegetables on our table all summer long. When there was an abundance, she canned the rest so we could eat it later as we needed it. Like I said, I think those were happy days and I learned a lot about life in general growing up on that farm with my Mother and Father, and my older sister, Annabelle. However, life isn’t always fair is it? One night our parents woke us up and said we have to go the cellar! There was a tornado approaching our area and it’s coming fast! Well, this wasn’t anything new to us… We spent more than one night in the cellar waiting for a storm to pass! Mom and Dad took myself and Annabelle to the cellar and told us: “stay here and don’t move we will be right back!” In those days you did what you were told regardless of how you felt about it….

            Annie and I had no idea why Mom and Dad both ran back to the house but they did. We stayed right where we were and we waited…. I remember I even eventually fell asleep. Just before daylight Annie woke me up and said: “The storm is over, I think it’s safe to go outside and look for Mom and Dad.” As we exited the cellar, we couldn’t believe our eyes! Up til now we always dodged the storm by the skin of our teeth, but now Annie and I both stood there in complete shock at what we were looking at! …. The house that we both grew up in was gone!… Just gone!…. So was the barn, all of our animals were missing but what started Annie and myself both crying was suddenly realizing that Mom and Dad were missing as well! Something down inside of both of us told us our parents were dead! Whatever it was that caused them both to return to the house last night with the storm right on top of us proved to be fatal for our Mom and Dad! Annie and I are now orphans! We had no idea what to do next. We just stood there holding onto each other and crying. I was eight years old at the time, Annie was ten.

            People from all over our little city started coming out of their cellars to see how much damage they received on their property. Everybody had animals in those days so it was going to be a while before anyone knew if their animals were alive or dead, but the damage to our little “Hick-Town” community was extensive!  People that we knew finally found me and Annie, we were still crying and we were scared to death! They asked us where our parents are and we told them we didn’t know, we think they must be dead! They picked us up and held us in their arms carrying us somewhere where everybody was gathering to talk and decide what to do from here. That was the most horrible day of my life! When your only eight years old you can’t deal with this kind of trauma, it’s to much for your young heart. Your emotions overload on you and all you can do is cry. Everything gets foggy from here. The next day Uncle Johnny and Aunt May Belle came to check on all of us and Learned Mom and Dad were dead. Uncle Johnny was my dad’s brother but he didn’t seem that upset that his brother was dead! They took me and Annie with them back to live on their farm.. Annie and I didn’t know it then but we were about to enter into the darkest days of our lives!

 

 CHAPTER 2

DAYS OF DARKNESS

 

           Annie and I were never told exactly what happened to Mom and Dad. They never told us if they were found or never found or anything! If we asked, we were told that some things were better off left in the hands of the lord and we should leave it at that…..Not long after all of this happened I turned nine, Annie turned eleven. Life was much different living with uncle Johnny and aunt May Belle. Uncle Johnny started working me like I was a something not human! If I did something he didn’t approve of he beat me with a leather strap or the leather reins on a horse! At night, Annie would have to secretly clean the cuts and welts on my back so they wouldn’t get infected. I don’t know what made uncle Johnny so angry with me, I was always a hard worker and I tried hard to do things right in order to please him but no matter what I did it was never good enough! Annie was basically under the care of aunt May Belle and for some reason she didn’t get the beatings I was getting on a daily basis. However, I was happy about that, Annie was my sister, it was just her and I so we stayed close to each other and tried to stay out of trouble as best we could. I don’t know how I would have handled it if Annie was being physically abused the same as I was. After all, she’s a girl and should never have to endure something like this! What I didn’t know at the time, my uncle was turning me into a very angry, very bitter person with revenge festering in my heart, and growing!
          My ninth year of life was extremely tough! I went to school, came home and worked on uncle Johnny’s farm. I had animals to care for everyday. I plowed fields using a team of horses like I was a man. I had to mend fences, milk cows, and feed all the hungry animals and clean up behind them. As I grew more and more angry, I also grew stronger and stronger from working so hard. At school my grades were starting to suffer but my aunt and uncle didn’t seem to care. I started to rebel. It seemed like every time I turned around I was getting into a fist fight with someone and I would beat the kid up pretty bad! I was on a bad road now and there was nothing I could do about it!
I was being physically abused everyday! But I grew stronger and tougher to the point where I refused to cry or let the abuse bother me…. I knew in my heart….Someday I was going to kill my uncle…. He had it coming.
         After two years had passed, I was approaching eleven, Annie was turning thirteen. Annie was becoming a beautiful “Teen-age” young woman with long “Goldie locks” curly hair. I was proud to have her for my older sister! Annie and I would sneak off into the woods whenever we could so we could be alone and talk about what we were going to do or where we were going to go when we grew up. We loved it when we were in the woods, alone with nature calling to us from every angle. I remembered when my dad would take me into the woods. He taught me to hunt…. I became a marksman with my 22 rifle! Dad taught me how to run a trout line, then clean and prepare the fish we caught and he taught me how to cook them over an open campfire! I could shoot and “skin” a deer as good as any man! I knew how to survive in the wilderness long before mom and dad died! Annie and I would set on the edge of a creek fishing and spend the day dreaming of the time we could escape the horrible life were stuck in at the moment! Aunt May Belle and Uncle Johnny didn’t say much when we came home with a bunch of “Cat-fish” all cleaned and ready for cooking and eating.
         At first, I couldn’t figure out why Uncle Johnny was always so grouchy and mad all the time. However, as time passed I began to notice him drinking a lot of “Moon Shine,” grain alcohol! 186 proof or better! Then I realized he was nursing a horrible hang over every day! But I didn’t excuse him for the way he was treating me! It just made me hate him that much more! As Annie turned thirteen something about her changed! Her and I slept in the same room. She had a little single bed and so did I. But, all of sudden, I would wake up in the middle of the night with Annie getting in my bed putting her head on my shoulder crying! I asked her: “what’s the matter?” She wouldn’t tell me…. She just held me until she stopped crying, then she got into her own bed and went to sleep leaving me upset and confused! I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t like to see my sister cry, I knew something was wrong, I knew I had to find out what it was……….
           Getting up at 4:30 AM to do my chores before going to school, then coming home and having more chores to do after school, I was always really tired when it was time to go to bed! So it was difficult for me but somehow I managed to keep myself awake for awhile each night, and then one night it happened!….. Uncle Johnny came in our room and took Annie with him! I waited for a few minutes and snuck out into the living room and I saw that dirty son of a bitch molesting my sister on the couch! Now I know why Annie has changed so much since she became a teenager! Well, I knew this wasn’t the time. I went back to bed and waited for Annie to come back…. When Annie crawled into my bed I put my arms around her and held her as tight as I could, she was crying and I didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes, I just let her cry…..
          When she started to calm down a little I whispered in her ear….. “Uncle Johnny will never touch you again Annie, I promise, I will make sure of this as sure as there’s a god in heaven he will never lay a hand on you again… EVER!!!” Annie said nothing for a few minutes, then she said, “how did you know?” I said: “It doesn’t matter, you’re my sister, no one is going to hurt you and get away with it, not as long as I’m alive. Just believe me, he won’t ever touch you again…. I made Annie stay with me in my bed the rest of the night, I held her tight as we slept. I knew, I already knew, there’s a good chance I may never see Annie again! But I knew this has to be done… It has to be…
          The next day, I didn’t go to school. I left like I was, but I didn’t. I doubled back and snuck in my bedroom window. Aunt May Belle was out tending to chickens or something. Grabbing my 22 rifle I headed for the fields being plowed by uncle Johnny. I hid by a big rock off to the side and waited until he was within range! Once he was…. I pretended like I was setting my sights on a big deer….. Took a deep breath and fired off three rounds in less than a heartbeat! Uncle Johnny fell face down in the newly plowed earth…. DEAD!! I should mention here, we have a lot of Indian blood in our family. On both sides I had great grand parents and great, great grand parents that were full blooded Indian, Cherokee to be exact. That, coupled with everything my dad taught me about being a good hunter and surviving in the woods, I didn’t have to think, I was moving on impulse after I shot my uncle. I knew what I had to do next. I approached his body and checked to make sure he was dead…….He was….. I unhooked one of the horses and using the reins I tied uncle Johnny to the horse and drug him out of the open field into the woods…. We weren’t on a trail so I had the horse drag him as far in as he could and stop. It took awhile but the ground was soft and rich in this part of Arkansas so using my hands and a stick I dug a hole deep enough to roll uncle Johnny’s body into it and cover him up. I drug bushes and rocks and sticks over to the grave and proceeded to cover it up even better so no one could tell by looking that a body had been buried there! I took the horse back out to the field and hooked him back up to the plow beside the other horse and ran the plow and the horses back and forth across the field removing all signs of a body being dragged into the woods! I left the horses where they were and took off, being sure to remove my own tracks as I backed up and out of the field. Climbing up on the rock I hid behind in the beginning, I looked down at the field…. It looked clean, a mystery in the making….
           I went to the school house and waited for Annie to come out. When she did, I hugged her again and told her everything will be ok now. Of course she asked what I did but I wouldn’t tell her. I told her the horses are in the watermelon field and she needs to go get them and bring them back to the barn. She couldn’t understand why I couldn’t go do that but I just told her I won’t be living here anymore and you need to be strong now. I walked her almost all the way home, I said: “I will sneak into our bedroom late tonight to say goodbye and pick up some stuff. Annie started crying, hugging me she said: “You can’t leave me Bobbie-Joe, you can’t, I won’t let you! We are all we have, it’s just you and me, you can’t do this, you have to take me with you please take me with you!” I didn’t know what to say, I started crying too! I knew she was right, it would be wrong for me to leave her here to get caught up in the mess I just created.
           I’m still running on adrenaline and not thinking to clearly but I don’t want my sister to get into any trouble if I should get caught and charged with murder. Still, it would be wrong to run away and leave her behind…. I wiped the tears from her face and hugged her tight. I said: “Ok, go home and act like nothing is wrong, when uncle Johnny and I don’t come home tonight just say you have no idea where we are and let it go at that. When you go to bed tonight, pack some things in a clothes bag and wait for me. I’ll sneak in the window and pack some things to and we will leave together ok?” Annie stopped crying and asked: “Where will we go?” I said: “I don’t know yet, we have aunts and uncles living in Oklahoma somewhere, mama’s sisters, maybe we can find them and live with them for a while does that sound ok?” Annie just shook her head yes….I told Annie to put on jeans and “out door’ boots for hiking in the woods cause that’s where we will be for a day or two. We hugged again and she headed for home! God only knows what is waiting for us now! Annie and I have been living in pure hell since mom and dad died. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring but with fear mixed with excitement in our hearts we’re going to face it head on!

 

 

 

CHAPTER 3

WE RAN AWAY

 

           I waited in the woods, thinking. We needed a plan. Alone in the dark gave me time to consider all my options. I knew I had to take Annabelle with me, mom and dad would expect me to look after my sister no matter what! It’s the right thing to do. I feel no remorse for putting an end to my worthless uncle’s life. He should never have touched my sister. He should never have physically abused me the way he did for two years! At church the preacher man would say things like…. “The good book teaches forgiveness.” Well, to me, forgiveness is between uncle Johnny and God…. It was up to me to arrange the meeting…. So that’s what I did…… I didn’t feel sorry for aunt May Belle either. As far as I was concerned she shared in uncle Johnny’s sin and did nothing to protect me or Annie from what he was doing to both of us. She was in fact lucky I didn’t kill her too. It wouldn’t be until a year later I would hear that aunt May Belle took her own life! She was found hanging from a large walnut tree growing in her front yard.
           Right now though I’m still waiting for it to get late enough to sneak back into the house to get Annie and whatever we could carry with us as we headed for god only knows where! When it became late I headed for our bedroom window and quietly climbed in…… Annie was asleep but she was ready for me. She being two years older than me she packed up important items we will need while we live in the woods for a while. She woke up as I came through window and hugged me again…. I could tell she was afraid I wasn’t coming back to get her….. She’s happy now, I can see it in her eyes. Her first words were…. “I was beginning to think you left without me.” I hugged her tight and said: “It’s me and you Annie, this is what mom and dad would want…. For us to stay together, I wouldn’t have left without you!”
          She had two cloth bags with straps full of stuff. She handed me one and put the other one over her shoulder. She had a strange look in her eyes and I asked her what’s wrong? She handed me a pistol, it was uncle Johnny’s. I took the gun putting it in the front of my pants. I looked at her and smiled saying: “uncle Johnny wont be needing it anymore!” We both quietly climbed out of the window and disappeared into the night. It’s official…. We are both runaways and on the “lamb” from the law! We have to find a way to get to Oklahoma so we can look up our relatives and hopefully we will be able to stay with them for awhile anyway.
          Living our whole life up until now in Arkansas close to the Arkansas Ozark mountains Annie and I both are comfortable being in the woods. We weren’t scared and we knew what we had to do to survive. However, I knew we needed to get as far away from Uncle Johnny’s house as we could before the sun came up so Annie and I headed deep into woods until it became difficult to see anymore! There was only a partial moon so it was hard to keep going.  Finally, in the wee hours of the morning we came across a small cave….. I told Annie to stay put for a minute. I took out the pistol. Because I was also still carrying my 22 rifle, I handed it to Annie and slowly I approached the mouth of the cave. My dad long since taught me what to look for to determine whether or not the cave is being used by a wild animal so I tried to see inside the cave but could not!
          I went back to Annie and asked her if she packed matches, she said she did so we looked for them. I found a dead branch and managed to set it on fire. I looked at my sister, she was nervous I could tell. I walked back to entrance of the cave and threw the burning branch inside, pointing the gun toward the opening….. Nothing was inside, I walked in…. I was looking for signs that would tell me something was living in this cave, things like “tracks” or even animal poop but I saw nothing. I motioned for Annie to come to me so she did. We went inside and I put more dead branches on top of the one still burning by the mouth of the cave knowing this would discourage any animals from wanting to enter the cave while we slept. We both got as comfortable as we could. Annie stayed close to me and we used the cloth bags for a pillow and went sound to sleep! The next morning we woke up not knowing what time it was but the morning was well along. Of course we were both hungry but until I could find a creek to throw a line in and catch some fish or maybe shoot a squirrel, eating would have to wait! Then, Annie, bless her heart, pulled out of her bag some beef jerky and some cookies so we at least had a little snack before it was time to get moving.
          We hiked our way through these woods until I was no longer familiar with the territory! Annie was getting tired but she was strong and she knew we couldn’t rest just yet so she never complained. I finally slowed down a little and started looking for something to eat, anything, I didn’t care. Like I said, I was a marksman with my 22 rifle. All I needed was to get something lined up in my sights and we would be having meat for dinner! I finally spotted two fat squirrels on a branch up in a tree. Without much effort I shot them both! Annie helped me skin and clean them and we started a fire and enjoyed a good squirrel supper!

           We eventually came to a nice clear stream and we both took a long drink And we both felt much better. I decided we should spend some time here and I’ll see if I can catch some fish. All I had was a piece of string with two hooks on it but if the stream had a lot fish in it I was sure to catch a few. Annie said she wanted to go down stream a ways and take a quick bath. I told her to let me check the place where she wants to bathe to make sure there were no poisonous water snakes around. Annie and I are both country born and raised she knows about poisonous snakes as well as I do but even country girls are more afraid of snakes than country boys so I went to look and make sure she would be safe in the water.

           It was springtime in Arkansas, the streams and creeks were running really cold with snow melt but Annie didn’t care, she was going to bathe and that was all there was to that! I came back and told her everything looked ok but be careful just the same. I decided we should go ahead and set up camp here. We are deep into the woods and I felt pretty safe for now. Setting up camp takes a lot more than what most city folks might think! I had to gather stones and make a circle. I had to gather the right kind of dead branches and twigs used for the fire so it wouldn’t create to much smoke. We had no eating utensils. I had a hunting knife on my belt and a pocket knife in my pocket. I had to find some green sticks that wouldn’t burn very easy and sharpen one end into a “point.” Then, I had to clean and prepare the fish I caught so we could run the pointed end of the stick through the fish and hold them over the fire… We had no frying pan for cooking. We were living off the land like our Indian ancestors…. They were guiding us with every step we took. Everything came natural to me and Annie both.

           Even as we moved through the woods, we instinctively walked on stones and rocks doing so for as long as it was possible being careful not to leave any footprints in soft soil or sand or even disturbing the dead leaves and twigs sitting on the ground for maybe years! Another Indian might be able to track us but it would be very difficult for some one white to do so, we were that good and we knew it. When Annie came back I just about had everything ready for us to start cooking. I looked at her and she had on her “cover-alls” and a long sleeved shirt underneath. I said: “Boy if we have to move fast for awhile tomorrow your going to get hot in that long sleeve shirt!” she said: “I don’t care, at least I wont get scratched up and my skin won’t get dirty!” I just smiled at her and thought to myself…. Spoken like a real woman!…..

          After we ate and got everything cleaned up it was getting late so I told Annie we might as well stay here until morning light and then make it a long day tomorrow covering as much ground as we possibly can. We didn’t know yet if we were being hunted or not so there was an urgency in our desire to keep moving! I know traveling like this was hard for Annie, she’s a girl, girls are used to being clean and dressed nice but she also knew we had to travel like this and stay as low as possible if we ever expect to make it to Oklahoma without getting picked up.

        On this particular day we were aware that for most of the day we were ascending. Not a steep incline but definitely going uphill. We packed everything up and made ourselves as comfortable as we could and got ready to go to sleep. Even at night there are sounds in the woods that are talking to you but you have to listen! You can hear crickets, frogs, even some birds that are nocturnal but these are soothing sounds…. You get a peaceful feeling that settles down in your heart and soul, when the evening breezes blow…. If you listen closely, you can hear the voices of your ancestors talking to you, it’s then you realize…. Your not alone!…..  If you are alert and familiar with “night noises,” when the noises suddenly stop or change in some way it means possible danger is approaching so it’s important to activate your defenses just in case! Well, everything was peaceful for this night and Annie and I just laid there for awhile and talked, we haven’t had much time for talking since we lit out and headed for the safety of the woods…….
          Annabelle, almost in a whisper asked me: “Bobbie Joe, are you alright, I mean, you won’t tell me what happened to Uncle Johnny but I’m not stupid, I know you killed him and I’m glad you did but I’m worried about you!” I could tell Annie was about to start crying again so I moved over to where she was and put my arms around her, she was trembling. Just the thought of Uncle Johnny had her upset and shaking. I told her: “I’m ok Annie, What I did, I had to do….. Dad would have done the same thing if he ever found out what uncle Johnny was doing to you. I’m not sad and I’m glad he’s dead, he’ll never touch another young girl again! Don’t be upset ok?” Now I had tears in my eyes, I don’t want Annie to think about all this, but I know she’s going to be affected by it for the rest of her life! I just held her tight and we both finally went to sleep.
          When dawn finally broke Annie was already awake and getting things ready of us to start moving. Dad also taught me my directions telling me that as long as you know in what direction your heading you will never get lost. Since we left uncle Johnny’s house, we’ve been heading west, I knew this was the way to Oklahoma and that’s where we were trying to get to. We didn’t say much as we prepared to leave. Finally Annie asked me: “Are you sure you know where we are?” I looked at her and said: “Yes Annie, I know right where we are, Dad taught me everything I need to know so I would never be lost. You have the same blood in your veins as I do, were part Indian, both of us, listen to the sounds of the forest, it talks to us, watch the animals, watch the birds, they will show us the way. Don’t forget, our ancestors will talk to us when gentle breezes blow…. We just have to listen. Annie came over to me and took my hand as we headed off on a new day of traveling deeper into the woods. I loved Annie so much, I was glad she wouldn’t let me leave without her! I knew she would watch over me as much as I would watch over her…. We were going to be alright, I squeezed her hand tight as we walked. Springtime in Arkansas is warm and it gets really humid! By the time we reached mid-day Annie and I both were hot and sweaty, we were still climbing and I wanted to reach the top of this hill before dark so I could see what was waiting for us on the other side. I could tell Annie was wearing down so I took her bag of stuff and handed her my rifle, it had a strap on it so she could put it over her shoulder and she looked relieved to be rid of her bag for a while. Finally, as the day wore on I decided we both needed to stop for a few minutes. I could tell we will reach the top of the ridge in less than an hour so we sat down by a large tree offering us some shade. I looked at Annie as she sat down, there was dirt and droplets of sweat running down the side of her cheeks, her face was red from the heat of her exhaustion.
          I felt guilty pushing her like she was a boy, I loved her even more because she did her best to keep up without complaining. From now on, I’m going to be more considerate of her limitations and I’m not going to push her this hard anymore. We’ve been in the woods going on three days now and I don’t think we are being hunted, at least not yet, so I’m going to slow down a little for the sake of my sister. I moved over and sat next to Annie and I hugged her for a minute. I told her we will stay here until we both cool down and I pushed her hair out of her eyes. She didn’t say anything but I could see it in her eyes, she was happy to hear me say that. I said: “I think we are close to water I’m going to go see if I can find it.” She asked: “How do you know that?” I said: “I can smell it, probably a small trickle of snow melt so it should be clean and cold.”  Annie had packed two tin cups so I took both of them and headed off in the direction where I can smell the dampness of the forest. Sure enough, I found it, it was snow melt and I drank water until I couldn’t drink another drop!
         Filling both cups with water I headed back to Annie. She was lying down now using a bag for a pillow but she heard me coming and had one eye open and one hand on my 22 rifle. I thought, that’s my girl, don’t get caught off guard! I sat down next to her and gave her a cup of water to drink, it was gone in seconds! I gave her the other one and it disappeared just as fast! I felt like a heal….. I kissed her on the forehead and left to get her some more water. Coming back I sat down and put her head on my leg and let her drink both cups while I ran my fingers through her hair. I asked her: Feel better?” She said: “100 per cent!”  I had tears in my eyes and lifting her up I held her in my arms and said: “I’m sorry sis, I wasn’t thinking.”  She hugged me tight and said: “Sorry for what, you weren’t thinking about what?”  I said: “I shouldn’t be driving you so hard through the forest, it was unthoughtful of me!” Annie put her head on my shoulder and didn’t say anything, we just held each other like that for a while. Finally, I asked her: “In a little while do you think you can make it to the top of this ridge, we can reach it in less than an hour and I want to see what’s waiting for us on the other side?” She shook her head yes. We stayed there and rested for about an hour. Annie was the first to get up and say: “let’s get going.” Looking at me and smiling she held out her hand to give me a lift up, I smiled back………..Like I said, in less than an hour we were at the top. We both stood there staring at what had to be the most beautiful valley with a meadow with nothing but wild flowers growing down the hill and across the valley right up to a stream! We looked at each other and we knew we had to make our way down the hill, through the meadow and up to that stream. Nothing could stop us from doing this, so down we went! Most likely, it took us another hour to reach the stream. By now it’s late afternoon but we got there before dark. At least we were going down hill and as we moved through this beautiful meadow I managed to catch a couple of little grasshoppers that I knew would come in handy when I needed bait for fishing! Annie was as excited as she could be as we approached the little stream. She took off her shoes and socks and waded right into the water! I let her go but I kept a close watch for snakes! The water was clear and still pretty cold but I could tell this was something Annie really needed to do. I fixed up my little fish line using the grasshoppers and put the line in the water and putting a big rock over the end of the string so I wouldn’t have to stand there and hold it. The aroma from the wild flowers was intoxicating! I decided to look for some quail or maybe a pheasant we could have for dinner along with any fish I caught.
           All around this little valley there was nothing but forest and hills so I knew there had to be something out there for us to eat. I yelled at Annie to be careful and I will be back as soon as I can. She just waved at me and went back to splashing water on her face! I took the pistol and laid it on one of the bags so Annie could get to it in a hurry if she needed too. Taking my rifle I checked to make sure it was loaded and headed into the trees. As if I had been hand trained by a full blooded Indian himself I knew the importance of being “Deadly” quiet while moving through the trees looking for prey! I was only in the forest for about 30 minutes when I came face to face with a big beautiful Buck Deer! We even made eye contact for a second, I think this animal with a full headset of antlers is one of god’s most magnificent creations! I didn’t even raise my gun in his direction. I could not in good conscience kill a deer! Annie and I would only eat a small portion of the animal and the rest would go to waste, I didn’t think god would approve of this so I let the buck decide for himself that I might be an enemy and I watched as he broke into a run and quickly disappeared into the forest!
          Even at the age of eleven I believed that if you give to nature, then nature will give to you. I didn’t find any quail or a pheasant but I managed to shoot a wild turkey! I knew this would be a good sized meal for Annie and I, and would most likely feed us for two days! I knew in my heart it was our ancestors looking after us! It would have been unacceptable for me to kill that deer, instead I was given something smaller for myself and Annie to eat! The forest was our friend!As I was heading back to the stream, I looked off in the distance to my right and I saw something….. I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things or not so I headed in that direction. I couldn’t believe it! When I got closer I realized I wasn’t seeing things at all! It was a cabin! Of course, immediately my defenses activated! I stopped and studied the whole area surrounding the cabin….. It appears to be abandoned, but I need to make sure so I don’t get drawn in to something dangerous! Quietly, I started moving in the direction of the cabin. Walking around to the back, there was nothing to indicate any kind of life…I set the turkey down and slowly approached a window and peeked inside. It looked as though no one has lived in this place for maybe years! Going to the front door, holding my rifle and ready to use it if I have to, I opened the front door and slowly went inside. The place was completely deserted!
             Well, I knew this was going to be a really good surprise for Annie! I opened the place completely up! Front door, back door, and the windows! I got the turkey and headed for the stream and my sister! Coming down the hill I could see the stream really good but what got me feeling anxious was I couldn’t see my sister! As I got close to the stream I set the turkey down and took my rifle off of my shoulder! Annie was nowhere to be seen! My heart was starting to stress! God please don’t let anything happen to my sister, mom and dad will never forgive me!  I whistled a familiar whistle that I knew she would recognize and answer if she’s able too! I waited…..Then I heard it! It was her whistling back! I let out a sigh of relief and headed in the direction of her whistle. When I got to her she was wearing nothing but her bra and panties! I hugged her anyway and asked: “What are you doing running around in your underwear?”  She said: I washed all my clothes and laid them out on a rock to dry, but look what I found!”  she was holding a “bandanna” full of wild berries! I had to smile! Only my sister would take off in her underwear looking for something to eat!
            I decided not to tell her about the cabin just yet. We were both tired and hungry, I showed her what I got for dinner and she was so excited just thinking about having turkey and fish to eat! I went to the stream and pulled out my fishing line and sure enough I had two small yellow catfish! We both got busy preparing the bird and fish for cooking. I rounded up stones to make a campfire and gathered wood while Annie finished getting the food ready to cook. Like my mommy she looked at me and said: “ you need to get your clothes off and scrub them on a rock in the stream so they will be dry and ready to wear when we leave.” So that’s what I did. I took a bath as I washed my clothes as best I could laying them out on rocks close to Annie’s clothes. Now we were both clean, our clothes were clean and we were ready to eat a good hot meal! I had to find a couple of branches shaped like a “Y” to drive into the ground on each side of the campfire. Then, I had to sharpen another stick that was strong enough to hold the turkey and then place it in the “Y” shaped branches so the bird was over the fire but not to close so as to burn the outside before cooking the inside. After I got it into place Annie took care of rotating the bird over the fire so it would cook evenly. The fish we cooked like we always did, holding them over the fire while they are on a stick.
           I watched my sister as she prepared everything as best she could given our circumstances. For the moment, I could tell she was actually happy, if she’s happy then I’m happy too. I don’t know what I got us into but at least were together and I absolutely know this is the way mom and dad would expect us to be, together and taking care of each other!
            We ate turkey and fish and wild berries until we were stuffed! I told Annie we need to do something with what’s left of the turkey otherwise animals might smell the food and come looking for it later tonight! She asked: “What can we do with it, where can we hide it?” I said: “Do you think our clothes are dry yet?” she said: “Probably not for a while, we washed them late in the afternoon, they didn’t get enough sun why?”  I said: “Never mind, lets get them and then follow me, I have something to show you!” Annie looked confused but she did what I asked. She went and got all our clothes and sure enough they were still way to wet to put on. I put out the campfire, and we picked up all our stuff and headed back into the woods.
          Annie didn’t like this, she wanted to sleep out under the stars next to the stream tonight but she followed me anyway! It wasn’t  that far to the cabin and even though evening was approaching she saw the cabin before I could point it out to her! She said” Oh my god Bobbie Joe how did you find this?”  I smiled at her and said: “I think it found me, I was coming back to the stream and barely caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye and went to get a closer look and there it was….An abandoned cabin just for you sis!” 
          Well, the cabin was to dirty to even think about sleeping in it tonight and I told Annie this. We set up camp outside right in front of the cabin. I had to go back to the stream and get some of the stuff we couldn’t bring with us. I told Annie: “Maybe we will stay here for a couple of days and rest up before heading back into the forest, how does that sound?” She was all for that! My poor sister, I guess I really wore her out the last three days! I told myself I’m going to slow down a bit so she won’t get so worn out.
           Inside the cabin I found an old blanket folded up in the corner and brought it outside and asked Annie what can we do to clean this blanket up a bit without getting it wet? Annie took it to a tree with a low growing limb and put the blanket over the limb. She picked up a long dead branch and started beating the blanket until there was almost no dirt or dust coming from it. We laid it on the ground and for tonight that was all we could do. We were both still in our underwear so we used our bag of stuff for pillows and we laid down on the blanked and went to sleep. Before we fell asleep Annie asked me: “Bobbie Joe, are we going to die out here in the forest?”  Her question took me by surprise! Annie knows I’m a good hunter, she knows I can fish and hunt and find my way in and out of any forest…. Why would she ask me a question like that?
            I guess it was because she’s a woman, women are always insecure and unsure of things they can’t control. Once again I moved closer to her and put my arms around her. I said: “Annie, you know I can take care of us out here in the forest. We could survive out here for the rest of our lives. I belong in the forest, it calls to me. Don’t be afraid, I won’t let anything happen to you, mom and dad would never forgive me if I didn’t take good care of you.”  She put her head on my shoulder, her way of telling me she believes me and she trusts me too. I didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes. Then I asked her: “Do you want to know what really scares me?”  She said “What?” I said: “Once we leave the forest, it’s then I get scared thinking what if I can’t take good care of you once we are no longer in the forest, what if we get into real trouble trying to survive in a city or someplace like that, And I can’t feed us or find shelter for us…. That’s what scares me Annie! I’m only eleven, I don’t have a car, no one will give me a job, what will we do then?”  I started crying…. Annie hugged me tight and said: “We’ll make it Bobbie Joe, You’ll think of something no matter where we are, I know you will, you always do. Mom and dad would be proud of you if they were here.”  We finally stopped talking and fell asleep.
          When I woke up the next morning Annabelle already had a fire going and was warming up some turkey meat. Our clothes were dry so we could get dressed now. Both of us went into the cabin to get a closer look in the daylight. It was really dusty, once again indicating that it has been empty for a long time. Annie looked disgusted! I went back outside and found a long branch, then I pulled some fledgling branches off of a tree, using strips from an old rag I found, I tied the green branches onto the long branch. There, now we have a broom. Both of us spent the best part of the morning cleaning the inside of the cabin as good as we could with what we had to work with. Just because it’s springtime doesn’t mean it won’t rain anymore. In Arkansas a thunder and lightning storm will come up out of nowhere and drop millions of gallons of water on you and then leave as quickly as it came so it’s good to have some shelter just in case!
         So, Annie and myself, we spent two more days in this beautiful little valley with it’s gorgeous little meadow of wild flowers. I hunted and fished. Annie and I went swimming everyday in the little stream and we sat up at night and looked at the most beautiful sky we ever saw! Night time was beautiful beyond beautiful! You could see the reflection of the moon in the water and…. You could see the reflection of fireflies lighting up the night and showing in the clam water of the stream! You can’t describe something like this…. Not verbally, not by written word…. You have to see it with your own eyes to understand what I’m saying! 
            Before we left Annie went into the woods one more time looking for wild berries and came running back to me saying: “You have to come see this!” I followed her back into the woods and she said: “look at this!” It was an old broken down “Still,” Bootleggers were the ones that once lived in this cabin making illegal “Moonshine,” or “White Lightning!” Dam, problem solved. However, it was time to go and we both knew it. Oklahoma was still a long way off. We also knew, both of us knew, we would never forget this little valley hidden deep in the woods or the time we spent there hiding in an old abandoned cabin once inhabited by “Bootleggers!”  On the third morning we loaded up everything, went to the stream and took a long drink of water. I looked at Annie and asked: “Are to ready to head out?” She just shook her head yes and we left. I told Annie we were going to move at a much slower pace now. We will rest three or four times a day and stop for the night while it’s still early so I will have time to hunt or fish. The forest was calling to me, Leading myself and my sister onward to destinies we don’t even know about yet, but when the forest calls to me, I know it’s time to go…. So we did. I took Annie’s hand as we walked away and disappeared into the woods…

CHAPTER 4

DARK JOURNEY

 

We moved deeper into the forest. Something inside of me was telling me we weren’t being hunted, there was no one on our trail. I wanted to believe this but I also knew I needed to be cautious making sure we didn’t get caught off guard! So, whenever I could I stopped and even climbed a tall tree if possible to check our back trail looking for signs that some one was following us. Everything looked good. Annie was doing much better moving at a pace she could adjust too. I kept a close eye on the sun, when it was high in the sky I knew it was getting close to noon so I started looking for a good place to stop so Annie could rest for a while. She rolled up the blanket we found at the cabin and brought it with us, so now she unrolled it and laid it on the ground. Using our bags of everything we own in the world for pillows we also laid down on the blanket. Annie came over to me and put her head on my shoulder and said: “Thanks Bobbie Joe, I know your doing this for me and I appreciate it.”  I hugged my sister, I’m so glad she’s with me and I didn’t have to make this Dark Journey all by myself! I’m only eleven and once in a while I do get scared, I have no Idea how far we are from the Arkansas / Oklahoma border. I don’t want Annie and I both dying out here in the forest all alone, so I get scared when I think about it but I try to hide my fear from Annie, she’s not scared because I’m not scared, it has to stay like that as we move through the forest! After a few minutes had passed Annie opened up her bag and took out the bandanna she used to gather wild berries only now when she opened it up it had pieces of turkey meat in it. She said: “We better eat all of it cause I don’t think it will be safe to eat come tomorrow. So that’s what we did.
           After about an hour we started moving again. We also noticed we were climbing again, but this time I didn’t care what was waiting for us on the other side, I kept us moving at a pace Annie could handle. I figured we would find a place to camp for the night and in the morning we would get to the top of the hill and see what’s on the other side. I told Annie we would stop soon, I want to find water, maybe a little creek of snow melting and running down the hill. Snow melt usually runs cold and clean but only during the spring, it’s also safe to drink. If the wind is blowing in the right direction I can actually smell water in the air! Before long I picked up a scent telling me we were close to water and I told Annie we can camp here for the night. I found the water and brought some back to Annie. I told her: “There’s no water for fishing, but if your hungry I’ll go see if I can find a squirrel or something we can cook up to eat.” Annie Hugged me again… she said: “Stop fussing over me Bobbie Joe, I can wait until tomorrow to eat if you can.”  I said: “Ok sis we’ll just sleep here tonight and Leave early in the morning and I’ll hunt as we go alright?”  Annie leaned in and kissed me on the cheek! Little boys as a rule don’t like being kissed by their sister but when Annie kissed me I almost started crying! It made me miss mom who always hugged me and kissed me every time I got close to her! After all, boys are almost always a mama’s boy their entire life! I loved my Sister more and more as we moved through the woods.
           So, we set up camp and prepared to spend the rest of this day and night right here! Annie looked at me and said: “I’m going to take a walk to look for Wild berries or something ok?”  I said: “Ok, don’t go to far so I don’t have to worry. She just rolled her eyes and left! I would worry, evening was closing in on us and it would be dark soon and I don’t want my sister out in the woods after dark. She was gone maybe forty minutes when I heard her familiar whistle! Both of us could put two fingers in our mouth and whistle so loud we could shatter glass at a hundred paces! I jumped up and whistled as loud as I could letting her know I heard her! I grabbed both guns and started running in her direction! It was getting dark, I had to find her fast! Then, I saw her! She was running as fast as she could down the hill right toward me! I took my rifle and cocked it looking to see if she was being chased by someone! I held the rifle up and aimed it just over her shoulder…. I saw no one!
         I had to drop my rifle and catch Annie who ran straight into my arms! I said: “What the hell is wrong!” She said you have to come quick and look at this!” she turned and started running back up the hill with me right behind her! She led me clear to the top of the hill and stopped! Pointing off in the distance she said: “Look, Smoke!”
            She was right, I said: “It’s a campfire alright, about a mile away!” I told her I don’t think it will be someone looking for us cause it’s in front of us not behind us! I looked at Annie and said: “look, let’s go back and break camp, we have to go check this out to be sure it’s not someone looking for us ok?” Annie asked me: “Why do we need to break camp?” I said: “Because, we may not come back to this place, we may have to keep moving even though it’s dark so we better take everything with us right now!” So, that’s what we did. We went back to our camp and packed up and headed in the direction of the mysterious campfire! My heart was beating fast now not knowing what we were about to find out but I knew this is what we had to do. We traveled in an “Arch” as we moved toward the campfire and when I could smell the smoke really good I knew we were getting close. I whispered to Annie: “Stay close behind me and even though it’s dark try to put your foot down right where I put mine so there will only be one set of tracks. It was completely dark now but I actually felt better about that! Annie had one hand on my shoulder and tried to do what I asked as we got closer and closer to this campsite!
          Now, I could hear voices traveling through the night! It didn’t sound good! I could hear a woman crying and the voices of men almost screaming really loud! Annie and I moved “Deadly Quiet” now! Finally, we were a little higher than the campsite below us and we could see a young man and woman sitting on the ground with their hands tied behind them, there were two men with guns pointing at the young couple! The young woman was pleading for her life and the life of her boyfriend or husband I didn’t know which! Annabelle started crying and I put one arm around her as we watched what was unfolding right in front of our eyes! We were both to young and should not have to be a part of something this evil but as Annie started crying I felt the Indian blood in my veins start to boil! I knew if I didn’t do something quick that young couple would not survive to see the sunrise tomorrow morning! Annie grabbed my arm and whispered: “Bobbie Joe, we have to go, if those men find us here they’ll kill us too!”  I looked at my sister, she was scared and crying hard! I know my sister, she’s not a coward and would give up her life in a minute to save mine if that’s what it took! Right now she’s thinking of me, she knows what I’m contemplating and it scares her! I hugged her as tight as I could and said: “Annie, we can’t walk away from this. If we do that couple will die! We will never forgive ourselves if we don’t try to save them!”     
           Annie asked: “What are you going to do?” I hesitated for a second and said: “I’m going to kill them, I’m going to kill them both! They deserve to die, look what their doing to that couple!” Annie Asked: “What if they kill you, what will I do without you?”  I said: “ They won’t kill me sis, I’m not even going to get close enough to them for them to know I’m around ok?” I had Annie sidetrack with me to a large tree. I asked her to: “stay behind this tree and don’t look, I don’t want you to see this, it will give you nightmares for the rest of your life! Promise me you won’t look!” Annie said: “I promise Bobbie Joe, I promise, just please be careful, your all I’ve got!”  This time I kissed Annie on the cheek and grabbed both guns and moved quietly into the dark!
           I came up behind a large tree about 30 feet from where they were! With my 22 rifle I couldn’t miss a target as big as a man at 30 feet. The two men appeared to be drunk, they were acting totally crazy! The young couple were both scared to death, I could see that from where I was! The two men were taking everything out of the girls purse and they even took the young mans wallet! I thought, you son of a bitches, your going to kill this couple over what they have in their purse and pockets!
           At this very moment I was no longer scared! I was beyond mad! I cocked my rifle and aimed it at the closest one to me…. I took a deep breath…. And fired one shot getting him right in his upper back! Immediately I fired another shot hitting the other one in the upper back as well, but both of them turned to see what direction the shots came from so I put two more slugs in each one of them right in the heart area of their chest! They fell to the ground! I stayed behind the tree but I put my rifle down and pulled out my pistol. I didn’t move for a good minute waiting to see if one of them would breath or cough or anything to indicate he wasn’t dead yet! The young couple was in a state of shock and I knew I needed to get to them right away! I didn’t waste any time getting to where the two dead men were lying. I took a good look at both of them and I was sure they were both dead but I didn’t want anything backfiring on me so I shot both of them again at close range with my .38 pistol right in the heart! May God have mercy on their soul, I sure didn’t! I went to the couple and taking out my hunting knife I cut both of them loose! I whistled for Annie even though I knew she only heard my guns and pretty much knew what happened I needed her to come here and help the young woman who was out of control right now! Annie came running to me first and hugged me asking me if I’m alright. I said I was but the woman needs you to hold her for a minute, she’s in shock I think, so that’s what Annie did!
        The young man couldn’t stop thanking me but he went to his wife and he took her away from Annie and held her in his arms while she cried. Annie came to me and looked at me hard in the eyes….Putting her arms around me she started crying again. I held her as tight as she was holding me. She knew this was going to affect me forever but it was something I had to do, there was no other way, there wasn’t.  I told her I have to move these worthless dead bodies out of sight so they hopefully won’t be found for a long time! Annie broke away from me and said: “Before you do that let’s see what they have on them we can use!” She went right for their pockets and pulled out some money, looking at the young couple she asked: “Is this your money?” They shook their heads yes so Annie gave them back everything the two men took from them. Then she found two cigarette lighters and put them in her pocket. Next she pulled out their wallets and took what money was in them, not much but now we had a few bucks we could save for a rainy day! I didn’t even think of doing any of this so it was good that I had Annie with me. She even picked up their guns and handed them to me…. Both .38 specials! We have shells for both of them! Now we have three pistols and my rifle. I asked the young man if he would help me roll these worthless bastards down the hill into a small ravine where wild animals will get to have a good meal! So he helped me do it and in just a couple minutes they were out of sight. Now that everything was done and finished I knew I had another problem to deal with. The young couple, they were most likely going to have a lot of questions and I wasn’t sure if I had all the answers!
           The woman looked to be maybe twenty two or twenty three years old and very pretty! She came to me and wrapped her arms around me hugging me like she was never going to let me go! She was still crying out of control so I hugged her as tight as I could but I didn’t know what to say to her! She finally said: “You saved our lives, you saved our lives and your just a boy! Where did you come from?” I simply said: “My sister and I are travelers, we’re going to Oklahoma looking for our family.” Annabelle was watching and crying almost as hard as the young woman. The young man finally went to her and hugged her, letting her cry in his arms. Killing someone doesn’t come easy…. Taking all a man has…. All he’s ever going to have, but in some cases it’s the only solution to an otherwise extremely grave situation. I saw no other way open to me for saving this young couple. But I was crying now, and I think it was because I saw my sister crying and I knew this was going to be a hard memory for her forever !
           Annie was my whole life, everything that mattered to me was somehow centered around her! The young woman kissed me right on the lips but It was a kiss like my mom has kissed me since I was a baby. She was overwhelmed with gratitude and trying to show me as much so I didn’t mind.  I wanted to tell her I’m no longer a boy, I am in fact a man now…. Forced into manhood the day my parents were killed by a tornado, not to mention the fact that I have now killed three men! Annie couldn’t take it. I knew her only concern was how am I doing after killing these two worthless bastards so she pulled away from the guy and came to me and held me like only she can, it only made me cry harder! I needed to get control of my emotions! Annie and I both knew we needed to get as far away from this situation as we can as fast as we can!
           The young man’s name was Billie, his wife was Sally may. Billie finally said: “we owe you our lives but it’s more than that. They were going to rape my wife first and then kill us both. I don’t know how we can ever repay you!” I said listen, you don’t owe us anything. What I did needed to be done. They will never hurt anyone ever again. This is God’s justice. Only one thing I ask…. If you report this to the police, please don’t tell them about myself or my sister. Say two hunters came to your rescue or something like that ok?” I could tell, Billie was confused but he agreed to do what I asked. Sally May came back to me and put her arms around me again. I didn’t mind, I wanted her to get her composure back and calm down. I asked Billie: “do you have any idea how far we are from Oklahoma?” He said: “ You have over a hundred miles to go before you reach Oklahoma!”
          I looked at Annie and could tell she didn’t like hearing that, neither did I but there was nothing we could about it, we have to make it to Oklahoma, we have nowhere else to go. Sally May said: “Would you like to live with us for a while, we’ll take good care of you?”  Actually, that sounded tempting to me and to Annie but I knew that wouldn’t be right. We might get them into more trouble than they could imagine just by hiding someone who has killed three men. So I told them: “we are desperate to find our family in Oklahoma but we really appreciate your offer.”
           Billie finally asked us our name…. I looked at Annie and she knew I had something on my mind….. I said: “My name is Cherokee and my sister is Cheyenne, our ancestors were full blooded Cherokee Indians so our parents named us accordingly, I shrugged my shoulders…. I asked Billie: “How did you get involved with those two guys?” Billie said: “they were hitch hiking so We picked them up, boy was that ever a mistake!”
          So I asked: “Where’s your car?”  They said: “it’s just over that ridge, there’s a dirt road that leads back to the main highway!” I asked: “will you take us with you to the highway?” Sally May said: “Hell yes we will Cherokee”, still hugging me! I said: “Then we better go! I don’t think there’s anybody else out here but you never know so we should get as far away from here as we can as quickly as we can!”
           Cheyenne and I went back to the tree and got all our stuff and we went with Billie and Sally May back to there car. They drove us to the highway and stopped. Billie said: “If you keep following this highway, it will take you to the Oklahoma border but like I said, you still have quite a ways to go. Sally May and I are on our way home to Little Rock or we would take you.”  I said: “that’s ok, you need to get Sally May home safe and sound. Don’t pick up anymore hitch hikers. Cheyenne and I will be just fine!” Sally May kissed me again and we stood there and watched as they drove off into the night!
         Annie looked at me and said: “Cheyenne, you named me Cheyenne?” I said: “It was the best I could do on a split seconds notice, I didn’t want to give them our real name. They were good people but we don’t know what they might do if they heard our names on the news or read our names in the newspaper someday, it’s better this way don’t you think?” I looked at “Cheyenne” and asked: “Are you mad at me?” she smiled putting her hand on my face, she said: “How can I be mad you “Cherokee,” your not just my little brother, you’re my fearless “Indian Brave! You saved those two people from being murdered, I think that’s the bravest thing I have ever seen in my life!”  I said: “I don’t know about the Brave part! I think I was about to pee in my pants!”
          Cheyenne put her arm across my shoulder as we started walking along the edge of the highway. Almost instantly I started getting nervous! I felt exposed and told Cheyenne we better cross the highway and disappear into the woods. We don’t need a state trooper stopping and asking us questions!” 
         Once we were back in the forest I felt better! Under any circumstances, this is where I belong and I knew it! It was really late, I had no idea what time it was but I was getting really sleepy. Not far off the highway, maybe a quarter mile into the woods we came across another cave, it was small and we will have to get down on our knees to get inside but first I have to make sure it’s safe! So, I had to get another branch to burn so I could throw it into the cave. I threw the burning branch inside the cave and got down on my knees and looked inside…. Everything looked good. I looked back at Cheyenne and smiled to see her standing there with both .38 specials in her hands just in case she had to save me! I love this girl so much!
          I didn’t want the cave to fill up with smoke, it’s to small to keep a fire going all night. I had Cheyenne help me uproot a large round bush and drag it to the mouth of the cave. I told Cheyenne to put everything inside the cave so she did. Then I told her to go inside. I got on my knees and backed into the cave pulling the bush with me, covering the caves opening. Now I felt pretty safe from any animals trying to come inside while we slept.
          It was dark inside the cave but Cheyenne laid out the blanket and put our bags down for pillows and we stretched out on the blanket to go to sleep. I was completely dog tired. Maybe only two minutes passed and Cheyenne scooted close to me and put her head on my shoulder. I knew it had been a hard night for her knowing her little brother killed two men so I just put my arms around her and held her tight. Finally she said: “Are you alright Bobbi…..”Cherokee?”  I’m really scared everything is going to get to you and I don’t want you to change, you’re my little brother and I love you.”  I said: “ I’m ok sis, everything will be alright. As long as I’m in the forest, I’ll be fine, the forest talks to me, it calms my spirit. As long as I have you beside me, as long as we have each other, Mom and Dad, and the spirit of our ancestors watching over us, nothing can hurt us…. Nothing can stop us. I hope you can understand what I’m saying, as long as we are together the world can’t hurt us, not now, not ever!” She said: “Promise me something Cherokee, Promise me you will never leave me, promise me we will be together for the rest of our lives ok?” I held her as tight as I could and said: “I promise sis, as sure as there’s a God in heaven I promise I will never leave you.”
          Cheyenne started crying. I held her close and we both fell asleep in each others arms. I don’t know how long we were asleep but suddenly we woke up and there was a terrible thunder and lightning storm right on top of us! The thunder was so loud the ground shook! Cheyenne got as close to me as she could and I reached over her and pulled the blanket over both of us and we just cuddled together like we did when we were little living with Mom and Dad!
          What would I do without my sister here with me? I’m not afraid of anything just knowing she’s right there next to me. This is love in the purest form! There is nothing in it for her, there is nothing in it for me, just a brother and sister looking out for one another. I will take good care of her and I know she will take good care of me, you can’t put feelings like that into words!
           The storm eventually blew over and the rain stopped. The two of us slept sound until long after daylight. When we both were awake I told Cheyenne, we are still to close to where those dead bodies are so we need to get going and get as far away from here as we can, are you up to the task? She said: “I can  do it Cherokee, I’ll go with you through the gates of hell if I have too.” I had to smile cause I knew she was dead serious!
           All of a sudden I heard something as we exited the cave. I stopped and said to Cheyenne: “wait a minute, did you hear that?” She stopped and listened, looking at me she said: “I don’t hear anything.”  Then I heard it again, way off in the distance…. It was the lonesome whistle of an outbound freight train! I said: “Come on let’s get back to the Highway!” We moved pretty fast as we headed for the road. I didn’t want to come all the way out of the woods but I wanted to see where this train was going. I couldn’t believe it! I asked Cheyenne: “Do you remember us crossing these tracks last night?” she said: “Yeah, we had to cross them to get ourselves into the forest don’t you remember?” I said: “I sure don’t, I must have been walking in my sleep!”
           We were just inside the woods moving parallel with the Highway and the railroad tracks! I could hear the train getting closer and closer. I looked at Cheyenne and said: “I have an idea!” She said: “somehow, that doesn’t surprise me!” I said: “If we can get on this freight train we can get far away from here without much trouble at all, you want to try?” I could tell, she was nervous but she shook her head yes. I said: “Let’s get down next to the tracks!” We started running and soon we were right beside the train that was passing us really slow. I saw an open “Box Car” about to catch up to us and I asked Cheyenne if she could get herself up into the car. She said: “I can’t do it Cherokee, carrying all this stuff!”  I said: “Ok, lets just climb one of the ladders and get up on top for a while!” I no sooner said that when we noticed the train had almost stopped completely!
           Maybe one minute went by and the train had stopped! I told Cheyenne let’s go find that open boxcar and get in. So that’s what we did.. I was able to give my sister a boost up and then I climbed in right behind her! I liked this! Now we can get a long ways from here without having to push ourselves in the woods! We took all our stuff and moved to one end of the boxcar away from the open door where we will be out of sight!
           Cheyenne looked at me and asked: “Do you think we will be safe in here?” I said: “I think so sis, don’t see no reason why we wouldn’t be!”  after a little while a passenger train came whizzing by and only a few minutes after that we started moving! This was something completely new to both of us so of course we were both a little nervous! It also dawned on me that we won’t be eating for a while! I can’t hunt or fish while we’re zooming along in this boxcar! But, we are both young and strong so I knew we could make it until I can figure something out.
           This old train was clicking right along and the day passed by slowly. We were both getting hungry and thirsty and I was starting to worry. We need this train to stop again somewhere, anywhere, I didn’t care, so we could jump off and once again disappear into the woods where we belong, the forest looks after us, takes care of us………..
          I could tell Cheyenne was getting anxious, she usually always has something to talk about but she’s been silent for over an hour now. I need to get her something to eat and drink, I needed to get us both something to eat and drink, I needed to do this soon! I reached over and took her hand and held it in mine, she looked at me and smiled but neither of us said anything……Suddenly, we both felt it at the same time! We looked at each other, we looked at the open door of the boxcar, the train was decelerating! That means we are most likely going to stop shortly! I know we had to have traveled 30 or 40 miles, maybe more since we climbed in this boxcar! I was absolutely ready to get the hell off and back into the forest! I smiled at Cheyenne, she smiled at me. She was the first one to get up and started getting everything ready for us to jump off!
          Sure enough, after a few minutes the train came to a dead stop! We both climbed out of the boxcar and carrying all our belongings we headed for the woods! Once again, my confidence level was back up to where it belonged! I can take good care of my sister out here in the forest! I listened for gentle breezes blowing through the trees…. It’s the forest calling to me!  I led Cheyenne deep into the forest, far away from the train tracks and the Highway! I knew we would be safe now. We desperately need water first and it was the first thing we found! Not a stream or a river but a small creek of crystal clear water! We drank water until we almost popped! It was what we both needed.
           We didn’t stop for long. I wasn’t pushing my sister but we kept moving. I don’t feel the urgency any longer, we are a very long ways from Aunt May Belle and uncle Johnny’s, and a really long way from where I shot the two men. So, we kept moving deeper into the forest. I needed to find a good place for us to camp by water where I can fish, a nice clean body of water we can drink, bathe, and clean our clothes in!
           After a while we found what we needed! It was a beautiful pond being fed by a 12 or 15 foot waterfall! Cheyenne looked at me and smiled! The sparkle in her eyes told me everything! she knows as well as I do, it’s our ancestors showing us the way just as they always do! We headed for the pond and Cheyenne couldn’t wait, she took off all her clothes, well, except her underwear and was getting ready to go in when I stopped her! I said: “First let me check for snakes!” So I poked around the edges in places a snake might be resting. Snakes in general, doesn’t matter if their poisonous or not, usually are not interested in a confrontation with anybody or anything, they just want to be left alone. So if I make enough ruckus and if there are a few snakes around, they usually move to a safer place.
           After doing all this and I was pretty sure it was safe I let Cheyenne go in for a swim. This was a perfect place to set up camp and stay for a while. I noticed Cheyenne even took off her bra and panties once she got into the water and started washing them! Then, she put her panties back on but left her bra off and laid it out on a rock to dry. Finally, she yelled at me to take my clothes off and get in the water! So that’s what I did. To us, there was nothing weird about us seeing each other naked, Mom had us both in the tub bathing us at the same time our whole life until Cheyenne started approaching puberty, then she had us bathe separately. Now, all we have in the whole world is each other! We are brother and sister, trying to survive facing almost impossible odds. Nothing else mattered.
           We spent most of the rest of the day naked or half naked waiting for our clothes to dry. Me being eleven, puberty was still a ways off, I didn’t even have any body hair yet so it all meant nothing to me. I started fixing my little trout line and went down a ways from the pond and threw it in the water, and tied the other end too a rock. I came back and began setting up camp. We were getting hungry, it’s getting late and we haven’t eaten all day! I placed stones in a circle, I gathered wood for a fire. I went looking for a tree with young branches and cut a couple off and sharpened them to point.
           I looked around to see where my sister was. I spotted her on a big rock by the waterfall sunbathing. My sister was a beautiful teenage girl! Even when her face was sweaty and dirty and her hair was in a big braid going down her back, she was still beautiful! She had emerald green eyes that would sparkle in the sun, and her smile would always calm my fears when things were getting to me. I have to make it my number one priority to make sure I get us somewhere where she will be happy again someday, I have too.
           After a while I decided to go check on the trout line. Cheyenne saw me going in that direction and I heard her jump into the water. She knew if there were fish on the line we would be eating soon so she went to check on our clothes. Boy, I was surprised when I pulled on the line! I had two really good sized catfish on the hooks! I knew Cheyenne was going to happy when she saw these babies, it means we will be full when we’re done eating!
           Cheyenne yelled at me that our clothes are dry and for me to come get dressed, so that’s what I did. We cleaned the fish and started the fire and began cooking our dinner! Evening was coming on when we were done eating I told Sis we are going to stay here for a day or two before heading out again if that’s ok with you! She said if this is what I want to do then she wants to as well.
          I said: “Tomorrow I will go hunting and we will have something to eat besides just fish ok?” She shook her head yes and smiled at me…. It’s that smile that makes everything in the world seem alright for awhile…. I smiled back at her! We found a spot where we felt pretty safe and laid out our blanket and just got comfortable talking as the night descended on us. Cheyenne asked me: “How far do you think we are from Oklahoma now?” I said: “ I don’t know for sure but maybe around 40 or 50 miles. Of course, then we have to find our family. They live in Savanna and right now, I’m not sure how far that is from the border but don’t worry, I’ll find out when the time comes…..  Like always, Cheyenne put her head on my shoulder and I put my arms around her while we slept through the night. We are just kids, alone and scared. We still have a long way to go and we have no idea what’s waiting for us tomorrow.
           We slept good through the night, we were tired and needed the rest! Cheyenne was the first one to wake up but when she moved away from me it woke me up too. We didn’t really have anything left over that we could eat for breakfast so I got ready to go hunting early. Cheyenne asked me: “Can I go with you Cherokee, there’s nothing for me to do here?” I looked at her and smiled. I said: “Of course you can if you want. Bring both of your .38 specials, just don’t shoot yourself in the foot!” she said: “I’ll shoot you in the butt if you aren’t careful!” Just to be safe we hid our bags and our blanket between some big rocks and headed deeper into the woods!
            It didn’t take long before I shot two fat pheasants! We both like pheasants, their good eating, they clean easy and cook fast so we were good for a while! Heading back to camp we came across an old abandoned mine shaft! We looked at each other, we looked at the mine shaft, I said: “what the hell is a mine shaft doing out here?” I know I’m young but I never heard of anybody mining for gold in Arkansas, I didn’t know what to think! We decided to take a closer look so we approached the opening of the shaft. I motioned for Cheyenne to hold tight, she understood. I entered the shaft but just barely…. Maybe ten feet in, the shaft was sealed like there was a cave-in at one time, maybe years ago! I motioned for Sis to come to me so she did…. I said: “It looks as though it’s been abandoned for years, but for you and I it’s a perfect place to hide out in for a while, what do you think?”
           Cheyenne looked around for a minute and said: “Yeah, this is great, how far are we from the waterfall?” I said: “Only maybe a hundred yards!”  She said: “Ok, lets go get our stuff and we will make camp in this mine.” So that’s what we did. However, we cleaned our birds and Cheyenne stuck them in a small part of the pond where they will stay fresh for a while. I rounded up anything I could find, old pieces of wood lying around, branches, bushes, anything, to put up in front of the mine shafts opening so we would have protection from the elements. I went to green trees and cut branches and brought them back and put them on the ground inside the shaft. We were now living in a comfortable little room just made for the two of us! After we got the mineshaft all fixed up and ready for us, we started looking around. There was a lot of stuff left behind by whoever abandoned the mine. Cheyenne found an old shovel with a broken handle. Didn’t know what we would do with it but we set it aside just in case.
            We found some rope and more line with old hooks I could use for fishing. This was turning out to be a blessing in disguise for us! Almost buried in the dirt close to the opening of the shaft I found it! Then, I found another one….. I called Cheyenne over to me and asked her if she knew what these two rusty old “Pans” were used for? She took one and looked at it….. It had a hole in the middle of it. She handed it back and said: “I have no idea!” I said: “These are for panning for gold! Probably down by the waterfall or a little farther down stream. Old “Prospectors”  once lived here with dreams of finding gold…”The Mother Load,” Striking it rich but it’s unlikely they ever did.” Cheyenne asked: “Why, how do you know?” I said: “Because, if they found gold, it would have caused a gold rush and these hills would have been stripped by hundreds of prospectors chasing the same dream!”
           Then, I looked at Cheyenne and smiled…. She said: “Uh-Oh, I know that smile, what are you thinking now?” I said: “Just because they never found the “Mother Load,” or a rich “vein” inside the shaft doesn’t mean there isn’t any gold here at all!” She still looked confused. I said: “My fifth grade teacher, Mr. Riley was really interested in gold and for over a month he studied the subject with the class.”  Cheyenne said: “So?” I smiled bigger. I said: “Cheyenne, I know how to pan for gold! Mr. Riley brought all kinds of stuff to class including pans like these and showed us how to use them on the side of a creek, or river, or a stream!”  Finally, I saw the light go on in my sisters brain! She smiled and said: “Do you think we could find some gold down by the waterfall?” I shrugged my shoulders and said: “There’s only one way to find out!”
          I told Cheyenne: “Look, it’s already afternoon, lets go ahead and eat. After we get that out of the way we’ll spend the rest of the day panning for gold, who knows, we might find something.” So that’s what we did. The whole experience was kind of exciting for both of us even though I wasn’t really sure if we would find anything. I know that gold is just about everywhere in the whole world! That doesn’t mean there will be any right here at this spot where we are!
           Mr. Riley brought a picture to school of a gold nugget, The largest known nugget ever found, called the “Welcome Stranger,” weighing about 156 lbs, it was turned up accidentally, just below the surface of the ground, by a wagon wheel in Victoria, Australia, in 1869. So remembering all the things Mr. Riley taught us about gold I thought maybe, just maybe there might be something here for Cheyenne and I to find…

          Once we got all of our chores out of the way we took the old broken shovel and the two “Pans” and headed for the waterfall! Cheyenne even took some rags that she found in the dirt and our blanket we’ve been sleeping on for a while now with us to the pond! As soon as we got there she said: “We don’t need to wash our clothes today but take them off anyway so they don’t get dirty and muddy. So we both took all our clothes off and waded into the water. First, Cheyenne did the best she could washing the old dirty rags she found, scrubbing them on a rock. After placing them on a rock out in the sun to dry, she made me help her with the blanket. We cleaned it as good as we could and with the two of us holding it, Sis started twisting it as hard as she could to get as much water out of it as we could. Then she made me climb a tree and hang it on a branch high enough so that it didn’t touch the ground so it could drip dry the rest of the day.
           I asked her: “You ready to pan for gold now?”  She said: “As ready as I’ll ever be!” So here we are, my sister and me, both as naked as the day we were born standing in the pond waist deep. I told Cheyenne we are going to dig up dirt and gravel from the bottom of the pond cause gold is heavy so if there is any in this pond it will be on the bottom. We panned the rest of the day and found nothing! Cheyenne got restless and wanted to quit, I told her: “No one finds gold right away, it takes time and patience.” But she quit anyway, she climbed up on a rock right next to the water fall and sunbathed in the afternoon sun. I kept panning but as the day began to fade away I decided to quit as well. I climbed up on the rock next to my sister and  fell asleep.
           Before we started doing anything earlier, I had put my trout line back in the water down stream so when I woke up I went to check and once again, I had a couple of good size catfish on the hooks. I put my clothes on and brought the fish up to the pond where Cheyenne was still sunbathing and showed her what we will eat for dinner. She climbed off of the rock an got dressed. We cleaned the fish together and cooked them, and ate them. We are kind of getting used to only eating once a day. For now, it’s the best we can do.
          We sat by the waterfall in the evening and watched the sunset as darkness overtook the day. Cheyenne had a far away look in her eyes and I could tell this life in the forest was difficult for her. She’s a “teenager”… Young teenage girls want to be around young teenage boys…. That’s the cycle of life! It hurt my heart when I knew she was sad because right now I can’t do anything to make things better for her. I had tears in my eyes again and I moved close to her and put my arms around her. I said: “Don’t be sad Cheyenne, I promise I will get us to Oklahoma where you will have a better life than this, better than the one you’ve had since Mom and Dad died, I promise!” She hugged me and kissed me on the cheek, saying: “I know you will Cherokee, Don’t be upset, I’m ok, I miss Mom and Dad sometimes and it makes me sad that’s all.” When she said that I lost it and started crying hard! I miss our parents so much I hurt deep down in my soul but I never talk about it.

           Cheyenne cradled me in her arms holding me exactly like Mom would do when I was really little. For this one small moment in time I felt like I was in the arms of my mother as Cheyenne rocked me back and forth, all I could do was cry…. Cheyenne didn’t say anything, she just let me cry in her arms until I was done. Finally, she said: “I know your carrying a lot on your shoulders you shouldn’t have to carry Cherokee, but together, you and I, we’re going make it, we can do this ok? When we get to Oklahoma everything will be better then right?” I just shook my head yes. I loved Cheyenne so much I could never tell her in a way she would understand. She’s my whole life, I couldn’t go on without her….

          She stood up saying: “Come on, let’s go get the rags and the blanket and go back to the mine. So that’s what we did. We went inside the “shaft” and closed it up behind us. Putting the blanket down we got ready for bed……Like always, Cheyenne stayed close to me and put her head on my shoulder, putting her hand on my cheek she said: “I don’t know what I would do without you Cherokee, I don’t think I would want to go on living if we weren’t together, you believe me don’t you?”  I said: “Yes sis, I believe you, I feel the same way, I couldn’t go on like this if you weren’t by my side!” After we said that, I felt better and finally fell asleep.

 

   this was my first novel after writing my autobiography. I went on to write two more after this one. 2nd novel: "The Orphan Vigilante"   and the 3rd novel: "Called to Kill." you can find all of them on www.amazon.com  Search Barry Lee, or the title of the novel. thanks... Barry

    Find me on Face Book:   @barryallenlee16