“We might ought to ease on out of here,” Poudlum whispered.
We started crew-fishing on our bellies, trying to get deeper into the woods before we were detected. We were across the clearing from the gully and Cudjoe disappeared from our vision when he went crashing down into the gully toward his truck.
We took advantage of the opportunity to stand up, and Poudlum immediately said, “Let’s circle around and see if we can get to our rifles while he’s down there!”
“You think he’ll figure out what we done?” I asked.
“Course he will, and he’s gonna be mad. Come on, we got to hurry!”
By the time we got to where Cudjoe had cast off his pack and our rifles we could hear him cursing and raving down in the gulley. Then we heard the engine of the truck start up.
“You don’t think he can drive up out of that gully, do you, Poudlum?”
“We should have done like you said and flattened his tires, but it’s too late now. Maybe that old truck won’t climb up out of there.”
We decided to leave the pack with the skins for now, but we happily picked up our rifles and checked the chambers. They were both empty.
“You got any bullets left in your pockets?” Poudlum asked.
“I got four or five,” I said as I searched for them in my pocket.
“Give me two of them and let’s load up.”
“What you got in mind?”
“If he gets that truck out of there we got to shoot one of his tires out. We can’t let him get away with the gold!”
“But he was gonna leave it.”
“Yeah, but that was when he thought his truck was gone. If he gets it out of there the gold will be gone with him. Let’s get up a little closer so we can get a bead on one of them tires,” Poudlum said as we both chambered a bullet and rammed it home by sliding the bolts forward and down.
We heard the sound of the truck’s engine change as it went into a lower gear and began to labor.
“We got to find us a good spot so we can get off a shot without being seen,” Poudlum said. “Come on and let’s get up to the edge of the clearing.”
We found a good spot, and we both knelt on the opposite sides of a big pine and leveled our weapons.
I could hardly believe my eyes as I observed the old truck slowly emerge from the cover of the small trees and begin to nose up the steep side of the gully. Fear leaped into my heart as I imagined ahead and in my mind’s eye saw the truck racing away with Miss Lucretia’s future disappearing around a curve in the old logging road.
What if we missed with our rifles. My mind raced attempting to think of what else we could possibly do if that happened.
Then Providence lent a hand. A dark cloud had been gathering and suddenly the heavens burst open with raindrops as big as dimes and as thick as sugar cane stalks. In a matter of seconds, the ground was sopping wet.
We scrunched up close to the tree trunk to avoid the storm’s full fury. Then we heard the sound of wheels spinning.
I strained my eyes through the downpour, and saw the dim outline of the truck, about halfway up the side of the gully. Then it began to slowly lose ground, inch by inch.
The rain came down harder and quicker, with a roar like a freight train. The truck began to slide backward, faster and faster, and finally came to a halt with the back half of it once again submerged in the foliage at the bottom of the gully.
We watched as Cudjoe emerged from the cab of the truck. We couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it was evident he was cursing the heavens as he looked skyward and shook his fist.
That was when we knew he had given up on driving his truck out of the gully, and that our plan had worked after all, with a little help from Mother Nature.
His upper body disappeared for a moment as he leaned back inside the cab of the truck. Then our panic returned when we saw him drag out the pouch filled with the gold.
Instead of whispering any more I had to almost yell over the noise of the storm to make myself heard, “He’s getting away with it again, Poudlum!”
As Cudjoe clawed his way up the side of the gully with one hand and drug the pouch with the other, I asked Poudlum, “What we gonna do?”
“We’ll just have to follow him on foot!” he shouted back. “Stay in the edge of the woods along side the road and don’t let him out of sight!”
We followed him about halfway down the logging road until he came to a stop and disappeared behind a big black gum tree on the side of the road.
The rain was still coming down, when I asked Poudlum, “What you think he’s doing?”
“I ain’t sure. Let’s just watch for a minute.”
After about a minute, he emerged back on the road empty-handed, cast a cautious look all around, and then took off running toward the main road.
“He’s spooked, afraid of Miss Lucretia’s voodoo, and thinks we done already gone for help. He’s running away and plans to come back for the gold sometime later.”
“Well, he ain’t gonna find it,” I said.
“That’s for sure,” Poudlum said. “He’s gone. Come on and let’s go get the pouch.
We found the gold buried in a shallow hole behind the tree where Cudjoe had stopped. It was covered with a thin layer of dirt, dried leaves, and dead limbs.
“He didn’t hide it very well,” I said.
“He was in a hurry,” Poudlum said. “We need to be, too. It’s getting on nigh to noon. By the time we get back to our camp and then to Mister Autrey’s place it’s gonna be late in the day.”
By the time we got back to where Cudjoe’s pack was the rain had stopped, but we were both as wet as drowned rats. The sack of gold was heavy so we split the load up. Poudlum carried it while I carried the two rifles and the pack. It was slow going because our clothes and boots were also wet and heavy, plus we would stop every once in a while and be real still and listen, just in case Cudjoe changed his mind and came back.
The dogs met us a little ways before we got back to the camp, wagging their tails and whining with pleasure.
When we came into the clearing it looked deserted, but when I called out Sister Gal’s head popped out through the tent flaps, and I could see the concern in her eyes.
“It’s all right,” I told her. “Cudjoe’s gone and we got the gold!”
Both she and Miss Lucretia came out of the tent then, looking us over and feeling of us to make sure we were whole and all right.
They had put some dry wood inside the tent before it stormed and we soon had a fire going to dry out by. While we were doing that we told them how we had beat Cudjoe to his truck and what had happened after that.
When we finished, Miss Lucretia said, “I declare, you boys is blessed, and de Good Lawd be looking out fo’ y’all!”
We broke down our camp and when we left we were all four laden like pack mules. Miss Lucretia had her fortune back, and she was carrying it. Sister Gal carried Cudjoe’s pack, while Poudlum and I carried the tent, our rifles and the rest of our camping gear.
Along the way, I could almost feel Miss Lucretia’s apprehension about going back out into the world. “Lawd, have mercy,” she said. “I don’t even knows where I’m gonna be staying tonight.”
“Mister Autrey will put us up tonight,” Sister Gal told her. “And tomorrow we’ll take you home with us.”
“Ain’t got nothing to wear,” Miss Lucretia lamented.
“We brought you a real nice dress to wear,” Sister Gal reassured her.
“About what time you think it is?” I asked Poudlum.
“Probably about three or four o’clock.”
“They’ll be coming in here looking for us soon.”
“We ought to be there in a half hour or so. Maybe we can get there before they start getting too worried about us,” Poudlum said.
“’Spect I
won’t be seeing you boys no mo’ after today,” Miss Lucretia said with a sad tone to her voice.
I could tell she did feel some better after we both promised we would come visit her after she got settled.
Suddenly I heard the dim drone of voices up ahead, and I could see the light of the clearing at the edge of the forest.
“Look up yonder!” I told everyone. “We’re almost there!”
Miss Lucretia reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder and said, “Wait, something we got to do first.”
When we had all stopped, she set the gold down, reached up, and I heard the rattling of the bones, as she removed the drogue from around her neck and let it fall to the ground.
Poudlum and I realized at the same time that we were still wearing ours. We took them off and dropped them along beside hers.
After we did that, she lifted her eyes up toward Heaven, and said, “I’m casting off dis last remnant of voodoo, ’cause I has received my salvation!”
Chapter 18
Grinning
There was quite a stir going on at Mister Autrey’s when we emerged from the woods, and before we got barely clear of them, we were surrounded by anxious and caring faces.
Of course there was Uncle Curvin and Mister Autrey, but there was also a gentleman who turned out to be Sister Gal’s Uncle Marvin, the one she had mentioned right after she helped us get out of the panther pit.
“You all right, Sister Gal?” he asked with deep concern in his voice.
“Yes, sir, me and everybody else here is fine as frog hair,” Sister Gal quipped, immediately putting everyone at ease.
Uncle Curvin was standing next to a deputy sheriff who was holding the leash to the collar tied around a big red bloodhound dog’s fat neck.
“We was fixin’ to come in there looking for y’all,” he said. “Y’all told us you would be back by noon today, and it’s nigh onto dark,” he scolded. “Did y’all get so busy squirrel hunting that you forgot?”
“Uh, no, sir,” I told him. “We just run into some, uh, situations that kept us from getting back on time.”
Suddenly I noticed that mine and Poudlum’s lawyer and benefactor, Mister Alfred Jackson, Esquire, was standing behind my uncle. He stepped around to Uncle Curvin’s side, and said, “I can’t wait to hear this story!”
“They is some things we need to talk to you about, Mister Jackson,” I said.
“Not as pressing as when you and Poudlum first came off the Tombigbee this spring, I trust?”
“No, sir, not quite, but we did get kidnapped, Miss Lucretia got robbed, and the last we saw of the . . .”
Bedlam broke out before I could finish my sentence and everybody began talking at once. Questions were coming from all sides and I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.
Old Bill and Rip weren’t excited. They were easing up on the bloodhound, and he had laid his ears back and bared his teeth. “Y’all better call off your dawgs!” the deputy called out over the barking of all three dogs.
Poudlum and I called the dogs back to our sides and Mister Jackson restored order when he shouted, “Everybody just hold on a minute and let the boys talk, please!”
When it quieted down, Mister Jackson continued, “Now, just who are y’all accusing fo’ kidnapping and robbery?”
Poudlum spoke up before I could, and said, “It was Cudjoe Lewis!”
“I knowed it! I knowed it!” Sister Gal’s Uncle Marvin said.
Mister Jackson motioned for quiet with his hands, and said, “Ted, you was about to mention the last y’all saw of him?”
I shortened the day’s events as best I could and ended with when we had last seen Cudjoe running off toward the main highway.
Mister Jackson took action immediately by taking the deputy aside, and after a short conversation with him, dispatched him off in pursuit of Cudjoe. As he was departing, his bloodhound gave Old Bill a menacing growl, which my dog readily returned.
It was about then when I noticed everyone staring at Miss Lucretia. Poudlum noticed it, too, and said, “This is Miss Lucretia. She’s been mighty good to us, and she’s moving out of these woods and going back home.”
I thought about what Poudlum had just said, and knew that she had been good to us after she had determined we weren’t a threat to her. Little did I know how really good to us she would be.
Mister Autrey broke the awkward moment, “Why don’t we all move on toward the house? My cook ought to be having some supper on the table in a little bit.”
We had time to sit around the dining room table with all the men and talk a while before supper was served, and by the time Sister Gal and Miss Lucretia made their entrance, we had related all the details of the past five days.
Everything got quiet when the two of them walked into the room, and for good reason, too. It was Miss Lucretia’s appearance that astounded us. Evidently Sister Gal had taken a pair of scissors to her wild hair and cropped it off to a point where it was shaped very nicely around her head. The absence of all that hair made her bright eyes even more profound.
She had exchanged her shapeless flour sack dress for a light blue cotton one, and I was amazed at the change in her. She looked more like one of Poudlum’s aunts than a voodoo queen.
Poudlum was the first one to recover. “Don’t you look nice, Miss Lucretia,” he said as he got to his feet and pulled out two empty chairs from the table for her and Sister Gal.
There wasn’t much time for talk after that because as soon as they sat down Mister Autrey’s cook set a big platter of fried pork chops on the table. Before we could get them passed around she was back with hot biscuits and steaming vegetables.
Between mouthfuls Poudlum looked at Miss Lucretia, and said, “Didn’t have to wait as long as you thought to get you a pork chop, did you?”
She hadn’t had much to say up until now, but as she gazed across the table at Poudlum and me with moist eyes, she said, “I wants everybody to know dese two boys done been my salvation. And I’s thankful for Sister Gal and Cousin Marvin for coming to get me.”
I thought she was going to choke up after that, but she composed herself, and said, “And I shore does ’preciate yo’ hospitality, Mister Autrey.”
After that, everyone just kept eating and grinning between bites. And while the table was being cleared, it was decided that Miss Lucretia, Sister Gal, and her Uncle Marvin would spend the night and head on back down toward Mobile in the morning.
While everyone was enjoying a slice of blueberry pie, I saw Miss Lucretia lean over and whisper into Sister Gal’s ear. And as soon as Sister Gal took her last bite of pie, she got up and left the table. Momentarily she returned with the pouch of gold and set it on the table.
Things got quiet again while Miss Lucretia untied the drawstring and dumped the coins out on the table. They made a clinking sound as they turned into a glittering pile in front of her.
Everyone’s eyes bugged out, that is, everyone’s except mine, Poudlum’s, and Sister Gal’s. Even Mister Jackson was stunned as he picked one up and began to examine it.
“You think they worth much, sir?” Miss Lucretia asked him.
“They 171 years old,” Poudlum interjected.
“Are they all the same?” Mister Jackson asked as he adjusted his spectacles.
“Yes, sir,” Miss Lucretia replied.
“How many of them are there?”
“Dey is forty-eight of ’em.”
“Now, mind you, I’m not an expert,” Mister Jackson said. “But these are Spanish gold doubloons. I would speculate these coins are worth a small fortune, enough to sustain you from now on.”
Everything seemed right that night. Me and Poudlum had returned without any great harm to us, Miss Lucretia was returning to the world, Mister Jackson had a new client, and Sister Gal had accomplished her mission.
Mister Jackson
departed late that night, but he was back before everyone left the next morning. He brought Miss Lucretia some cash and a check to last her until he could convert some of her coins into modern-day money. In the meantime he had placed them in a safe deposit box at the bank and given her a receipt.
He also brought word that Cudjoe had evaded the deputy and got away clean after the rain had washed away his trail. However, he also told us the law had issued an arrest warrant for him, charging him with kidnapping, armed robbery, and various other charges, and he was now a fugitive.
Everyone was out in the yard at Mister Autrey’s as Sister Gal, her Uncle Marvin, and Miss Lucretia were loading up for their trip home. Miss Lucretia and Sister Gal both promised Poudlum they would come back soon and go to church with him. And Poudlum and I, once again, promised to visit.
Miss Lucretia looked like she wanted to say something to me and Poudlum just before she departed, but she didn’t. Instead, she gave us a knowing look with her sharp, dark eyes, reached out and squeezed our hands, and then she was gone.
I felt kind of sad as their vehicle disappeared down the road, but the spell was broken when Mister Jackson called me and Poudlum aside, and said, “I’ve got two pieces of news for you boys.”
We were shocked when he told us Miss Lucretia had left each of us ten of her gold coins, and that their worth would more than double our holdings that he managed.
The other piece of news was more formidable. He told us he had received word that Mister Kim’s murder trial would be getting under way in two weeks, and that we would both be summoned as eyewitnesses to testify for the state. He must have observed the concern on our faces, for he assured us he would accompany to court and stay with us the entire time.
After he departed, Uncle Curvin was chomping at the bit to get to his peanut field, and he encouraged us to load up our dogs and camping equipment.
Once everything, including Old Bill and Rip, was secure on the back of his truck, we said our goodbyes to Mister Autrey, who assured us we were welcome to hunt on his land anytime we pleased.
Salvation of Miss Lucretia Page 14