“No, I won’t. It’s ridiculous.”
****
Dixon opened the door to his office and was nearly bowled over as Jenny came storming in. Her eyes were blazing, and she said, “Did you mean everything you said about my running for sheriff?”
“Why, sure I did. What’s wrong?”
Jenny turned to him. Her lips were twitching, and he could see that she was terribly disturbed. “What is it, Jenny?” he said quickly.
“Somebody burned a cross out in front of our house last night. There were hooded riders out there, and they were shouting, ‘You won’t live if you run for sheriff, woman.’ ”
“The Klan. I thought they had sort of faded away,” Dixon said, his lips growing thin. He studied the young woman in front of him and said, “I’m sorry this had to happen. It’s a bad part of the world down here. It’s going away slowly, but it’s still with us.”
Jenny had not slept a wink. She turned now, and her face was lined with fatigue. “I’m going to run for sheriff, Luke, if you’ll help me.”
“Are you sure you want to do this? Those clansmen can play pretty rough.”
“I think it’s what God would have me do. Maybe I can help people like Noah.”
“There are plenty like him around, and not all of them are black. Look, Jenny, this county’s going down the drain. There’s some big tie-in between racketeers in the North wanting bootleg liquor and local enforcement officers, and those people play for keeps. You could be putting your life on the line.”
“I’ll do it if you’ll help me.”
Luke Dixon felt an admiration for Jennifer Winslow stronger than he had for any woman he had ever met. “All right, Jenny, we’ll do it. Your slogan will be, ‘A shining badge. We’ll get rid of those tarnished badges and start all over again!’ ”
CHAPTER SIX
Campaign
Luke Dixon took his eyes off the road long enough to turn to his right and study his passenger. A slight smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he watched Jenny staring straight ahead, her lips moving. She was, he knew, rehearsing her speech, and suddenly he reached over and put his hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to worry about your speech. It’ll be great.”
Startled out of her own little world, Jenny turned and stared at Dixon. He had his left hand loosely on the steering wheel, and his right was squeezing her shoulder. They had been on a total of three dates, and she had grown very fond of the blond-haired lawyer. At this moment, however, she was not thinking of dates but of arriving at the dedication of the George Paxton Bridge. It was to be her first political speech, and she had slept hardly a wink the previous night. Now, in the late afternoon with the sun going down, she suddenly cried out, “Luke, we must have all lost our minds! There’s no way I could ever be elected even as a . . . a dogcatcher in this county!”
Luke dodged a pothole skillfully and let his hand remain resting on her shoulder. “You’re going to do just fine, and you look nice too.”
“Do you really think so?”
“I sure do. That dress has character.”
The dedication of a bridge was one of the social events that people in the county loved. The Depression offered few free recreations, and at an event such as this there was sure to be a crowd. There would be free food, soft drinks, ice cream—and a great many political speeches. Looking down at her outfit, Jenny shook her head. “I don’t know whether this is the right thing to wear or not. It looks too . . . too feminine for a politician.”
The dress she had chosen was not new. She had worn it back in New York, and it did seem a little dressy. It was a black dress of crepe de chine, and along the bottom of the skirt were two rows of pleated flounces, and she had chosen to wear beige stockings and a pair of black sandals. She had a single row of pearls, artificial of course, around her neck, and a black felt hat with a bright ribbon around the edge. She grinned ruefully. “None of the other speakers will be wearing a dress like this. I think I should have worn something more mannish.”
“There’ll be plenty of men there, but you’re a woman and a good-looking one and there’s no getting around it.” Luke laughed and patted her shoulder in an assuring fashion. “It’s too late to uglify you. Sorry about that.”
Jenny felt a rush of affection for Luke. She reached up and pressed his hand. “You got me into all this. Now you’re going to have to get me out.”
Luke was conscious of the warmth of her hand on his, and for a moment wondered where his relationship with her was going. At the age of thirty he had never been married, although he had had plenty of chances. The mothers of the county had driven themselves into a frenzy trying to get him to propose to one of their daughters, but Luke was struggling to get his fledgling practice off the ground. He knew Jenny was nervous, and he set out to reassure her.
“Just look at all that’s been done. Look at the money we’ve raised. In times like these it’s almost impossible, but it’s come in. Some of it in nickels and dimes from schoolchildren, some of it in old crumpled dollar bills, but it has come. And look at the churches. I think every church in this county, including the Catholic church, has gotten behind you. They know what will happen if Conroy gets elected.”
“That has been good, hasn’t it?” As a matter of fact, this was not Jenny’s first political speech. She had begun at Luke’s advice by going to the pastor of every church in the county, from Pentecost to Episcopalian, asking for their support. Almost without exception, the pastors had been supportive. She had been emboldened to ask them for help, and now she said, “The Presbyterian church is paying for the barbecue at this meeting. I thought that was nice of them, since I’m not a Presbyterian.”
“It was nice, and you can count on the good pastors in this county. I think what you ought to do next is go persuade every one of them to preach a sermon on good, honest government.”
“Oh no, I’m not telling preachers what to preach.”
“I guess not,” Luke said thoughtfully. “But you don’t really have to tell them. The church folks are stirred up. You’ll carry ninety percent of them, I think. The black folks around here are most anxious to see you get elected too. Noah and his family, I think, have been working full-time handing out leaflets and putting up posters. They want to see someone in place who can help them for a change. This election has been good for this county.”
Jenny felt a warm glow of satisfaction. “That has been good,” she murmured again. “And it was good of Mr. Dent to do all of our printing for nothing.”
“I think Dent would mortgage The Record and his own house too. He hates crookedness in government, and he sees you as the only chance for some honest administration.”
“I brought a lot of leaflets to hand out, but I suppose all the politicians will be handing them out.”
“You can bet on that.” A rueful expression crossed Luke’s face. “There’s big money behind Conroy. It’s hard to find a telephone pole without his ugly face on it. They spent hundreds of dollars on advertising.”
The thought intimidated Jenny, and she sat there looking out at the fields as they sped down the highway. Finally she turned back to Luke and said, “It’ll have to be the Lord that gets me into office. There’s no way it can happen otherwise.”
“That’s probably what David said when he went out to face Goliath. All he had were five smooth stones.”
“That’s right, isn’t it?” Jenny smiled. She trusted Luke Dixon, who was a fervent Christian and knew the Bible well. “And there was Gideon, who had only a handful of soldiers. He managed pretty well against the Midianites, didn’t he?”
“Sure. We’ve got the Lord on our side. How can we lose?”
They chatted as Luke sped down the road, noticing all the traffic was headed toward the bridge. When they finally reached the George Paxton Bridge, the traffic grew heavier. Finally they had to pull off the road, and Luke remarked, “It’s still half a mile to the bridge. This’ll be the biggest crowd in the county except for the state fair.
Can you walk it?”
“Yes, of course. Let me get these leaflets.”
The two got out of the car and began walking. Jenny was amazed at how many people greeted her with a smile, and every time someone did, she shook their hand and gave them a flier stating her policy. She also gave them a smile and said, “I’d appreciate your vote next week.”
Almost all of them responded well, although a few Conroy voters gave her hard looks and a few even harder words. They passed a group that all stared at her. There were three men wearing overalls and straw hats and one provocatively dressed young woman.
“Those are the Skinners,” Luke said. “They were the ones that got your brother involved in moonshining.”
Jenny stiffened. She had seen the Skinners at the trial and knew that Dora had succeeded in bringing her brother down. Joshua had survived, but he had spent a month in the penitentiary for selling illegal liquor. Now a stubborn look came to her, and before Luke could stop her, she walked right up to the big man who hadn’t shaved recently, whom she knew to be the leader, Simon Skinner. “Hello, Mr. Skinner, how are you?” She put out her hand, and the man stared at her. Awkwardly he took her hand, and she smiled at him. “I’d appreciate your vote.”
“I ain’t votin’ for no woman. It ain’t fittin’.”
Jenny did not lose her smile. She nodded to the other two sons of Skinner, then turned to Dora and stared at her. Dora Skinner was wearing a tight, revealing dress. She laughed and said, “How’s Joshua getting along? When you write him, tell him I’m waiting for him to come back.”
“You haven’t heard? He’s married now. He married a fine woman and is doing well.”
“Well, he was always a bit too saintly for me anyway,” Dora said, laughing. Then she turned her head to one side. “Whatever made you think you could be sheriff of this county? You’re not tough enough for that.”
“I think the Lord will help me,” Jenny said quietly.
Dora’s face changed, and her lip curled up. “You’d better have God on your side, ’cause you’re gonna need ’im. Come on, Pa, let’s go.”
The Skinners hurried down the highway, and Luke said, “You did just fine.” His smile was wide, and he said, “You put her in her place and old man Skinner too. They’re into bootlegging up to their ears. You’ll have to handle them when you’re the sheriff.”
The thought of “handling” people such as the Skinners frightened Jenny. She did not say anything, but Luke saw that she had been intimidated by the meeting. “They’re a rough crowd, and there are others like them, but as you told them, the Lord’s on our side. Come on. You’re doing fine.”
They reached the bridge, which was crowded, and a country band was already playing, sending lively music up over the crowd with guitars and mandolins and a big bass fiddle. There was an area for dancing too, but only a few couples were doing so. Most people were circulating along the tables that were piled high with food. Behind each table was a banner proclaiming the generosity of the most obvious donor, Max Conroy.
“Conroy had everything catered, and that’s not very smart. Look at our table,” Luke said proudly.
A long line was in front of the table marked “Jennifer Winslow, An Honest Sheriff.” Beneath it, Hank and several helpers were passing out barbecue as fast as they could. One of the servers was Noah and another was his sister Emma.
They were placing barbecue sandwiches and ribs on paper plates while another was scooping out fried potatoes. Jenny walked up at once and spoke to the owner of the barbecue place. “Are the ribs going to hold out, Hank?”
“You bet they are. That Presbyterian preacher, he really done his self proud. I think we could feed half the county from this booth alone.”
“That’s good. How are you, Emma?”
“I’m mighty fine, Miss Jenny. Mighty fine. I’m tellin’ everybody to vote for you.”
Jenny smiled at the girl, then shook hands with Noah, and they turned and began going down the line, shaking hands with everybody waiting. She circulated for over an hour, stopping only to eat a sandwich quickly, and one time she passed Conroy’s booth. The sheriff was standing there, and when he saw her, he made a remark that she could barely hear—a rude remark about women. The men around him laughed, and Jenny remembered Luke’s admonition. She walked right over to him and stuck out her hand.
“Hello, Sheriff, it’s good to see you. I thought I might try some of the free food you’re handing out.”
Conroy was somewhat taken aback. He scowled for a moment and then smiled broadly. “Well, you might as well get somethin’ out of this. Here, fix the lady a plate.”
People gathered around quickly, for the two candidates had not met at a public event. They made quite a contrast—Max Conroy in his freshly pressed uniform was an impressive-looking man. He was tall and masculine and looked every inch the perfect lawman. He wore cowboy boots, as he always did, which gave him three extra inches of height, and Jenny felt somewhat like a small child, but she did not let this show.
Conroy kept jabbing at her, asking questions such as, “Suppose a criminal runs into a man’s rest room. Are you going in to get him?”
“I’d do the same thing you’d do if a female criminal ran into a woman’s rest room, Sheriff.”
A laugh went up, and Conroy’s grin disappeared. It came back quickly, and he said loudly enough for everyone to hear. “You’re a nice-lookin’ filly, Miss Jenny. You ought to do what women are supposed to do. Find you a man and have kids.”
“I intend to do that one day, but first I’m going to see that there’s honest government in this county, Sheriff.” She turned and walked away, ignoring the catcalls that came after her.
“That was fine, Jenny.” She turned to see her brother-in-law, Clint Longstreet, standing beside her along with Hannah.
“I was scared to death, Clint,” Jenny confessed.
“Well, you didn’t look it,” Hannah said, smiling. “You looked right into his eyes. I was proud of you.”
“But I’ve got to make a speech, and I’ve never made a speech in my life.”
“No time like now to begin,” Clint said. “I’ll be right out there cheerin’ for you and so will a lot of other folks. I’m right proud of you, sister-in-law.”
Jenny had always admired Clint. He was a tough man in his own right, and she knew it would take men like him to stand by her if she ever did, by some miracle, get elected.
****
Jenny heard Luke Dixon speaking, but he seemed very far away. She heard him mention her name more than once but was so frightened she could not put the words together. Finally she heard him say loudly, “And now I give you the next sheriff of this fine county, Miss Jennifer Winslow. Let’s hear it for the little lady.”
Jenny found herself standing upright, seemingly supported by some power other than her own, and she moved stiff legged across the platform. She was the last speaker and was almost petrified. Max Conroy was a good speaker. He had a rough sense of humor that appealed to a large part of the crowd, was a native of the county, and had a great deal of experience in law enforcement. As Jenny listened to him and watched the crowd, her heart sank. I can never beat him, and if I did, I wouldn’t know what to do. But now as she came to stand before the microphone, she breathed a quick prayer. Lord, I’m as bad off as David. Give me some smooth stones and don’t let me faint.
She spoke up then with her first sentence. “There are no women sheriffs in this state!” Cries went up from her opponents, and she waited until they died down. “If there were a good man running against my opponent, I would not even think of making this effort. I would support him. But no good men have stepped forward, though I know there are many strong men, some of them standing on this bridge, that would do a fine job. But they didn’t step into the gap.”
A silence had fallen over the crowd, and more than one man dropped his head with something like shame, for the words were true enough. There were plenty of good men, but none of them had been willing to fac
e the machinery that stood behind Max Conroy. It was dangerous, ill-paid work, and usually thankless.
“I’ve never shot a gun in my life,” she said, her voice ringing clearly, “but there are some things more important than shooting guns—and being fair and honest is the first! I’m sure my opponent can hit a target with that pistol of his much better than I could, but if I’m elected, I’ll have men standing beside me who are equally good shots. Of course, I could never stand up to a man in a rough-and-tumble fight, but I believe there are men who would stand beside anyone who would offer a fair and equitable government to the people of this county.”
Clint then yelled, “You bet your sweet life, and I’m one of them!”
A laugh went up and boos from the Conroy crowd, but Jenny felt much better and an ease came to her. She began speaking about Conroy’s record, making it as objective as possible. She heard rumblings from those who supported the sheriff, but she did not pause.
“I will learn to shoot a gun. My father will teach me. I’d like to introduce my father. Would you stand up, Dad?” She saw her father stand up, looking ill at ease. “He doesn’t like attention, and now I’m going to embarrass him. You need to know what kind of a family I come from. This is my father, Lewis Winslow. He’s the best man I know.” She paused for one moment and said, “When this country was at war at the turn of this century, my father was beside Teddy Roosevelt going up San Juan Hill in Cuba. He won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his action there that day. He doesn’t like me to talk about it, but every time I pass the fireplace at our house, I look up at that medal on the mantel that so few men have earned, and I’m thankful there are men like this in this county. I’m proud to be a Winslow,” she said. “I know heritage means a great deal to southerners. I’ve lived for most of my life in New York, but my home is here. My great-uncle, Mark Winslow, fought with Robert E. Lee along with his brothers Thomas and Daniel. My grand-aunt, Lola Winslow, served the Confederacy as an agent. If you want to read a story of courage, read the story of Lola Winslow. They fought for states’ rights, not for slavery. None of my people ever owned slaves.” She paused and looked around and saw the black people that were on the edge of the crowd.
The Shining Badge Page 9