The Beginning (Whispering Pines Book 1)
Page 42
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Catfish and Clark lay on their stomachs surrounded by knee high grass and weeds. They were on a small hill that overlooked the mill and had watched the Sheriff’s cars leave with Blake cuffed and riding in the back seat. Clark said, “Why you figure they arrested Blake? What did he do?”
Catfish shook his head. “He ain’t done a thing.”
Clark cried out: “Owwww. Darn, Catfish.” Jumping to his feet, he started slapping at his stomach and legs. “Fire ants, you got us lying in a bed of fire ants.”
Catfish rose to his knees and helped Clark brush away at the ants on his outer clothing. “I tell you, Clark. Blake ain’t gonna’ live to see the sun come up if they take him to the jailhouse. We got to get word to Bill somehow.”
Clark, still slapping at his pants, moved to the opposite side around Catfish. He checked the ground then plopped his feet down firmly and then said, “If they got Blake then most likely they’ve got Jacobs too. The question is, when are they gonna’ get us?”
Catfish shook his head. “I don’t know about you, but they gotta’ be slicker than two eels in a pot of jelly to chase down this old tomcat.”
Clark looked at Catfish and said, “Huh?”
Catfish scanned the area to make sure no one was waiting in the woods. “Oh, they’ll come after us, you can bet on that. It’s just a matter of when and where.”
Clark said, “Let’s jump in the truck and high tail it out of here. We can be in Atlanta before sunrise.”
“Do what?” Catfish shouted. “I ain’t gonna’ run off and leave Blake in the hands of them chicken snakes. If you want to run then hit the road and let me get on with this thing.”
Clark thought for a second and then shrugged. “Yea you’re right, Catfish. But what can we do? We gonna’ go bust him out of the jailhouse just me and you? Alone?”
Catfish smiled and said; “You remember that night I come got you out of the poker game down at Hatter’s juke joint on the river?”
Clark spat into the bushes and nodded. “Oh, lord yea. You sure saved my hide that night from a beating. Those boys were fixin’ to work me over because they thought I was cheatin’ them out of their money.”
“You were cheatin’ them, Clark. I saw you dealin’ the deck from underneath. The point is, I could have just left you to them buzzards but I helped you get out of there. Didn’t I?”
“I said you did.”
“Now you remember how I done it?”
“You set fire to the storage house out back of the place. There was two cases of dynamite inside they kept there for blowing beaver dams on the timber tracts. They’re still looking for all the boards to that place. It blowed a hole ten feet deep in the dirt too.”
Catfish smiled. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. We need a diversion at the courthouse so I can get inside and back out with Blake. You got any ideas?”
Clark thought for a moment. “I don’t reckon they got no dynamite house out back of the place...do they?”
“That’s about what we need to empty all the cops out of there in a hurry.”
Clark snapped his fingers and said, “You know what else would empty that courthouse of every cop in the county? What if somebody was out yonder at the Pary house trying to rob the old gal? Now wouldn’t those cops go running?”
Catfish smiled broadly. “That it might and that’s a good idea, so here’s what I want you to do.”
“Me?” Clark asked.
“Just stop flappin’ your jaws long enough to listen. I’ll drop you at that quick stop store downtown. You give me a couple of minutes to get set at the courthouse, and then you call and tell ‘em you got old Lady Pary at gunpoint. Scare the hoots out of ‘em real good. When they take off, I’ll go inside and get Blake. You got that?”
Clark nodded. “Okay. Sounds good to me but how am I gonna’ get down there to help you out after I make the call? It’s half a mile from that store to the jailhouse. You got a cell phone with you?”
Catfish rose to his feet. “You be walkin’ along the edge of the road and me and Blake will pick you up on the way out of there.”
Clark nodded. The two men turned and walked back down the hill to where Blake’s pickup sat parked on the edge of the road. Catfish paused, looked up and down the road, and said, “Clark? If anything goes wrong, you go ahead and high tail it out of town like you said, but get in touch with one of them big city cops and tell them everything. If nothing else go to that lawyer friend of Blake’s in Atlanta or call the GBI folks. There’s enough gas in the truck here to get you up there.”
Clark shook his head. “I ain’t leavin’ you and Blake in the hands of them jelly coated chicken snakes.”
They climbed in the cab of the truck. Catfish started the engine and said, “God almighty this better work, this sure better work.”
Clark nodded but said nothing. The truck pulled away leaving a small dust cloud behind.