To her amazement, her cry of alarm caused the lumberjack man to start running to her aid. “Yes, help me. Please!”
With a squeal of tires, the black truck took off and to her horror, they drove straight at her rescuer and clipped him with the front bumper, knocking him hard to the ground. “Oh, no!” she screamed. Stunned, she watched the dually truck tear out of the parking lot. Journey was glad to see them go, but she couldn’t leave the man who’d tried to help her behind. Pulling up next to him, she exited the vehicle. Without a phone to call, all she could do was begin to yell for help. “Somebody, call 9-1-1!”
Thankfully, a woman exiting the store heard her cry and made the call. She came hurrying over. “What happened?”
“Hit and run.”
Journey knelt by the man. “Sir, are you all right?”
He winced. “I think my hip’s broken.” Another wince and a whispered curse. “Damn. Who were those maniacs?”
“I don’t know.” She felt so helpless. All she wanted to do was leave, but she wouldn’t go until the police came.
In the next few minutes, she ran back into the store to fetch the injured man some water. When she returned an ambulance had arrived. Just seconds later, a policeman pulled up.
Journey gave them what information she could. She wanted to make more of the scare the crazy men had given her, but the cops were more concerned about the accident. About five minutes later, the ambulance took the man away and the cops said they would put an APB out on a black double cab dually. Journey felt guilty for not having the license plate. The only excuse she could give was that she’d panicked – which was the gospel truth.
Reno
“Do you remember the time we went swimming in the Tennessee River and saw that huge catfish?” Reno said as he sat in front of the fire with Emory in his lap.
“I do. I do.” Clay sopped a biscuit in gravy. “Almost damn big enough to eat one of us whole.”
“Really?” Huck asked in a hush tone. “How big?”
“Big.” Reno confirmed Clay’s story, stretching his arms out as far apart as they would go. “We didn’t catch him, but the ones we did hook were mighty tasty.”
“Did you camp out by the river?” Saul asked as he poured both men a cup of coffee and replaced the pot on the coals to keep the remaining warm.
“You bet we did.” Clay accepted the cup Saul offered and blew on the steaming liquid. “Every chance we got.”
Reno chuckled, taking the other cup from Saul’s outstretched hand. “Until that night Spear-finger got after us. Right, Clay?”
“Who’s Spear-finger?” Huck asked, wiggling a little bit closer to Reno.
“Oh, I don’t know if you want to know about Spear-finger.” Clay shook his head. “She was scary.”
“I do. I do.” Huck nodded his head up and down as fast as he could. “Who was she?”
Clay leaned forward to whisper, cutting his eyes to make sure neither Emory nor Tess was awake to hear. “I’ll tell you because you’re older.” He winked at Huck. “Spear-finger was a witch.”
“A witch?” Huck’s voice was a mere whisper.
“Yea. Reno’s mother, Sojourner, was a Cherokee and she knew all about Spear-finger. Usually, Spear-finger just looked like a nice old lady, except…”
“Except what?” Saul asked, coming to sit near to Reno.
“She had to keep one of her hands out of sight.” Clay held up his hand with one the forefinger pointing skyward, his voice going from a whisper to a shout. “Because this finger was a spear with a long, razor sharp nail. And when she would catch little boys and girls who weren’t where they were supposed to be – she’d cut their bellies open and take their liver!”
Saul jumped. Huck hollered. And Emory and Tess woke up crying.
Reno laughed as he tried to calm everybody down. “Now, look what you did,” he admonished Clay.
“Sorry.” Clay tried to help with Emory. “It’s okay, bud. I just got carried away talking nonsense.”
“Then there isn’t a witch with a sharp finger?” Huck asked, still pale as a sheet.
“No. Not that I ever saw. Huh, Reno?”
“Nope. Spear-finger was just a legend.” He assured the kids, putting a hand on one after another until they settled down. “Is everything packed and ready to go? I want to hit the trail before the sun comes up.”
“We’re ready.” There was a sad note to Saul’s voice. “I checked in all the outbuildings to make sure we