Uncle Fred fate.. (standard:humor, 2377 words)
Author: stanley mcqueen kentucky backwoods writer	Added: Apr 02 2007	Views/Reads: 3418/2362	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
backwoods tales

Uncle Fred Fate 

Setting on the high ridge that overlooks Grandpa Bishop Farm, we Bishops
come up here ever Friday Night bring our Fox hounds along just to 
listen to the Dogs run the mighty fox around the ridges, tonight we 
have along with us my good Uncle Fred paw brother, and of course my 
Grandad paw pop, and me Luther named after one of the maws departed 
brothers, Pap Name is west and we make up the Bishops' clan. Times here 
in these part are pretty lean and corn and cattle and hogs are tended 
to make a poor man dollar, Grandpa owns about seventy acres of mostly 
hilly land ridge type and a lot of grown has been cleared for corn 
patches paws land and Uncle Fred joins in with Grandpas, and they like 
grandpa are both farmers, Fred has never married and he is near fifty 
five now , and for the most part a lot of folks in these parts wonders 
why Fred lives all alone on a good Farm and has never taken a wife. 
Well the old fox must be holed up tonight our faithful dog hasn't 
struck nary fox trail , and we all are setting around the fire in a 
circle enjoying the warm of the camp fire on this sort of cool fall 
night. Fred's I would guess is the best story teller in there here 
parts and tonight im thinking he is going to rip off one of his best 
ones. Just as I expect Uncle Fred starts a tale, Boys we ,ve been on 
many of a good hunt together and I haven't never took the time to 
explain why I have never married or took to sparking well as pap there 
knows that I lite out on these parts when I just come to be a man at 
the age of twenty two, boys like any young sprout I got a wild hair to 
seek my fortune, so one clear sunny day I told paw and maw it was time 
I shed from the roost, and went away from these parts riding my little 
mule Charlie that I had raised an broke to plow and ride, just a little 
few of my rags and a few vitals, and a young man dream of finding a 
better life somewhere greener. I rode into the northern Kentucky which 
is a far peace from the eastern parts here.. Well I meet up with a gent 
about my same age you called himself booster Arnold, he like me was a 
rambling man seeking his fortune as well, so we become sort of trail 
buddies and we would stop along settlement and work a day or two for 
some grub and some flower and some meal and some salt pork bacon, why 
boys we were living the high life , just wondering about from place to 
place following our noses, camping under over hanging ledges and by 
clear running streams living sort of off the fat of the land so to 
speak. Booster was a pretty fair singer and he would sang old crazy 
mountain songs as we traveled along on the sunny wagon trails of old 
Kentucky. Well boys those happy riding day would soon come to naught, 
that was when we run into and old fellow of about fifty years of age 
name Red Tom north, he lived down a deep hollow and had a old threw up 
run down shack, his hair was the brightest color of red I ever spied on 
any man I had ever meet, and he was a widow told us his wife departed 
by some kind of strange fever some years back and just him and one girl 
was living out here so far from any other shack from a pretty good 
distance, he called the young woman Sara and she was about the same age 
as me and Booster, she was the pretty little mountain gal this side of 
the great Kentucky river. Her hair was not red like Red Toms and she 
never favored him at all. That seemed some strange to me for the most 
part. Well he hired us on to clean corn grown and we was sleeping in 
the old leaning barn shed he had build, sleeping in the hay loft wasn't 
so bad, except for the fleas biting you at night.. We soon figured out 
why we was clearing so much corn grown, Red Tom was a moonshiner and we 
had fell right into illegal doings. I was not raised to do things that 
was against the laws, but hungry and desperation had us in it evil 
grip, well we help plant the spring corn crops and helped chop out the 
weeds that summer and things was going along pretty well. I never like 
the idea so much of growing corn to make moonshine spirit , but we had 
hired on and that was that, I had gotten pretty struck on pretty Sara 
and I never realized that my pardner Booster was feeling effects for 
sparking her as well, she was so pretty and all and us being eating her 
grub ever day and seeing her after supper and setting along the porch 
in the evenings talking what time we aren't down the hollows a far 
peace from the shack making moonshine whiskey . I hadn't figured on 
staying as long as we had, but my eye has set well to liking Sara, and 
I was thinking I was love struck or something. It was on a Friday when 
Booster had borrowed Reds old shot Gun to go down the hollow to kill a 
few squirrels, and I was standing in the bar shed shaving my whiskers 
when Sara comes inside the shed and we get to talking and laughing and 
carrying on like young folks are apt to do. Before I had time to know 
what happen That Sara give me a big kiss right on the mouth, and that 
the first time I had ever been kissed on by a young woman or girl 
either. And darn who come in and seen us lipped locked it was my buddy 


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