Moonshiner's Revenge

MOONSHINER’S REVENGE

Fred L. Funk

Copyright © 2013 by Fred L. Funk

Smashwords Edition

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the copyright holder.

For information, contact:

Tattersall Publishing

1155 Union Circle #308194

Denton, Texas 76203

www.tattersallpub.com

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by Crystal Wood

ISBN 978-0-9835919-9-3 (Print)

ISBN 978-0-9911515-2-3 (Digital)

FOREWORD

Matt and Beth Reynolds proclaimed an interpretation of the Gospel to the Pruett and Green Forest congregations in the Piney Woods of East Texas that thrilled most of the parishioners and brought heartburn to a few when Matt’s sermons and counseling got a little too close to home. The young pastoral couple understood the people and their ways and gradually became an integral part of these communities. In fact, that understanding developed into a rich appreciation of those good-hearted citizens who in turn accepted Matt and Beth as their own. This is an exciting story about the good intentions of a young pastor who felt compelled upon occasion to speak strongly about the shortcomings and foibles of his congregants while learning to tiptoe around other topics when soft reminders about moral behavior would accomplish his purpose of putting his churches on the straight and narrow way.

The challenge for Pastor Matt was how to admonish the practices of unacceptable personal and group behavior, while keeping the members of the church fold and without moderating his own principles. He had to contend with gossipers, moonshiners, murderers, adulterers, bootleggers, and growers of marijuana when cannabis use first appeared in the East Texas culture. An unintended but successful encounter with a bully in his congregation greatly enhanced Matt’s standing in the community.

Fred Funk skillfully uses humor to get the attention of the reader and in a clear, crisp writing style lays out the story of leadership, interpersonal relations, and good citizenship to hold one’s interest throughout the book. This true-to-life account of a young family who reluctantly accepted a church assignment in the deep East Texas Piney Woods and became such a positive force in the lives of his neighbors shows what determination and true grit can accomplish.

— Ray Stephens, Ph.D.

Retired Professor of Texas History

The University of North Texas

Moonshiners’ Revenge picks up where Ministry and Moonshine leaves off. New characters appear and they, like the ones before, are easy for the reader to put faces on. Soon we are plunged into a foreboding situation that seems to worsen at every step, and we see more deeply into many of the strong characters’ hidden flaws. Much of the dialogue is spelled in East Texas pronunciation, which makes the story seem so natural and real. As the story unfolds, it is hard to stop reading as one wants to know what happens. All in all, a very good read.

— Richard L. Jackson

Actor, No Country for Old Men; Walker, Texas Ranger;

Friday Night Lights (TV series) and others

http://www.richardljackson.com/

More Books by

FRED L. FUNK

Ministry and Moonshine

Life and Death on Cannon Creek

The Throwaway Son (Coming in 2014)

Chapter 1 - THE SURPRISE

Matt and Beth Reynolds came to the close of a confusing day with a turn of events that came as a surprise to almost everyone in the congregation of the Methodist Church in Pruett, a small town located deep in the Piney Woods of East Texas. The day started as the couple packed their belongings in anticipation of their imminent move to another small town near the Red River in Poteet County where Matt had been assigned as pastor. The scheduled move would take place the next morning as part of a conference-wide moving day that occurred each year on the first Thursday in June. Little did they know as the day began that the relocation had been cancelled, the couple would remain in Pruett, and Matt would continue as the pastor of the Pruett and Green Forest churches. The first year in the community had been filled with adventures that involved moonshine, infidelity, murder, and an assortment of unusual characters.

This whole business really confuses me, Matt declared. All the years that my father was in the ministry I never knew any District Superintendent that changed his mind after appointments had been made. I would’a missed some of the folks around here, but there’s some I could live without.

Yeah, me too, Beth replied. We’ve made some really good friends and I would have missed them terribly and I know it sounds strange, but in an odd way I would have missed Miss Emma.

That’d be kinda like you’d miss a rattlesnake when it’s gone, Matt responded with a chuckle.

Many times circumstances put the couple in danger, but they had survived their first year in the rough East Texas Piney Woods. They did not know that things would get more exciting as events unfolded during the upcoming year.

It pleased Matt that a decision had been made that allowed him and Beth to remain in Pruett, but many conflicting thoughts raced through the young man’s mind as he tried to sleep. I know many folks will be delighted with the turn of events, but how will Harold, Elsie, Miss Emma, and all their cohorts react? What kind of ruckus will they cause? Harold and Miss Emma were so emphatic in their desire to get rid of me. What kind of trouble is ahead for me with those two? I’m really glad we don’t have to move, but is staying here really the right thing to do? With all that’s happened do we really want to stay or should we move on and have a new beginning? I reckon we’ll have to return all the gifts that everybody gave us at the party. Matt eventually drifted off to sleep, but he did not get much rest as he tossed and turned all night. Harold Parker and Emma Hawley, Matt’s staunchest adversaries, lost the battle and that pleased the preacher, but he wondered what lay ahead for him and Beth during the upcoming year in Pruett. What sort of trouble would the couple endure?

Harold Parker and Emma Hawley had been conspicuously absent at the farewell party that had been given for Matt and Beth the previous Sunday evening. The event had taken place at the community center in Green Forest. The attractive old edifice had originally been the local school, but the consolidation with the Pruett school system left the building vacant and it later became a place for community gatherings. The brick two-room structure looked to be of sturdy construction, and it seemed to be well maintained with the same care that the Green Forest parishioners took with their church. It had the same gleaming hardwood floors, and the place appeared spotlessly clean. Everyone from the Green Forest Church and most folks from Pruett attended the bash. Paul and Karen Parker drove from Dallas for the occasion, but Harold Parker, Paul’s father, Miss Emma, and many of their allies refused to attend the affair.

Isabelle Dalton arrived dressed fashionably as usual. The fragrance of strong perfume preceded the flamboyant woman as she crossed the room with a flourish and approached Matt and Beth. She hugged Beth, turned to Matt, and planted a great big kiss right on his lips. Precious, I can’t thank you enough. You worked a miracle when you restored little ol’ me to my job as organist. Sweet thang, I’ll always love you for that. Isabelle talked in her normal syrupy manner, but most women in Pruett understood that it was just her way and she had no salacious intent.

Matt owed a bill of approximately fifty dollars at Campbell’s store and his aunt had given the young preacher money to pay the account, but as their gift to the couple Wilson and Vera Campbell forgave the debt. Matt later attempted to return the money to his aunt, but she refused to accept it.

Ben West, a large man with a muscular frame, approached Matt with a tear in his eye. The single tear revealed to Matt the type person he had as his good friend who had become one of his most unfaltering allies in the community. Dressed in overalls and a plaid shirt, Ben appeared burley and masculine, but everyone that knew him realized that he had a soft heart and a caring personality. The giant of a man gave Matt a gun when he and Beth first came to Pruett. He taught the young man how to use it, and warned the preacher to keep it with him and his young wife since he felt they might need it to insure their protection from some of the dangerous individuals who lived in the area.

Here’s my gift to you, Ben declared as he gave Matt a bear hug. I’ve heard ‘bout that place you’re movin’ to and you’ll prob’ly need this, he exclaimed as he presented Matt with a box of ammunition.

Thanks, Ben, Matt responded. But I hope the new place is a little quieter than Pruett.

Take my word fer it. It ain’t. It’s ‘bout the same.

Although Matt and Beth often found the back of their car loaded with groceries after evening services at Green Forest, neither congregation presented the couple with a pounding during their year in the community, and the parishioners decided that it would be appropriate as part of the farewell party. They presented the couple with gifts of a personal nature and they also gave food items to the pastor and his family, mainly staples such as sugar, flour, coffee, and other essentials. Matt and Beth received many of those items, but the few cohorts of Harold and Emma that attended the party presented them with home-canned vegetables. Matt and Beth looked at each other in astonishment when they surveyed the offerings as many of the items appeared to be extremely old and probably not edible. Rust covered the lids, the food looked dark, and several of the jars had mold growing inside. Matt wondered, are these people trying to make us sick? Apparently getting rid of me wasn’t enough. Surely they don’t eat that stuff themselves.

When the party ended, Matt and Beth received final farewell embraces from many of those in attendance, but Harold and Emma’s buddies merely departed without a final goodbye. Charles Hayes, another of Matt’s closest friends, assisted the preacher with the task of loading gifts and food items into the VW Beetle. When he placed the last bag of home-canned vegetables in the car, Charles warned Matt, If I was you and Beth, I’d be real careful with some of this stuff. It looks old and rancid to me. I’d git rid of it.

I was thinkin’ the same thing, Matt responded.

I just don’t know why they’d give you this stuff. Some of them folks are just plain malicious.

What do you think we should do with it? Matt asked.

I’d stop at the creek and throw it off the bridge. The water’s real deep under the bridge and it’ll sink to the bottom and nobody’ll ever know.

I really don’t like the idea of stopping at that creek. You know how it creeps me out, considering what happened under that bridge, but I guess that’s the best way to get rid of the stuff. Many of the residents of the community felt that ghosts of the intruders that had been murdered under the bridge haunted the creek bottom. Those people must really dislike me to give us that old spoiled canned food.

Not really. They don’t like anybody much ‘cept their own little group. You shoudn’t feel like they’re singlin’ you out, Charles commented.

Matt and Beth barely choked back their tears as they exchanged a final hug with Charles and his wife, Lorene, but Charles made a mysterious statement that made no sense to the couple. Don’t be too sad. It’s ain’t over ‘til it’s over.

What do you reckon Charles meant? Beth asked as the couple drove toward the creek. And how do you suppose Ben knows that the new place is about the same as Pruett?

I got no idea, Matt responded. Makes no sense to me. Beth, we’ve got one stop to make on the way home.

Where do we have to stop?

We’re gonna stop at the creek and throw that old canned-food off the bridge into the deep water. Charles told me that’s what we should do with it.

As the couple drove down the incline toward the creek it seemed creepier than usual. Moonbeams from the full round yellow ball that lit the sky pierced the forest canopy and caused ghostly shadows on the roadside. Matt laid the gun within easy reach as he unloaded the unwanted food items and tossed them in the water, and as a bright shaft of moonlight engulfed the young preacher, he thought, This seems appropriate. I’ve always considered this creek as the dividing line between the good people of Green Forest and the peculiar folks in Pruett. Sure, there are many fine people there, but the bad ones seem to outnumber the good and the cantankerous folks seem to be in charge.

Matt reached into the Beetle and retrieved the last box of home-canned food from the back seat. Just as he started to toss it into the creek, his foot slipped and he tumbled to the ground. Several jars of pickles crashed on the pavement and sour smelling juice drenched the young preacher’s clothes. It seemed as though the ghosts of Six Mile Creek had the last laugh as Matt lay sprawled out on the bridge surrounded by broken jars and soaked in brine.

You smell just like that pickle factory west of town, Beth remarked when Matt returned to the car. She quickly lowered the window of the VW in an effort to rid the car of the awful odor. Each time the couple drove past the old factory the horribly bitter stench of the pickles ageing in the brine irritated their nostrils and the dead rats that lay beside the vats reminded the preacher of the many rotten events that took place in Pruett.

I reckon that’s the last time we’ll cross that creek, Matt noted as they drove up the rise and left the creek bottom with its ghostly atmosphere behind.

That’s one thing I won’t miss, Beth responded.

Just as they reached the top of the ridge Matt observed a police car as it turned onto the blacktop from the road that ran along the high ridge to the east from the highway, an area where several moonshiners lived. Wonder what they were doing down that road where all the moonshiners are? Matt asked.

Seems real odd to me, Beth responded. The car was marked Simmons County Sheriff.

Located south of Pruett and Musgrave County, Perry, the county seat of Simmons County, possessed a greater variety of stores and restaurants than Sulphur Bend and many people from Pruett shopped there. It seemed extremely unusual that a sheriff’s squad car from that county cruised in the area around the creek between Pruett and Green Forest.

That’s really strange. I reckon it’s just another mystery that we’ll have to wonder about since we’ll be gone soon and probably never find out why a Simmons County deputy sheriff was here, Matt speculated.

Pull off those stinky clothes and leave them on the porch, Beth instructed as they pulled in the driveway of the old parsonage. The young mother carried their baby daughter Robin into the house while Matt stripped off on the back porch and left the offensive garments in a pile. The young preacher noted that the sour brine had penetrated his suit pants and left his under shorts soaked in the smelly liquid.

After a long night filled with conflicting emotions, Matt finally dropped off into a deep restful sleep, only to be awakened by a loud knock on the back door. The sleepyhead rolled over to the edge of the bed, placed his feet on the floor, and slowly arose up from his peaceful rest. The young man did not bother to get dressed or put on a robe, and without realizing it the still half-asleep preacher proceeded to the door clad only in his jockey shorts. As he passed by a mirror Matt glanced at his reflection and realized that he presented a frightful sight as his hair stood straight up and his half- opened eyes looked like small slits. Matt thought, I look like Dr. Zorba on the TV show, Ben Casey. He did not know who waited outside at that early hour, but, in his sleepy stupor, he didn’t care what anyone thought about his appearance. It did not matter anymore. When Matt opened the door, he observed Sam, his bootlegger friend who lived next door, as he stood there holding a dead chicken without its head.

I know’d I wouldn’t be welcome at the party, but I wanted ta give you somethin’, he commented as he handed the dead bird to Matt. Thought I’d bring it over early so’s you’d have time to clean it, cook it, and have it fer supper.

Well . . . uh, thanks, Matt said with hesitation.

Matt tossed the chicken in the kitchen sink and headed to the bathroom. As he looked in the mirror and combed his dark brown hair he thought, Good thing it was Sam. Anybody else woulda been scared to death when I opened the door looking like this. And I can’t believe I went to the door in my shorts. Good Lord, what if it had been someone besides Sam? As Matt tried to make himself look more presentable he heard Beth when she let out a blood-curdling scream. He dropped the comb and ran to the kitchen where he found Beth as she stood at the sink staring at the dead chicken.

What is that? she inquired excitedly.

It’s supper, Matt responded as he explained where the thing came from.

I don’t know how to clean a chicken, Beth exclaimed. And besides, it’s disgusting.

I saw my grandma clean a few chickens when I was a kid, but I don’t know how to do it, Matt responded. All I remember is that she picked out the feathers and washed the bird with boiling hot water. As I recall, she saved the feathers and stuffed pillows that she made with ‘em.

I’m not going to clean that thing. What’re we going to do with it? Beth asked.

Me, either, Matt replied. Put it in a paper bag and I’ll run into Sulphur Bend.

I’m not touching that thing, Beth declared.