Chapter 14

Jerry was in high spirits when he returned to his camp under the bridge. He inflated the air mattresses and put them in the bed of his truck. With the tailgate down he had more than enough room. By putting the air mattresses together head to foot he had a nice wide bed that went side to side in his truck bed. The light weight sleeping bag went on top of the air mattresses; he would sleep much warmer and better tonight.

The cab of his truck was filled with his gear, because he had no safe place to store it. Then he remembered the moonshiner racks under his truck bed. Tomorrow he would ask Hoke Purnell to help modify them to solve that problem. Jerry wanted his life self-contained and not dependent on anyone. Jerry knew it was wrong to feel that way, but at the moment he couldn’t help himself.

Jerry sighed and started turning the area under the bridge into a campsite. Surprisingly there were already things he’d need left over from the hobo jungle days. He moved a couple of sawed-off hickory logs over to where there was once a stone fire ring. He set the logs up level and rebuilt the fire ring. He found the entrenching tool Jenkins insisted he take and dug out the fire ring about six inches deep. Jerry doubted he’d be starting any fires other than to burn trash, but it was there if he needed it.

He cleared the detritus from under the bridge and used the entrenching tool to smooth out the area. Then he backed up his truck, leveled the area where he parked as best he could, turned his truck around and backed it under the bridge abutment. The area where the abandoned tracks had been pulled up was already nice and flat. Jerry now had the turnaround area he needed so he could keep his truck pointed nose out. For a Scout/Sniper a clear exit route was always part of the plan.

The next morning Jerry rolled up his sleeping bag, deflated his air mattresses and stuffed everything into a water proof bag. He threw the bag in the back of his truck and drove over to the truck stop. It cost him fifty cents and a fifteen-minute wait, but the shower was marvelous! He was definitely doing this again. Jerry strolled into the truck stop diner clean, hair combed and wearing new jeans and a plaid shirt. His efforts got him excellent service from a flirty, plushly built waitress named Brandy.

Jerry had some excellent biscuits and gravy and perfect coffee. He left a nice tip for the waitress and headed for the door. He was just about to push open the door when Brandy caught up to him. She handed him a paper cup of coffee.

“For the road, my phone number is on the cup,” said blushing Brandy.

It was a gorgeous day in Central West Virginia with temps in the mid-sixties. The air was sweet smelling, and the sky was clear and cloudless. Jerry opened the vent window to let in the fresh air and leisurely motored over to Chaney Hollow. He was going to visit Hoke Purnell to modify his moonshine rails. Then he was going to see the new Sheriff.

Hoke Purnell did better than just modify the moonshine rails. Instead, he showed Jerry a 1969 Chevy pickup that had hit a tree head on. The front of the truck was destroyed beyond any repair, the engine was actually in the front seat! However, the truck bed was intact, and so was the aluminum Gem Top camper shell sitting on it.

“Yer truck has the same size box so it will fit. I want a hundred fifty dollars for it. I will install it, now; but as soon as ya gets a job, I’ll be expecting twenty dollars a week.”

Jerry was floored by the camper shell! It was a perfect solution he hadn’t considered. He eagerly agreed to the price. Hoke made short work of unfastening the rail clamps and lifting the shell off the truck with his wrecker. Purnell threaded his way through the rows of junked cars and gently lowered the shell onto Jerry’s truck. It was a nice snug fit. The two men installed the rail clamps and Hoke bolted a hasp from the tailgate to the lift hatch of the shell. A trip to the hardware store for a heavy-duty Master Lock and he would be in business.

Lottie insisted that Jerry stay for lunch, so Jerry didn’t get away until one in the afternoon. He drove the short distance down the hill to check in with his grandfather and wash his truck and camper shell. Papa Hatchett heard Jerry drive up and walked around the house to greet him. Hatchett was prepping his daughters garden plot for Spring planting. Hatchett worried about the boy and would be there for him, but men settled their own problems. If Jerry needed his help, he knew where to find it.

The two men exchanged greetings in the front yard. Hatchett noticed right off that his grandson felt better. They talked as they washed his truck. Hatchett was pleasantly surprised that Jerry had a job, and the camper shell eased his mind about Jerry’s circumstances. The camper shell was the same height as the cab and had two rectangular windows on each side. The windows slid open and were screened on the outside. The hatch type door in the rear had handles on both the inside and out, and hooks were screwed to the aluminum support ribs. The shell was in like new condition and looked excellent on Jerry’s truck.

It was two in the afternoon by the time they finished washing his truck. Plenty of time left in the day to visit Sheriff Thompson. Jerry turned down his grandfather’s offer to accompany him and set out for Cokerville. The old man returned to the garden plot to prepare more mounds for three sister planting. {Editor’s Note: https://www.fws.gov/media/three-sisters-planting-method}

Jerry pulled into Cokerville around two-thirty. It was his first visit in seven years, and not much had changed. The new façade on the Cokerville Savings Bank and a new color paint on the feed and seed store were about the biggest things he noticed. Jerry made himself a promise to visit Henry Bass as soon as he finished with the Sheriff.

The Sheriff’s office was in the three-story County Court House. The handsome red brick court house was built with Works Project Administration labor and materials in 1938. It sat perched on a small hill that elevated it above the rest of Cokerville. You entered the Sheriff’s office from the rear of the building into a walk-in basement, The basement held the Sheriff, a dispatcher, and a few desks scattered around for deputies. The complex also housed four jail cells and a deputy assigned as a jailer.

Jerry parked and walked into the building. The good-sized entry area was brightly lit from triple bulb fluorescent light fixtures suspended from the ceiling. A few feet in front and to the right of the door a woman in a deputy’s uniform was manning an L shaped desk. The right leg of the L held a radio base unit and microphone. The deputy served both as the desk person and dispatcher. She looked up when a buzzer sounded as Jerry entered and she was the first female deputy Jerry heard of.

Jerry was struck by how attractive the woman was. He strode up to the desk to state his business. The woman wore a nametag embossed with the name ‘Rivers.’ He’d learned from his awkward conversation with Myra at the furniture factory, so he had a rehearsed greeting ready.

“Good morning, Deputy Rivers. My name is Jerry Donavan and I’d like a few minutes of the sheriff’s time,” he said.

The young woman’s eyebrows rose when he identified himself. She gave him a small smile and gestured towards a wooden deacon’s bench across the room.

“Have a seat Mister Donavan and I’ll see if Sheriff Thompson is available,” she said.

Instead of calling him on the intercom sitting on her desk, Rivers walked to a door maybe twelve feet behind her desk. The door had a wooden plaque that read ‘Sheriff.’ Rivers knocked once and disappeared through the door. She exited the room a returned to her desk a few minutes later.

“Sheriff Thompson will see you as soon as he finishes a couple of phone calls,” she said.

“Thanks,” Jerry replied.

Jerry was sitting there wishing there was at least a magazine to occupy his mind when River’s spoke to him again.

“Mister Donavan, I’m so, so sorry about your family. Your sister Rachael and I graduated from high school together. She was a good friend and she always bragged on you. I knew your other sister too, although not as well. Ruthie was quieter than Rachael. She always had her nose stuck in a book. Rachael said she got that from you.”

Jerry gulped down the lump in his throat and said, “Thank you, Deputy Rivers.”

Rivers gave him another small smile.

“My name is Cindy. Technically I’m a Deputy but, I am mostly a dispatcher and administrative assistant. The only time I am a real deputy is when there is a crime involving women,” she said.

Asking her what she knew about the wreck was on the tip of Jerry’s tongue when the intercom on Rivers’ desk squawked.

“Cindy, send Mister Donavan in,” said the Sheriff.

Cindy gave Jerry a more genuine smile, stood up, and walked to the Sheriff’s door. Jerry hopped up and followed her. He shot her a smile of his own as she opened the door for him.

Sheriff Thompson stood up from behind his desk and stretched across it to shake Jerry’s hand. Thompson was over six feet tall and slender. He had close-cropped sandy hair with a receding hairline. His uniform was tailored and immaculate. Thompson looked Jerry over with shrewd and calculating eyes. Sizing him up for his potential to make trouble. He dropped Jerry’s hand and pointed to a chair in front of his desk. Once Jerry was in the chair the Sheriff sat down.

“I am sorry we are meeting under such sad circumstances, Donavan. What can I do for you?”

“I have questions about the wreck my family was killed in. It all just doesn’t make sense to me. No one I’ve talked to can explain it either.”

Thompson nodded and said, “Let me get the file and we’ll see if it has answers for you.”

Thompson opened the second drawer of a file cabinet behind his desk and rummaged around until he found the correct file. He sat back down, flipped open the thin folder and started to read.

“At 2215 hours of November the seventh of last year, Forest Ranger Tindell radioed County Sheriff dispatch from the fire tower on Putnam Ridge. Ranger Tindell reported a fire in the vicinity of Nine Mile Road, and County Road 16.

“Sheriff Dispatcher Smith alerted Cokerville Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) and sent Deputy Griggs, one of the night patrol deputies, to investigate. Deputy Griggs arrived at the scene at 2233 hours. Griggs found the source of the fire was a vehicle accident one half mile east of the County Road 16 and Nine Mile Road intersection. Griggs radioed in that the fire was still smoldering, but the fire was confined to the vehicle. The Coker County VFD arrived on the scene at 2240 and extinguished the remaining fire.

“After cooling the vehicle, the VFD effected entry and discovered three unidentifiable burn victims. Deputy Griggs called the discovery in to dispatch and requested the Sheriff at his location. Sheriff Thompson arrived at the scene at 2305.”

Thompson put down the file and looked at Jerry.

“Once I was on the scene, I directed Dispatch to call the night time contact listed for Reese’s Funeral Home and direct them to my location with their Hearse. The firemen removed the bodies from the vehicle and placed them in body bags. At the time we had no ID of the victims as everything inside the vehicle had been burned. I called the license plate in to Dispatch and requested a wrecker.