Chapter 1

One of the side benefits of writing stories that are posted on the Internet is that I get to meet a lot of people that I would normally not have any contact with at all. There are not too many people who write about Arkansas or Missouri and even fewer that portray them in a positive light. Especially their customs and way of life that is unique to this area.

Unless you have lived around here and really listened to people talk, it is very difficult to pick up the colloquialisms and the dialect of this area. Some are only common around here and not spoken elsewhere. Even the highly educated folks from here will revert to the local dialect if they are back here for a day or so. It is just their nature. This is how they learned to speak. Regardless of what they have been taught in school and at the university, this is their language. So writing in the dialect of this area is very difficult for folks not from here.

When someone hears or reads the dialect, they can tell if you are local or not, very quickly. When they read a story that identifies their area and it is done in a positive way, they naturally tend to get in touch with you. That's how I met Karl.

I was about 30 chapters into Cammie Sue when I got the first letter from him. He told me he was from the southeastern part, down in the delta country of Arkansas. We continued to correspond throughout Cammie Sue. He didn't care too much for RSOB, but did identify with the "guvmint" problems.

When Book 2 of Cammie came out, we corresponded more frequently, almost on a daily level. He owned a farm down there and ran a few head of cattle, so we pretty much spoke the same language and had a lot in common. His one sister and her kids lived with him. He had gotten a divorce some years back and it really soured him on marriage. Now he was content with dating women and just enjoying his life.

I got a letter from him in February and he informed me that he was on his way to visit his other sister who lived in Lebanon, Missouri, about 75 miles north of me, but over very winding roads. She had gotten married and moved up to this area. Later on, she got a divorce and was working at a clothing plant in Lebanon. She had two kids, a boy 17 and a girl who was 13. She was having some problems and he was going up to see if he could help her out. Since it's a very long drive from where he is to Lebanon, he suggested that he stop and get to know me. He asked me about a place to stay and I told him about the resort close to me. Bill and Angie had another customer, courtesy of me. I told him he'd need to bring some breakfast food since there was no restaurant around here. He said he'd spend a day here and then leave for Lebanon early the next morning. I told him that would be fine and we'd go out to The Frosted Mug for a steak sandwich. He liked that idea. He had been wondering if the sandwich was as good as I had written it was.

The appointed day arrived and Karl pulled into the resort about 4 in the afternoon. He got settled in and drove up to my place. I met him at the door and we shook hands and greeted each other. I invited him in and asked him if he wanted anything to drink. He told me he'd like some of the good coffee I'd written about. I ground the beans and put the pan on the stove to cook. Once it was done, I got the contents poured into a coffee pot and put it on a pot warmer so it wouldn't get cold. We each poured ourselves a cup and then sat back to chat some.

He told me about his place and his crops and we just chatted about various things. We finished that pot of coffee and decided to head into town for a great steak sandwich.

We chatted as we drove and he began to open up a bit about his family. He told me that both of his sisters had two kids. Each one had a boy. The older one had a boy that was 17 and the younger one had a boy that was 16. Then they each had a daughter that was 13. He said they are almost like twins. They were born 4 days apart and sometimes he thinks they can communicate with their thoughts.

The next part really shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. All of my life, folks have felt very comfortable around me and have a tendency to tell me things that, I'm sure, they would think several times before even admitting to. It always comes as a surprise to me when this happens. Folks say I'm easy to talk to and I'm a good listener, plus I don't tend to judge folks. I just accept them for what they are.

"The unfortunate thing about the girls is that they're both slow," Karl continued. "Their moms were exposed to German measles and that's what the doctor's think caused the problem. No one in our family has ever had a mental problem, at least that we know of. Of course, we can only go back a couple generations in history to verify that. It could be that there were, and it skipped a few generations.

"We've had them tested a lot and they both seem to have the same problem. Except for their mothers being sisters, the only other thing they have in common was that they were exposed to the measles when they were pregnant. It's really a sad thing, too. They are both really pretty girls. If you look at them, the only thing that isn't right is that they both have a lazy eye, other than that, they just appear to be normal teenage girls."

"Well, ya know, Karl, sometimes life just hands us things and they ain't no rhyme nor reason for it. But a lot can be done about a lot of things now days, especially the lazy eye thing. They have exercises and, if all else fails, they have surgery to correct that."

"We're tryin' to get by without surgery. Right now, when they're at home, we have them wearing an eye patch over the good eye so the weak eye will have to function. That seems to be helpin' a lot. As far as them bein' slow, there's not too much that can be done about that."

"Ya, sometimes we just have to take the hand we are dealt and do the best job we can with it."

"I know, Dragon, but this just seems like so much of a shame. When their fathers found out about it, they both wound up leavin'. They just couldn't handle the problems with the girls. The tests we've had done all indicate that they will never progress beyond the age of 8 or 9, mentally. Both of them are in special education classes in hopes that they can be taught a trade and can be productive. But it's really hard on their mothers. Abby and her kids are livin' with me, but Alice is tryin' to make it on her own, up in Lebanon. There's talk of the plant closin' that she works in and I don't know how she'll make it if it does."

"Well, at least they're both in school now. That's got to help with the expenses. She don't need a babysitter for the girl durin' the day."

"Ya, and the boy pretty well takes care of his sister when they're not in school. She got lucky and works the day shift, so that's a big help."

We pulled into the parking lot of The Frosted Mug in Forsyth and both got out and walked inside. I said hello to Judy and Connie and we found a table. Connie came over and took our orders and we chatted about other things so no one else heard about his family's problems while we were there.

The steak sandwiches were very good and Karl told me I sure didn't lie about them in my stories. We had iced tea with the meal and coffee afterwards as we smoked our after meal cigarette. When we were done, he insisted on paying for it and I didn't want to insult him, so I allowed him to. But I told him the next time it was on me. He agreed.

On our trip home, we chatted more about his family and he told me that both of the girls had had their tubes tied, when they had their appendix removed, because they would never be able to care for a baby and his sisters didn't want them to wind up pregnant at some time in the future and then they'd have another baby to raise. He said it just broke everyone's heart to have that done because it meant they would never have any children and the children are very precious to his entire family.

When we got back to my house, I showed him the computer set up I had and also showed him the problems I was having with the lack of memory and disk space. Then he spotted my guitars and asked if he and I could do a bit of picking. I agreed and got my tuner out so I could get them both in tune. Especially with the 12-string, I don't play it a lot if no one is here. I'll do some picking on the 6-string when I get bored or I need to learn a new song, but that's about it. But they were both in dire need of tuning.

We spent about an hour or so picking and singing old songs that we both knew. Finally, about 9 or so, he decided he'd call it a day. He said he'd see me in the morning after he'd woke up and had something to eat.

He showed up around 10 the next morning and it was really windy out. I did take him down and show him the lake and my boat, but the entire lake was in white caps and I wasn't going to venture out on the lake when it's like that.

Then I drove him around the area. He wanted to see the various things I had written about in the story. I showed him all of Protem. That took up about 45 seconds and then we drove back to the lake and I showed him the store/restaurant where Cammie had worked. Then it was on down to the Buck Creek area of the lake. He was impressed that everything looked just like I had described in the story.

I took him across the ferry and we went over to The Front Porch restaurant at Yellville and had some good barbecue for lunch. He was impressed with the food there and we both stuffed ourselves from the buffet they put out every noontime.

After we had eaten, we walked around Yellville and I showed him the courthouse. This part of Arkansas, when it was still a territory, had originally been part of Searcy County, but split off in 1835 to form Marion County. Originally, the town had been called Shawnee Town, but was changed when it became Marion County. It was named after a person by the name of Yell, who had been in the war of 1812 and in the Mexican war. Of course, there is also Yell County, of True Grit fame.

After we had walked our meal off, we headed back across the ferry and back home. Karl headed for the resort so he could take a nap. He had a very long day tomorrow and wanted to be rested. He said he'd be back so we could go out for supper.

I went inside and did a bit of writing and Karl showed up shortly after 5. He asked me where we should go for supper and I asked him what he was hungry for.

"Hell, I could go for another one of them good steak sandwiches we had last night."

"Works for me, Karl. I don't never get tired of them things."

We headed for Forsyth and The Frosted Mug. I said hello to the folks I knew and we found a seat. Connie came over and took our orders. Karl and I chatted about various things and he said he was really impressed with this area.

"It's just like you described it in you story. I don't know why I'm surprised. I guess I'm used to folks exaggeratin' about things in stories, but you sure didn't about this area. Maybe the next time I come up we can do some fishin'."

"I'm all for it, Karl. Give me some advance warnin' and I'll get a few chapters ahead and we'll at least stretch some line and swap some lies."

"Well, maybe if I can get up here in the spring, we can lay into some of them white bass. I just love catchin' them things. They put up a hell of a fight."

"That they do, but I like eatin' walleye or crappie best."

"Ya, but they're harder to find and not near as much fun to catch."

"You got me there."

We ate and chatted and sipped our coffee afterwards and smoked our after meal cigarette. Since I had paid for our noon meal, he insisted on paying for this one. I told him he could pay and I'd leave the tip. He agreed to that and we paid and headed back home.

When we got back, he said he was going to turn in early so he could get a real early start. But he said to look for him to come back after he had the planting done and we'd get that fishing trip in. I told him he'd be more than welcome.

It's not often I feel extremely comfortable around people, but Karl was one of them folks that you just felt like you had known your entire life. He was just down home folks.

He stopped back on his next trip in the early part of April. He was going up to pick up his niece and take her back for Easter. School was out a week before for his niece because she was in Special Ed classes and her mother didn't have a baby sitter while she was at work. Her son was still in class because he was in regular school. They were all coming down for Easter, but not until the day before Good Friday. He only stayed overnight and we had another steak sandwich. He said he'd be back when he had his planting done.

I didn't hear from him until the first part of May. He called me and asked how the fishing was. I told him I really hadn't been out too much, but I'd heard that is was fair to middlin'. He asked if it would be ok to come up and do some fishing next week. I told him that I could spare a few days from my writing. He told me he could only stay a couple days and then he'd need to get back. So we set the date for him to show up on Monday night and we'd start fishing on Tuesday and finish up on Wednesday. He'd leave early on Thursday.

I worked frantically to get a couple chapters written so I wouldn't have to worry about it when I was out fishing. As it wound up, my fingers cranked out three chapters in four days, so I was ahead of the game enough to relax and do some fishing when he arrived.

He pulled in about 5 on Monday evening and we immediately headed for Forsyth and a steak sandwich after he checked in. We chatted about how his planting went and what was next on his agenda on the farm. We got back from Forsyth about 8:30 and we both decided to get some sleep and head out early in the morning. He said he'd be over at my place around 6 in the morning.

That's a bit early for me, but I figured I could alter my schedule for a couple days. After all, he doesn't live on the lake like I do and he wants to spend as much time as he can out there. I signed on and checked my mail and then called it a night and tried for some sleep.

I always get up two hours before I have to get going so I can wake up in the morning. I hate being rushed. So I set my alarm and was not happy to hear the radio come on at 4. But I shut it off and got up and underway, so to speak. I got my coffee made and breakfast eaten. Then I played some Sherlock as I tried to wake up fully.

Once I got under 4 minutes on Sherlock, I signed on and checked my mail and then checked what stories had been posted on SOL and the total downloads for the week. Once that was done, I signed off and prepared the next chapter to be posted and wrote out the Author's notes for the chapter. With that accomplished, I fixed another pot of coffee and ran some hot water in my thermos, to pre-heat it, so we'd have something to take out on the lake.