Garrett's Trail to Justice by Terrell Bowers

Author:Terrell Bowers [Bowers, Terrell L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

The morning meal was like a wonderful dream for the kids. The four of them were laughing and smiling, sitting at the breakfast table until they could not eat another bite. Molly catered to them like a doting grandmother and little Debbie insisted on sitting next to Dayton. In fact, she went everywhere he did, standing next to him, following him around the boarding house and coyly climbing on to his lap if he happened to sit down. Alyson had her hands full with the other three. Molly picked up new clothing for the kids from the general store. Matthew’s were a little large on him. but he would grow into them. Next, Molly trimmed his and Kenny’s hair, while Alyson used a brush to comb out the tangles of Debbie’s and Ruby’s hair. The four children soon looked like normal, albeit undernourished, kids.

Seeking any information he could glean from Matthew, Dayton asked about the men working at the large farm. The boy knew very little about the men at the mill, but he did offer some help when talking about the four who were often around the main house.

Gant, in his words, was scary; Jammer kept to himself but had control of the two guard dogs; and Collinsworth was Walt and Sheba’s right-hand man. Seeton was the one he knew best. He oversaw the kids and even stayed in the building they called the Yard House, where all of the children slept. He was the one responsible for keeping the children working.

‘He does what he’s told and makes sure we all do our share,’ Matthew finished. ‘He moves around from field to field and jots down how much each of us does.’

‘You mean he keeps a journal of some kind?’ Dayton asked.

‘Yes. He had me help him a time or two, because he got behind and wanted to get everything written down for Mistress Sheba. He takes the notes he has scribbled down in his log book and transfers the weekly totals to a sheet of paper. Then he gives the page to Mistress Sheba. That way she knows how much each of the workers are doing.’

Dayton felt a tingle of excitement. ‘But he keeps his own records too?’

‘The scribbled copy, yes,’ Sheldon said. ‘He carries a small book with him all the time.’

‘And you said Seeton was not a bad sort?’

‘Only if Mistress Sheba gets after him to make us work harder or faster. With him being in the Yard House with us kids, he’s the one we ask for new shoes or blankets. He also tended to our scratches or cuts . . . that sort of thing.’

‘Do you think he knows anything about the missing children?’

Matthew shook his head. ‘Only to mark down the day they stopped working in the fields. It’s like I told you, he thinks the kids who are taken to the house get sent to a hospital. I asked him once if they ever came back from there and he said they must have been real sick, ’cause they never returned.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.