As Earl and Carl drove off from the cabin and Petey, Carl visibly relaxed. “Pa, how kin a man live with hisself like that? I just don’t get it.”

  Earl said, “You just gotta let it go, Carl. He’s not goin to change and we aren’t goin to have to deal with him. We are goin home.” They stopped by Donna’s house to let her know what was happening and to give her some of their meat they had gotten on their hunt.

  Donna was concerned that Pete hadn’t listened to Earl and felt like he was making a serious mistake. “He never has been any good at listenin to nobody. Earl, I’m afraid he might go to jail…or worse!”

  “Donna, I hate to worry you like this, but I think he is making a fool mistake, trying to patch up an axe-whipped copper still with only oatmeal paste. That stuff is fine fur patchin up the seams of copper, but fur a hole in the side of a thin piece of copper…well, let’s just say he might be diggin his grave. If you look up that a way, you just might be able to see the steam rising from the still if he gets it burnin. I don’t think you could hear from here though if it explodes.”

  “Earl, could you go check on him in a few days, please? I feel mighty responsible fur him and I sure would be obliged,” Donna begged him.,

  “Donna, he is an ornery cuss and I’d rather not have anything else to do with him, but honey, I cain’t say no to you. We will go back and check on him in a few days,” Earl agreed. They went on home and the little family worked together on puttin up the meat. Part of it was canned (in glass jars) and part of it was put in a barrel with a LOT of salt. Carl was so happy to be home, he went around askin all his family if he could help them with anything, almost like he -was tryin to erase Petey’s selfishness from his memory by doin somethin good.

  Earl had another client of Clement’s dad that he needed to meet to sell him some of their moonshine. He took 10 mason jars with him and they had arranged to meet at the little store where he had first met Steve. When Earl pulled in, he got the heebie-jeebies. He couldn’t tell if it was current heebie-jeebies or just left over ones from before, but he decided to cover the jars in the car and go in like as if he was shoppin. So he did.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Earl walked into the store and said “Howdy” to everybody. He bought a sody-pop and sat by the ol pot-bellied stove to watch and listen. Ed Smith and Charlie Ogleby were playin checkers on a barrel top. He watched that game fur a while. There was a little uneasiness in the air. He glanced outside and saw two men talkin. One was the man he had come to meet. He could tell because he had on a blue and white striped shirt. The man he was talkin to was…..Steve! “Ok,” Earl told himself, “time to make a different plan.”

  Earl walked up to the counter and asked the clerk fur some packaged jello and crackers and some aspirin. “Baby aspirin would be best. It’s fur my young-un, Hattie. She has a time gettin regular aspirin down,” He heard the man he was to meet walk in, but he didn’t turn around. He paid fur the supplies, said he needed to be gettin them home to his young-un and turned to leave. The man in the striped shirt follered him outside and asked, “Hey don’t you have a delivery fur me?”

  Earl was shakin on the inside. How was he goin to get out of this one? It was obviously a set-up. At that moment, Steve jumped in his car and pealed out of the parkin lot, sprayin gravel everywhere! Earl and the striped shirt man looked up, startled! Steve yelled out the window, “There’s a big explosion reported up the creek up on the mountain. I think we done caught ourselves a real live moonshiner in progress! Sorry, gotta go!”

  Earl told the striped shirt man that he was mistaken, that he was just there to get medicine fur his sick child, got in his car and drove home. He told Lucy, “That was a close one, honey. I thought the people on Clement’s dads list were tried and proven, but it looks like we had a turn-coat. I am goin to have to be a lot more keerful from now on.”

  Lucy felt sick to her stomach, knowing Earl could’ve just gone to jail and it most likely would’ve happened if that emergency hadn’t come over the police radio.”Earl, do you think it was Pete?”

  “Most likely. I can’t go check on him now, because I cain’t show my face around there with Steve aimin to arrest someone. We will just have to wait it out.” Earl, Carl and Lucy went about their business, but their minds were on business goin on up the creekbed.