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“Yeah, that you and Sam and Gloria had come out here. Hope that we could pull together to make a home out of it, like it once was.” Lee looked about the land and nodded. “We made it a home, Hattie, but not our home. Now we’re gonna make our home. And that’s our dream.”
“I never looked at it that way, but you are right. We are gonna make our home now. And it will be a happy home.” She smiled.
Joe and Sam came up to Lee with their horses. “Let’s get out of here.”
But there was one more stop that had to be made. Mr. Jeffries had picked up the deed and he could now pick up the money and leave.
As he stopped off in town, he came out of the bank with the money and there stood ole man Jeffries.
“You tricked me! You killed my son, and tricked me with this…deed. I want, no…I demand satisfaction,” Jeffries said.
He knew. He knew about the water and mineral rights. Lee had hoped they would be long gone before he found out. But there was one more thing to settle.
“Mr. Jeffries, I never promised the rights to you. Not once. You never asked. It was a deal. You agreed. You have the deed. It’s legal,” Lee said, giving the money to Hattie.
He turned around and faced Jeffries, who stood in the middle of the street. He adjusted his gun and stared at him. “I demand satisfaction.”
“Don’t do this, please. I’d like to leave peacefully.” Lee squared his legs as he readied himself for the inevitable.
“You Nelson’s have been a bur under my saddle too long. First your folks, then you and Dil, now that black woman you got there you’re beddin’. Ain’t no secrets. We all know why you are leavin’.”
“I’m leaving to make a better home, for my family,” Lee corrected.
“It’s best you do leave. We don’t want white trash like you around here. That is if you can live through this…” And he pulled his gun.
The dust flew, Hattie stood up and cried out, and Jeffries lay on the ground, his leg hit.
He lifted his gun to shoot again and Lee hit the other leg.
“I’ll kill you, you son-of-a-bitch,” Jeffries cried out.
“Don’t do this…” Lee ground out with all his might.
But Jeffries didn’t listen and he shot his gun off again. He missed again, and Lee shook his head. “That’s it, old man. Alabama is history to me…”
And he mounted the seat and whipped at the horses and took off, with half the town coming out in the street to see what was happening. They all stared at Lee and his family. Hattie pulled her wrap closer and Joe shook his head. Lee ignored them all.
The trip to Texas would be laden with hardships and hazards but it was a new home, full of hope and love and Lee knew they would be better off there.
“When you get tired, I want you to go lay down in the wagon and Joe or Sam will come help up here, you hear me?” Lee instructed her.
“Yes, I will. Stop frettin’, I’m gonna have a baby, not die…” she cried.
He laughed. “Okay, I’ll try.”
As they left Alabama, a big storm came up and Lee made everyone get in the wagon. Him and Joe sat in the wagon seat taking turns driving the horses. Getting bogged down in the mud, they lost a wheel and had to camp there for the night.
The next day, Lee and Joe tried to fix the wheel, but they needed a part that had broken off and fallen down the trail. Lee grimaced. “I’ll ride into the nearest town and get this fixed. Let’s pull the wagon under that tree over there and ya’ll stay here ‘til I can get back.”
“Want me to go along?” Joe asked.
“Nope, I should be back before nightfall,” Lee instructed.
Lee rode toward the north. Seeing smoke, he figured he was close to civilization, but it was just a farmhouse. He stopped by the corral where a man was mending a gate.
“Can I help you, friend?” the man asked as he looked up from his task.
“Maybe you can. I gotta wagon wheel here that needs mendin’,” Lee said.
