The Adventures of Sammy and Alistair: Sidecar

By Paul Caro

If God challenged you right now to be obedient and love your enemy, could you follow through?
Welcome to "The Adventures of Sammy and Alistair: Sidecar".

"Paul Caro uses vivid word pictures to draw you in. As I read I felt like I was part of the story; feeling, seeing & journeying every moment with each character. With great anticipation I await the next book in the series.+
Natalie C.

"I read a lot of the books they offer for free and have paid for quite a few, the story of Sammy and Alistair is the only one I was actually emotionally involved with. Actually can't wait for my nephew to get old enough to read it with him and have him understand."
Toshiko R.

"Sidecar" is the first in a series of Christian short stories based on Samuel Rittenberg Tanner, a rich black man living in the outskirts of Atlanta during the racially tense early 1960's, and his teenage nephew, Alistair.

What's supposed to be an hour long road trip to the city turns into a three day adventure when they take an unexpected detour and encounter a shocking discovery: a beaten, bloodied white body. Will Sammy and Alistair ignore it for their own safety, or will they do the right thing and test their faith in God?

"I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs a reminder on how God can use us to do his work regardless of whether we like it or not."
Gracie A

"Paul's well-written, fascinating take on this Biblical story of unconditional love and acceptance, of helping your brother in need despite all of society's prohibitions and prejudices is an inspiring lesson to us all."
Ruth D.J.

"I had a quick connection with the characters and can't wait to see what their next adventures hold. I purchased the download as a gift for a few friends and we have enjoyed talking about Sammy and Alistair and their sidecar adventures as well as the subtle connection to the story of the Good Samaritan."
Jenn L.

Buying "Sidecar" also gives you the opportunity to live out the lessons learned by Sammy and Alistair in this book. All proceeds from the first 100 copies sold and 10 percent of every copy after that will go to the homeless feeding ministry at First Christian Church in Suisun City, California.

If you enjoy Christian-based adventure stories AND want to donate to charity, "Sidecar" is for you! Visit Paul Caro's blog, paulcaro.com, to learn more about the author.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paul Caro
• Release date: Sep 19, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301958139

Paul Caro

I am a writer, child of God, father of two, husband to one. I am delving into Christian fiction as inspired by His word and His whispers. Won't you join me?

Book preview

The Adventures of Sammy and Alistair:

Sidecar

By Paul Caro

The Adventures of Sammy and Alistair: Sidecar

By Paul Caro . Published by Smashwords

Copyright 2012, Paul Caro

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.  This is a work of fiction and any resemblance between the characters and persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Dedicated to my family. Thanks for all your support.

Luke 10:25

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Prospect

Chapter Two: Frank Sinatra

Chapter Three: German Engineering

Chapter Four: The Crawl

Chapter Five: Red Pass

Chapter Six: Ten Miles

Chapter Seven: A Closer Walk

Chapter Eight: Elvis Was Here

Chapter Nine: Waluhaje

Chapter Ten: The Hunt

Chapter Eleven: Headed Back

Chapter Twelve: Unlikely Reunion

Chapter One: Prospect

It was supposed to be late spring in Georgia, which meant that the high heat and humidity had yet to arrive. The sun was still out in all its glory, though, and if you stood too long in one spot without shade it wasn’t long before the sweat climbed out of your pores and down to your extremities.

Georgia heat was rarely forgiving. The only saving grace was the occasional breeze whipping through the chalk maples. The heat, combined with fallen, rotten peaches and swirling no-see-ums, made for an uncomfortable environment.

That heat didn’t stop the men from continuing their lesson with their victim. They had already removed his shoes. They had him pinned to the ground.

Now see here, prospect, one man began as he towered over the victim, whose boyish face did well to hide his true age. He dug the tips of his steel-toed boots into the young man’s ribs as he spoke.

"When you want to join a prestigious group such as ours, we test you. We can’t ‘ford no weaklings, weak links, or softies that act like girls when it’s time to do business. And that is exactly how you acted.

The man lifted his right hand and dropped a smack over the top of his prospect’s head. The prospect wanted to defend himself, but he couldn’t. Two other men were holding his arms on the ground while a third had knees on his feet. They contained his limbs like a group of boa constrictors. The more he moved, the tighter their grips became.

I gave you a specific order and you didn’t follow through when the time came. You had us fooled! You knew the verses, you knew the words. You even looked good in ceremonial robes. But I gave you a specific order and you just couldn’t follow through! Another right hand came down, this time over his left eye. The prospect was certain the socket cracked. The immediate swelling confirmed it and, and his eye started to close.

Woo! Good one! one of the other men shouted.

Give ‘em sumpin’ to eat! chuckled another. He tossed the man a rotted peach. The man squeezed it over his prospect’s face. Chunks of the peach’s meat covered his mouth, nose and sandy blonde hair. The gritty peach juice dripped into his eyes. The prospect moaned from the sting.

So this is the end of our time with you, you worthless piece of trash. If you ever, ever think you’ll be one of us, you need to bring us a body of a jigaboo. You’ve earned that chance. But you’ll have to prove your toughness. Your merit, so to speak. And so we shall commence.

With those words, the prospect took two more fists to the head before his esteemed master stood up. As he rolled over to cover his face, the other two men laid into him with several kicks. Various cracking sounds could be heard underneath their boots as their heels landed. The prospect only managed to block a few kicks with his arms before finally giving up and covering his head. The master stood and laughed for a few seconds before ordering them to stop.

He has to live, now. We don’t want another body on our hands, especially one of our own. Just leave him be as a warning to anyone else. Or Lord Creator made us for a reason: to eradicate and separate our chosen souls from the Negroes. Let’s let them and anyone else know that we mean business. He can tell the tale when they find him.

Reckon we come back later? one of the men asked.

Well, began the master as he squinted away from the sun. "Figure he’s gonna dry up a bit out here. Ain’t too many travelers on these roads, ‘cept that jigaboo girl we saw on the way up here. Let’s say we come back in the mornin’. If he’s still here we’ll toss him a water and keep ridin’. If not, well…someone’s gonna hear his story. They’ll get scared. And we’ll get these parts back under our fist before long.

The master kneeled down before him one last time. He placed his thick fingers under the prospect’s chin and lifted it up. Shoulda got that jigaboo like I told you to, boy. You ain’t no better than her now! Let’s drag him back into Red Pass, the master said, pointing to a small grove of woods about 500 feet behind him.

The three men loaded the prospect onto the back of the pickup truck and let him hang over the unfolded tailgate. They drove into the wooded area, taking no concern or pause for the roots protruding randomly in the dirt road. It seemed like the master wanted to hit every one of them before abruptly pulling to the side and slamming on his brakes.

The prospect fell out and rolled over, with only a raised embankment to stop his body.