Forty Acres and a Mule

By Darrel Bird

Josh Barnes has had most of his land stolen, and he marries a black girl just after the civil war.
John Bertram is dead set on having the girl back on his farm. He takes her by force.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Darrel Bird
• Release date: Jul 20, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370243402

Darrel Bird

Darrel Bird has written and published 47 short stories. He attended Bakersfield college, and is an avid motorcyclist.

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Forty Acres and a Mule

by Darrel Bird

Copyright December 2017 by Darrel Bird

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After the emancipation in 1863 and just following the end of the Civil War, the government deeded Moses Bones, an ex-slave, 40 acres and a worn-out mule in the township of Becket, South Carolina. All ex-slaves were promised 40 acres and a mule, but Moses was one of the lucky ones that actually got it.

Next to Moses Bones' land stood 18-year-old Josh Barnes' 40 acres with another worn-out Mule. The government did not deed Josh his land because he was of Irish descent. His father had owned 140 acres until the rebel appropriators set fire to the house. After his father refused to hand it all to them, they took the live stock and hay, and only Josh was left alive after the killing was done.

After the war, a big landowner named John Bertram claimed the Barnes land for all but 40 acres, which was mostly swamp anyway, and the crooked courts upheld his claim. Now you might think, Well, at least 40 acres is 40 acres, but the problem was that all but five acres of each of those plots of land were covered with a black water swamp, and you can't raise anything on a black water swamp.

Now the only difference between being a poor ex-slave and a poor white boy is the reflection a face makes in the black water, which wasn't much to Josh Barnes' way of thinking. Josh had made up his mind to be thankful for what he had, just as the good book directed him.

Josh set