My Valley

By R.C. Summers

My Valley is the amazing story of a young man’s travel through life, his leaving home at age eight, a lucky break that gives him money and teaches him a card game, and him winning a haunted property and money. It is a story of an older woman, their love, and their children she kept secret. Of her addiction, her starving the children and then leaving them with him. It is a story of the spirits of the valley, dinosaur bones, fairies, caves, and cryptic animals. It is about the mental abilities of children and the things they do and can do. It is also about a corrupted government and of a family’s love for one another and the strength of people.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: May 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781483484372

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Summers

Copyright © 2018 R.C. Summers.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-8438-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-8437-2 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 04/26/2018

1

My first Years

It was 1936, during the years of war and hard times and a baby boy came to an elderly couple. I was not the first, nor was I to be the last. The old man through hard work and sweat was able to put food on the table. With hand-me-downs and secondhand clothes he was able to put some semblance of clothes on our backs.

The years passed and in the early summer of my eighth year my mother and father were killed in an accident. Like vultures on a carcass the older siblings glommed onto anything of value that wasn’t specified in the will.

2

I Run Away

One of the older children took pity on me and my younger siblings and took us in but their ways were not to my liking. In February, the month before my ninth birthday, I saddled the horse and packed the mule that was left to me in the will and for which I had the bills of sale. I also took the tack and other things that were left to me by my parents.

I took my clothes, a little food, my two dogs, a copy of the will and I lit out.

It was very cold in February. I had ridden a long way each day and had made camp anywhere I could find shelter but I was running low on matches, salt, beans and other staples. I came to a small town and I decided to spend what money I had there.

I was just entering a grocery store when I noticed a poster with my picture on it and the words, Runaway boy, and it said to please contact. I didn’t wait to read anymore but went to my horses, tightened the cinches and rode away.

While I had been with my siblings I was expected to be their slave. I was gardening, milking the cows, feeding the hogs, taking care of the chickens and eggs and doing anything else they could find for me while everyone else, the adults, their family and my younger siblings just played or lay around all day. Now I guess they had to do the work themselves so they were trying to get me back.

I stayed riding to the east and a little south and kept to the forest as much as possible. I came to another small town and looked all around for posters but I couldn’t find any. I went into a grocery store and bought the things I needed. I was headed to my horse when something told me to look inside the post office. I went in and looked around like I was looking for someone.

A man said, Can I help you?

I asked, Has my dad been in here?

He asked, Who’s your dad?

I said, Oh I guess you wouldn’t know him because we are just passing through but have you seen a stranger today?"

The man said, Nope no strangers today."

I looked at the bulletin board on the wall. On it there was a wanted poster for me. It said, Wanted for horse rustling and dog theft. I didn’t wait to read the rest. I was gone.

I at least had my staples and hadn’t been recognized. I wanted out of that state as soon as possible.

I knew I had to be close to the state line so I rode along a highway but stayed way back in the woods and looked for the boundary signs. I hadn’t ridden but two days when I saw a big sign on the highway. I knew it had to be the state boundary and I knew I would be safer in the next state because of the extradition laws. I crossed the state line and felt a whole lot safer. The farther I went the better I felt.

After I crossed the state line I went back into the forest and kept riding east. I was able to find a few small jobs and replenish the money I had spent. With the fish I could catch, the rabbits I could snare and a fool hen now and then me and my animals were doing okay.

I came across some men at a logging site and they fed the dogs and me some of their stew and sourdough biscuits. A man said, Are you the kid they’re looking for over yonder for horse stealing?

That took me aback.

I said, Could be I reckon but what they are saying is a pack of lies. He said, They say you stole that horse and mule and also the dogs.

I showed them the bills of sale for the animals and a copy of the will and told them the dogs were my dogs and I then told them my story.

One man said, Why those dirty rotten b——! He said, We won’t rat on you and if you’re ever in this area again and need us just call and we’ll do all we can.

At that they all wrote down their addresses and phone numbers but I did not know what a phone meant. They asked if I needed anything like food or money and I told them I had plenty of each. I said, But I sure thank you for such a fine meal and my dogs do too.

As I rode away one of them said, You’re always welcome in our homes in town too.

I waved goodbye to them.

3

My lucky Break

I turned nine in the spring of 1945 and I traveled for that summer getting what jobs I could find. It was growing cold again and winter would come. I started looking for a place to hole up in until spring.

I ran across an old, abandoned house. I could tell no one had been living in it for a long time because the pasture was matted with old grass and the buildings had not been kept up and were badly in need of repair. It was in an out-of-the-way place so I figured I could live there and not be noticed. It was fenced and was on seven or eight acres so I knew the horse and mule would be okay in the winter if I could get some hay for them and it didn’t snow too deep. I hoped to find work so if it snowed too bad I could buy hay.

A farmer a half mile or so away had a dairy and he gave me a job milking his cows, twice a day, at a good hourly wage even for an adult.

If I was asked I told everybody that I lived with my pa who is a traveling salesman and he wasn’t around much and didn’t make much money so I mostly did for myself. I didn’t tell anyone where I lived.

The farmer’s wife gave me breakfast after I finished milking in the mornings. With the snares I had out, the birds and fish I could get and some vegetables I could snitch neither me nor my dogs went hungry.

I went to school in a town about three-quarter miles away and learned more about reading, writing, math, and that kind of stuff. The school didn’t ask many questions. I told them we moved often and my pa was seldom around but that I wanted to get what education I could get before we moved again so they allowed me to enroll on my own.

I would take home a lot of books on many subjects from the library and read about many things, like our planet, the solar system, science, and chemistry, how to build things, machines, medicines, plumbing, planting things and lots of other useful information. I knew that soon I was going to need all the book learning I could get and more.

With some of the money I was earning I bought a few tons of hay and a bred milk cow. I sold the cow’s milk to the dairy but I had to haul it over to the farmer’s place in a small wagon I had found for pickup by the creamery. That was okay because I had to go there anyway and that was a little bit more of an income.

I bought some traps and caught a few fur-bearing animals and was able to sell their skins to a furrier. One of the animals I got was a mink in prime coat. The furrier tried to stick it to me on that hide and the others but I said I would just take them to the next town if he wouldn’t give me all that they were worth. I told him I could read and that I knew the going price of hides. He finally gave me the full price on every hide and with the money I got for them I ended up with a tidy sum.

The time passed. I did the milking, took care of the animals and did all the odd jobs that I could find and I went to school. In the morning, I’d get up, milk my cow and take the milk over to the farmers and then I’d get the farmer’s cows milked, eat my breakfast, take my empty milk can home and get the things at home done just in time for school.

I didn’t want to miss much school and I got out pretty early in the day anyway so I could do some work if I could find it but I had to be milking by 5:30 pm. After I got home I milked my own cow and took care of the horse and mule. I would cook something or warm something up on the woodstove while I read by a coal oil lamp. I would study until it was very late.

There was a large galvanized tub so I would heat water from the stream and would bath in it a couple of times a week. I also used it to wash my clothes in.

I ran my traps every other day or at least three times a week. I always had a fox, a coyote, a badger or some other animal and my snares always had a rabbit. With the vegetables and apples I had taken from the fields, orchards and gardens that I had in the cellar I always had plenty of food.

There was an old ice chest in the house so I got an ice block every few days and it kept my food refrigerated.

All was going pretty good. I had fixed most of the cracks in the house and had put thin wood over the broken windows. I had also fixed the rundown sheds some. I had fixed the barn up really good and I milked the cow in there. I repaired the other shed so the horse and mule had a good and safe shelter. I had cut wood for the woodstove and that woodstove kept it pretty comfortable for me.

After several weeks the old man who owned the place (his name was Albert Fisher) heard I was living there and so one day he came to see me. He said he wasn’t against me living there as the house wasn’t worth anything but that fire and liability was his main concern. I told Mr. Fisher the truth about me and I said I would sign a paper relieving him of any and all liability on his part if he’d let me stay until spring and that I really had nowhere else I could go to find another shelter as I was mostly without funds.

We sat and talked about it for a long time. I was becoming pretty nervous when finally Mr. Fisher said, I have a better idea. This land is no good to me and I don’t use it. There are about one hundred acres as I remember it and so lets you and I make a deal. You are awfully young to own property I think but that’s okay with me and I will protect your rights.

We talked it over some more and he sold me the place for a really cheap price. To pay for it I was to work for him in my spare time.

The house and pasture I was using was just about seven acres so I had ninety-three acres to farm. There was some horse-drawn machinery and there was harnesses in the barn that looked like they would fit my animals so I probably would try to farm it next spring.

The next day was Saturday so I walked around my property and fixed the fence. Then I put the horse, mule and cow out there to graze.

Through the winter I did fine as it snowed often but not deep. I shoveled walks and driveways after my morning milking and made quite a bit of money.

4

Mr. Fisher Dies

In late February 1946, just a few months after we had made the deal and just before my tenth birthday Mr. Fisher died. In his will he left me the land and house I had bought free and clear as well as his house in town, its furnishings and all his other belongings plus a very large cash inheritance.

Even though I hadn’t known the man for long it was a devastating blow to me. Since we met I had been with him almost every day and many nights till late. I had felt a real bond with him and he was like a father to me.

His death was so devastating that I decided to sell out and leave so I might forget about him and my hurt.

With a little of my inheritance I went to a lawyer and showed him my bills of sale and the copy of the will of my father and told him my story and he got all the charges dropped.

Because of my circumstance and even though I was only nine he got me emancipated and had my last name changed to Summers. I didn’t have to worry about the law or that other family anymore. He also got the horse and mule put into my new name.

Within a week I found a buyer for the furniture for a lot more than I was told it was worth. Within two weeks I found a buyer for the house for way more than a bank and others thought it was worth. The farmer I worked for offered me a very good price for the one hundred acres of land.

He offered more than land appraised for and more than what I thought it was worth and he offered a fair price for my cow so I sold to him.

I had my mule and horse shod, packed my mule, saddled my horse and headed out to places unknown.

I had taken five hundred dollars from my account and I got a few odd jobs as I moved along. I didn’t want to be around people so I kept moving in that year.

It was spring of 1947 and I had traveled many miles. I had turned eleven years old and was doing very well for myself. In my travels I hadn’t seen many towns and those I did I bypassed except to replenish my staples or to work.

One morning as I came over a ridge I saw a town in the distance. I decided to check it out. I rode down the road toward it and as I came closer there was a big sign that read Blue Mountain City.

It seemed like a nice, clean town and the people seemed friendly so I thought I’d see if I could buy some property and settle down there for a while.

I found a place for my animals with a man who owned a blacksmith shop, garage, and stables and I left the animals there. He said he would make sure the animals had food and water. I made arrangements with the man that owned the stables to use an empty stall at night for sleeping.

I was talking to the businessmen about anyone that might have a small parcel of land with a house and the word spread that I had some money and what it was I wanted.

5

The game

During the time I had been around the old man we had played a card game that is called poker. Mr. Fisher had been a card shark in his day and he taught me all he knew about poker. He taught me night after night and any other time I was free to play.

He taught me all the legitimate games of poker, like five-card stud and seven-card stud but mostly he taught me five-card draw. He said that if it was a big-money game I should only play five-card draw with no joker and nothing wild.

He said that I should never play those other games like what kids play, with something wild, because that would change the odds. He taught me all about odds and how to calculate them. He taught me what to watch out for, how to spot a bluff, how to bluff, how to spot a cheat, when to fold and when to go all in.

Finally he said I was ready to play against anybody.

He always said that only a fool plays by his feelings and that only a fool falls for sucker bets. He’d always say that only suckers allow someone to get them upset in a card game or for that matter in life. He said, Always play your cards close to the vest [meaning total secrecy] and always watch every player’s face as they pick up their cards as their faces will tell you more about their hands than what they want to reveal.

He said, Son don’t fall for traps. Never be goaded into doing anything risky in your life, especially a bet. Never play another man’s game and never let anyone get behind you."

He would always say, Always run your own life.

At about 2:00 pm on the day after I arrived I met a young man who asked if I played poker. I said, Oh some penny ante with a twenty-five-cent limit now and then." He asked me to join them in a friendly game but said that they played for real money not penny ante but dollar ante and table stakes. He also said that I had to have at least a hundred dollars on the table to start and asked if I could handle that much.

I said, I think I can, but I acted hesitant to play and said I didn’t know if I knew enough to play with older guys. He said they’d teach me (he meant fleece me) as we went along. As I was only eleven I asked if it would be legal. He said, Probably not but who’s going to say anything anyway.

I still acted like I was reluctant but with him thinking they had a sucker on the hook I let him talk me into playing. When we got to the tavern and with me having money they were more than glad to have me in the game.

Before I committed myself I had asked him which game we would be playing. I said, I only play five-card draw with no jokers and nothing wild for money. He said, That is what they are playing.

I got two hundred dollars in chips and asked for a chair with my back to the wall and sat down to play. It was the first time I had played with a lot of people (six, to be exact). Professionals never play seven at a table but I figured that with the knowledge I had gained from my friend Albert I could handle it.

The game was five-card draw with table stakes and you could only draw three cards. With seven players we would be using most of the deck and could still run out of cards if everyone drew three. Only amateurs play seven at the table or draw four but we had seven players. I decided seven at the table would be okay with me for now.

Some of the players had as many chips as I did and maybe more. They were ready to lose and I was ready to play. For the first couple of hands I folded after I looked at my cards and sat and watched to get a feel of how these people played. These men were amateurs of course and poor ones at that so I soon began to play in earnest.

With my skill, the luck of the young and the watchful eye of the proprietor against cheats my two hundred soon became thousands. All the things that Albert had taught me were there for me and it was easy to know just what to do.

I played all afternoon and into the night and kept winning. Players went broke and left but as soon as one left there was another to take his place. The pot just kept getting bigger and the chips just kept coming my way. In a short time I won many thousands of dollars.

The players just kept on coming and with each new face the pots kept getting bigger. I could do without sleep when need be so I stayed in the game. Men went broke and tempers flared and I was accused of cheating but I never handled the deck so those men were ushered out by the proprietor.

The game went on

6

The Big Game

At about two o’clock in the morning a man in fancy clothes sat in. I knew he had lots of money just from the way he acted and dressed. He had the proprietor bring him twenty thousand dollars in chips and I knew we were in for a big game now. I thought I should get out but I said to myself, just stay calm. You are ready.

I had been in the game for around twelve hours and I was tired but I decided to play for a while longer anyway. At that time I took a few minutes and went to my gear and got my chip safe.

Antes was moved up to a hundred dollars. You had to have twenty thousand dollars on the table to play so five men folded out. Four other well-dressed men sat down and they said there would only be six in the game from then on.

I counted my chips to see if I had twenty thousand dollars. I had a lot more than that so I counted out twenty thousand and put the rest in my chip safe and locked it.

The case was specially built for Albert and it was built six inches deep and about a foot long. It was ten inches wide and held five rows of chips with five cylinders per row made to fit the chips. It could hold twenty-five chips in each cylinder. There was room for 250 chips per row, and each row is made so it can be slid out and be easily counted.

I had the proprietor give me a receipt and put my chip safe in his safe so I wouldn’t be distracted by having to watch it. That was one of the things my good friend Albert had taught me: Never get distracted.

The game began. The first two hands were duds so I folded and watched. On the third hand I drew four aces on the deal. The opening bet was a moderate three thousand dollars but it made me think. The draw came and of course I didn’t draw, hoping they would think I had a flush or a straight. I could see in one man’s eyes he had hit it big so I knew there would be a lot of money in this pot.

The rich man was the first to bet and he asked how much I had on the table. We counted it out and it came to $16,700.

The man said, That’s the bet then.

One man folded but the other three took him up on the bet immediately.

Now we all know that four aces are hard to beat so of course I went all in without worry.

On the show, one player had a full house, jacks over queens, and the next one had a heart flush. The next one was spades and the rich guy had four sevens. When I showed the four aces there was a lot of cursing but I hadn’t dealt so they knew it was on the up and up. We played on through the night and my winnings grew.

7

Rest Time

By 8:00 am I had been in the game for eighteen hours. I told them I was too tired to play for a while but that I’d be back after a little sleep.

I took the chips over to the counter and counted them out and I had over two hundred thousand dollars. I put them in with the rest and I put my paddle lock on and secured it. The owner gave me a receipt and said he would be there all day and until late so I should not worry.

Trusting people is not my best thing but I decided I’d trust that man.

It was after 8:00 am when I went to see my animals and they were happy to see me. They had been well taken care of by the blacksmith who had fed and watered the horse and mule well and given the dog scraps from the butcher and had watered them.

I went and got some breakfast and returned to the stable at about 9:00 am. I had made arrangements with the blacksmith for me to use an empty stall. I took my bedroll, smoothed out some straw and was soon asleep.

At about 5:00 pm I was awakened by my dogs. Some sore losers were drunk and were coming to get even for their loss. As they attacked they were met by my dogs so they quickly disappeared into the distance. The animals had plenty to eat and drink so I grabbed a bite myself.

As I promised I returned to the pool hall. There was a watchman at the door now and he turned me away. I guessed they had ripped me off for the money so I started to raise my voice. The owner heard me and came to get me.

There were six players already at the table but as I approached one got up out of the seat I previously had so I sat down there. I had taken twenty thousand dollars in chips from my case and I was ready to play like I had promised but when I looked the others had a lot more chips than I did.

I went and retrieved thirty thousand more. Thus I had fifty thousand dollars in front of me.

The first four hands were duds and I had folded each one. I grew tired of not playing. As the bet was very small before the draw I drew three cards to a pair of tens. After the draw the bet went to thirty thousand dollars so I looked and lo and behold I had drawn the other two ten’s.

One of the players raised the pot another ten thousand, totaling forty thousand dollars. There was a murmur from the onlookers because that would put two players all-in.

One of the players had already dropped out and left. The two that would be all-in stayed. The rich man and I and another guy stayed so that made five who were still in the game. The cards were shown. One had a full house, one had a flush, one had a straight and the rich man had four fives. When I lay down my four ten’s there were a few not-so-nice words that were said.

The rich man and those that were all-in called for more chips. A new man took the vacant seat and I guessed he had lots of money too. I had no idea who these men were or where they were coming from.

We played on hour after hour and more money was called for. Some went broke and were replaced by new faces so the money just kept coming my way. I put more of it in my case. The next hand I got was a bad hand and I sat that one out. On the next hand, out of the blue, I got a royal flush.

When the rich man bet twenty thousand dollars on the come one man got up and left but three stayed. The bet had put the three all-in. Of course I stayed in. Those that were all in drew two cards but the rich man did not draw any. I didn’t draw and hoped he would think I had a flush or a straight.

The rich guy bet thirty thousand dollars in a side pot for just him and me. I had watched him closely and knew he had a big hand again so I raised him twenty thousand dollars.

He said to me, Let’s make this worthwhile.

I ask what he meant.

He answered, There is only you and me still betting in this side pot so I’ll see your twenty thousand dollars and bet the other fifty thousand I have left on the table and all the deeds in this case, he turned and got a large briefcase, against what you have on the table and in the safe.

Now anyone that has ever played poker knows that I would take that bet because the worst I could do was half the pot. I looked at my cards. I looked the deeds over carefully and then back at my cards. I finally said, Okay I’ll take that bet."

The deeds had already been signed and notarized sometime before but the proprietor was a notary. He witnessed the signatures on the deeds and he notarized a quitclaim deed for all the property. There was a lot of acres involved, hundreds of thousands if not millions plus anything that is in the valley. They were put on the table. I got my case and put it on the table.

All was silent as the cards were shown and the others players watched as the rich man turned over a straight flush. When I turned up my royal flush the man said a few cuss words. Then he got up, he shook my hand and he and the other players left.

That ended the game.

8

Game Over

The proprietor and I set to counting the chips on the table and the chips I had in my case. He asked me where I had learned to play poker like that. I told him I had been taught by a man named Albert Fisher a while ago.

He said, By old Albert. I should have known because you play like he does. Will he be coming here too?

I had to tell him that Albert was dead but that he had left his poker skills in me.

After we were through with the count my take came to a lot over $1 million dollars and the deeds. I was totally shocked. I gave the man (the owner) a fairly large tip and he told me that that was the biggest game he had ever had in his place but that there were others that came close.

He said, Those high rollers had heard about the big game and a kid winning and had come from far and near just to sit in and take you.

He gave me a check for the money I had won. He had deposited the cash he said because big cash attracts many crooks but that he would go with me to the bank.

I took the deeds to the courthouse to get them put in my name.

The next day, after the deeds were changed into my name, I went back to the tavern. The tavern owner and I took the check and deeds to the bank. I opened a checking and savings account and got a safety deposit box for my deeds. As I was preparing to put the deeds in the box the bank owner asked me if I had gotten them from a man called Carl.

I said, I don’t remember the man’s name but it is on the quitclaim deed and the bill of sale. Why?

He asked if he could look at the deeds and bill of sale. After seeing them he said, That rascal has stuck you with a white elephant. These are Ghost Valley deeds and the ghosts haven’t let a man or domestic animal in there in twenty years [the truth was it had been between ten and fifteen years] so they are the same as worthless. He said Carl has been accumulating them for years for little to nothing. He has won most of them in card games.

I said, I really don’t know anything about ghosts and I was under the impression they weren’t real anyway.

The banker said, Don’t believe what you have heard. Nobody goes there and if you do you will learn fast.

I said, Well I own it now so I guess it’s up to me to go see what there is to see.

I asked the banker how I could access my money and he showed me how to write a check. He said I could also come in and they’d give me what I needed from either account anytime. He gave me deposit slips too so I could deposit checks by mail. I asked if the check was how I could get money from savings and he said it was best to come in for that.

He also said that if I was going to Ghost Valley I should make a will so the money would go to someone I cared about.

I drew out two hundred dollars so I would have five hundred like I had had before the game. I asked him how I could access my money in the savings at that other bank.

The banker said that if I wanted him to he could have the money transferred from that savings account to my account in this bank. I gave him a document from the other bank and he said they would take care of getting it transferred. He had me sign a paper to that effect and he said that it would be done. He said he would get me a paper telling me how much there was and the interest I had made on that money.

I had a lot of money in that other bank. I wasn’t sure how much and to find out I would have to unpack. I was pretty sure that banks are on the up and up so I put my trust in this banker and went to see about my animals.

After checking on my animals I went to a lawyer. I had no one I cared about so I left everything to my animals. The lawyer said he would take care of my estate and the animals if anything happened and that after the animals were dead he would find my younger siblings and put the balance in a trust for them. For this reason I told him how to contact them.

That conversation about ghosts rattled me a little as I’d never seen a ghost and the thoughts of seeing one scared me some. Still I decided to leave early in the morning as it was twenty miles just to the stream’s meeting and another eighteen miles to the gap into the valley. With the mule loaded I travel slower.

9

Off to Ghost Valley

I was now in my eleventh year and rich. I thought I should be deciding soon on what to do with my life but I now had all these deeds. Thus this land was mine even though it may be worthless.

The thought of ghosts worried me some but