Murder on a Stalled Train: Or the Adventures of a Good Ole Country Boy

By Berlin Ray Meredith

Berlin Meredith invites you to read other stories and books published by him.

Keep Looking Up by Berlin Meredith
--publisher Xlibris

Memories of My Life by Carol Meredith
--publisher Xlibris

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 19, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479735693

Book preview

Copyright © 2012 by Berlin Ray Meredith.

Library of Congress Control Number:     2012919457

ISBN:             Hardcover                  978-1-4797-3568-6

                 Softcover                    978-1-4797-3567-9

                       Ebook                           978-1-4797-3569-3

All rights reserved. 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 permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

119428

Outside of a dog a book is a man’s best friend,

inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.

Murder on a Stalled Train

or

The Adventures of a Good

Ole Country Boy

By

Berlin R. Meredith

CONTENTS

Dedication

Preface

Murder On A Stalled Train

It’s A Boy!

A Rough Beginning

Home Sweet Home

War

School Days

Some School Kids

(Bullies)

(Mining Coal)

(An Older Girl)

(Big, But Childish Man)

(The Candy Girl)

(Summer Vacations)

Whaat Happened!!!???

The Fall Rocks Cave

The Next Day

Short Intense Training

The Winner

A Delay In Route

The New Orange Bicycle (Or How Not To Rob A Bank)

Where’s Big Red?

Stuck In A Hayfield

Good Doggie

The Faithful Border Collie

Whodunit??

Dr. Alonzo Perkins

Back At The Scene

Eldon Bekford

Jeremy Deeds

Coffee Break??

Mornings Come!

The Gathering

Hold Everything

Journeys End

About The Author

image002.jpg     image003.jpg

Frogs have it easy,

they can eat what bugs them

Dedication

Fi rst, I would like to dedicate this book to Carol Sue, my dear and wonderful wife of 50 + years, who has steadfastly stood by me through thick and thin.

In addition, my dedication would be bereft if I didn’t mention my two sons, Berlin Ray Meredith II and Brian Keith Meredith, my daughter-in-law, Kathy Meredith and my two grandsons, Joshua Tyler Meredith and Keenan Joseph Meredith.

I also dedicate this book to the many family members and friends who came to me and encouraged me to write another book. They have propped me up, buoyed me up and insisted I have talent when I am sure I have none.

I thank God for the loving family and in—laws that He gave me. They are all a blessing.

An d last, but not least, I would like to dedicate this book in loving memory of my parents, Benjamin C. Meredith and Nellie Bellomy-Meredith, and my 10 year old sister, Pamela Elaine Meredith. To my Father-in-law, King Joseph Hayton and my Mother-in-law, Ella Thompson-Hayton. They all left us way too soon!

Preface

All stories are works of fiction. The characters do not exist, except in the mind of the author. Any resemblance or similarities to persons, living or dead are purely coincidental.

Hubbardstown, West Virginia

It was early April 1938, at Hubbardstown, West Virginia.

Hubbardstown, a small country town in Wayne County, WV, had one small country store, at that time, with no gas pumps. Gas pumps weren’t needed since few people had a car. (The cars and gas pumps would come later).

The area had a population of less than 100 and had no electricity and no indoor plumbing. There was a gravel road that snaked up hills and around curves. Someone had said they must have turned a cow loose and then built a road following the path it took.

Walking along the railroad track to the store or the school was shorter than taking the curvy, uphill, downhill, road.

The small store had the only phone in the area and it was considered the community phone.

The Norfolk and Western Railroad ran through the community and had a small rural depot just across the road from the store.

The Big Sandy River, which was a small, shallow river, at the time, ran parallel to the railroad and north to empty into the Ohio River at Virginia Point in Kenova, WV. (The Big Sandy River could be waded across in most areas at that time.)

The Ohio River then runs from northeast to the southwest and empties into the

Mississippi River.

The majority of the population lived close to the store with the remainder scattered out in three directions for four to five miles.

The school house was approximately 400 to 500 yards to the rear of the store and sat near the community church.

There was no water on the school property so water was carried in buckets from a well behind the store.

Such was the area you are now about to read about . . . .

image005.jpg

MURDER ON A STALLED TRAIN

or

THE ADVENTURES OF A GOOD OLE COUNTRY BOY

image006.jpg

By Berlin R. Meredith

Demetri Von Walstrom let out a long, deep sigh. He was glad to be going back to his home and family. He had wanted to visit his old home place at Hubbardstown, WV but had been sadly disappointed.

Thomas Wolfe once wrote a novel entitled "You Can’t Go Home Again" and Demetri had found that to be true. The reasons for not being able to return home were different. Wolfe’s family and friends are upset with him and their fury drives him from his home, Demetri simply has no home of which to return.

He was born and raised in this area but he had been gone for several years. He had really wanted to come back and see the old sights again.

However, during the time that he was away, the State and Federal Governments had decimated the area during the building of a highway directly through the middle of the small country town.

He knew where things used to be but they weren’t there anymore.

The store and the school . . . gone. And soon, he had heard, the very depot where he now waited would vanish.

So here he sat in the small rural depot waiting for the train that would take him home and away from here.

He had his memories of this place but that was all. Hubbardstown, WV is no more he thought to himself.

As he sat there, his mind drifted back in time to the story his parents had often told him of his birth right here in Hubbardstown, West Virginia.

IT’S A BOY!

As they told it, in late January and February of the previous year, the area had flooded. It quickly became known as the ’37 flood. Raging floodwaters inundated thousands of houses, businesses, factories, and farms in the area.

Then came the long hard winter when the weather had been extreme with lots of snow and very low temperatures. But the spring of 1938 had arrived and the birds were singing, trees budding and the days getting warmer all the time.

Everyone was looking forward to warm weather and planting season. Those who didn’t have a large farm could at least plant a vegetable garden which helped to supplement their food needs. A penny saved is a penny earned was a common saying among the residents of the

A penny saved is a penny earned (by not spending money, you are saving money (little by little)

community.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac, was consulted religiously by most of the farmers in the area. The Almanac had predicted that May 15th would be the best time to begin the planting season, something about the moon and ocean tides.

It was early April and the Walstrom family were expecting a bundle from the stork.

Most babies in this area were born at home with the doctor coming to the home to assist in the delivery.

The doctor was one of the few people who owned an automobile at the time but it still took approximately an hour for him to get to the area.

All the mommies hoped their labor would last, at