Peppered: "Bullies Beware"

By J.J. Luepke and B.J. Gordon

So many children today are latchkey kids and/or encounter bullying at
school. The combination of the two is a poignant reminder of why some
children end up in jail later in life. Some don’t, but ought to because they abuse
other children. And their victims often turn to crime themselves or suicide
as Lauren Cartright attempts in this story. Adults need to be more vigilant in
preventing bullying and to pay more attention to their own children to help
find positive resolutions for these issues. This story draws it’s conflict from real
life situations and brings to the front a new kind of vigilante that becomes a
hero for the teen who is being bullied. Find out how as our heroine puts up
her sharpshooter rifle and stands up for helpless Lauren in Peppered.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796063042

J.J. Luepke

J.J. Luepke has more than 12 years of experience in journalism. She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in education and has had three award-winning poems published in various anthologies. She is an avid reader of murder mystery novels and lives in Minnesota with a spouse and three housecats. Luepke is joined by B.J. Gordon, a former truck driver who has hair-raising tales of her own to share.

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by Jody Isaackson.

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.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 10/23/2019

Xlibris

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www.Xlibris.com

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Contents

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the rare, unsung heroes that stand up against bullying even though it may cost them ridicule, physical abuse or even death. We all want to live in a safe world and need to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.

CHAPTER ONE

P epper Crandall heard the loud crack of lightning over the hum of her Peterbilt semi tractor’s engine. The sky lit up like it was day.

In the aftermath of the bolt that tore open the sky, the light reflected on something shiny up ahead on the bridge Pepper was about to cross. She downshifted quicker than she had planned in spite of the wet highway. She was on her way home from the Maranell Foods’ warehouse a mile out of Marshalltown and was looking forward to a two weeks off vacation after being on the road for ten days.

The bridge was on the edge of town and crossed the Minnesota River that ran through the city. Pepper did not expect to see anyone on the bridge, but with the next lightning flash, she made out a lone figure heading toward the middle of the bridge with her back toward the truck. Pepper stopped the truck and set the parking brake, all the while keeping her eye on the woman on the bridge. It had to be a woman; she was tall and wearing what appeared to be a long white dress.

Pepper jumped down from the cab and slowly approached the bridge. She didn’t want to scare the other woman by yelling at her, if she would even hear her over the booming thunder and the roar of the swelling river. Suddenly, the woman in the dress took a sharp right and started to crawl onto the wall of the bridge.

Oh, no! Pepper thought. She’s going to jump! If not jump, she could still lose her grip on the slippery steel.

Pepper hurriedly shed her sweatshirt and yanked off her boots.

Don’t jump! Pepper yelled into the falling rain. Seeing she was going to be too late, Pepper broke into a run.

Stop! she yelled, but the woman kept crawling over the ledge, and, just as Pepper got within arms’ reach, the woman slipped over the edge and dropped down into the river.

Pepper did not hesitate, but swung over the ledge herself, like an Olympic athlete on the gymnastics horse. Her athleticism came from a much different source. Pepper had been a sharpshooter in the army prior to trucking. She knew her training would help her fight the river’s forces, but she wasn’t so sure about the woman she had seen drop eight feet into the water, plunging another 12 feet or so to the bottom and sprung up again. Bobbing in the flowing middle-stream, Pepper treaded water as she watched for the other woman to come up for air. She wasn’t disappointed. Just a couple of yards downstream, the woman came up screaming.

Good, she really wants to live! Pepper thought and began a strong breaststroke toward the jumper.

Help! Help! the woman gasped as Pepper approached.

At first, she struggled against her rescuer as Pepper tried to hold her shoulders.

Settle down! Pepper ordered in a low voice. Settle down, so I can help you.

The woman gasped for air and finally reached out to put her arms around Pepper to keep from going under again.

Lie back on the water, and I will pull you to shore, Pepper said, speaking just loud enough that the woman could hear her and not get freaked out over the encounter any more than she was.

The woman relaxed and arched her back as if she was remembering swimming lessons. Pepper put her arm around the woman and kicked toward shore.

After what seemed like an hour, but was only a few minutes, she reached the shallow edge