Blood on the Farm

By Doster Fitzgerald

A young farmhand in rural Georgia finds himself entangled in a web of adultry and murder. His lover is shot when her husband finds them together and he escapes to take refuge in Savannah. He changes his name and career and goes into hiding. But he can't find peace until he returns to clear his name.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raised Bridges
• Release date: Jun 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223569817

Book preview

Chapter 1

Luke Richey was a sixteen -year-old, soon-to-be plow hand for Jim Fitzgerald of Owensboro, Georgia in the early forties. Owensboro is located south of Rochelle Georgia, some eight miles. In its prominent days, the small town was a point of convenience for many farmers who made their crops with pairs of mules and small farm equipment. In the early days of the little town, the community had four general stores, a blacksmith shop run by Mr. Palmer, a grist mill operated by Mr. Friar, and two cotton gins that sat alongside the rails of the railroad, the Ocilla Southern. The railroad ran from Pope City, Georgia to Ocilla, Georgia. If the farmers didn’t attend church on Sunday morn, they would gather at the stores to play set-back and checkers and catch up with all the news—many lies and tales were left in the stores and on their porches!

Luke was a cousin of Celia Richey Gibbs, wife of R.V. Gibbs. Mr. and Mr. Gibbs visited Owensboro every day to get a cold Pepsi from Uncle John Henry Richey’s general store. Many of the citizenry of the community were closely related, and there were a few second-cousin marriages. Luke attended the Owensboro school with many of the Fitzgeralds, Gibbses, McWhorters, and Greens. Luke was fifteen when World War II broke out. Norman and Charles Fitzgerald had to enlist as well as J.B. McWhorter and Lamar Land. Luke walked the road from the Covington Place, down next to Uncle Jenk Vaughn’s home, to school and for groceries in Owensboro.

Mr. Jim sat on the front porch on his big farm house most all the time, talking to Luke as he made his trips. On a Saturday morning Mr. Jim hollered to Luke saying, Come here boy, I need to talk to you on some business...real business! Luke turned and walked to the porch where Miss Ethel and Mr. Jim sat, giving them greetings and replying to Mr. Jim, What can I do for you sir? Mr. Jim in his brogue relates, By gollies, Luke what are you doing these days for work? You reckon you could help me out a little bit on my farm? Luke sat on the step and looked the man in the eye, What can I do for you Mr. Jim? The farmer replied earnestly, Well, you know two of my boys had to join up to the Army...I reckon to fight...I fought hard to keep them out, but that dang Draft Board chairman wanted to send my boys instead of the city boys. Luke replied, Mr. Jim, I ain’t never done much farming...I have helped Artie and Celie out, but that’s about it! Luke responded again, You know Mr. Jim, I am afraid of bad weather; I have to head for house when a bad cloud comes up...I hope you realize that! The lanky farmer told him quickly, We can certainly work around that! Miss Ethel left the two fellows in conversation, and she headed for the kitchen.

She knew her husband always liked to eat around eleven in the morning because he was always up at five in the morning feeding his six mules and getting plowing harnesses on and hooking a couple of pairs up to the plows for the day. The talking was over: Mr. Jim had hired Luke for seventy-five cents a day from sun-up till dark. He promised him a plate exactly where Norman sat every day for dinner, seven days a week if he would help. Now Luke thought he had found a heaven for a while because he knew Miss Ethel was one of the finest cooks around. Today being Saturday, Luke ate with the family; then he and Mr. Jim ventured back to front porch to rest in the two swings. One was on each side of the long, high porch. Neither of the two ever knew if they dozed off or caught a nap. About two o’clock Mr. Jim said to Miss Ethel, Luke and I are gonna ease up the road to Owensboro to catch the news! Miss Ethel was kind of perturbed, saying, If it hadn’t been for the young man, your butt would have been gone at twelve o’clock! Gosh, all the children are leaving us...I got to stay by myself! Ain’t it grand? Mr. Jim and Luke got in the road and headed for the stores, which were about two good walking miles. Approaching close to Owensboro, they ran into Henry, Mr. Jim’s brother, who knew Luke.

Mr. Henry invited the two to walk with him down his field path to John Henry’s store.  Mr. Jim and Luke had made their plans for the first working day coming up! Now they were going to enjoy being with friends until the sun went down. Some had come to the store from Rochelle and Abbeville to counter Mr. Jim in checkers games. Luke was viewing the men coming and going from the checkers table and thought, Mr. Jim is a professional-laughing checkers player! The afternoon capped off, and Luke told Mr. Jim he was heading for home. But as he was leaving the store, he related to Mr. Jim, I’ll see you at sun-up Monday morning! The checker-playing man in his own dialect replied, Yeh-sir, thank you fellow! Then everybody wanted to know what they were up to.  Mr. Jim told them laughing, I am divorcing Ethel, and he’s gonna be my cook...if you want to know!

Luke was walking by Mr. Oral Blackstock’s place right before the hill-climb to his home. Mr. Oral and Miss Sara were turning their front porch rockers to lean against the wall of house for the night. They caught Luke out of the corner of their eyes, and Miss Sara said, Luke, be over here about ten thirty in the morning. We will let you ride with us to church at ‘good ole Pleasant Grove,’ my late mother’s church! Luke obligingly remarked, Thank you Miss Sara! I want to tell you I’m going to work for your brother Jim Monday morning to help him because he’s got two boys off to war! Miss Sara in her mild manner told Luke, Now you know my brother Jimmy is a fun person; I just hope the grass don’t eat up his crops! Laughing loudly, Miss Sara went into the house...still telling Luke about church.

Luke was now close to his front door, and Shag, his half-collie dog, ran to him. Shag followed Luke as he opened the front door. Luke locked his house every time he left the homestead. Luke wondered into the two-room house with its small lean-to for the kitchen. Then, Shag stayed on Luke’s heels and followed him to the northeast corner of his so-called combination den and dining room. Then the dog backed off. He watched Luke push a four-foot- long bookcase to the side and remove a shag rug. Then Luke pulled on a wooden handle and lifted it high—it exposed a set of stairs going straight down. The stairs led to an open room about eight by eight with a small bed, chair, reading table, and a kerosene lamp. Luke struck a match, lit the lamp, and to anyone besides Shag and Luke, this would be a big, big surprise! Luke inherited the place from his Uncle Gene after his death six years ago. It was just a house then, and it had no cellar to be seen anywhere on that sad occasion. Luke sat down at the desk and grabbed his book, and thinking back, he turned to page 113 in the March 1941 issue of National Geographic, given to him one morning by his principal, Mr. Leonard Brown, as he walked into the Owensboro school to begin the next to the last day before the Christmas break. Mr. Leonard had approached Luke that morning saying, Son, there is an article in this book that will stimulate your mind and possibly get rid of the weather fears for you! Mr. Brown further related, Just as quick as I saw the article, I knew it was for you...I know about your minor problem with the weather, about the storm clouds and wind! Luke was so grateful for Mr. Leonard thinking of him, and he was so appreciative that someone knew he had a problem and wanted to help! In reality, Mr. Leonard had promised Mr. Gene he would handle Luke’s inheritance and be his guardian! Luke slid over and relaxed on his bed, thinking back to the day he read the article concerning people in Mississippi and Arkansas beginning to build storm shelters to protect their families! Further into the article, many different ideas were relative to the reader, and he noticed these two states were an avenue for high winds and tornadoes. Luke absorbed all he could gather because he was pondering where to locate his pit.  He knew he wanted to be quiet about the effort because people might label him as a scaredy-cat boy, and further on, they might want to join him for their own protection for their families being afraid of bad weather!

Luke remembered the point: I am sitting in my own storm shelter. Luke went back in all his memories to put the beginning with the end! Luke was the only heir to Uncle Gene; he was left a small sum to tide him over until he could reasonably locate a job, whether he finished school or not. Luke was an avid reader in school thanks to Mr. Leonard and others. Luke patterned his haven to be an eight by eight with a hideaway hinged opening. He was deliberate in putting things in order when he began. Soon every area came to the point of beginning. Luke made his start in the northeastern corner of his living area, putting the hatch door in an inconspicuous area, that being under his slide-away bookcase! Luke was seeking a safe spot when the storms of the night might come while he was relaxing in bed. He kept thinking that his house could be swept away in the dark, and he was almost paranoid about the idea of it; he wanted to have safety at night when he could not do anything else otherwise. So his mind was set, and he worked on his project about three hours each evening. He didn’t let his project replace any of his study! On some occasions he carried the soil out in his water bucket; other times he would carry it in a flour sack, always being inconspicuous as the work progressed!

Sunday morning came, and he was approaching the Blackstock’s home as time marched close for their departure time for church services. The family was excited to be able to help the young man worship. Luke enjoyed the ride, and he was looking forward to visiting with the church people. The services were about to begin as people gathered in the slatted wooden pews!  Mr. Oral went over into the amen corner where the deacons sat so they could chatter an amen when the words were Biblical...no words would be said when the preacher countered their miss-behaving because they called that meddling! This Sunday the church was having dinner on the grounds with a singing convention to follow. Luke was kind of picky on the food deal. He somehow managed to enjoy the singing and music with people he knew, and honorably singing were Walt Cornell, Elmer Whittle, Cauley Land, and Marie Brown. Many stayed to be led in song by these folk from what they called a Singing Convention Book. Mr. George Covington was sitting by the north window with his spit cup sitting in the window sill, but he was rattling the bass notes. What an afternoon for Luke!

Luke was happy as he walked in his front door. Mr. Leonard kept Luke in all sorts of reading material, but his preference was National Geographic. This month many pages were written concerning the fishing in and around Savannah, Georgia. Shrimping was a big deal as well as oysters, but what caught his eye was the northern executives who came to the town in the fall to fish for swordfish. All this was intriguing for Luke! The young man left his magazine open to the article concerning Savannah fishing. Luke realized he had to hit the bed because tomorrow was a big day for him with the possibility of earning the first wages in his young life.  He had no conceivable idea what Mr. Jim had in store for him!

Luke was using his regular bed this night, and there had been no reports of undesirable weather coming near this part of Wilcox County. It was the second week in May, and school was out for the summer, and young boys and girls were now free to help out on the local farms. He had prepared his coffee pot so he could heat it up the next morning by lighting a