The following day, they finished reaping the corn and worked on putting it up for the winter. The girls did more canning while Lucy worked on sewing school clothes for the kids. Pa came in and started talking to Lucy while she sewed on the old sewing machine, operated by a foot peddle . “Well, the boys have seen Steve several times today, hiding in different places, spying on them. The last time we seen him he was heading off down toward town. So since he is gone, I figure it is the time for me and the boys to go up to the hunting cabin. Could you please get food together for the next few days? Will you be ok if I take the three boys?”
Lucy replied, “I’ll be glad to and yes, you can take the boys.” She prepared the food for her boys and made sure they took warm sleeping supplies. Pa put gas in the car and took 2 big burlap sacks of cracked corn they had taken off of the cob and dried, as well as their food. Carl brought tools for splitting logs to make the bunk beds and oats for making mash to seal their boiler on the still. John brought rope for hoisting the roof onto the cabin and a rope for putting the food up in a tree. Timmy finished up chores for the day and they were off.
Meanwhile, Steve had only gone a short distance down the hill where his car was hidden behind some trees and was sitting in it, still keeping an eye on the Higgins’ place, wondering what to do next. “Hmm, it looks like they are packing up the car for something. Are they going into town?” He watched until the guys started up the car and took off. When they left the driveway, they turned uphill instead of toward town. Steve watched as their car left a steady stream of smoke trailing behind them. “Obviously their old car is burning oil. They better have a lot of oil with them, or they are not going to make it very far. Hey, wait a minute. I can follow them and they won’t even know because I can just follow their smoke trail! What a stroke of luck! The only thing better than this is if they are headed to the place where they make their moonshine!”
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Lucy was outside hanging some clothes on the line when she saw an unfamiliar car drive past. “You know, the man driving looks like the revenooer guy. How odd. Oh, no, he is follerin my boys! I have no way to let them know and they think he done went to town and have no idea he is follerin them! Lands sakes!” She went into the house and asked Karen and Hattie to pray with her for God’s protection and safety for her boys.
The boys got to the huntin cabin and put their supplies away and decided to build a fire outside to cook their supper and get an early start in the morning. A squirrel sat in the tree next to them, chittering away. When they opened the door to the cabin, a possum ran out. Pa laughed and said, “Well Mr. Possum, you won’t get stuck in there anymore because we’re goin to build a roof on the cabin!
Meanwhile, our revenooer had watched closely to see when the trail of smoke from the car would stop because he wanted to stop before he got to where the boys were goin so they wouldn’t know he had followed them. He saw the trail of smoke turn and decided to cut his engine and hide the car. He got out and walked until he could see their little cabin and the campfire. Steve went back and camped in his car for the night.
The next morning, after breakfast, John and Carl got started splitting logs for the bunk beds and framing them on the walls of the cabin, while Earl and Timmy took the bags of corn up the mountain to the still site. Steve had quietly walked up close to the cabin, still out of sight and caught a glimpse of Earl and Timmy headed toward the still. He followed them, thinking, “I am glad I studied with a Cherokee guide for a couple of years; it sure is coming in handy about now.” He was able to walk with nary a sound, avoidin twigs and rocks. He stayed back from them and hidden in the tall grasses and brush and was real keerful not to lose sight of them.