There was quite a stir going on at Mister Autrey’s when we emerged from the woods, and before we got barely clear of them, we were surrounded by anxious and caring faces.
Of course there was Uncle Curvin and Mister Autrey, but there was also a gentleman who turned out to be Sister Gal’s Uncle Marvin, the one she had mentioned right after she helped us get out of the panther pit.
“You all right, Sister Gal?” he asked with deep concern in his voice.
“Yes, sir, me and everybody else here is fine as frog hair,” Sister Gal quipped, immediately putting everyone at ease.
Uncle Curvin was standing next to a deputy sheriff who was holding the leash to the collar tied around a big red bloodhound dog’s fat neck.
“We was fixin’ to come in there looking for y’all,” he said. “Y’all told us you would be back by noon today, and it’s nigh onto dark,” he scolded. “Did y’all get so busy squirrel hunting that you forgot?”
“Uh, no, sir,” I told him. “We just run into some, uh, situations that kept us from getting back on time.”
Suddenly I noticed that mine and Poudlum’s lawyer and benefactor, Mister Alfred Jackson, Esquire, was standing behind my uncle. He stepped around to Uncle Curvin’s side, and said, “I can’t wait to hear this story!”
“They is some things we need to talk to you about, Mister Jackson,” I said.
“Not as pressing as when you and Poudlum first came off the Tombigbee this spring, I trust?”
“No, sir, not quite, but we did get kidnapped, Miss Lucretia got robbed, and the last we saw of the . . .”
Bedlam broke out before I could finish my sentence and everybody began talking at once. Questions were coming from all sides and I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.
Old Bill and Rip weren’t excited. They were easing up on the bloodhound, and he had laid his ears back and bared his teeth. “Y’all better call off your dawgs!” the deputy called out over the barking of all three dogs.
Poudlum and I called the dogs back to our sides and Mister Jackson restored order when he shouted, “Everybody just hold on a minute and let the boys talk, please!”
When it quieted down, Mister Jackson continued, “Now, just who are y’all accusing fo’ kidnapping and robbery?”
Poudlum spoke up before I could, and said, “It was Cudjoe Lewis!”
“I knowed it! I knowed it!” Sister Gal’s Uncle Marvin said.
Mister Jackson motioned for quiet with his hands, and said, “Ted, you was about to mention the last y’all saw of him?”
I shortened the day’s events as best I could and ended with when we had last seen Cudjoe running off toward the main highway.
Mister Jackson took action immediately by taking the deputy aside, and after a short conversation with him, dispatched him off in pursuit of Cudjoe. As he was departing, his bloodhound gave Old Bill a menacing growl, which my dog readily returned.
It was about then when I noticed everyone staring at Miss Lucretia. Poudlum noticed it, too, and said, “This is Miss Lucretia. She’s been mighty good to us, and she’s moving out of these woods and going back home.”
I thought about what Poudlum had just said, and knew that she had been good to us after she had determined we weren’t a threat to her. Little did I know how really good to us she would be.
Mister Autrey broke the awkward moment, “Why don’t we all move on toward the house? My cook ought to be having some supper on the table in a little bit.”
We had time to sit around the dining room table with all the men and talk a while before supper was served, and by the time Sister Gal and Miss Lucretia made their entrance, we had related all the details of the past five days.
Everything got quiet when the two of them walked into the room, and for good reason, too. It was Miss Lucretia’s appearance that astounded us. Evidently Sister Gal had taken a pair of scissors to her wild hair and cropped it off to a point where it was shaped very nicely around her head. The absence of all that hair made her bright eyes even more profound.
She had exchanged her shapeless flour sack dress for a light blue cotton one, and I was amazed at the change in her. She looked more like one of Poudlum’s aunts than a voodoo queen.
Poudlum was the first one to recover. “Don’t you look nice, Miss Lucretia,” he said as he got to his feet and pulled out two empty chairs from the table for her and Sister Gal.
There wasn’t much time for talk after that because as soon as they sat down Mister Autrey’s cook set a big platter of fried pork chops on the table. Before we could get them passed around she was back with hot biscuits and steaming vegetables.
Between mouthfuls Poudlum looked at Miss Lucretia, and said, “Didn’t have to wait as long as you thought to get you a pork chop, did you?”
She hadn’t had much to say up until now, but as she gazed across the table at Poudlum and me with moist eyes, she said, “I wants everybody to know dese two boys done been my salvation. And I’s thankful for Sister Gal and Cousin Marvin for coming to get me.”
I thought she was going to choke up after that, but she composed herself, and said, “And I shore does ’preciate yo’ hospitality, Mister Autrey.”
After that, everyone just kept eating and grinning between bites. And while the table was being cleared, it was decided that Miss Lucretia, Sister Gal, and her Uncle Marvin would spend the night and head on back down toward Mobile in the morning.
While everyone was enjoying a slice of blueberry pie, I saw Miss Lucretia lean over and whisper into Sister Gal’s ear. And as soon as Sister Gal took her last bite of pie, she got up and left the table. Momentarily she returned with the pouch of gold and set it on the table.
Things got quiet again while Miss Lucretia untied the drawstring and dumped the coins out on the table. They made a clinking sound as they turned into a glittering pile in front of her.
Everyone’s eyes bugged out, that is, everyone’s except mine, Poudlum’s, and Sister Gal’s. Even Mister Jackson was stunned as he picked one up and began to examine it.
“You think they worth much, sir?” Miss Lucretia asked him.
“They 171 years old,” Poudlum interjected.
“Are they all the same?” Mister Jackson asked as he adjusted his spectacles.
“Yes, sir,” Miss Lucretia replied.
“How many of them are there?”
“Dey is forty-eight of ’em.”
“Now, mind you, I’m not an expert,” Mister Jackson said. “But these are Spanish gold doubloons. I would speculate these coins are worth a small fortune, enough to sustain you from now on.”
Everything seemed right that night. Me and Poudlum had returned without any great harm to us, Miss Lucretia was returning to the world, Mister Jackson had a new client, and Sister Gal had accomplished her mission.
Mister Jackson departed late that night, but he was back before everyone left the next morning. He brought Miss Lucretia some cash and a check to last her until he could convert some of her coins into modern-day money. In the meantime he had placed them in a safe deposit box at the bank and given her a receipt.
He also brought word that Cudjoe had evaded the deputy and got away clean after the rain had washed away his trail. However, he also told us the law had issued an arrest warrant for him, charging him with kidnapping, armed robbery, and various other charges, and he was now a fugitive.
Everyone was out in the yard at Mister Autrey’s as Sister Gal, her Uncle Marvin, and Miss Lucretia were loading up for their trip home. Miss Lucretia and Sister Gal both promised Poudlum they would come back soon and go to church with him. And Poudlum and I, once again, promised to visit.
Miss Lucretia looked like she wanted to say something to me and Poudlum just before she departed, but she didn’t. Instead, she gave us a knowing look with her sharp, dark eyes, reached out and squeezed our hands, and then she was gone.
I felt kind of sad as their vehicle disappeared down the road, but the spell was broken when Mister Jackson called me and Poudlum aside, and said, “I’ve got two pieces of news for you boys.”
We were shocked when he told us Miss Lucretia had left each of us ten of her gold coins, and that their worth would more than double our holdings that he managed.
The other piece of news was more formidable. He told us he had received word that Mister Kim’s murder trial would be getting under way in two weeks, and that we would both be summoned as eyewitnesses to testify for the state. He must have observed the concern on our faces, for he assured us he would accompany to court and stay with us the entire time.
After he departed, Uncle Curvin was chomping at the bit to get to his peanut field, and he encouraged us to load up our dogs and camping equipment.
Once everything, including Old Bill and Rip, was secure on the back of his truck, we said our goodbyes to Mister Autrey, who assured us we were welcome to hunt on his land anytime we pleased.
Poudlum was in the middle and I had the window seat as we cruised down Highway 84 toward Coffeeville and Center Point.
I hung my head out the window and looked back to check on the dogs. They liked to ride, and Old Bill had his head over the side with the wind blowing full in his face. His ears were flapping in the stiff breeze and his lips were blown back so that it looked like he was actually grinning.
I looked over toward Poudlum and he was grinning. I supposed it was because Sister Gal had promised to come see him.
Past him, Uncle Curvin had a toothless grin on his face. I supposed it was because he was heading toward home and his peanut field.
I felt myself breaking out into a grin, and I supposed it was because all my friends were grinning, and that probably everybody in Alabama was grinning, except maybe Cudjoe and Mister Kim.