Free Billy by Albert French Page B

Good Lord Jesus ,
    please don't hurt that child no more."
    Sheriff Tom comes to the edge of the porch, watches the older woman run to the side of the woman he just knocked off the porch. Then he comes down the steps and slowly walks to where Cinder la ys, then stops and just stares. Cinder pushes herself up, pushes Katey away, and throws her eyes back into the sheriff's face. Her hair hangs over h er c heeks. blood seeps from her lip and nose, the skin on her cheekbone is scraped raw, but s h e s till stares.
    Sheriff Tom steps back, glances at the ground, then throws his head ba c k up and mumbl es, "l'm goin get t hat boy, ] t e ll you that."
    He leaves.
    Cinder's eyes follow him down through the Patch paths. She is silent.

    4

    Fred Sneed spent most of the time he figured he had left just sittin. Most of the time, town folks could find him sitting out front of the Rasey Gray, that little diner down on Front Street across from Macky's store and Mister Warden's place. Fred was known for his sittin, and was pretty good with them checkers if he could find somebody to play him. This Satur day was about same as most for Fred, the hot sun felt good on his old bones. His sittin buddies, the rest of them Banes old men that could talk your ear off, were inside the Rasey Gray. Fred told them he be in, in just a bit, wanted to sit awhile. Fred liked watching things, watching and figuring who was goin where and who was doin what. Fred started scratchin the side of his head a little, spit some tobacco out,

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    66 I Albert Fre 11 ch

    and watched Evan Dorman bring Mister War    shop asking, "How she doing? She gonna be all right?" "Couldn't do nothing for her. She was gone when I got
    there."
    "My God, Henry, she's dead? She wasn't bu t a ch ild." "Looked like that knife got in there just far enough." "My God, Henry."
    "Folks out there ain ' t taking it too good, barely holdin up." "I heard it was two n iggers, off the tracks."
    "It ain't looki ng that way now."
    "What ya mean, Henry?"
    "Sheriff thin ks it some Patch boys."
    "Can't have these ki nd of \vay s sta11in up .. no sir.'"
    "Sheriff out t here at the Patch now, lookin for em."
    Matt Woodson came into town and wen t right down to Dillion Street, pulled his tru ck up beh ind Jack's place and went in the back door. Judy Fremont came over to him. H e leaned over to kiss h er, but she lowered her head.
    "What's wrong, don ' t ya want my ki sses anymore?" Matt teased.
    B I L L y I 67

    "Red Pasko's little girl Lori been killed." "What?"
    " He was in here when they come for him. Niggers did it." Harvey Jakes sat behind his desk. His week was over and another paper was out, not a bad one either. He sat reading over it, looking for them mispri nted words he may have missed; so far it was pretty clean. Harvey Jakes, the editor and publisher of the Banes County Times, started publishing back in 1926. The staff had gone home, this was his time to reflect on the entire week. Harvey was in his late thirties, well dressed, still lived around the corner with his mother. Harvey's secretary and typist, Helen Marks, was probably the prettiest girl i n town, or, if not, she had the longest legs. When she came running back into the office, Harvey couldn't help but keep his eyes on her skirt flying up over her