The Ozark Plantation, in: Warehouse on Fire (1804))Series #3/#4))

Series #3
The Ozark Plantation, in:

Warehouse on Fire
(1804) #4 (3-6-2007)



“You sees wha’ I mean,” Mammy Mae said, “can yous imagine any woman livin’ wit dat dare man?” She hesitated, then added, “…well, now can you?” Young Charles smiled looking up at her in the kitchen; Shep was pacing the floor in the living room talking to Mr. Ritt, the banker from Ozark who was drinking a beer as Shep listened to his proposal.
Said Mr. Ritt in a calm but stern voice, “If we don’t work together on this, you’ll be working alone.”
“What,” said Hightower.
“Unaided…” added Ritt.
A hauntingness came over Shep Hightower’s face, he needed to build a fence around his property, lest the sheep, and cattle, dogs and wolfs, strange and wild mustangs, horses from other plantations, and invaders, gypsies remain on it when he was gone, and they were coming, at all different times now of the year, and the Negros wouldn’t tell them to go unless he was there.

(It was a time the whole countryside was filling up with profiteers, the sheriff couldn’t make the law stick to the hides of everyone, and often by the time he got to the issue, with a neighbor, or stranger, someone was dead, and it didn’t matter anymore, the issue was settled, and all knew this, collateral damage, or whatever you want to call it, it kept your land safe by acting quick, and that was ok with most of the plantation owners, and the sheriff. Much of the land they had in many cases was not registered legally anyhow, and thus, void of taxes, yet used by the farmers, or plantation owners, and when they went to register it, they often found to their dismay, they were a day or week too late; and so little land wars prevailed throughout this area.)

—Shep built a warehouse and loaded all the lumber he could put his hands on, in it, along with wire for a fence to circle his property—borrowed the money from the bank, in the process he cursed quietly, the following months at the entire Negro crew. He even had them work at night with lanterns.
One night he decided not to go back to the warehouse, to insure all was locked up as he usually did, he had left early that evening, and expected the two Negros that usually slept in the warehouse to do as usual to sleep there again, crowbar the door from inside, and have another lock it from the outside until morning, when one would open it up from the outside, and unbar it from the inside. The lanterns were kept inside the warehouse like all the tools used for making the fence.
Hightower was with J. Ritt, in town, it was Saturday night, and he had a few drinks. Ritt told him to go on home, make sure the Negros had everything in place. But Shep remained at the saloon, and slept it off at Ritt’s place down the road from the bank. It was at 2:00 AM he was waked up by Sheriff Smiley, a brother to Hightower’s neighbor, Sheriff Stan Smiley, he said in no kind voice, “Dem there blackies dune burned your warehouse to the ground Mr. Hightower!” Hightower shaking his head every which way got his horse saddled and high-tailed it to his plantation, only to find it burnt almost to the ground, ablaze from the wood inside was still producing some clouds of smoke.

(Monday at the Bank) “Alright, Alright,” Shep told Ritt, “you were right I should have stayed at home Saturday night, I suppose one of the crew laid a lantern lit in the warehouse when they were locking up, but they said they didn’t, no one remembering who did what, an accident, but I’ll ask Mammy Mae, she’ll tell me the truth, she’s on my side.”
When Shep got back to the plantation Monday evening he asked Mammy Mae if she knew anything about it, but she wouldn’t, say a ward, just said she didn’t hear or know a thing, though everything was fine, until someone came running saying, “Fire, fire…!” that is all she said, all she knew, all she said she knew anyway, who did it she said she didn’t know because she was in bed; how could she say anything, the horse doesn’t bit the hand that feeds them.