Home Distiller

Unknown to Marcel, Ester Ann his hotel house keeper was Jed's sister in law, over heard the FBI guys planning on how they were gonn get back at Jed. At the end of her shift she hightailed it up to pogasa spring and warned Jed. After telling Butch what Ester told him they decided that jed should goto their uncle Coyote up it Rye Holler. Now Coyote live in a little meadow up at the head waters of Whisky Run that ran through Rye Holler. The only way to get there was a three day horse ride. There was no modern conveniences with in miles of the place. Butch figured that if Jed was truly willing to return to his roots this was the way to find out. Now jed not having a horse of his own had to borrow one of butch's. The only one that butch could spare was a walkaloosa mule came outta Butch's prize endurance race mare. The sire was Janitor's mongrel donkey jack that got out of the barn one night. Butch told jed shown to get to coyote's place and sent him on his way with a letter that explained what was going on back in the springs.

With three of the FBI's sodomites locked up securely in Pagosa Springs local lockdown, the rumours of their SSA handlers holed up down the road in Ledbetter's fleabag hotel had drawn the attention of some of the reporters that had been gathering around the courthouse.
All the rooms in the springs were full up, so on hearing that one of the locals daughter's, SSA Hazel Williams was heading the charge to get their men out of the hoosgow, a car full of reporters had rented a car from one of the locals for the night. Ledbetter, Not knowing that they was reporters had inadvertantly given them the room right beside the Fed's base of operations.
When the reporters had set up their own rooms and called in back to the national desks at their newspapers, all four of them had gathered in Wooteck's room.
"My boss back in Scotland is right chuffed with this story lads!" eck had landed the best job -foreign corrospondant- at the top newspaper in Edinborough.
His father, a well seated politician, had seen to it his only son had travelled to the USA to make his mark in the media industry.
"Eck you got any of that fine Scotch whiskey left?" enquired Phil
"Hush Lad! Eck exhaled through a clenched jaw "Listen to this!"
through the paper thin walls, the reporters realized they could hear every word that the FBI supervisors were speaking in the next room.
"yes sir" "No, No sir" "i do not beleive that to be the case sir" Hazel's voice was only slightly muffled though the wallpaper. Sly grins spread across the faces of all present in the reporter's room.
"and to think we were hoping for a quote boys" Eck said in a quiet voice... "this will get us a Pulitzer!" "right here, right now, we all swear that we write it first, and we all submit the same time, sharing the Byline." Eck explained while pouring out some shots into the smudged bathroom glasses on the table.
Aye?
"aye, aye, aye." they said and raised a glass to their good fortune.
"we will take shifts here then, and share all. My contact, GA, back in Pagosa Springs said he will be able to get a seat in the courtroom no matter what.... and he will be giving me a play by play on the judges comments if i can't get in. He says that the federal judge can pontificate at length so it's sure to be entertaining!" Eck asked for their commitments once again, and four ayes went up with four dirty glasses and the reporters bond was set when their cups were drained.

Mean while Corene had gone to her mountain sanctuary un aware of what was going on in town with the revenuers and Jed. She needed to think about the pickle that they were all in and there was no better place than this. Although she was feeling a little down she knew it would soon pass.

Intermission time. This is the setting I picture when thinking about this story. I would love to have a little cabin on the other bank
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr6_Y-ylp9E" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Yep , Corene ,that will work fine . I will get back in the saddle on this novella soon as I get lined up with some problems happening here in my real life .

On her hike home Corene's mind started to clear up, Damn , she hated when those depressions hit hard like that , but she could feel her will coming back to her. She knew she had to get back to town and get the society together for a meeting on how to get this problem taken care of. She knew they couldn't just take these feds to the hills and bury them somewhere. They would need to scare them so bad that they would leave without ever wanting to come back . Jed could not be included in the plan . If it failed he could be blamed for leaking information to the feds ruining his credibility among locals. He could be used to draw them feds into a trap though. Problem was , sometimes the bait doesn't fare so well. They needed to work together on this. She also started to realize that this wasn't caused entirely by her actions alone and could not be fixed by her actions alone either!

Phil took first shift eavesdropping on the feds. Eck and the other two reporters had gone to seach oput a late lunch. No sooner had the door closed behind them Phil heard the phone jangle.
"SSA Wlliams here" came through the wall. Phil could picture this woman. Pretty but with her severe features, the crease at her brow was obvious...like she was concentrating a bit too hard. slightly down turned lips, almost disapproval, not quite pissed off. Very much a middle school teacher with far to many years on the job for such a young woman, her pinched look capped off with tightly pulled back brunette hair in a firm bun. not a hair out of place.
"Holy shit sir!"
"Yes sir, we are leaving now"
The phone hit the cradle with a crack. If it wasn't for the wall, that coulda hurt my ear Phil thought.
"Adams, lets hit it! there was a fire outside the courthouse in Pagosa Springs! SSA Williams said sharply. "One of these friggin hillbillies bypassed the exhaust on his truck and it caught fire to a barrell a pine rosin in the box!" "goddamn near burned the courthouse down!"
the door slammed and few seconds later Phil could hear the tires crunching and spitting up gravel in the motel parking lot before squeeling out and grabbing purchase on the asphalt highway leading up to the springs.
Phil ran for the door and spilling out to the parking lot he was reminded that the four of them had arrived in a rented Buick.
"Fuck" Phil spun and punched the newel post supporting the shed roof on the motel.

sorry. had to change out a jar.

A few minutes later Eck and the other two guys rounded the entrance to the parking lot in the Buick Happily munching down a burger.
Pulling up beside beside Phil with the window down, Eck said "what the fuck man? you are supposed to be outta sight!"
"don't sweat it "replied Phil as he made his way to the back door of the Buick. "they're gone."
As the door slammed home Phil relayed the conversation he had overheard and the Buick was tearing out of the parking lot, turning north to Pagosa Springs.
There wasn't much to talk about on the short ride back to the springs, Eck had aired out that Buick, tearing up the 10 mile stretch of brand new interstate at 75 per.
"say what you want about the war" said Phil, "these highways were the best make work project the gooberment ever came up with"

As the Reporters pulled into Pagosa they could plainly see a feww blocks down main street that every vehicle with flashing lights for at least 60 miles around was present. As were every resident of town and no small contingent of the rural population. At least the ones that didn't have to milk cows at 5 pm anyway.

the reporters waded into the fray to learn what they could. the smell of burnt chicken feathers hung in the air and Phil wretched as he turned the corner of the courthouse. Taking in the scene of the smoking Elm tree with the body suspended from a hangman's noose was surreal and took Phil back to a time seared into his memory; southern Mississippi when he was a lad of of 4 or 5 year, a vagrant "rod rider" had been caught dead to rights raping a townsgirl. They had strung him up before any lawman knew what was what had him tarred, feathered and whipped to within an inch of his life and as a coup d gras, lit that sorry motherfucker up to put put him out of his misery.


damn, jar change agin.

Eck grabbed up his compadre and said "Phil you gonna be alright lad?" the sight, combined with the smell had thrown Phil harder than even he had realized. coming up from the ground with Eck's assistance, he scraped his shoulder up the rough parging on the courthouse corner.
"yeah man" Phil coughed, "The smell of those feathers just grabbed me." as he wiped the spit from his mouth with his shirtsleeve.
"Is, is that... Phil stammered... he looked a bit green as he pointed to the hanging man.
"Nah man. thats just a dummy" "they had an effigy hanging there, using it for a pinata, and when that Chevy lit up, the whole fucking lot of it went up!" said Eck.

The FBI had gathered around their mobile comand centre, a brand new 1953 Ford panel van painted government black, with the obvious "MOBILE COMMAND" stencilled on the side. The Gmen milled about looking all official, while not really doing anything at the same time. The other reporters seemed somewhat intimidated by the feds, but Phil and Eck, emboldened by the scene on the side lawn walked over to the FBI's command.
One of the Gmen walked up to the barracade, puffing his chest "can i help you sirs?" he asked.

damn jar. be right back.

The boys flashed their press creds and looking over the grunts shoulder, Phil shouted out "Ms. Williams! a word?"
SSA Williams strode over to the barricade and said "excuse me? "how do you know my name?" she asked.
uh...uh... um, one of the locals suggested i ask for you... "can you offer a statement on the FBI's position here?"
"as on on going investigation, we cannot make a statement at this time." replied Williams.

"What investigation is that Ms Williams?" countered Phil "the circuit court judge is an eyewitness to the filth your people were upto. I don't think there is much left to investigate!!" he said incredulously.
"have you nothing to say? asked Eck.
"no comment" countered SSA Wiulliams " we will have to wait for court tomorrow."

The boys turned, and Eck said "damn, Phil I HAVE to get into that courtroom tomorrow. If not, my career as a writer will be shot if GA can't give us the inside scoop on the case!!"

corene1 wrote:Intermission time. This is the setting I picture when thinking about this story. I would love to have a little cabin on the other bank
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr6_Y-ylp9E" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

that boy does some fine pickin' and a grinnin'

Meanwhile, T-Pee had been winding his way back down from his spying duties up in the hills where ole truckinbutch had sent him and nobody had been keeping an eye on him since. Once back in town with all the commotion going on down the block and all the reporters, editors and copyright guys covering the event, he figured that The Springs' offices were empty and a bit more s***stirring was in order. "Hmmm. I wonder if that back door is unlocked?" he thought. He tried the knob and sure enough the door popped open. Having brought the stack of pictures he'd quietly taken while on stakeout he located the copy for the next day's paper still on the head editor's desk and snuck the juiciest ones in amongst the rest of the story. "That should slam the door on 'em" and making sure the coast was clear slipped back out the door and closed it behind him.

Mr. Flatwoods had taken the day to hold parlance with hisself, up at the top of the ravine. Moose had been kind enough to load the secondary fermenters so GA had this opportunity to relax with a small fire and enjoy the music of the still roiling away gently. No need for any heavy lifting, no more so that the weight bearing down on GA's mind, where this twisted tale would lead to next.
GA thought to take a walk down to the creek and throw his line in, not because there were any fish in the small stream, but because fishing cleared his mind and allowed for skillful planning of the next move.
He was concerned for Corene, she had seemed a bit regretful from forming the posse to lay into the revenuers, although that particular foray into the woods had been stymied by the feds being redirected up the north road by Butch, who on short notice, had masterfully manufactured a subterfuge about the Alumistill not only to redirect the feds away from the ravine but also in hopes of getting that eyesore finally removed from the valley.
It also occured to GA that Jed's removal to parts unknown would be met with some irritation by the state's attorney who would be, almost certainly, looking to call him as witness in the trial against his three imprisoned (ex) coworkers.
The trial tomorrow had him confronted. There was no doubt that the revenuers were, collectively, some sorry sons-a-bitches. The addition of a few previously contrived facts, and some slight modifications to reality and a couple of manufactured photographs...these feds could be facing some real prison time.
"Fuck em" thought GA as he kicked some dirt onto the fire.
"they done worse, to better themselves." he said aloud to no one in particular.
Decisions made, GA grabbed his rod and reel and made his way back up the bank and headed for home.

As Corene rounded one of the big rock piles she had to get around to get home she heard an unfamiliar noise in the distance, Not many horses around here she thought, maybe someone was doing some snooping around, she had to find out who it was. She instinctively went into stealth mode and began tracking the person, low and behold there was Jed on an old half breed mule slogging through the hardwoods . Jed was startled when Corene slipped out in front of him and brought him to a stop. Where did you come from? You scared the shit out of me , Again! They stopped and talked about what was going on down in Pagosa Springs. She was amazed at all she had missed while she had been up to her little sanctuary. Jed is on the PD now, going up to Coyotes to lay low because the 3 feds were plotting some type of revenge on him for not standing up for them. There were Secret Service Agents holed up at the Notel motel doing an investigation , along with an army of reporters. This is getting way out of hand, what else could happen in their little backwoods town. Little did she know , Big Bob was rushing through the setup for the daily paper and didn't notice the pictures TPee had snuck in and set up in the second page of the paper, unknowingly adding a little more fuel to the fire. She told Jed to stay on the trail and be a little more observant on his way to Coyotes, and she was going to find Flatwoods and get a meeting set up for the society. This little prank is going to wind up getting someone hurt real bad or even worse.

The courtroom was packed and for an Autumn morning it was warm as an Indian Summer day could be for that time of the day. The courthouse was old and of Federalist styling only having had ceiling fans added some years back. The windows were all open and the placed was packed.
"All rise for the Honorable Judge Rad!" . An immediate silence befell the room and Judge Rad came in and sat down. Everyone was seated.
The judge looked at at the crowd in amazement of the number of folks. Reaching into his robe, he produced a newspaper and a Colt 45 and put both on the stand for all to see. "Bailiff, bring in the prisoners!" As the were led in the crowd started to make boos and call names to the men. Rad picked up the pistol and pointed it at the crowd! " The first damn one of ya that makes a move in my coutroom will be personally be shot by me, NOW COME TO ORDER OR REMOVE YOURSELVES NOW !" The room drew silent immediately.
"I see in this mornings paper pictures the should not have been printed. However I will be talking to the editor about that. Everone started to look to see who else had a paper. The purpose of the hearing this morning is to determine just cause for an indictment and to set bail. I am going to make this short and sweet. I find that there is probable cause for an indictment and there shallbe NO BOND SET! Remove the prisoners bailiff! Court dismissed!"
With that the prisoners were escorted out and Judge Rad looked at his gun while they paraded past! As the left the room he too exited the courtroom.

SSA Williams too had a copy of the morning paper in her hand and also had a big smile on her face. Since these pictures had been published in the paper they would not be admissible as evidence. It would also make it impossible for her fellow agents to get a fair trial since the entire community would be jaded and that would give her cause to call for a new venue.

Corene was looking for members of the society that were in attendance and one by one went to them and gave the secret hand signal for a meeting that evening hoping that they could figure a way to settle this dilemma without any harm befalling any of the locals and keeping the Feds out of their county. She was already missing the nice country pace of life that she was so accustomed to. Ashe walk from person to person her mind was racing, What can we do , maybe we should have just buried them in the hills. No that would just bring in more feds. Best thing we could have done is just give then bad directions and lay low for a while. A few days in the harsh side of the mountains would have taken the starch righ tout of their collars and they would have left without a bit of evidence. To late now the ball was rolling!

EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA
THE PAGOSA SPRING
Judge holds agents without bail... Agent supervisor sure they will be released... Citizens in uproar!

Judge Rad ordered the arrested agents to be held without bond. In a packed courtroom yesterday with foreign correspondents in attendance, the agents accused of ' Gross Deriliction of Duty' were held without bond . Their supervisor told the SPRINGS REPORTER that further review of the case will release the prisoners with no charges. The local citizens were very upset. A effigy of the agents was hung in a tree at the court. citizens at still site

In other news a man in Muckalee Creek said that a monkey in a cowboy outfit stole his car keys. Any one who sees the monkey please be on the lookout for said keys.

Mean while still upset over the unspeakable acts reported to have happened SoMo and some of the other salt of the earth new those dirty bastards would get away with what they had done and turn their Gman ways on poor Jed and Possibly even Corene, as pretty as she was, she was meaner still.
In a fit if rage SoMo gathered the other farmers loaded a wagon and hitched Prairies prized Missouri Mules, and to town they went 20#s of black powder home made, 300' of fuse and a plunger box, gonna be a big boom in Pagosa tonight. Fueled by the best batch of Booners a man couldn't buy they rode into the night, retribution on their minds and fire in their craw for justice can and will be served one way or another those Feds weren't coming out alive.
With a slight creak and a groan of old wood and canvas those mules plodded on through the darkness barely a sound to be made, the men said nary a word just passing that jug one to the next as minutes became miles on toward their goal, hoping Jed wasn't working the grave yard shift at the jail. He's the only decent man if the lot, maybe we should send Corene to warn him, maybe not. As they drew on closer and closer that pungent smell of city filled their noses and the lights of Pagosa shown through the darkness.

Corene continued her rounds finding as many of the society as possible and letting them know about the meeting that night. When she had found as many as she could she decided to wander on over to the meeting place. It was an old shed on the back side of Jimbo's place for tonight, They always moved it to different places for each meeting to keep from being found out. She hadn't slept much so she decided to go to the shed and relax for awhile. The inside of the shed was a marvelous place filled with all sorts of stilling equipment and musical instruments, Jimbo was a man of many talents and a true friend. She to had a little talent but never played in front of people. Jimbo had left his fiddle out on the counter, it was the strangest fiddle she had ever seen , eight strings and a long bow , but the sounds it could make were heavenly. He had let her play it a few times when he was the only one around, but it was nothing she could ever afford to have . He always spoke of getting a recording of her and showing it off but she had always avoided it ,so she thought , he could be pretty tricky at times. She looked at the old phonograph and right next to it she saw a record with her name on it. Just then Jimbo walked in he was going to get the place straightened up a bit before the others could arrive. What is this she asked? Well , Corene I snuck a recording of your fiddle playing just because I liked the song , I promise I wasn't going to share it without asking you first. Do want to hear it? Might as well , we have an hour or so before the others show up , and I might just have to get rid of it so you don't embarrass me in front of the others.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HypbLjcaWVY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Thats the fascinating thing about small towns; justice happens one way or another. Sometimes it just takes a little more circuitous route than othertimes. The S3 meeting tonite was big, and growing by the minute. Corene had made the rounds and was playing hostess tonite at Jimbo's Genny shed. The proprietor himself had been stranglely absent at the opening of the meeting, in fact no one but Cornene had seen him for a while.

Moose and Bearriver were among the first to arrive and had broken some very bad news to judge RAD.
"well, this just got outta hand real fast" said Moose, "i'd a come to you sooner today, but i been having some closing interviews with the college ball coaches, and seein's how the term lets in next week..well shit RAD, i had to take some time with these boys and make some decisions!"
Bearriver came to his buddy's aid saying " it was just a prank and we really didn't think SoMO would mind us all borrowin' and couple of jugs of sauce and a few hens, i'mean hell, RAD...we woulda made good on them!"
"How in hell did we know SoMO would be onto it before we could let him know? It's not like we wanted to wake him up at 4 in the morning and say..oh by the way we need to borrow 4 hens and a case of bourbon!"

Just then SoMO walked in and overhearing Bearriver he said rather thickly, "whaddya mean be onto it?" Wha' the hell you young pricks bin upto now?"
SoMO had been in the sauce and his three drinkin buddies that had made the wagon trip into town with him stumbled up, throwing an arm over SoMO'sa shoulder one of them slurred "Wha' the fuck SO, I thought we bee blowin some shit up tonite!"

That got RAD's attention. "boys, in the name of public safety, y'all need to pull up a stump here, and have a listen to to the young fellas they all got a little story to share with y'all."
Moose jumped in right away and said, "SoMO, we'll be replacin' them hens and whiskey, and to be sure we'll be makin it a generous return for your troubles!"
SoMO and his buddies sat down and he said "what in hell are you all goin' on about?

Judge RAD thought to himself, if people could drink in court we could get to the facts soooo much sooner!

Bearriver and Moose both jumped in at the same time their words running together and over each other "SoMO, we were with GA when he had the call from T-PEE who was up scouting them feds." "T-Pee had told him how them revenuers had been carrin' on singin' songs of all manner of filth and depravity abount incestin' their mothers and buggerin' sheep, an we thought.... well ok.... we didn't really think.... we just kinda thought, well .....SoMO, he's got a few birds out back, and we could show the world what these sorry sons a bitches were going on about!"

"you know what they say about a drunk, right?" said Judge RAD, "A drunk says out loud what he thinks when he's sober!"

"ummm, OK, then what happened?" said SoMO

"well, we kinda grabbed up a few of your hens an a few bottles of whiskey" said Bear "we thought the photos of these losers with some hens a pickin and a scratchin' around their nether regions would be enough to send 'em packin, so as they wouldn't be buggin us anymore"

"BWahahaha, THAT, That right there is damn funny boys!" laughed SoMO. "So what the fuck didya all do with my lamb's then?"

Now it was Moose's a nBear turn to drop down on the bench, wide eyed and slack jawed... "What happened to them Lambs SoMO?" asked Bearriver "we wern't there but five minutes, and shee-it we woulda woke you up for somma the fun had it not been 4 am!"
"we wern't never near the lamb's pen!"

RAD was getting some irritated. he was working on some short sleep, having attended SoMO's at sunrise that morning, and been dealing with the fallout ever since.
"yes, what did happen to those sheep?" he demanded.

(bear with me. life just showed up.)

Suddenly Corene popped up with a big grin on her face. You know what boys ? This might just be what we are a lookin for. They all asked what! Things are getting way out of hand and you think this is a good thing. Hear me out boys. If we can prove them boys was messin with the sheep we are home free. If we get some evidence on that we can let SSA Williams change venue and maybe get them fake charges dropped and keep the sheep evidence to ourselves but make sure them 3 fed boys know we have it and if they ever show up here or send someone else hear again we will leak the evidence back to SSA Williams . We need to get Jed back here right now! He was with them and he would know what they was doing that night. I just felt there was a little bit he was holding back , maybe he got something on them that he was going to use on them when they got back to there own office. Maybe even use it against them if they tried to trump some charges on one of us local like they had done in other cases I think the anger he had against them was the real deal. We need him back safe and sound. I sure hope he is safe.

just then the door bust opoen and in walked a very excited Mr. Flatwoods.
"fellas, come on outside here and see what Jed has brought for the meeting!"

there was a bit of a rush on the door, Jimbo's generator shed was pretty big, but there was a lot of people in there.

Slung across the withers of Jed's mule was the biggest godam moutain lion you had ever seen. It's nose, still dripping blood was hanging halfways down that mule's foreleg, and her tail was full on dragging a foot on the ground on the other side. Jed was just rounding the end of SoMO's wagon having stopped to relieve himself on the far wheel just as the crowded shed emptied onto the drive.

"SoMO, good to see you here man!" "you ain't gonna believe my trip here tonite" Jed said, lifting his hat and brushing back his hair he showed off three deeps scratches that ran from his hairline acroos his forehead and down into the stubble sprouting in front of this right ear.
"Fuck a wildman, Jed. That's one big cat!!" said one of the farmers as he sidled up to inspect the animal.

Looking to SoMO, jed continued with his story " I was coming up to see you, I wanted to do a little investigation into what had gone on at your place. I mean, i left those other three when they started into that commercial crap likker and singin about their mothers...but i couln't see how they had had enough time to make it on up to your places SoMo, to cause problems for you and yours."
"when I came up past your sheep barn i could see there was no light on up at the house, so as jus' as i i was turning around this here cat made a leap right off the roof of your lamb shed and knocked me clean off the this ol girl here." Jed affectionately patted the the mule on the rump and reached in to SoMO's wagon, pulled out a handful of hay and presented it to the mule.

"Before i knew what hit me, this beautiful animal had grabbed that cat up by the base of the tail and proceeded to beat the life out of it! Smashed it's head back and forth about twenty times before the cat quit squirmin'. Then she dropped her and proceeded to lay the boots to 'er. Lemme tell ya boys, i got a whole new respect for this here animal" he said warmly, grabbing another handful of hay.

Now I think we need a little bit about Jed's trip to coyotes.

Couple hours after Corene scared the shit outa me again I stopped to make camp. Got me a fire going and shot me a rabbit for grub. Sittin there with a full belly and a jug of butch's finest beside a fire I got to thinking. These people think that we were here to hunt up shiners. They don't know that we are really here because we traced a load of counterfeit money back to the area. Before anybody gets hurt I gotta break cover and let the sss know. So I saddled up and headed back. No that there mule can move. Night was little more than half over when I got to Somo's. As kI drew new the sheep barn the mule threw a buck and I lost my seat. Mussa nocked my head on the fall cause when I woke up there was the mule standing over that there she cat.
Now who has a jug I can have a slug of, mine fell off at Somo's. Thankee
Butch I'll give you grandad's old tater hualin rig for that mule. You know the one, the international with six purring kittens painted on the hood.

Corene was quick to produce a bottle of her finest. Jed took a long haul and commented "corene you make the best five grain sour mash this side of the Appalacia's!"
Corene asked "Jed, what you plannin' on with that cat's hide? I'd be considerin' maybe a trade?" smiling sweetly, she offered the jug again. " few custom arrows? maebbe a cherry pie or two?"
Jed replied, "corene you give me a hand skinnin' her out you can have that hide, and we'll all have a BBQ tonite on open fire. These here cats make for some fine eatin!"

the crowd admirining the mountain lion, and more over admiring the mule began to dissipate in twos and threes. Jed and Corene were untieing the cat from when Jed had lashed her to the saddle and preparing to dress her out. a couple of the boys set to a fire in Jimbo's BBQ pit and started collecting some wood to get a coal bed going. After lashing up some tri-pods for each side, Moose went to look for a suitable sapling for making a spit.
Judge RAD invited SoMO back inside to have a seat and discuss some of the recently reavaled facts, while a few others milled about holding parlance of their own.
"well SoMO, it seems that your break-in has been solved and i gota pretty good idea now what tore up the back end o' those lambs." said RAD "This Kinda put me in a bad place of havin' to eat some of my words and let me tell ya, that's not a place I like to be!"
Mr. Flatwoods pulled up a stump and opened with "Judge, I'd like to offer my apologies here first off, when the idea of this prank had come upon me, me an the young un's had had a couple shots of the Tasmanian Devil likker, and i apparently did not calculate all of the ramifications correctly." "Of course SoMO callin the sherrff in never entered into the plan, and certainly the sherriff bringin you along for the early morning ride had been an unfortunate turn of events."
Judge RAD was scowling a bit when he continued "Flatwoods, you done put some wheels in motion here, but i was the one that jumped to conclusions without all the facts at hand. Probably because me and the sherriff were just finishing up a poker game with a few fellas, that destiny had me there with him when SoMO's call came in."

"all night a card table can wear a man down " SoMo agreed. "That there cat," SoMO tossed a thumb over his shoulder pointin towards the tree that Jed and Corene were working at..." that was pretty coincidental that she tore up a couple lambs the same night these boys needed a few hens." SoMO nodded towards GA.
"i think most men would look to that for a bigger answer, and when you saw the revinuers camp, i think i would have came up with the same conclusion."

"Well" Judge RAD came back with a wicked grin, "whats done is done, and i'm still well within my rights to hold them boys for drunk and disorderly. Serves 'em right for showing up in town unannouced, giving the sherriff no professional courtesies. Damn goood thing i didn't read out any charges, I can just leave them to cool their heels for the weekend, and we'll turn 'em over to their supervisors on monday morning. They can deal with them at an admistrative level."

The smoke from the fire had died down as the coal bed set in, and the smell of roasting chicken rolled in through the open door. " I thought they'as cooking cat out there" said BigBob as he walked over from the back of the shed.
"They is" said GA. "Mountain lion smells like chicken, but tastes a bit like pork."
"MMM" said BigBob, with his mouth watering. "what the hell am i supposed to do with these?" he said, dropping a stack of photos on the table between them. Judge RAD went to pick them up and recoiled a bit when he saw the subject matter. Instead he just spread them out for the rest to see. "Where did you get these?" asked GA
"dunno" replied BigBob, "they just showed up on my desk earlier. I went out to grab a coffee down at the diner and when i got back, there they were mixed with files. I wanted to run them in the paper, but given the graphic nature and the fact that we are a family newspaper i couldn't really see how to get them in there, and not get run outta town myself."

There, on shiny 8 1/2 x 11 photographic stock was pictures of the revenuer's camp. The young recuit Roy, passed out in the background and right up in the front, beside their brand new Dodge were the two fat feds with there lips locked like a couple of teenagers and one with his hand down the front of the other's trousers, "Shee-it!" Said GA, "that'd make a whore blush!" at the same time thinking; Damn, that T-Pee is quite a photogragher.

RAD giggled. In a rare display of giddyness, declaring " I don't think we'll be having any trouble with those boys again!" he gathered up the photos and said to BigBob, "I'll just be lockin' these up in my safe at the courthouse. Come monday morning i'll have a conference with the prisoners and i'm sure they will just want to get the hell out of town and take whatever their supervisors are going to hand down."

Over at the notel motel the reporters sat motionless in Wooteck's room. They were riveted by the conversation in the feds room.
"Wait til i get my hands on those stupid bastards" Growled SSA Williams " I can't believe they could cock up a simple operation like this so effin' bad!"
"No shit!" her partner agreed.
"When they were told to get up here and fit in as dirty cops out to make a buck, whatever made them think that running around flashing badges was going to get them ingratiated with the hill folk is beyond me." "Now we got no moonshine to rope them counterfeiter in with!" She fumed.

Eck and his friends could not believe their luck, accidentally stumbling into the room right next to the Fed's supervisors in a motel with walls so thin, they only had one side!
They had been privy to the mechanics of the whole undercover operation just like they were sitting at the table doing an interview with tape recorders on. The boys had beat it back from Pagosa and set up shop in the motel so they would be there undetected when the Feds got back from looking busy at the command post outside of the courthouse.
The two feds next door had been discussing every aspect of the case, how these four were supposed to come up to hills flashing a bankroll and offering protection to whomever would open the taps to the local moonshine. They were to explain their market as the organized crime speakeasies back in Chicago. story was to go that the bars were looking to do some off label rebranding and topping off the commercial swill on their backbars. Apparently the supplies had run down around Chicago. The only moonshiners around there were producin' only for themselves and had refused to sell to the bootleggers. And were even less likely to deal with the Feds supposedly posing as bootleggers.
The whole sham was to draw out a gang that was passin queer money, and that trail had led right up here to the hills. The queer was good, great in fact, and local businesses had been having it in their bank deposits for a few months. It had slipped past them, and the local bank tellers but when the money had made it back to central repository where they replaced and destroyed damaged cash and sent clean money back out for circulation...the alarm bells had gone off.

"Well why don't we just make a buy at JD or something?" asked the partner "we could soak the labels off or pour it in some jars."
"you're an idiot, Smith" Williams said. She had been raised in these hills and shine ran deep in her blood. In fact, her young tastebuds had been instrumental in developing her dad's cuts. "moonshine is so much better than commercial product, anybody who has ever had a good drop could tell right off, with one sip." She misted up a bit bit remembering those days sharing some time with the ole man out in the stillin shed. They were on the outs right now. She had made the mistake of trying to control someone else's life...with dire consequences. Hazel had been concerned about the ole man's increased consumption, since his product was so good and it never left you with a hangover to remind a person to slowdown a bit...the product had aged, got smoother and tastier and even easier to consume in larger quantities. Not wanting his health to take a turn she had threatened to turn him in, still and all, as a requirement of her employment. That was bullshit of course, since she had been forthcoming with her involvement during the polygraph entrance examination and the feds already knew what was what. They had flat out told her even before the polygraph "you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family. nothing you tell us about your personal life can or will be used"
"What's up Williams?" asked Smith, noticing her emotional state. She had earned her title "witch" Hazel by being a tough, hardnosed agent. Her "F.U." attitude and discipline had carried her up through the ranks to her current position of authority as a supervisory special agent.
"nothing" she said "just remembering some good times." and blew her nose into a tissue.

"Now how the hell are we gonna make our buy and bust them counterfeiters? These guys up here think we were out to get them, there is no way in hell they are going to help us." Then it came to her, there was still Jed. They had some mixed history and she had since found out he was her half uncle. "Hmm. Maybe we can get Jed back on side. He was smart enough to walk away from that drunken party, hopefully he was smarter than all of us and had this planned all along!

Jed walked up behind Rad an caught a glimpse of those photos. "Holy Christ!" the color drained from his face. "I was ridin' with them boys?" he asked himself, as much as anyone else present.
"well, we all knows that there's different rules for law enforcement, Jed" said Corene with a sly wink. Jed's face reddened and he said "i Had NO Idea!"
GA piped up with a wide grin and just then Rad cut him off and said "that's enough grab ass here already! We all know now that Jed was long outta there and lookin for a ride away from these fellas when these photos was snapped."
"That's right" Corene said defending Jed, "we were down at the cabin swapping lies about hunting." Corene had been making small talk with Jed trying to draw him out. She had known that he had something on his mind but wasn't quite ready to share at that point.
Jed came around to RAD, and squaring up in front of him he said " I think it's time I came to the point here, Rad."
"The bosses back in Virginia are trying to make some inroads on organized crime in Chicago. They tried to buy their way in but that was a joke, the syndicates are way better funded than the FBI ever will be. So the plan is if we can't get them with money or lawyers, likker is the next on the list of priorities."
"The bosses want us to hire you out to contract some likker that can't be traced back to Bourbon County. They bankrolled us huge to come up here and get wet, and those two fat fuckers i rode in with thought it was a license to party!"
"We can bring in some serious funding, that will go a long way on the local economy." added Jed
"you're forgetting one thing Jed" said Rad.
"Whats that?" asked Jed.
"It's illegal to make the moonshine!" said RAd incredulously.
"Well the plan was to just buy as dirty cops looking to make some dough...but in light of recent events, I reached out to the boys back in Virginia
and they have agreed to extend special licensing rights to anyone who can help the cause!"
"Bullshit!" said GA wide eyed.
"No shit" countered Jed. "as long as you're onside, you're golden."
Truckinbutch said from the back of the genny shed, "you stamp a permit for me with no expiry date and i'll consider helpin out Uncle Sam for a small fee."
with that, other murmurs of consent started to rise up when outside the call came...
"Jed! Cats up! you get the first cut!"
Drawing his big Kershaw skinnin' knife loose he called back, "on my way!" and wiped wet lips with the back of his hand.

Fine job so far HDNB! It has been a nice reprieve to take a rest break and read up on the happenings.,

No need to know who made the likker if just left somewhere for the feds and they be told where to go get it. Who is the most infamous troll here? Could be the counterfitter.!
Just some thoughts to help out.
Ga Flatwoods

ga flatwoods wrote:Fine job so far HDNB! It has been a nice reprieve to take a rest break and read up on the happenings.,

No need to know who made the likker if just left somewhere for the feds and they be told where to go get it. Who is the most infamous troll here? Could be the counterfitter.!
Just some thoughts to help out.
Ga Flatwoods

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... l#p7146138
This guy seems to fit troll.

My vote goes to galeotroupis or Roddy for the counterfeiter.