Chapter 7

Later that day Violet sat huddled up in a chair sound asleep across the desk from the Barboursville police chief. He looked up from a report to study her slumbering form. "Violet? Violet!" Her eyes fluttered open. She looked around in confusion. "What did the doctor give you?"

Violet focused on the police chief as she struggled for comprehension. "Something for my nerves." She sat up straight, arranged her clothes, and tried to compose herself.

"Potent stuff. What are you doing here?"

Violet struggled to be lucid. "I'm on vacation."

"Why Barboursville?"

"Not Barboursville. El Jay."

The police chief was surprised. "No one vacations in El Jay."

"I'm trying to find out something." She nodded at the papers on his desk. "This isn't in the report. A man tried to kill me in Cincinnati. He said he was doing it for El Jay. I wanted to find out why."

"What happened to him?"

"He's dead. His name was Elijah Wheeler. The man who killed him was Waylon Taylor."

The police chief was shaken by these names. "Why would Elijah Wheeler travel to Cincinnati to kill you?"

"I don't know. That's what I came to El Jay to find out. But I do know this. My maternal grandmother's maiden name was Taylor. And she was from El Jay." The police chief stood and turned away. "Please tell me what's going on."

"I can have your car towed to a good mechanic. In the meantime I want you on the bus to Corbin. Stay there until your car is ready. I'll have someone drive it to you. Then go home to Cincinnati and never come back."

"Why do you think I'll be safe in Corbin? I wasn't safe in Cincinnati."

The police chief pivoted to glare at her. "You have no idea what you've gotten mixed up in."

"Then please tell me. If I know what's going on then maybe I can stay alive."

The police chief swore as he walked back to his side of the desk and sat. "You've heard of the Hatfields and McCoys?"

"Of course."

"This is ten times worse."

"You mean the Taylors and Wheelers are feuding?"

"No. Feuding doesn't cover it. They've been murdering each other. For generations."

"And they track people down as far away as Cincinnati?"

"No. Never before. Least not that I ever heard of."

"And they're from El Jay?" The police chief nodded. "How many are there?"

He snorted. "Who knows? There's hollows around El Jay census takers never been up."

"How did it start?"

"No one rightly knows. A Taylor looked the wrong way at some Wheeler's wife, a Wheeler shot some Taylor's dog." The police chief studied her with a softening demeanor. "Look. That was a mean trick someone played on you. Putting that dead dog in your car. But you're still alive. Unlike that mutt. Count your blessings." He stood and glanced at his watch. "Bus for Corbin leaves in an hour. I'll drive you to the stop. Leave me your keys and I'll get your car taken care of. Felan's a good mechanic. He'll find out why it wouldn't start. I'll give you his number so you can call him from your motel in Corbin."

Violet was still shaky when she stood. "Thank you. For everything."

"Not much I can do about what goes on up in the mountains. But there won't be any feud killings in my town." The police chief escorted Violet out of his office.

Later that day the police chief sat on a bench on the town square with Violet. Her heavy-lidded eyes were mere slits in her listless face. When the police chief wasn't glancing at his watch, he was staring at the people passing by in a way that dared them to approach.

A bus pulled up to the stop. The police chief gently nudged Violet. She jerked up and saw the bus. He helped her to stand. The bus driver got off and nodded to the police chief as he took Violet's ticket.

Violet stepped onto the bus. It was less than half-full. She collapsed in a window seat. Looking out, she saw the bus driver and the police chief conferring. They both glanced up at her. Seeing her watching, the police chief turned away and the bus driver stowed her suitcase in the luggage compartment.

The bus driver got back onto the bus and closed the door. Violet watched him shift gears and pull out. She looked back out the window. The police chief was gone. As the bus crept around the town square, Violet looked over the other passengers. No one was paying any attention to her. Except for a small girl who stared at her with wide eyes. Violet managed a weak smile in return. She then settled down deep in her seat and closed her eyes.

The powerful drugs coursing through her body and the gentle rocking of the rumbling bus lulled her to sleep. Yet in her fuzzy mind's eye Violet could still see the small girl staring at her with wide eyes. Only she was standing outside the general store in El Jay with the other children as Violet eased past in her car.

Violet opened her eyes with a start. The young girl was no longer staring at her. Violet looked uneasily around at the other passengers, at the bus driver. Seeing nothing amiss, she once again closed her eyes. The bus rocked her to sleep.