Buried Treasure

Jedidiah Hawkins was one of the most evil men in the state of Alabama. He was a good for nothing cheat, whose business dealings were barely within the law. His wife, Ella May, always had bruises and cuts that she attributed to her clumsy ways, but the police knew better. They could not get her to file charges, for she seemed terrified of the consequences.

His two kids, Billy age 12 and Milly age 11, were also intimidated and did not do  well in school. They also bore the physical as well as physiological scars of their father's cruelty. Despite his ways, he would have his family at church every Sunday. No one  would speak to them at church, for they knew his reputation, but he didn't seem  to care.

He came to Talladega five years before and bought the most dilapidated piece of real estate in the entire county. It was his belief that the previous owner, Sam Jenkins, had discovered a map indicating buried treasure. Before Jenkins could dig it up, he died  and his property went on auction and Jedidiah bought it. He was determined to dig up the treasure for himself, or make his wife and children dig it up. He was often seen sitting with a shotgun across his lap while his son and daughter dug holes in his property. Neighbors even felt threatened on their own land, when he was spotted walking about. He would yell obscenities at people tell them that they should be minding their own business on their own land.

"What the hell are you lookin at" he said one day to his neighbor, Mr. Walter Bower.
   
"It sure ain't your ugly face." replied Walter.
     
Jedidiah aimed his shotgun and squeezed off a round and hit Walter in the arm. He fell to the ground and police saw the whole thing as they drove by. All they did was take Mr. Bower to the hospital and Jedidiah to jail for a lecture.    
   
"Jedidiah" said Sheriff Pollard. "You have got to stop threatening people who are not on your property."
   
"I have a right to protect my property."
   
"You shot Walter Bower on his own property"
   
"He was sneaking around lookin' to get shot."
   
"Walter Bower has a right to be on his own property" said the Sheriff, as he looked Jedidiah straight in the eye.
   
"He was spyin on me!" said Jedidiah angrily.  

 
   
"No Jedidiah...he was checking his fence.
   
"The hell he was."   
   
"Jedidiah" said the sheriff. "I'm through talking to you. Now I'll take you home but you've got to stop shooting at people."    

He drove Jedidiah home and lectured him all the way and when he gave his final warning, he knew he had not made an impression.   
   
"You've delivered me home now get off my property before I shoot out your tires, and stay off my property."         

Sheriff Pollard just turned away and drove back to the station for he knew that Jedidiah would make good his threat. He drove by the hospital to check on Walter Bower. They had treated a minor abrasion on his upper shoulder and his wife drove in to take him home

****

Any normal man would have taken the Sheriff's warning seriously, but Jedidiah merely became more hostile and vindictive. He became more abusive and could be seen walking around in his black suit and black straight brimmed hat, like Wyatt Earp patrolling the streets of Tombstone. His thick mustache and evil eyes would scare anyone and he was never seen without a rifle in his hand. He was a reminder of the way things were in the late eighteen hundreds.       

Although it was summer and the kids were not in school, it was too hot in the day to dig holes, so he kept the kids up all hours of the night working. Ella May's objection to keeping the kids up all night earned her few more bruises and scratches. Obviously Jedidiah had not found the treasure map since holes were all over the place.  This did nothing to mellow his cantankerous mood. The sheriff was still patrolling the area from a safe distance and still Jedidiah was walking around his property carrying a shotgun.

Neighbors on both sides of him had stopped walking around on their own land for fear of a confrontation. For the next few months things were quiet and no one was happier than Sheriff Pollard. At home though, nothing had changed and Jedidiah was crueler than ever. Ella May was as bruised as ever and the digging continued. Nothing was found though, and Jedidiah was becoming impatient. The digging sessions were becoming longer and his temper was getting shorter.  

Sheriff Pollard saw Ella at the drug store buying some aspirin, gauze, and an assortment of saves and lotions.
   
"Jedidiah up to his old tricks?" he said to her. She didn't say anything and started out the door. He followed her and offered her a ride home.

She turned him down, but he was persistent.
   
"Now Ella May. I need to talk to you, so get in the car and I'll drive you home."
   
"Yes sheriff." she said shyly and looked away.
    
She got in the car and the sheriff came around to the driver's side. He could see through the car window that she was beginning to cry. He opened the door and got in.
   
"Now Ella May. What are you crying about?"
   
"Oh nothin'." she replied.
   
"Now you know the only thing that brings tears to your eyes is that no-good husband of yours."
   
"Yes sir."    
   
"You've got to get those children away from the influence of their father. He's more interested in that treasure that he thinks is buried on his property. If he ever found that treasure, he'd be gone in a flash. He doesn't want to share anything.
   
"Yes you are right." she replied, while crying her eyes out.
   
"Ella May, I can get you and the kids into a shelter in town.    
   
"Oh no I couldn't do that." she said, still crying. "In fact we should get a move on before he gets home."

He dropped her off at her front door and headed back to the station house, all the time thinking about the tragedy of this family. Nothing, short of shooting Jedidiah would work and for just a moment he took pleasure in imagining just that.  
     
****

As Jedidiah stepped onto the porch, Ella May could hear him cursing. He'd been out all day and had a headache from the sun. She gave him some aspirin, but it didn't work right away. At the dinner table he continued to curse and then Billy stood and said something unexpected. "Nobody as rotten as you should feel good!"
    
His comment was met with a back-handed slap from his father. Milly ran to her brother and got the same treatment. Ella May came into the room with a shotgun and announced "Stop that or I'll blow your head off." Jedidiah grabbed the gun and hit Ella May.  A few more kicks to Billy and his sister and Jedidiah took his gun and went to bed, leaving his bleeding wife on the floor.
    
Hours passed and Jedidiah awakened with a splitting headache again. The headache would not go away so he got out of bed to get some aspirin. From the bedroom window he could see a light outside. "What the hell?" he said to himself. He quickly checked the kid's room. "Those dammed kids are digging it up for themselves." He said as he got dressed and grabbed his gun. Stumbling as he put on his boots, he cursed angrily. "those dammed kids...just wait till I get my hands on them...I'm gonna beat them to death."
    
It didn't take long for him to make it to the source of the light but he slowed down to see if he could hear them talking. All he could make out was the sound of digging, so he stepped into the light.
   
"Trying to dig it up for yourself are yea? I knew you kids would skip off with the money first chance yea had. You're good for nothing thieves and I caught you red handed."

The kids just stared at him with out moving.    
     
"Get up out of there and let's see what you found."

Billy climbed out of the hole to reveal just more dirt. "Paw...we ain't diggin for treasure out here."
   
"Then what are you diggin?" He said angrily.
   
"We're diggin a grave!" he said as he hit Jedidiah with the shovel, knocking him into the hole. Jedidiah wasn't hurt but he was mad as hell as he turned around and stood up.
   
"What do you think you're doin' boy?" he said as his boots hit something on the ground below. He turned quickly and started diggin' the ground with his hands.
   
"I found it!" he yelled as he scraped dirt from around the boards of a large chest. He found a handle on the chest and stood up to pull it out of the ground. He managed to pick it up but it was too heavy to get out of the hole.
   
"Help me with this boy." he said to Billy.
    
Billy stepped forward and put his foot on the chest and pushed back. Jedidiah fell back with the heavy chest falling on him. He tried to free himself but was unable to get up. He yelled but got a face full of dirt as Billy started filling in the hole.

Milly joined him pushing dirt in the hole with her hands. For the first time, they were enjoying the digging. Soon things were silent as Billy tapped down the last bit of dirt with the shovel. He then fell back against a tree, exhausted.

Milly was crying as she lay there in the dirt. "What have we done?" she asked.
   
"What had to be done." he replied.     

****

Ella May reported her husband missing to Sheriff Pollard.

"He must have found his treasure." he said to his deputy. " I knew he would skip out and leave his family. He didn't want to share that gold with anyone.      
    
In the next few months, things got better for Ella May and her kids. She sold her land, moved to town, got a job as a waitress, and the kids even started doing better in school. Still, neighbors swear they can hear him walking his land late at night with the sound of gold coins jingling in his pockets. Sheriff Pollard knew that wherever Jedidiah was, you could be sure that his gold would be close by.