Eternity Swamp Read Free

good. The feller’s dressed in a nice black suit like he was goin’ to church. Sam can’t figure out what the hell anybody be doing out in the woods at night in his church clothes. He thinks this feller might be touched in the head and is a tad put off.
    “Please…” says the feller, motioning for Sam to take the shot. Sam hoists up his ol’ .22 and pops that coon right in the eye and ‘plunk’, down it falls right at that feller’s feet. The feller picks it up and says, “Excellent shot suh, directly in the eye, not ruining a single hair on the pelt, well done,” and hands Sam the coon.
    “Sam takes the coon but continues eyein’ the feller up. “You headed to a bible meetin’?” he asks.
    “The feller gives Sam the queerest smile. “Surely, suh, you gest.”
    “Not the religious type? Don’t you believe in the Almighty?”
    “Oh, indeed I do. As of late, however,” the feller sighed, “He and I do seem to be at odds.”
    “I know the feelin’. Like, he’s up there just watchin’ while everything and everyone is out to get’cha.”
    “A world riddled with antagonists and interlopers.”
    “Inter what?”
    “Interloper. Someone who intrudes upon a place or situation, interfering in another’s affairs.”
    “George Blanchard…”
    “Pardon?”
    “Ah…” said Sam wavin’ it off.
    “Please, suh, unburden yourself.”
    “ I was next in line for a promotion until this Blanchard , started suckin’ up to the boss.
    “Tsk, tsk. Pathetic.”
    “Well…I’m sure a rich and powerful man like you doesn’t have to deal with stuff like that.”
    “Oh, contraire. The more powerful you are, the more powerful your enemies tend to be.”
    “Really?”
    “It is the sad nature of it all.”
    “So you’ve had to deal with interlopers of your own?”
    “Of the worst sort. I too was once, ‘next in line’, as you say.”
    “And your interloper?” asks Sam.
    “Michael,” says the feller, sighing and shaking his head. “We were very close, at one time. And I trusted him, but he betrayed me and led a most…vicious campaign against me, and those who stood with me. From then on, he was…the favored one and I too was… displaced .”
    “But…you, I mean…you’re not just going to take it lyin’ down, right?”
    “Oh, I assure you, suh, I am doing my utmost to rectify the situation. At this very moment, I am working on innumerous strategies. It may take some time, but I am confident. Events seemed to be unfolding which, inevitably, will work out in my favor.”
    “Sam nodded his approval. “Good for you. I always say if someone strikes you, you hit ’em back twice as hard.”
    “You and I seemed to be of like mind, suh,” says the feller, then reaches into his breast pocket revealing a flask. “May I offer you a libation?”
    “Well ol’ Sam was never one to offend anyone by refusing such hospitality, so he takes the flask. “Here’s to stickin’ the knife and twistin’ it,” he toasts.
    “Well put, suh.”
    “Sam takes a nip and well, boy howdy, if it ain’t the best sipping whiskey ol’ Sam ever put his lips to and tells the feller so.
    “Cognac,” the feller replies, taking a sip and putting it back into his pocket.
    “What?” asks ol’ Sam.
    “The fancy feller gives Sam an irritated look but then smiles and repeats, “Cognac, the best actually. I have it imported all the way from France…Cigar?” he asks Sam, pulling two from the other breast pocket and presenting one to Sam. He lights it for Sam and Sam just can’t believe the sweetness and mellowness of the smoke.
    “Cuban,” says the feller. Sam looks at this feller’s coonhounds, two of the most magnificent looking redbones he’s ever seen and tells him so.
    “Tennessee champion bloodline,” proclaims the feller.
    “Well the two of ’em sit down on a cypress stump and chew the fat a while, smokin’ and sippin’ cognac. Sam realizes he’s jawin’ with the man he wants to be, well dressed, well