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Back Black Ambrosia Save as PDF
Chapters (46)
  1. CoverImage
  2. Introduction by Grady Hendrix
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. About the Author
  46. About the Cover

My tension dissolved with my decision, and I was resting on the edge of an early sleep when that dusty old blue Pontiac rattled down the road and chugged to an exhausted halt right at the picnic table beside me. There were two men in the car. They lumbered out slowly, each carrying a beer.

This was my first glimpse of Earl Foster. And a chill from Hell blew through me.

J. C. “JUICE” WICKERS: “Earl an’ me pulled into the park to drink beer just like always, and right where we always goes is this camper, sleepin’ in a hammock. A kid. We figured we’d give him a beer and talk for a while you know, just shoot the shit. So we pulled in and got out and the kid leaps out of that hammock and starts pulling on his boots and would you believe, it’s not a kid, it’s a girl! Now you tell me what a god­damned girl’s doing camped out all by herself down by the lake, huh? What kind of a girl would do that?

“Well, I’ll tell ya. A hippie girl, that’s who. One of them stinking smelling runaway whores, that’s who. Ain’t got no family, ain’t got no sense, just trash, you know? Filthy trash.

“But I see this look in Earl’s eyes, you know? Tells me it’s been too long since he’s had a woman, tells me he’s already had too much beer, tells me we’re too far away from anybody. And hell, I figured she was just askin’ for it anyway, bein’ out there all by herself.

“But I’ll tell ya. I’ll tell ya. That look in Earl Foster’s eyes was nothin’, goddamned nothin’ com­pared to the look in that girl’s eyes.

“That girl was no girl, if you get my drift.”

4

4

It had occurred to me earlier in my travels that I was indeed a single woman traveling alone; and as such, I ought not be caught by surprise or at a disadvantage. The shadows were long and it would be dark very soon, and cold. The men who had just arrived proba­bly cared little for my privacy; certainly they would never leave after driving all the way out here just because they were an intrusion on my solitude.

I thought for a moment that I could snuggle down in my blanket and pretend that I was a man; my boots and my pack would not give my gender away, but then I would be quite defenseless and even more at their mercy. I decided to meet them as prepared as possi­ble.