The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had Read Online Free PDF Page A

though he was only a foot away, he didn’t hit none of the snakes. Course it is awful hard to kill a snake by shooting—the best way is to just take an ax and chop off its head. I would have told him this, but before I could, Mr. Walker fired again. The bullet bounced off a rock and the noise scared the snakes. They slunk back into the darkness of the pool.
    Emma ran over and hugged her pa. Mr. Walker was breathing hard as he put down the gun.
    “What you doing shooting off that pistol?” demanded Pa.
    “Protecting my daughter,” said Mr. Walker.
    “You didn’t even hit none of those old cottonmouths. Only a fool bring along a gun when he don’t know how to use it.”
    “Don’t you call me a fool!” Mr. Walker snapped.
    “What you gonna do, wave your gun at me?” asked Pa.
    “Don’t be mean to my daddy!” said Emma.
    “Shut up,” I said. “If my pa calls him a fool, he’s a fool.”
    We all began to yell at once till we sounded like a chicken house when a fox has broken in. A huge crack of thunder shut us up. Soon as I looked at the sky, it began to pour.
    Pa gave a great sigh. “I think we’d all best go home.”
     
     
    By the time we had all the supplies back in the car, it was raining cats and dogs. If I didn’t know better, I’d say there were a few mules and pigs in there too. Mr. Walker sat in the front with Pa, and me and Emma climbed in the back. We put up the top on Pa’s Model T, but we all got soaked anyway. Every once in a while there’d be a flash of lightning and we’d be able to see clearly for a second or two. Then the thunder would come with a loud clap and everything would turn dark again.
    Pa suddenly slammed on the brakes, causing me and Emma to fall hard against the front seat. When the lightning flashed again, we saw a huge tree blocking the road, only inches from the hood of our car. There was no way around it.
    Pa banged hard on the steering wheel. Mr. Walker just shook his head.
    “At least it missed the car,” said Emma.
    “What we gonna do now?” I asked.
    Pa thought for a moment. “Jim Dang-It lives about half a mile from here. He’ll put us up.” So we climbed out of the car and started walking.
    Jim Dang-It was an eccentric old man, half colored and half Indian. He lived in the woods all alone and wouldn’t take no help from no one, not even if all his tobacco crop washed away. Said he’d rather eat acorns like the squirrels than be beholden to a white man. But even though he wouldn’t take no help, he was more than happy to give it. He had saved many folks who had gotten lost in the woods. Even though I knew all about him, I’d never dared go to his place. He was the only Negra I knew who could bawl out a white man and not get hurt.
    We were all feeling pretty low as we trudged down the muddy path. All except Emma. Despite the rain, she strolled along like it was a sunny spring day. Once or twice, I even caught her whistling. When I finally asked her why, for goodness’ sake, wasn’t she in a foul mood like the rest of us, she only asked, “Is fishing always this exciting?” I didn’t answer.
    We were wetter than a school of catfish by the time we reached Jim’s cabin. Pa pounded on his door.
    “What you folks doing out in this dang weather?” Jim Dang-It barked at us as he pulled open the door. He was a small man but covered in muscles. “Come on in.”
    The four of us crowded into his tiny cabin. Dr. Griffith was standing by the fire. He smiled broadly as Emma and Mr. Walker walked in. “Sure am glad to see you two. I was on my way to see if you needed a ride when my car got stuck in the mud.”
    Dr. Griffith was the only doctor in Moundville. He had a full gray beard and brown eyes that didn’t scold you even if you did something stupid like jump off the roof of the barn. (Raymond dared me. It wasn’t my fault.) Dr. Griffith just patched you up and sent you home, and for that, I liked him.
    Jim Dang-It took Emma’s wet jacket and draped it