The note was written in a scrawl

Chapter 17) The Deck of Life
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River Boy escaped out the window with the pen and paper from Grandpa's desk because of prison, because that's where Edwin Jones found the Deck of Life.
It was inside an old book.
Called the Book of Serious.
Nobody knew why it would have that name because it was a humorous book meant to be a distraction.
It sat on the highest shelf, next to the Big Bible.

The prison had more than one Bible.
But the Big Bible had a brown cover not the black.
And it wasn't really a Bible, the men called it a Bible because it was an explanation of the big stuff.
Lot of guys wanted to know why they were in prison. So the Big Bible caught their eye but few men noticed the Book of Serious sitting next to it, except generally remembering it was a funny story about something that Edwin didn't recall.

He read all the books.
One by one between the beatings and memorizing what he could.
Prison for him was an awful stay.
He never spoke about it afterwards.

Edwin remembered the Book of Serious only because it contained the Deck of Life.
Those magic words struck him as if that was in fact what the book said.
You know how the memory of something distorts what's actually there.
That wasn't important.
Edwin found the words quite remarkable.

The Deck of Life had nine cards
Love poker heart blood forgive abandon revenge
The truth card was lost
The last card was unknown maybe it was the future

The book said the man who reads this cannot ignore his fate.
He must choose.

Edwin understood.
And his captivity caused him to clarify the purpose of his choice.
His choice was to free himself and he did what needed to be done.
They freed him two years later, but he was powerless to fulfill his destiny.
His promise to the Deck of Life lay unfulfilled, a fate that carried it's own prison that he was too old to escape. Until he met River Boy.

Grandpa Edwin Jones' heart changed after prison, and when he met River Boy he felt peace for the first time.
River Boy gave that magic to people. It's how they felt around him.
Grandpa told him, you saved me.
It was the nicest thing River Boy ever heard in his life. He loved watching that old man leave the shack in the morning, trudging down the hill to the river.
Edwin Jones knew the currents and the habits of fish, same as he knew the hatred of prison guards.
Every step in the soft mud, every cast of the line was one more forgiveness he gave himself for 30 years of misery laid bare on his soul from prison. Slowly departing the past with each moment, Grandpa was drawn to the river.

But he had chosen another destiny with his decision to leave prison. The Deck of Life.
And with River Boy's help, the things he saw with his eyes could be fulfilled.

Yes, Edwin Jones wrote the notes in brown ink, and River Boy delivered them.

Grandpa never read them and didn't understand what he wrote, but he did what he agreed to do.
It was part of enduring his life that freed him from beatings. He didn't have to keep standing no matter how hard they hit. He didn't have to laugh and spit and use his massive hands to shake men apart. He was free and owed his decision to the Deck of Life.

Only Edwin Jones knew the what the notes said. River Boy didn't question it. But as he lay there hiding from the men who were breaking apart Grandpa's shack, he knew it was time to fulfill his own destiny.
His Grandpa saved him, and he saved his Grandpa, but now they needed help.

River Boy got to the shack ahead of the car only because Crackling stopped in Blacktown to pick up Spade. And now Spade was outside looking around. He was a clever animal, the best of predators and worst of human lot, but he was used to town living and not moving through a forest.
River Boy laid on a steep edge. A town person would climb the easiest route to the top and avoid the steep slope.
River Boy had to get off the hill and find his Grandpa before he came back to the shack, so the higher Spade climbed, the lower River Boy crawled until he was in the valley and concealed by full underbrush and deep grass.
He waited along the river until Grandpa came by.
Together they hid in the trees, sharing the ham and cheese from Latchy, until after dark when they heard the car leave and watched the lights bounce along the road and around the hill.
They couldn't see if three men were in the car or just two.
Then they made their way down to the old hobo camp, and discovered Top Hat and four other men. Those guys survived the murders in Blacktown. Heated discussions were underway.
Spade killed at least three in Blacktown and maybe others. Crackling Green had his men out looking for Top Hat, and nobody was sure how many or where they were.

River Boy was the fastest runner and could get out ahead of anybody who saw him. He needed a ride to Abbeyville to see Commisioner Churchail.
Top Hat knew Molly Princess was pulling money off Churchail, but didn't know he loved her, or why River Boy thought the Commissioner would put up a snap over 3 or 4 dead Negroes in Blacktown.

The other men sparked mad that River Boy wanted to talk to Churchail.
He the Klan ya fool. Why you talk to him?

River Boy couldn't tell them about the notes they'd delivered to Churchail and Boy Johnson, so he didn't explain.
One thing he did know, Churchail loved Molly, so he probably already knew about the murders.

Grandpa said, hey, Crackling live all the way over Crooks Tail. He won't stay here. But the other guys, they gonna ambush us.
A man mumbled, well he your blood.
River Boy realized they all knew something he'd never heard. Crackling is whose blood?
Your Grandpa's.
What?
Grandpa said, he's not mine and never was. I kill him same as any ya.
Top Hat didn't say anything, and the men backed down a bit.

River Boy settled his mind not to ask, and then said, give me one more night.
They were all in a tough spot.
Three more men came in from across the railroad tracks. They had been scouting, but came up with nothing.
Grandpa said, that's cause they got an ambush set up. The other guys agreed, which locked them down for a while anyway.
It was chilly and damp that night being so close to the river. A fire would've been nice, but they kept a dark camp and slept on wood planks while taking turns at watch.

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