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dollars, but it represented a start on an escape from the Tatum household.
    “Chick-chick-chick-chick!” she called. As the hens came running out, she threw the feed to them and took pleasure in watching their heads bob up and down. They were beautiful to her, and she loved each one of them. She had named many of them and had tried to convince Travis that they knew their names.
    “No, they don’t know their names, silly,” he always said with a smile. “They just come to you because they know you’ve got lunch.”
    Now as she watched the chickens, she was thinking of how her uncle was mean enough to make her butcher some of her hens for the table. It infuriated her, and she knew she could never have any smidgen of affection for the man.
    Joy was about to turn to go back into the house when suddenly a pair of arms went around her. She had not heard the gate creak, but suddenly she was held tightly, and she immediately knew who it was.
    “Turn me loose, Witt!”
    “Oh, come on, let’s have some fun. You’re gettin’ to be quite a good-lookin’ girl.”
    “Stop touching me!” Joy cried. “You’d better stop or I’ll scream!”
    She was powerless in Witt’s grasp, for he was a big man. He put his heavy hand over her mouth and held her even tighter, laughing in her ear. She struggled and tried to kick him, but he merely laughed louder.
    “You’ve got to learn how to make a man happy, Joy. You’regrowing up. You were just a skinny kid the first time I saw you, but now you’ve got a good shape on you.”
    Tears of rage filled Joy’s eyes, and with all of her strength she reached up and broke his grip long enough to grab a handful of his thick hair and yank it with all of her might.
    “Ow, cut that out!”
    Joy squirmed around until she was facing him and struck him in the face. He instantly stopped laughing. “You’re not so nice,” he snarled and advanced toward her. But at that moment he was suddenly whirled around. “What—?”
    Joy saw that Travis had entered the chicken yard, and before she could speak, he had drawn his arm back and struck Witt Tatum directly in the mouth. Witt stumbled backward as he tried to recover. Witt was probably thirty pounds heavier than Travis, but he was overweight and soft. He had done almost no hard work in his life, whereas Travis was nothing but lean muscle and much faster. His fist beat steadily on Witt’s face while the big man swung ponderously. When Witt lifted his arms to protect his face, Travis drove a hard blow right in the stomach, then smashed him again over the eye, drawing blood.
    “That’s enough, Travis,” Joy cried, trying to pull the men apart.
    “Not enough for me,” Travis panted, pushing her away. “I’m going to whip you so you’ll never touch my sister again, Witt.”
    Witt cursed and moved forward, but then ran directly into a blow that smashed his nose flat, sending a spurt of blood over his white shirt.
    Joy kept trying to pull Travis away, and finally several others arrived. She heard her uncle Albert yelling, and then Opal and Olean crying for them to stop.
    Albert grabbed Travis, and the young man did finally stop. His eyes were narrowed, glaring fiercely at Witt as Uncle Albert held him back.
    Witt said, “Pa, he came up and hit me. I wasn’t doing anything.”
    “Yes, he was!” Joy cried. “He was putting his hands all over me like he always does.”
    “Don’t you lie,” Witt yelled. “I’ve never touched you!”
    Albert reacted typically. He did not ask about the circumstances but simply shouted, “That’s enough! You’re nothing but a troublemaker, Winslow! Get your things and get off this place!”
    “I’ll go, but I’m taking Joy with me.”
    “No, you’re not. She’s a minor. She can’t leave this place until she’s eighteen. You try to do it, and I’ll have the law bring her back and have you thrown in jail!”
    “It’s all right, Travis,” Joy said. Her heart was breaking, but she didn’t want to