The End of the Row

About the Book

It is a hard year for farmer Drury Bell. It is the fifth year of a prolonged drought, and he needs money desperately in order to plant his crops. He has used up all of his credit at the bank and with the various merchants he deals with. However, he manages to obtain just enough money to plant an early crop.

He is ecstatic when both cotton and maize plants are about six inches tall because it appears he will produce very successful crops. However, a terrible hail storm destroys both crops and shatters his dream of paying off his debts. The sudden prospect of bankruptcy brings out his fighting spirit, and even Hank Huntington, a neighboring farmer who keeps trying to buy his land, cannot convince him to sell. Hank Huntington keeps pressure on him in various ways. Hank even makes a deal with Russell Taylor, the banker, that should the bank foreclose, he would buy Dru’s farm immediately. Dru thinks Hank Huntington is just greedy, but he learns later that there is a mysterious, personal reason why Hank is driven to possess his farm.

Just prior to the hail storm, a drifter shows up at Dru’s farm house while he is in the field working. Dru’s wife, Frieda, rents an old, unused building to the drifter, who, besides being an artist, has a dubious background. Dru does not like the man and would have sent him away, except for his wife. She uses their financial plight as an excuse for him to stay. “We need the money,” she says, and although it’s a trivial amount, she insists on “helping out” by keeping the drifter as a renter. Her relationship with Clifford Curry, the drifter, becomes a nightmarish problem for Dru. He can neither convince her to send him away nor discover absolute proof of her infidelity, so he is torn by the physical and emotional separation created by the stranger’s presence.

During the same time Dru fights for his land, struggles to obtain financing for re-planting his hailed-out crops, and deals with the marital problems created by Clifford Curry’s presence, he works with Thelbert Owens, the Deputy Sheriff and a close personal friend. Two teenage girls have been brutally raped and murdered, and Thelbert, who is overworked and involved in the investigation, allows Dru to help out. His participation is minimal and within the law, but it is sufficient for him to gain some insight which, together with particular personal knowledge he has, ultimately aids in resolving the cases.

One day their grown daughter, Lawanna, shows up for an unexpected visit. In normal times, Frieda and Lawanna sometimes clash in the mother-daughter relationship. What Lawanna accidentally finds out about her mother and Clifford Curry makes her angry, and she leaves prematurely— but not before passing her discovery to Dru. A few weeks later, their son, Sidney, comes in from Alaska, ostensibly to visit. Actually, he’s on a personal mission, prompted by Lawanna, and soon Dru finds a family schism added to his many woes.

All of the problems he faces, plus additional stress caused by the discovery of a body buried in his back yard, are enough to break even the strongest man. Sometimes he questions his own beliefs and feels inclined to walk away from it all, but he continues to hang on to his convictions with perseverance and hope. In a finale that is unexpected, uncharacteristic, and gruesome, he takes the actions necessary to save his farm, rid himself of Clifford Curry, and deal with all the related problems of marriage and family.

This book is based on true events.

About the Author