[October 1927 – Chicago]
Vincent ‘Bugsy’ Stallone came into his office in a bad mood.
“Those bastards from Justice are getting to be a real pain in the arse. We just lost another shipment of beer between the Port and the Warehouse. It is that agent Ford again. He gets everywhere, the bastard. He must have informants on almost every street corner.”

The blonde-haired woman sitting next to his big polished oak desk looked up from filing her nails.

“What are we going to do? We have customers who rely on us. That’s the fourth this month.”

“Doll, don’t I just know it. Now that Big John and the rest are out of action it is down to the likes of us to keep this city drinking.

“Won’t this just blow over?” asked the woman.

“Judging by the number of agents involved with the last interception, then no it won’t. They had over fifty feds just to take down two trucks. They were sending a clear message to the likes of us. I think that they are saying that ‘the good times are over’.”

The woman didn’t say anything.

“Then Luigi Trapiani’s boys had a fire fight with Marco Tostitos’ crew. Eight dead and ten wounded and that was just over who supplies one bar on the South Side. Things ain’t what they used to be that’s fer sure...”

The woman nodded her head in agreement.

“I guess it is time then?”

Bugsy sighed.

“I think so. We’ve had a good run, but yes it is. Today is the day we both hoped would never happen but… well we have planned for this day.”

The woman stood up.

“I guess I should go and pack then?”

“Doll… Are you forgetting the first rule of disappearing?”

“Oh sorry. Yes. Make it look like you went out for a newspaper.”

“Exactly. I’ll get George going. He goes tonight. We go tomorrow night. Until then, we act as normal. Got that Doll?”

“Hey, don’t Doll me. Who’s the real brains behind this outfit eh?”

They both laughed. They'd run the business together for the past three and a half years.

“Ok. But I have to keep up appearances, don’t I?”

She just glared at the man and went back to working on her nails.

---

Bugsy left the office after removing an already wrapped package from his safe and went downstairs to the garage where Lonesome George was lovingly polishing the big black Buick that he drove for the Boss.

“Hiya Boss. Want to go out?”

“No George. Time for your mama to take ill.”

The smile that George sported through thick and thin disappeared in an instant.

“That bad eh?”

“Yes. We are pulling the plug. You know the plan don’t you.”

“Yessir Mr Bugsy. I know de-plan,” said George putting on a fake accent.

“Good. Now go to the ‘EL’ and make that call to your cousin in St Louis.”

"Yes Boss.”

“This package that needs to be mailed when you go out. Can you get it done without anyone who might be tailing you knowing?”

“That I can Boss,” said George as he picked the package up off the table.

“It contains a Bible if anyone wants to know.”

George laughed. He knew very well what was inside the Bible.

“Don’t forget where you are to meet us tomorrow night and don’t forget to switch cars before the pickup.”

“I know the plan Boss.”

Bugsy smiled and shook George’s hand.

“Good. We go tomorrow night.”

“Ok Mr Bugsy,” said George as he tipped his hat to his boss.

---

An hour later, the first part of the plan fell into place when a Post Office messenger delivered a telegram at the HQ for George.

“Oh, Mr Stallone Sir, My Mama is very poorly,” said George as he played his part right down to the letter.

“Well then, don’t stand there, get yourself on the next train to St Louis,” replied Bugsy.

“What about my duties?”

“They can wait. Your Mama is your only Mama. Go be with her and make her better.”

“Thank you kindly, Mr Stallone.”

George hesitated.

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

“Her treatment will cost a lot of money.”

“Oh, is that all?”
Bugsy reached into his jacket and extracted his wallet.

“Here, will this do for now?” he said handing over $500 in fifty dollar bills.

He added a well-used few tens and twenties for good measure.

“Yessir Mr Stallone.”

“Well get the hell out of here and don't come back until she is better you understand?”

"Yessir Mr Stallone, I understand."

---

That night, Bugsy and Stella went to dine at one of the city’s top restaurants. This was a pretty common event for them. They made sure that they were seen by all the right people in the city. Bugsy drove them to the restaurant in the Buick.

A couple of people who were known to Bugsy asked why he was driving and not George. That was uncommon for them as George had been ever present at these evenings in the past. Bugsy simply told them that George had gone to visit his sick mother in St Louis. His mother was fit and well and living in South Carolina but no one in Chicago would know that.

For the past three years, Bugsy, Stella and George had concocted a history for themselves that was pure fiction. After seeing the increasing level of Mob Violence and then the Department of Justice getting ever more vigilant over their enforcement of the Prohibition Laws. They’d even resorted to wading in with tommy guns blazing and not even bothering to ask questions, it seemed to them that it was only a matter of time before Bugsy’s operation rose to the top of the list.

They knew that it was time for the three of them to hit the road and leave Chicago far behind them for good.

---

The next day, Bugsy appeared as usual at his HQ and supervised the distribution of tinned and dry goods. This made up the ‘legal’ part of his business empire. No moonshine ever came to his HQ. In fact, unless you looked really hard it appeared that nothing illegal went on there at all. That side of the business was carried out in a basement that has been dug on the ‘QT’ a few years before. You couldn’t even get into it from the main part of the HQ unless you knew which panel in Bugsy’s office slid open.

That evening Stella and Bugsy went for dinner at a small Italian place close to the Train Station. After a good meal where Bugsy left his usual big tip, the got into the Buick and headed home. As Bugsy had feared, there was a black sedan on their tail.

“We have a tail,” said Bugsy to Stella as she stopped at an intersection. The phone call that Bugsy had made before leaving the Restaurant had anticipated this event.

“Can you lose them?”

He smiled back at her.

“All in hand my dear.”

A couple of minutes later, Bugsy turned sharply into an alley. The exit was clear so he put his foot down and sped across an intersection before turning out of the alley.

As he did so, he saw the car that had been following them get blocked off by a delivery truck. It was one of his trucks on a legitimate delivery operation. It had just been told to wait for Bugsy to pass by before driving up to the loading dock.

“So far so good.”

Bugsy then headed for the South Side. This was ‘mob’ territory. Neither Bugsy or any of his team rarely ventured into this part of the city. He stopped the Buick outside an all-night car wash. Bugsy was not as they say ‘connected’ but was well known for doing his business without carrying a gun. This night, he was carrying.

The two of them went to speak to the owner of a Model ‘T’ Ford that had just been washed.
“Wanna exchange cars? That Buick for your Ford and $200? You can reclaim the Ford from the parking lot at Union Station in two hours.”

The man took one look at Bugsy and saw that he was carrying a pistol, quickly agreed.
Bugsy gave the other man some instructions.

“Just stay here for a couple of hours and then drive the Buick to the Station and do the swap. If it is still there tomorrow, then it is yours to keep.”

---

Ten minutes later the two of them abandoned the car as promised on an empty lot close to the Train station. Then cool as a pair of cucumbers they walked through the station and boarded the late train to Indianapolis. They were just in time as it was about to depart. An employee had purchased the tickets earlier in the day.

They were seen walking towards the train by a man in the pay of the Department of Justice Agents. Their activities were soon known to the top man. But it was too late and the train had already left the station before the people from Justice could do anything about it.

Agent Ford asked the man who phoned in the report,
“Were they carrying any luggage?”

“No. Just her handbag. It was if they were out for the night.”

The Chief knew that they were running but where would they go without luggage?
He also knew that the train was only going as far as Cincinnati which wasn’t a place where ‘hoods’ like Bugsy went to retire. He was unsure. He wanted to follow but as far as he knew, Bugsy was not wanted for any Federal Indictable offenses. His hands were tied because the Mayor of Chicago had hauled him over the coals for ‘too many innocent people getting killed when the PD had executed a search warrant’. Only the intervention of the DOJ had saved his job. They had taken the heat because of the results that they had had in defeating the bootleggers.

Agent Ford had to decide about what to do next. After a bit of thought, he made up his mind. It wasn’t the decision that he’d liked to have made but Bugsy was a small player in the grand scheme of things.

“We can’t do anything more tonight. Keep his Home and Office under observation and we will raid it tomorrow if I can get a judge to sign off on it,” he told his men.

Still feeling as if he’d let the cat escape he went home to bed.

At that very moment, Bugsy’s HQ was being emptied of everything including the kitchen sink. It was all being ‘donated’ to a bunch of charities around the city. This included several tons of canned food from the legitimate side of their business. Even the access to the other part of the building had been bricked up and the false panel disabled.

---

The Chicago PD and DOJ teams would find nothing apart from a bottle of genuine 1901 Scotch and a note gifting it to Agent Ford. The Scotch had been imported in 1912 and sold at the store owned by the Current Police Chief’s family. The attached receipt from that sale would make a good few people in the city very angry. He’d become a staunch prohibitionist in 1913.

Meanwhile on the train, Bugsy and Stella were relaxing by looking out of the window. Despite the late hour, the train was reasonably busy but they had a little over an hour to kill before the stop in Fort Wayne. Both of them wondered if Ford and his ‘mob’ would be waiting there to greet them? They might just have had time to beat the train but they doubted it.

If there was a welcoming party it would only be the local Police and as there were as far as they knew, no arrest warrants out for them they would not be able hold them for long.

Bugsy helped Stella down from the train and looked anxiously along the platform. They both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw George waiting for them. If the Police had been around here. he would have scarpered before the train pulled in. His being there was a sign that all was clear.

“Good Evening Mr Bugsy, Miss Stella. The car is waiting for us out front.”

“Thank you George. Any problems?”

“No Mr Bugsy. I borrowed this car for an hour from a little old lady. Naturally I made it worth her while. She did drive a hard bargain but she went off happy.”

“Well done,” said Stella as Bugsy held the door open for her to get in.

Ten minutes later they’d returned to the old lady’s house and switched cars.

---

“This car has Ohio plates just as you wanted Mr Bugsy,” said George as he drove them away from the town in the newly purchased car.

“Good. You know where to head for then?”

“I sure do Mr Bugsy.”

“No more of the Mr Bugsy ok. You know the plan.”

“Is sure do Miss Ethel,” said George trying not to laugh.

Two years previously, Stella had found Bugsy wearing one of her dresses when she came home early from an afternoon’s shopping. Once her initial anger had subsided she listened to Bugsy’s reasoning and after a bit of thought, she agreed with his retirement plan. She had a few laughs along the way but there was no good reason why it wouldn’t work.

As George drove east through the night, Bugsy stripped off his male clothes and transformed into Ethel Malone, late of Albany, NY. His boyish features and clean complexion made the transformation quite easy. Once he was dressed, Stella fitted a wig onto his head.

“That’ll do for now… Ethel!”

She said almost laughing.

The next act was for Bugsy’s old clothes to disappear out of the car window into the night. His highly polished two-tone shoes were the last things to go. They signified the end of an era for them both.

Some five hours of driving later George stopped for Gas at the small town of Sandusky, Ohio. The sky to the east was brightening heralding a new dawn. The extra light enabled Stella to apply makeup to George’s baby like face. With a bit of work, he looked pretty reasonable. It only had to last for the trip east for the time being.

“Well, Ethel, welcome to your new life. Now are you going to give me a kiss?”

Ethel laughed and kissed her. Ever since he found her abandoned and very dishevelled by the side of a road in West Virginia she’d been his lover, companion and business partner.

Together they’d made a decent amount of money without having to resort to being a bookie or importing anything stronger than beer from Canada in this era of Prohibition and Chicago Mobsters. Now it was time for them to retire. They’d been planning this since the day Stella first set her eyes on Ethel.

George eventually called it a day well past ten o’clock in the morning. They’d just crossed over into New York State to the south of Buffalo. Lake Erie was to their left and Cleveland was well behind them. Ahead, the roads were going to get a lot worse as they skirted the shore of the Lake so a few hours’ rest were going to be very welcome.

As befitted two women travelling together, George arranged two rooms at a small hotel. One for him and one for the two women. The receptionist was a bit suspicious of this Negro man but his chauffeur’s uniform and the fact the Stella was standing a few steps behind him persuaded her that nothing nefarious was going to happen so she let them have two rooms.
As was to be expected, George’s room was over the stables at the back. That suited him perfectly. That way he could keep an eye on the car that was parked right below his bedroom window.

The two women on the other hand had a nice bright room at the front of the building.

It wasn’t long before all three were sleeping soundly. It had been a long day and an even longer night.

---

Just before seven the next morning, George knocked softly on the door to the women’s room.

“Missy Stella, Missy Ethel, are you ready?” he asked.

“Be right there George,” replied Stella from the other side of the door.

“Very well Miss Stella. I’ll bring the car round front.”

A much more confident Ethel led Stella down the stairs and into the hallway of the Hotel just before 8:00am. Stella was smiling. She’d made a much better job of Ethel’s disguise in the daylight.

Stella settled the bill and they left the hotel together.

George doffed his cap at the women and did his chauffeuring bit and held the door so that the women could get in the back of the car.

As they pulled away, they saw that the woman from reception was watching them go.

“How did I do,” asked Ethel.

“Very well. All that practice we did in the Garage really helped,” replied Stella with a smile as they sat back and let George drive.

The trio stopped for lunch east of Buffalo and then headed for their destination of Albany, or rather the small town just to the east that was appropriately named ‘Troy’. This would be the ‘girls’ home for at least the next year.

It was quite late in the evening when George turned the car off the highway and started up the half mile track that would lead them to the cabin that Stella had bought more than a year earlier. She and Bugsy had made a little side trip on their return to Chicago from New York. They’d taken the Buffalo train and alighted in Albany. As it is the State Capitol, there were plenty of comings and goings by strangers so they’d blended in perfectly.

Three days later the property was now owned by a dummy company that had been setup just to buy the property and pay the taxes on it. Some swift legal work aided by some extra greenbacks moved the process along nicely so that by the time they left Albany bound for Chicago, the property was all theirs. George had visited a few times to stock the place and make sure that there was a really, really good wood pile ready for winter.

Over the course of the next three days the girls settled in to their new home. Stella went with George to do some grocery shopping and to get to know the local area. The very quiet location of the property meant that their nearest neighbour was more than a mile away. The remoteness also meant that they could be snowed in for weeks if there was a big snowfall. This suited them perfectly. The aim of the next weeks and months was to turn Bugsy into very passable woman and that included his voice.

---

On the morning of the 4th day, Stella and George drove over to Rochester where she sold the car and bought something a bit smaller and more befitting to a couple of ‘spinsters’ living alone. Once back in Albany, she said goodbye to George and put him on the bus to New York. In a few days, he’d be in New Orleans with enough cash to setup a Jazz Club in the city. This had always been his dream and he’d been more than willing to work for Bugsy in return for a decent salary with which he bought Gold. Most of his stash was already buried in a swamp somewhere in the ‘Delta’ but he had almost a quarter of a pound of gold in a money belt around his waist when he stepped onto the bus south.

“Thank you for everything George”, said Stella as she said goodbye.

“No thank you Missy Stella. We has had some good times eh?”

Stella laughed. George was already starting to revert to his home town accent.

“We’ll come and look you up in a couple of years but you be sure to write now?”

“Yes Missy. I’s gonna write you real soon.”

With that, he left her and took his place at the very back of the bus as was expected of someone with his colour of skin.

Stella watched the bus draw away with mixed emotions. George had been a key member of Bugsy’s team. Now it was all broken up and there was just her and Ethel left to face the world.

As the days went by, Stella drilled Ethel in the art of being a real woman. With a lot of patience on her part, he started to actually sound like a woman. Everything seemed so perfect at their little hideaway.

But elsewhere the storm clouds were building up rapidly.
The Autumn of 1929 saw that storm hit with a vengeance, and the world changed forever when Wall St crashed.

[to be continued]
[authors note]
Here you have it. The first part of my story set in prohibition era USA. It seems to be period that is almost ignored in Transgender Literature at least here. Please let me know if I have made any major blunders with the timelines.

[Autumn/Fall 1929]

The Girls didn’t get to hear about the happenings on Wall Street for a well over a week after the first big fall in stock prices. It was only when they went into Albany to do some Grocery shopping did they see the newspaper headlines. Both of them stopped dead and swore.

“That’s going to hit a lot of people very hard,” said Ethel.

“Including us. We had a good amount of dough in the bank just to look respectable. Those headlines were all about the run on the banks and banks going bust including ours.”

“But we have a good stash of cash and there is the gold for emergencies.”

Stella knew that Ethel was right. They would manage but things were going to take a lot longer to come to fruition that had been their plan.

“It was a good job we didn’t fall for that Realtors plan for us to have a Mortgage on the Cabin. If there is a run of the bank it could go bust and then we could be foreclosed and out on our ears. I can see that happening to a lot of folk.”

“Yes,” replied a slightly smug Ethel.

“I think it is time we had a radio at the cabin.”

Stella had not wanted the distraction before but now things were going to be different.

“How long do you think crisis this will last?” she asked.
“A couple of years at the very least. Those stocks lost an awful lot of money almost overnight. That will take a long time to rectify.” replied Ethel optimistically.

Stella didn’t disagree but knew deep down inside her that it was not going to be pretty.

---

When they had planned their great getaway, they hadn’t reckoned on was the ‘Great Depression’. That put a huge spanner in their long-term plans. Like everyone in the USA and in many other parts of the world, they would have to tighten their belts. Governments around the world had to handle the effects of such an event as best they could. To Stella and Ethel, it seemed that it was a case of ‘everyone for themselves’.

---

By the summer of 1930 and even in fairly affluent Albany the signs of the recession that followed the crash was turning into a full-blown depression. The change there had been slow and gradual unlike many other places. Now, most of the Banks were closed and shuttered but also good proportion of retail businesses were mere shadows of their former selves if they were still open that is. Their lines of credit at their favourite stores were mere distant memories. It was cash for everything now and even that was in short supply for most of the population. Everywhere you went there were people looking for work.

Despite being very careful with their cash, their reserves were not going to last more than another six to nine months when Stella said,

“We are going to need cash to get through this. The only place to sell some gold will be in New York but that has problems all of its own.”

Ethel knew what Stella meant. Gold was treated as suspicious by many dealers. Unless you could prove that you had come by the gold legally any transaction could be halted or even reported to the Authorities.

“What about Canada?” suggested Ethel.
“I may still have some contacts over the border?”

Stella shook her head.

“Didn’t you hear the reports on the Radio a few days ago. The Feds arrested someone coming over the border at Niagara with close on a hundred and fifty grand. They ain’t gonna see the light of day outside jail for at least a decade.”

Ethel did remember the report.

“There are a lot of other crossing places that are unpatrolled. Didn’t the booze runners tell you that?”

Stella could not disagree with that.

“What we need is a Chauffeur.”

Ethel nodded.

The following day, they posted a letter to New Orleans.

George’s reply came by telegram almost a week later.

“Girls,
On my way. Things not so good down here. See you soon.
G”

Stella handed Ethel the message with a smile on her face.

“Looks like the old team will be back together again?”

“Yeah but where would he sleep. We can’t be seen to be having a Male Negro living in the house for anything more than a few days…”

Stella nodded. It would not be proper for man of George’s age and colour to be seen living inside the home of two supposedly single women.

Ethel sighed.

“This being a woman thing is hard.”

Stella laughed.

“I never said that this life would be easy. Chicago wasn’t a walk in the park either. At least there is less chance of being gunned down in the street here.”

“Can we get the room above the Stables ready for him?” asked Ethel changing the subject.

“If we get some help. We are just two weak women aren’t we?”

Ethel laughed.

“I’m sure the Johnson Brothers would do the job,” suggested Stella.
“For the right amount of reward that is…”

The Johnson Brothers had been supplying their firewood all winter. They ran a cash only business. The couple suspected that they were involved in a lot more activities but what they didn’t know about they couldn’t tell on so they didn’t pry but the sound of their truck going down the road near their property at all times of the day and night made what they were doing as a side-line an easy guess.

“Well, you’d better go and ask them then?”

Stella didn’t reply straight away.

“Why don’t you go?”

Ethel was a little stunned by the suggestion.

“On my own?”

“Why not?”

In the end, Ethel didn’t been to have worried about being outed as Jeb and Dan, the two Johnson brothers were more interested in the folding green ones being used to tempt them into doing the work.

Three days of hard work by the brothers made the two rooms above the stables habitable once again. They’d even installed a new but second-hand Stove to keep the place at least reasonably warm in winter.

“Thanks boys,” said Stella as she handed over fifty dollars to Jeb. They’d already paid the boys for the materials they’d bought for the job.

“Anytime Miss Stella. This money will come in useful with Winter and Christmas coming up.”

“There is something else you can do for us. We want to start keeping chickens. I know that you have a flock or your own?”

Both of the boys laughed.

“You and everyone else,” replied Dan.

“Will this be a problem?”

“No but it would be better to have a coop that can be moved into the barn for the winter. Then you will need to get feed to last at least five or six months.”

Stella grinned.

“Yeah. I know, I kept hens as a child. That earned me enough to buy a bicycle so that I didn’t have to walk the three miles each way to school”

“When do you want it done?” asked Jeb.

“Why don’t you make the coop and bring it over. We have to go away for a few days. How about in two weeks? If you can get some layers then great.”

“Sure, thing miss Stella.”

As the boys were leaving Dan asked,

“If you don’t mine me asking Miss Ethel, who is going to be living over the stables?

“Our driver from before we came up here. He’s hit hard times like many these days. His business failed and the bank… Well, you can guess the rest.”

Neither of the brother said anything. They knew the situation only two well. They were lucky in that their home was not owned by some bank and they had five hundred acres of woodland that would not only keep them warm but supply them with an income for the hard years ahead.

Stella and the Johnson brothers did one more transaction before they left. They’d agreed to supply another ten cords of dry and seasoned firewood for the women. They also agreed to stack it in the lean-to at the side of the barn. That would keep them warm for more than a year. Once the money had changed hands, the brothers left to start getting the wood together.

---

Two days later, George arrived in Albany by Train from New York.

“Ladies, it is sure good to see you. Things are really bad down south.”

“Well, lets’ get home and you can tell us all about it.”

George automatically got into the driver’s seat and smiled. He felt at home again.

“Ready Ladies?” he asked.

“We sure are George.”

Ethel looked at Stella and said,
“The team is back together again…”

---

That evening over a rabbit stew, George explained how his business had failed.

“I messed up big time. I ignored all the signs that you told me about and got a big loan for my place. I was doing well and paying down the debt from the profits. Three months after Wall Street crashed, the bank that had given me the loan went bust like most of the others and I was foreclosed by some Yankee Finacier who had bought up all the notes from the bank for around five cents on the dollar. If I had known about that deal, I would have been ok but it was done and dusted before I knew. I wasn’t alone. Whole blocks of the city are empty of people. All the houses boarded up. The only jobs are for a few security guards to keep the old occupants out. They can’t even get back in to get their belongings it is that bad.”

“We knew it was bad but… that is shocking,” said Stella.

“I tried to sell some gold in New York but no one was buying. One place even called to cops on me. That’s when I headed for the Train.”

“They probably thought that you’d stolen it?”

George nodded.

“Never mind, we can get it sold when we go to Canada,” said Ethel.

“That ain’t a good idea boss. Word on the street in New York is that the Feds have deployed the Army and the Navy to patrol the border and that a new Federal agency is being created to deal specifically with bootleggers. Here look.”

George retrieved a very dog-eared copy of the Wall St Journal from his valise.

The girls looked at the two separate reports in disbelief.

One report told of a former Banker who was fleeing the country with not just his family but a large number of works of art. He’d been detained as he tried to cross over into Canada at the ‘Thousand Islands’ border crossing. His booty was hidden in a truck that was carrying several cows.

“That’s out then,” remarked Ethel.

“They got two others trying to cross over into Canada by rowing boat at Sault Ste. Marie three days after the crash. They were carrying a load of diamonds.”

“What about the black market for gold?” asked Ethel.

“Fifteen cents on the dollar in mid-town if they don’t turn you into the Feds first.”

“Then it looks like we will have to dig up our stash of cash then?” remarked Stella.

“There is close on fifty g’s there. At our current rate of spend it should last us ten years.

“Ten Years? You think that it will go on that long?”

Ethel nodded.
“See this?”

She pointed to a small three paragraph piece at the bottom of the page.

“This guy ‘Roger Babson’? I’ve heard that name before?”

“Yeah, he’s a prohibitionist.”

“Bastard!”

“He might be but he also forecast the drop on Wall St after reading a paper written by some Limey about investment bubbles. Anyway, he’s now saying that due to the over and often irresponsible lending of the last few years, we could end up in a depression. From history, he estimates that it could last a whole decade if not longer. He also says that a war would be the best way to bring the depression to an end.”

Silence fell over the three.

“Getting those hens is just the start.”

George laughed.

“What do you’s know about keeping chickens?”

The girls laughed.

“Stella does but we can all learn.”

George sighed.

“I can see me doing a lot of the work around here then?”

Stella looked at Ethel and the two of them looked at George.

Then Stella said.
“George, you are part of the team. We each have a role to play if we are to survive just as we did back in Chicago. We could not have done what we did without you so don’t get… What’s the word?”

“Uppity?” suggested Ethel.

“I don’t do ‘uppity’,” interrupted George.

“No, not uppity but you have to play your role as our driver and worker and sleep in the room over the barn but otherwise everything gets split evenly three ways just as before. Go it?”

George smiled. His white teeth told the girls that he was ok with the deal.

[one week later]

George drove the girls into Albany where they took the train to New York. After a night in the city, they boarded a train for the nation’s capital, Washington. Here, Stella bought a well-used but serviceable Buick Sedan at a very low price and the left DC behind them as they headed southwest.

They spent the night in Charlottesville before travelling onto Roanoke the next day. After booking into a small hotel near the Railroad Depot, they went looking for something to eat.

They’d just started their meal when Ethel said,

“Don’t look now but Lieutenant Draper has just walked in.”

Stella stiffened. It took all her willpower not to turn around.

“What the heck is he doing here?”

“I don’t know but one of the top people from the Prohibition Bureau in Chicago being here at the same time as us can’t be a coincidence.”

“But who else besides us knows where we buried the stuff? And where we are going?”

“No one but we were very visible when we travelled by train. We didn’t hide the fact. Perhaps we should have done so?”

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing isn’t it?” said Stella.
“What’s he doing now?”

“He showed a picture to the Manager and after a few words, he’s leaving.”

“Could that picture… be you?”

“You mean the old me?”

“Well? Could it?”

“I don’t know but I’m so glad that I’m dressed like this and you have dyed your hair.”

“But even so…”

“Yeah. Let’s carry on with the meal and then leave. There is a Picture House on the next block. We can catch the late screening.”

“What’s showing?”

“I don’t care.”

Stella didn’t answer.
To be honest, it didn’t matter as long at they didn’t get their collar felt by the agents of the DOJ or the Bureau of Investigation. As far as they were concerned, they’d left that old life behind them for good.

It was late that night when the pair returned to their Hotel. They hadn’t seen their possible foe any more.

Their sojourn in the hotel was crudely interrupted just before dawn when gunfire echoed around the street below. Thankfully, the room that the girls occupied was at the rear of the premises but it woke Stella who in turn woke Ethel.

“That’s a Tommy Gun.” remarked Ethel.

Then the noise repeated itself.
“That’s another one,” she added...

“I don’t care for it whatever it is. We need to get outa here!”

Ethel gripped Stella’s arm.

“That the very thing we should not do. There is obviously something going on that does not involve us. Leaving now will just draw some unwelcome attention to us. We stay put unless we get told to evacuate the Hotel.”

Ethel thought for a second and then relaxed.

“Yeah, you are right.”

Several more bursts of gunfire echoed through the night. Each one seemed to be further away than before which pleased both of them.

---

“What happened in the night?” asked Stella as they checked out a few hours later.

“The BOI intercepted a gang trying to rob an armoured box car at the Railroad Depot.”

“Really?”

“Two of the gang were shot dead at the last count and they didn’t get away with anything.”

“I’m so glad that we live in the country. Aren’t you Stella?”

“Yes, I am my dear. It seems that cities these days are getting so violent.”

“Well, I wish you two ladies a safe journey to…?”

“London, Kentucky. We are going to visit an aunt of mine and help her sell up. The bank… Well, she has one week before she is thrown on the street.”

The desk clerk nodded his head.

“We are taking her home with us. Three can live just as cheaply as two.”

“Safe journey Ladies. Drive carefully. The roads the way you are going are not the best and you should make sure that you have enough fuel before you leave town.”

“We will. We are country women and are used to bad roads but I have to say, changing a wheel is not my favourite job…” said Stella.

---

An hour later, Ethel turned their car off the main road and stopped. She’d kept an eye out for any vehicle that might be following them but there was nothing much on the road at all.

“I’m so glad to get out of there. Well, we know why that Fed was in town and it was nothing to do with us,” said Stella.

“Me too darling.”

“Now we find somewhere to hole up until dark?”

“Yeah and still keep an eye out for any tails. Once we get to our stash we could be a target for thieves.”

“I was sort of thinking about that. Perhaps we should ditch the car or at the very least drive it to the Railroad and take the train?”

“Ah, you mean like what we did when we were last this way?”

“But go to Albany rather than Chicago?”

“Not directly but yes. I suggest we stop off in either Columbus or Cleveland?

“Well Girl? Shall we go and find somewhere nice and quiet to park up until dark?”

“Why not?” said Ethel as she started the car.

[to be continued]

The girls took it in turn to doze until late afternoon. They’d found an old logging track that was suitable for the car and not axle deep in mud. It allowed them to hide out of sight but it also allowed then to keep an eye on the minor road off of which they were parked. Hardly a vehicle passed while the girls were resting. That suited them and their purpose perfectly.

As the sun went behind one of the hills, Ethel roused Stella.

“It is time doll.”

Stella laughed.

“Just like old times eh?”

“Not quite but remember the last time we were around here? You were the ‘Doll’ all right.”

“We have both changed a lot since then. The world has changed even more I’m afraid.”

“From what we are reading in the news, the boys back in Chicago don’t seem to think so…”

They’d picked up a newspaper that morning from the newsstand at Roanoke railroad depot on their way out of town.

“They are just asking for more Feds to hit them even harder.”

“It looks like we got out in time then? Ever thought about going back?”

“No chance. We wouldn’t last ten minutes especially looking like we are now…”

Stella drove the car with Ethel navigating. She was using a map that they’d created almost four years earlier, not long after the DOI teams started cracking down on bootleggers.

One by one, Ethel ticked off the landmarks as they retraced their steps from their last visit.

“Turn left here. Over the disused Railroad tracks and we are there,” she said after almost half an hour.

Stella stopped the car and they sat motionless for several minutes.

“It looks much the same as before.”

“Thankfully.”

The pair got out of the car and walked into the woods. They were looking for an abandoned drift mine. It had once been owned by Stella’s Grandfather. She’d been there a few times as a child. The area around the old mine was littered with detritus from the days when the mine was in operation. The railroad spur was used to take material from the mine. She wasn’t sure if any of her relatives were still in the area.

On their last visit, they’d deliberately avoided making contact with anyone. They were hoping for the same luck this time.

“This mud is going to ruin these shoes…” said Ethel.

Stella laughed.
“You really have gone over to the other side haven’t you?”

“And what side is that my darling? The one we have been on all our lives?”

“The best side naturally.”

They both laughed as Stella carefully moved an old metal drum.

“Don’t move an inch,” came a voice from behind them. This was accompanied by the sound of a bullet being loaded into the chamber of a rifle.

Both of them froze.

“Now turn around slowly. I don’t care if yous is wimen or not, this is my land and yous is trespassing, said the mysterious voice.

They turned around… slowly.

“Before I’s shoot the pair of yous why are you rooting around in the ruins of Uncle Jeremiah’s Mine.”

“Not Jeremiah’s mine. It was great, great uncle Carl who sunk this mine,” said Stella.

“Just who do you think you are eh? Do you think I’m stupid as to not know my families history. We have been in these parts since Seventeen Eighty-Five.”

“Actually, it was Seventeen Sixty-Five, Cletus.”

“Do I know you?”

“You should remember me Cousin Cletus, I’m Stella.”

“Yous ain’t Stella. That’s fer shure. She had Blonde Hair.”

“I really am Stella and you have a scar on your left leg where I shot you with an arrow not half a mile from here.”

Cletus moved one hand towards the site of the scar but stopped himself. He gripped the rifle even harder.
“I still don’t believe you so I think I should take you to Grammy. She’ll know how to deal with you impostors and trespassers.”

The girls didn’t say anything.

“Git walking,” commanded Cletus.
He waved the rifle in the direction they should take.

“And keep those hands where I can see them. I knows you city Wimin carry derringers.”

---

A fifteen-minute walk through the woods brought the three of them to a clearing. On one side of the clearing was a wooden shack with a curl of smoke rising from the chimney. The other side of the clearing contained a wooden lean to where there was a still visible. It was in full operation if the sounds it was making was anything to go by.

“Still trying to make decent shine then Cletus?” said Stella.

“Shut the hell up and git over to the house.”

A prod in the back was enough to move them towards the house.

“Grammy, I’ve got us some trespassers!” shouted Cletus.

A few seconds later the door to the shack opened and an old woman emerged.

“Put that weapon down Cletus.”

“They were trespassing at the old mine Grammy.”

“And what do you think that they were going to steal dressed like that?”

“Theys still a thieving Grammy and theys need to be dealt with.”

“Button it Cletus,” said Grammy.

“Grammy?”

“I said button it. I can still tan your backside.”

Cletus remained silent.

“Ladies, if you would like to come inside before Cletus gets really trigger happy?”

Stella closed the door behind them.

“Hello Grammy,” said Stella.

Grammy stopped mid stride.

“You ain’t no kin of mine.”

“Grammy, it’s Stella. Your nephew Benji’s girl. I used to come here with my Mama. The last time we came was for Benji’s brother Hank’s funeral. He was torpedoed in 1918 on his way to France.”

Grammy looked at Stella. She was wearing pretty thick glasses.

“The Stella I knew was a Blonde. Yous ain’t that’s fer sure.”

“I died my hair Grammy when we had to get out of Chicago in a hurry.”

A wry smile appeared on Grammy’s face for half a second.
“I heard that the real Stella had hooked up with some Bootlegger.”

“I was hooked up with a guy who ran a transport company but things got a little sticky so we left,” replied Stella looking at Ethel.
“Besides Grammy, you are in the business yourself in that still outside is anything to go by?”

“Not me. That’s all Cletus’s doing. I want nothing to do with it. He’s already blown three stills up this month. Any more loud bangs, and I’m sure that the Feds will come calling.”

Then she walked up to Stella.

“Now Sweetie. Stella eh? Why should I believe a word that comes out of that pretty mouth eh Darlin’?”

“Grammy, I used to sit on your knee while you read me a bedtime story. You always said that I was the daughter that you never had. I was Blonde but I dyed my hair when the booze business in Chicago got a bit hot and we had to leave.”

“If you are Stella then who is this then?”

“Grammy, this is Ethel.”

“Come here Darlin. I don’t see so good these days.”

Ethel came close.

“Gimme your hand Darlin,” asked Grammy.

Ethel looked at Stella who nodded.

She put her hand out so that Grammy could hold it.

“Darlin, you have a confused spirit. I sense a lot of trouble in your life but you are at peace now.”

Ethel didn’t say anything.

“Grammy!”

“Well darlin what have you got to say fer y’self then?”

“You are right Grammy. We had to leave Chicago before we were targeted by the DOI.”

Grammy smiled.

“Those Bastards need to rot in hell. Them’s is stopping poor folk from earning a livin’.”

“Grammy?” asked Stella.

Grammy turned to Stella.

“Yous ok. You might be Stella and you might not but one thing you ain’t and that is the law. Anyone who isn’t the law is more than welcome in my home.”

Stella tried not to, but let out a laugh.

“Grammy, I remember you saying that to my Pa when he came here on his way to war. He was off to fight the Germans in nineteen eighteen.”

“Gosh child. I think you really is Stella. No one who was not here that day would have known that.”

“Please sit and I’ll get some vittels.”

“Grammy, let me do it,” said Stella.

Grammy glared at Stella.

“I used to do it when I stayed here with Mama.”

Grammy smiled.

“That you did child. That you did.”

Stella served up some Coffee and some freshly baked Biscuits a few minutes later.

“Is there any of Uncle Jack’s Honey?”

“Sorry Darlin. Uncle Jack died from the Flu in 1919.”

“Who runs his hives?”

“Sheriff Wheeler tries to but is useless. The bees would rather sting him than produce any Honey.”

“How? That land had been in his family for generations.”

“It was but Jack took out a loan to get some more hives. Only a few hundred bucks but they foreclosed on him a week after he died. What with Jack’s burial to pay for, no one had the money to pay off the bank.”

“But the moonshine business?”

“Darlin, we got lots of money but very little of it is legal money if you get my drift.”

“Stella, we saw the same thing with our neighbours, the Schwartz’s didn’t we. They had how many stills in operation between us and the Mass border? The family ended up out on the street. The moved over to Vermont and started again,” said Ethel.

“Them banks needed taking down a peg or two but what’s happening now is hurting everyone. Most folks around here can’t afford even one jug of decent whiskey a month these days,” said Grammy.

“I read that it is the ‘CarpetBaggers’ all over again. People buying up loans for a few cents on the dollar and then foreclosing. They are throwing people out onto the streets and then they’ll hold onto the property until this is all over before selling it again,” said Stella.

Ethel nodded her head.

“Grammy, we think that it will end up in a depression. It will get a lot worse. That’s why we are here,” said Stella.

“We came by a few years back to hide some money in the mine tailings. With the crash on Wall Street, it is cash or gold or nothing where we live.”

“So that’s why you was at the mine?”

“Yes Grammy. That’s why.”

“And you were not going to pay me a visit?”

“Sorry Grammy but the less people who know where we are the better.”

“You are talking about Cletus ain’t you’s?”

“Sorry Grammy but we didn’t want to attract any attention,” said Stella.

“That boy is short of a few brain cells but these past few years he’s been pretty good about keeping his mouth shut but… two wimin from up north might be a secret that he can’t keep for very long.”

Then Grammy turned towards the back door. She opened it and shouted…

“Cletus! Get your sorry ass in here this instant.”

Slowly the door opened and Cletus came inside.

“Cletus, our visitors were never here. Understand?”

“Aw Grammy.”

“Don’t Aw Grammy me. You know that the Sheriff is on the prowl most days. He’s itching to raid us and destroy our stills so don’t be givin’ him a reason. Understand?”

“Yes Grammy.”

“Now go and git some eggs from the coop. We will send our guests on their way with a present.”

Cletus disappeared.

“He means well but…?”

“You don’t have to give us anything Grammy,” said Ethel.
“We didn’t bring you anything in return.”

“That’s all right Darlin. If it wasn’t for Cletus and his itchy finger you would have been and gone before anyone knew yous was here.”

“Thanks Grammy. These Biscuits are really good,” said Stella.

“My own Grammy’s recipe,” said Grammy proudly.

“They are really good,” added Ethel.

“Then you must take what’s left with you. Yous gotta long drive back to New England.”

“We…”
Stella started to say how they were going to get home but changed her mind.

“We are driving back to DC and then taking the train home.”

“Then yous better get going. There will be rain later and that road over to Virginia is not the best. It was washed out twice last year. Three people died when their car got swept away in a flood.”

“How do…” asked Ethel

Grammy laughed.

“I feel the change in the weather in my bones just like my mother and her mother before her.”

She smiled at the women.

“Next time you are hereabouts, you come a calling properly and not at the end of Cletus’s gun you hear!”

“Yes Grammy,” they both echoed.

A few minutes later they left the shack with a basket of vitals. They’d refused the offer of a flask of ‘shine. It was too risky given the distance they were going to have to travel.

They returned to the mine and retrieved their stash of paper money and silver coins. As they did so, Ethel noticed a movement up on the hill behind them.

“We are being watched.”

“That’s Cletus. Making sure we get off his land in good time.”

“Why don’t we leave a little present for him? Perhaps that will delay him long enough for us to show him a clean pair of rather muddy heels?”

Stella laughed.

“Why not. Ten silver dollars ok?”

“That’s good.”

With their stash all secured in pouches beneath their skirts, they held up their little present for Cletus and walked off down the track towards their car leaving the 'present' in plain sight on the top of an old oil drum.

Once they were out of sight of the mine and Cletus, they literally ran as fast as they could back to their car. The weight of silver coins that they were carrying slowed them down considerably after a few yards but they made it to their car unscathed.

“Whose great idea to carry the money under our skirts was it?” puffed Stella.

“Er? Your’s Darling.”

“Remind me to never do that again.”

Ethel sighed.

“We needed somewhere not in our bags for the coins so where else was there? Besides our purses are full of cash aren’t they?”

Stella had to agree.

They stowed their purses under their seats after removing all the cash and put that into money belts that they were both wearing around their waists. The loose cut of their dresses hid them perfectly.

“Ready to hit the road?” asked Ethel as she got behind the wheel and made herself comfortable.

Stella laughed.

“Not so fast. I think we should at least try to clean some of this mud off our shoes. If we get pulled over they may start asking questions.”

“And we tell them the truth. We went to visit your Grammy and this mud is from her yard.”

Stella thought for a second.

“You know darlin, you are not just a pretty face you know but you really do need to fix your makeup before we get going.”

Ten minutes later they hit the road and carried on towards Pineville, West Virginia. They passed a few shuttered quarries and corn mills on the banks of the river. There was next to no traffic. Most of what was on the road was horse drawn including a few Model ‘T’ Cars that had been modified to take a harness. The further they travelled, the signs of the really sad state of the economy grew and grew but somehow it all seemed normal to the locals. Many were obviously used to living in abject poverty but their plight disturbed the girls.

There was just a single Gas Station open for business in Pineville. Gas was more than twice as expensive as they’d paid in DC or Roanoke. Ethel made a bit of a scene over the price. It was all for show but they hoped that it demonstrated that they didn’t have a lot of money like pretty well everyone else.

After leaving Pineville, they headed north towards London. From there they hoped to get a train to Cleveland. Stella remembered using that service as a child. It was quite dark now and there was no traffic on the road. It was quite eerie to them both after years in Chicago.

---

It was getting pretty late by the time they reached the Railroad Depot in London. Stella stayed in the car while Ethel went to look for train times.

She was gone only a few minutes before she returned with a worried look on her face.

“Drive,” she commanded as she got back into the car.

“Where? What’s wrong?”

“Go back the way we came. We passed a rooming house about ten blocks back. It had a sign saying ‘Vacancies’ outside.”

Stella turned around and drove off.

At the next block, she pulled over.

“What was wrong? Why did you leave the depot in such a hurry?”

“There was a big sign saying that there were no Trains anywhere until tomorrow and then I saw Tommy Andretti and at most of his family were camped out on the chairs. There were at least fifteen of them. I didn’t hang around to see who was there and who wasn’t.”

“Andretti? Didn’t he and his clan go down to Miami a few years ago? The other Italian mob drove them out.”

“That’s right and the very same Tommy Andretti is sitting in that Depot with wife and most of his crew and a big pile of luggage. We got lucky that it was me who went inside. As I went through the door, I almost bumped into Dolores. You and her were very close and I’m sure that you would have been recognised in a flash.”

“So? What’s wrong… Sorry Darling. I forgot that you are a different person these days.”

“We had a close escape this time. We might not be so lucky the next.”

Stella didn’t argue with that. She put the car into gear and drove off looking for the rooming house.

When they reached the rooming house that Ethel had seen on the way into town, the sign saying ‘Vacancies’ had gone.

“What do we do now?” asked Stella.

“There is the cop shop over the road. Let’s ask there?”

“Eh?”

“Ask a cop for help. No one is looking for us here so why not? Aren't they supposed to 'protect and serve' or something like that?”

Stella smiled.

“Darling, there are times when you come up with some really stupid ideas but this one actually makes sense.”

[to be continued]

Stella went inside the Police Station leaving Ethel to switch to the drivers’ seat.

She returned a few minutes later grasping a small piece of paper and got back into the car.

“They were very helpful about a possible place to stay but it is unlikely that there will be a train north tomorrow. Apparently, the line washed out earlier today after a landslide.”

Ethel gripped the steering wheel a lot tighter. Stella noticed this.

“I know that it looks bad but at least we have some wheels unlike those stuck at the Railroad Depot…”

“Small mercies,” groaned Ethel.

“Now where is this place to stay?”

Stella smiled.
“Go past the Depot and keep on going for six blocks and it should be on the left.”

“Yes Miss!”

Stella glared at Ethel and then realised that Ethel was joking.

“Here we are,” said Stella as they climbed the stairs at the rooming house. Theirs was the last room available. It was also the smallest in the hotel.

“She said it was tiny,” grumbled Ethel
“but this is silly.”

“Never mind darling. It is only for one night?”

“And the rest. We don’t know how long it will be before the railroad is open again.”

“About that…” said Stella.

“In the morning please?”

Stella kissed Ethel and made a dash for the bathroom which they shared with four other rooms on that floor of the establishment.

---

The following morning dawned and the two women ate a quick breakfast at the rooming house following which, they checked out. They paid for their room in part with the eggs that Grammy had given them the previous day. The owner of the rooming house commented,
“We get a lot of that these days. Still, it means that I don’t have to search the stores for food for breakfasts…”

The girls knew that it was a sign of the hard times that most people were experiencing.

As they sat in the car outside where they’d stayed the night, Ethel asked,
“Are you happy about this?”

“Yeah. I think it is the only thing to do given that the Railroad is out and there is no certainty of a northbound train today.”

“Ok, Roanoke it is then?”

Ethel started the engine and they left town heading back the way they’d come the previous day.

---

Luck was with them and they reached Roanoke in time for Lunch which they took at the ‘Grand Hotel’. Then Ethel went to the Telegraph Office and sent a Telegram to George explaining that they would be a day or so late returning to Albany and that they’d send another message from NYC.

Now fully refreshed, the couple set off towards Washington only to find the road blocked by two Police Cars a few miles from town.

“Sorry Ladies. The road ahead is closed. You will have to turn around and take the road east out of town,” said a Police Officer.

“Thanks Officer. Is there a bridge out? We had to divert yesterday because of one,” asked Ethel.

“Not this time Ladies. Some bootleggers from DC are holed up in a farmhouse.”

“This is rather a long way from the Capital?” said Ethel.

“It is that Ma’am. A sign of the times I’m afraid. If you ask me, they’ll go to the moon to get some hooch these days.”

“Well thank you Officer. We’ll head back to town. Where does the road to the East go?” asked Stella.

“It ends up at the State Capital, Richmond Ma’am. You can get to DC tonight if you leave now.”

“Thanks again Officer. You have been most helpful.”

“Safe journey ladies,” said the Officer as he tipped his hat.

---

Once they were back on the road towards Roanoke, Ethen said,

“We have spoken to the Law more on this trip than the whole time when we running beer.”
Stella laughed.

“Yeah. Good isn’t it.”

Then she gripped Ethel’s hand.

“Isn’t it nice to be on the straight and narrow?”

Ethel just smiled back.

The couple reached Richmond later that afternoon. Stella stopped outside the Railroad Depot. Ethel went inside to look at the train schedule.

“There is a train to DC in an hour and a half if it is on time,” she said as she climbed back into the car.

“Good,” said Stella as she put the car into gear.

An hour later, a taxi dropped the couple off at the main entrance to the station. They’d sold the car at a 50% loss but it had served its purpose. Now it was time to appear as two normal women travelling north together.

Stella bought them two tickets to Washington where they were going to spend the night before going to New York and then on to Albany the next day.

---

[the following day at Union Station in Washington]

The DC newspapers were full of the incident near Roanoke. They were reporting that one Marcello Messi and six accomplices were killed in a shootout with State Police after a sting operation.

“Let me see the paper,” said Stella.

Stella read the report.
“Those are names of mob guys that operate out of Detroit. Something is not right here. That officer said that it was a bunch from DC?”

“We should not speculate. We’ve been out of the game long enough to not know who’s who in the Hooch business. We know that once one big mob boss was taken out of the picture things went to pot for a while. Lots of people would get killed while a new order was established. It could be that some people moved to another city especially if it got a but hot. The ‘hot lead’ sort of heat I mean… If that report about Al Capone becoming the new mob boss is true then that would explain why a lot of foot soldiers left Chicago for pastures new.”

Then Ethel added,
“But why here? This is a long way from home for them regardless.”

“Easy pickings when it comes to finding people making booze. There must be hundreds of people like Cletus doing the same thing all over West Virginia, Virginia and beyond,” said Stella.

“Even so, it just does not make sense. I mean to use hired guns from Detroit here in Virginia?”

“As you said, we’ve been out of the game for how long now? All sorts of turf wars must have been going on since we dropped out of sight. It might just be a sign of the times. People are tightening their belts all over the place. We’ve seen more than enough evidence of that on this trip haven’t we?”

“Yeah, we have. We’ve been out of touch for a long time and I don’t regret getting out when we did. See this other article on the front page?”

Ethel pointed to another article by a crime reporter.

Stella read the article.

“I missed that,” she replied.

“We knew that J. Edgar was getting tough but this new task force will make what they did to Capone look like a picnic in the park.”

Ethel looked up at the clock.

“Time to get our train. Speculating what is going on amongst our former business associates is not going to get us home any sooner now is it?”

“Yes Boss!”

They both laughed as they headed for their train north and home.

George was overjoyed to see them step off the train from New York the following lunchtime. He’d become concerned about their changes to their plans.

The extra funds made their lives a lot more comfortable but the world around them was in turmoil.

The Girls were so glad that they’d bailed out of Chicago when they did. Both of them were of the opinion that things were going to get worse rather then better. Their trip south had confirmed a lot of their worst fears. They both hoped that whatever happened would pass them by in their little corner of the world.

---

[Late Spring 1930]

Stella had been out in the barn collecting eggs when she heard the unmistakeable sounds of a ‘Tommy Gun’ coming from the direction of their nearest road. She hurried back into the house.

“Tommy Guns coming from the highway,” she exclaimed to Ethel and George who were preparing things for Lunch.

“Let’s hope they don’t come this way!” said George.
“We don’t have any guns do we ladies?”

“Stella has a derringer,” said Ethel.

George was suddenly alert.
“Where is it?”

“In my purse. Why?”

George didn’t answer. Instead he dived for the bag that was lying on the floor near the door to the hallway and pulled out the weapon. Without saying a word, he went to the back door and dashed outside. Twenty seconds later he returned without it.

“I’ve got rid of it. It is in the woodpile. The last thing we want is some ‘G Man’ finding it and thinking that he is under attack. We know that those guys have very itchy fingers.”

Both girls didn’t object. They’d all listened to the news all winter. The number of shoot outs where innocent bystanders were killed had increased. J-Edgar was under pressure from Congress to keep his men under control but so far there had been little evidence of that happening. If the ‘G-Men’ were in the area it was best to be totally clean when it came to weapons.

“I’d better make myself scarce,” said George.
“I’ll be in the barn cleaning out the chickens.”

Neither of the women objected. George knew his place when it came to being in the presence of outsiders.

As he went out the back door, the sounds of gunfire were echoing around the valley. Whatever was going on, it was happening right on their doorstep. The girls could only sit back and hope that it would go away.

To their dismay, a truck came flying up their drive. It was followed by three black cars with ‘G-Men’ hanging onto the sides and firing at the truck.

“It’s the Johnson Brother’s truck,” said Stella as they ducked back into the house.

“Let’s get down into the cellar,” said Ethel.

Before they could react, one of the chasing cars stopped outside the Cabin. Two agents burst into the kitchen.

“Where does this track lead?” asked one of them.

“It ends up on Route 2 about a mile east of Cropseyville. It is pretty rough from here on. You can’t go very fast at all or you will break an axle,” said Ethel.

The second agent said,
“Thank you Ma’am. Sorry for disturbing you.”

Then they left as quickly as they’d arrived.

A few minutes later George returned to the Kitchen.

“What did they want?”

“To know where the track went. So, we told them,” said Stella.

“We also told them that it is very rough.”

George nodded.

“Two cars went up the track and one turned around. I guess that one will be trying to head them off at the ‘pass’…?”

“Let’s hope they don’t come back,” said Ethel.

“Why not? We don’t have any hooch do we?”

George fiddled with his fingers.

“George?” asked Stella.

“I have a couple of flasks hidden under the floor of the barn but where they are hidden is not obvious. The hole is covered by straw and that broken wagon wheel.”

“George? Don’t you think that you should move them into the woods? Just in case?” asked Stella.

“I agree. Get rid of them just for the time being.”

“Aw?”

“George, you know the rule we operated under in Chicago… No hooch in the main office building.”

“Ok, ok. I’ll get them moved.”

Just then one of the two cars that had gone up the track came back and stopped outside the house. One of the agents came into the kitchen.

“Do you have a phone?”

“Sorry Agent. We aren’t connected. The phone company aren’t running any lines out this way anytime soon. The nearest is at the General Store in Brunswick.”

“Thank you, Ma’am. Sorry to bother you.”

The two agents left them alone and peace returned to the area but it was a wakeup call to all of them. They’d come to Troy to get away from Prohibition and its effects. Now those effects had followed them in a big way.

---

How big this was, was revealed when they went into Albany to do some shopping the next week. The gossip was all about how one of the Johnson Brothers had been wounded in a shootout with the Feds just over the state line in Massachusetts. The gossips also said that the other brother was on the run and that the numerous stills that they’d operated had been smashed up by the Feds.

The girls knew that with the brothers missing, a good number of people were going to feel the effects. Their legitimate business of providing wood to most of the residents of Troy was no more yet people needed wood for heat in the forthcoming winter.

“George…” said Stella that night.
“Fancy going back into business?”

“Miss Stella! How can you say that after all those stills have been wrecked around here?”

Stella laughed.

“Not booze. Something perfectly legal. I’m talking about taking over the Johnson Brothers Wood Supply business. We run it and I’m sure that there are a more than couple of people from Troy who would just love a job with a steady income.”

“Ah! I sees what you are on about.”

“Has anyone asked the surviving brother about this?” asked Stella.

“No. I was merely thinking ahead and… well as there is a gap in the market I sort of wondered…”

“Ok, ok,” said Ethel.
“I think we get it.”

“Who is his lawyer?”

“From the report in the paper, it is Don Brennan. Why?”

“We should go and see him. He can ask his client and if it is ok, he can draw up a contract so that it is all legal like. We don’t want the Feds and especially the Taxman investigating us now do we eh?” said Ethel.

“What about me? Don’t I get a say?” asked George.

Stella smiled.
“Of course, you do. This is only an idea at the moment. I only thought of it when I was doing the dishes.”

“Good,” said George firmly.
“You may have a problem getting white folk to work for a negro. They’ll want to be the boss and make me do all the heavy work.”

“That’s a good point George.”

“And a good few white folk, might not want someone like me going inside their homes. Even as your driver I had problems with staff at some of those big houses where you went to for parties.”

“Ok. George. I’ll forget it,” said Stella.

Ethel didn’t react. She was clearly thinking.

After a while, she said,

“The idea is good but we can’t get George involved. We have to run it ourselves and employ some local people to do the work. George is our driver. We can run the operation on a day to day basis.”

“Or just lease the land from the Johnsons and buy the business as well. Then we run the thing ‘under new management’. Then we are totally legit again,” said Stella.

“Where are we going to get all the ‘legit’ money to do that then? We have not declared any income to the Taxman since we have been here or had you forgotten that? If we get audited then we will be behind bars. Far better to do nothing. There is nothing to stop us suggesting to Don Brennan that getting someone to run the lumber side of their business would be a good thing though,” remarked Ethel.

Stella and George realised that they still needed to keep their heads down and so they agreed with Ethel not to do anything other than mentioning it to Mr Brennan.

Summer came and went as was as hot and sticky as before. As in previous summers, they all missed the breeze that came off Lake Michigan. It made the city liveable. Then the winter came and the same lake made it even colder than upstate New York.

The one Johnson brother that was in custody, Dick, went on trial and was convicted of running sixty-three illegal stills and found not guilty of transporting booze over state lines. Some bottles on their product were found over in Pitsfield, Mass. Dick denied actually sending the Whiskey to Pitsfield. There was no evidence that they’d actually transported the booze over state lines so the charges were dropped. He was found guilty of running the stills and the Judge sent Dick Johnson to prison for five years.

Thanks to the efforts of the lawyer, the legitimate side of the Johnsons business carried on so people didn’t freeze. That winter was one of the coldest on record in upstate New York while farms in the mid-west were literally blown away in the wind.

[to be continued]

[October 1931]

The three occupants of the home near Troy in upstate New York listened avidly to the daily reports of the trial for Tax Evasion of their one-time client, Al Capone. They knew more than most about the goings on of the Chicago Mob of the 1920’s. As transporters of illegal beer, they knew all the where and when and how much stuff was moved around. They knew to keep their mouths shut in the event of them being apprehended by one of the many arms of US Law Enforcement. They did have some information that might be used to broker a deal but otherwise, they would keep silent. They hoped that as a fairly minor cog in the big wheel of Prohibition Busting operations that went on in 1920's Chicago they'd slip through the net that the Feds were casting around.

There was a lot of gossip about the trial in Albany along with a lot of uninformed speculation. More than once did the trio have to bite their lip and keep quiet when the radio reports got it totally wrong.

Stella had started recording every business transaction in her diaries as soon as they decided to put an exit plan in place. The numbers of killings had made them nervous but getting the delivery contract for Capone’s Mob had kept them relatively safe from inter gang violence. The inherent protection provided by the Capone gang had been worth it despite the risks. Bugsy had also gotten delivery contracts with some other players on the Chicago scene. Bugsy played fair with all his suppliers and customers. They knew that he did not try to rip anyone off so he survived.

That protection would not stop a rival gang that wasn’t a client from tipping off the Police about a shipment. The increasing loss of product to the Law despite increased Mob protection was a worry to all of them.

All the time Stella was sitting in the background pretending to look pretty, she was making notes of what was going on around them. It was the perfect cover. Every two weeks, George would mail a package to their Lawyer in Albany. He had kept all the unopened packages in his safe until the girls had moved to Troy.

All that insurance data was safely buried in a waterproof cache near their cabin. They never knew when their past would catch up with them even this far from Chicago. The incident the previous year with the Johnson Brothers had brought their situation back into their minds.

“Who will they go after now that Big Al is locked up?” asked Stella the evening when they heard the verdict in the Tax Evasion trial.

“There will be a bit of limbo for a while but then they’d go after the next level mobsters.”

“Like we were?”

“Who knows eh? But we were never ‘Mobsters’ as we didn’t carry guns or threaten people but that might not dissuade the Feds from taking an interest. But, we’ve been out of the limelight for quite a while now. We never made the sort of money that the likes of Capone and Moran did. Selling the hooch was where the big bucks was made not in the trucking business.”

“I hope so. I really hope so,” said Stella with more than a tinge of sadness in her voice.

---

As winter drew closer, the Thomas Twins started making wood deliveries. They’d taken over the Johnson Brothers wood supply business. Both of them had been laid off in late 1929 from local Savings and Loan Company. They were only too glad to get some gainful employment.

The Police still had the Johnson Brothers Truck in their evidence compound. They’d seized it as proceeds of illegal operations. Luckily, it came up for Auction a week before Thanksgiving. The Girls had loaned the Thomas Twins the money to buy the truck. They got it for around twenty percent of its true value so everyone felt happy.

That loan was partially paid off when the Twins arrived with a full load of wood. That was more than enough to last the winter. They’d also done a deal with the Twins that any family with children that were unable to pay for wood for heating and cooking were to be given it and that they’d pay the balance. The scenes in downtown Albany whenever they went into town were growing more and more desperate by the week. So many men were literally begging for food. The newspapers told the same story from across the nation.

Two days before Thanksgiving George drove the two girls into town to try to get some supplies for the holiday. Most stores had closed but a few people with a Hog or even better a few Turkeys were willing to barter were in town hoping to make a few trades. Eggs, Chickens and wood changed hands and everyone went home happy. Despite this, Stella was unhappy. This poverty brought back too many memories of her childhood in a mining town in West Virginia.

Her family never had much real money. Her father was paid in ‘scrip’ that could only be redeemed at the company store for inferior goods at vastly inflated prices. She left home when she was twelve so that she would not be a burden on her parents. She went to work at a big house just over the border in Arkansas. It was not a happy experience. Her ‘master’ tried to rape her on her second night. She fought back and took the knife that her father had given her and stuck it right in his penis. Then she ran.

At first, she went back to West Virginia but she wasn’t safe. The man’s family ‘owned’ a lot of people. It was only too easy for some of them to come across the state line and take her back to stand justice. Her Grandfather on her Father’s side took her by train to St Louis where she simply walked into an orphanage and gave them a false name. At least there, she was safe from those back home.

The memories of her childhood and of wearing the same thin cotton dress for six months at a time came back to her every time they went into Albany. Ethel tried hard but it was tough going to keep Stella on the straight and narrow.

On this particular day, Ethel was going to treat Stella to Lunch in the ‘Grand Hotel’. It was hardly ‘Grand’ any longer and was only open because it was opposite the Railroad Depot. People with a few dollars in their pocket would rest up there while they waited for their connecting train.

They’d just finished eating when three policemen burst into the restaurant. At first the two girls froze but it was soon very clear that the officers were after another diner.

They hauled him out of his seat and quickly put the handcuffs on him. Both Stella and Ethel breathed sighs of relief as the man was virtually frogmarched out of the building.

Once they’d gone, there was a general buzz of conversation in the restaurant. Ethel and Stella listened intently to what was being said. They knew who the man was the instant the Police had hauled him out of his seat. He was Sean O’Flaherty or at least that was the name that he’d gone by when they’d dealt with him in Chicago in the past. He ran the Irish Gangs that controlled the Railroad Depot and the Docks. Most of the workers were of Irish descent so it was fruitless for the Italian Mob to wage war against them as they knew only too well that the saying ‘Blood is thicker than water’ held very true. The Bugsy Stallone Trucking Company dealt with both of them and had remained in business for as long as it had by not trying to pull a fast one with either their suppliers or customers. They were not aligned with any side so made an ideal organisation to move goods between the different organisations.

The girls knew that Sean had family in Boston so they guessed that he was in Albany waiting for the next train East.

When they finished their meal, they paid the bill and left the restaurant only to bump into Agent Gillespie. He was running up the steps to the hotel just as Stella emerged from the front door. They both collided and tumbled to the ground.

“Sorry,” breathed a breathless Agent.

“And so, you should be. You were not looking where you were going,” exclaimed Stella as she brushed herself off.

The Agent looked long and hard at her and was about to say something when he stopped.

Then he said,
“I am so sorry. I was looking for two Police Officers. Have you seen them?”

Stella smiled and said in her best West Virginia accent,

“Why Yes. I do believe that they arrested a man who was dining in the restaurant less than ten minutes ago.”

“Thank you Ma’am.”

The Agent tipped the hat that he’d now put back on his head and left in hurry.

Ethel stepped forward and gripped Stella’s arm.

“Steady love. Take deep breath. One breath at a time. In, Out. Slowly…”

Stella swore like only someone from West Virginia could. Thankfully she kept it quiet. Ethel knew that Stella wanted to scream.

George saved the day by arriving with their car.
Ethel quickly ushered Stella into the back and got in behind her.

“I got us a Turkey!” exclaimed George.

“Shut up and drive. Go west,” said Stella in a voice that told George that something was wrong, very wrong.

Once they’d left the city, George turned the car into a side road and drove out of sight of the main highway. Then he stopped.

Stella was still shaking. Ethel was holding her tight.

“Stella literally ran into Agent Gillespie as we came out of the Hotel. The Police just arrested Sean O’Flaherty. He was eating Lunch a few tables away from us,” said Ethel.

George swore.
“Did he recognise you?”

“I think that he may well have done. Even if he didn’t, Stella got an awful fright.”

Stella had managed to stop shaking.

“I’m sure he did. He was about to say something but stopped as he helped me to my feet. I’m sure he saw this.

Stella pulled back the cuff of her coat.

Both Ethel and George knew what she meant. Stella had gotten burned on the back of her wrist as a child. The shape of the burn was like a small horseshoe. Stella had been a person of interest to the Department in Chicago and had been taken ‘downtown’ a couple of times for questioning. She’d played the dumb blonde role perfectly and nothing had come of it but both times she was in custody, it was Agent Gillespie that had led the questioning. She’d said nothing and her pretending to know nothing was eventually believed.

“We could be in trouble,” said Ethel.
“If Gillespie can get Sean O’Flaherty arrested here then we are obviously at risk.”

Neither of the others were going to argue with Ethel on that.

“What do we do?” asked George.
“Do we make a run for it?”

“I think we will have to but not until tonight. The last thing we need is to be caught digging up our stash now is it?” replied Ethel.

George and Ethel both looked at Stella. For a bit she didn’t say anything.

Then she said,
“I’m done running. I like it here. We never did anything to attract a Federal Warrant. Sure, we hauled a load of hooch but we never took it across state or even city lines. That’s a state matter isn’t it? The O’Flaherty’s? That’s another matter entirely. It was common knowledge that they’d got a load of boats bringing in loads of stuff over the lake from Canada.”

Ethel sighed.
“That won’t stop them from hauling us in and making us sweat for a few days.”

What she’d said was right on the nail.

“I think we should go home and carry on as normal. If they come calling then we will have to deal with it,” said Stella.

“What about me?” asked Ethel.

“We’ve talked about this often enough. Ask for a Doctor. A woman Doctor before they do anything,” argued Stella.

Then she smiled,
“After asking for your lawyer naturally.”

Silence fell over the car. The decision had been made.

Several minutes later, Ethel said,
“Time to go home George. Drive slowly, as if nothing had happened.”

“Gotcha Miss Ethel.”

Then he started the engine and drove them home.

---

The next night, Thanksgiving, George drove Ethel back into Albany. George bought a ticket to New York and got on the last train of the day south. Ethel drove home. They hadn’t said a word while they were in town. The girls had persuaded George to go away for at least the time being. If nothing happened then he’d come back after Christmas.

They’d had the Turkey for lunch that day. There was not a lot to be thankful for with the threat of being arrested hanging over them but they tried to make their ‘last supper’ enjoyable as possible.

It was more than a week later that the Feds arrived. More than fifty agents all armed with tommy guns surrounded the house in the woods where the girls lived.

“Come out with your hands up Bugsy. The place is surrounded!” said Agent Gillespie using a ‘bull horn’.
One of the agents standing near him fired a burst into the air for good measure.

The door to the house opened and Stella stepped out with her hands raised. She’d put on her heavy winter coat as there had been several inches of snow on the ground for a couple of days. The air was cold. The agents breaths were clearly visible in the bright sunlight.

Stella stepped forward about ten yards and stopped.

Ethel followed her out of the house. She stood a couple of yards away from Stella.

Agent Gillespie shouted through the bull horn once more.

“Where’s the other one?”

Stella looked at Ethel who nodded back.

“He’s gone. He took off last week,” she shouted back.

Agent Gillespie said something to another agent. Then a wave of them came forward and quickly handcuffed the women. They were tossed into the back of a windowless van and driven away.

Some five hours later the van pulled up and the doors opened.

“Come on you two. Get yourself out of there,” shouted a man.

Two very, very cold women slowly got out of the van. The sound of a ship’s horn told them that they were probably in New York or failing that, Boston.

“Get inside!” shouted one of the guards.
They didn’t need to be asked again. The freezing wind was even worse than the back of the van which was unheated.

Once inside the women were separated. As they were shown into different rooms, the smiled at each other and were no doubt wondering when they were even going to see each other again.

---

“So, Bugsy. Living as a woman eh? That’s a good one,” said Agent Gillespie about an hour later.

Ethel was cold and tired and thirsty.

“Lawyer and a Doctor!”

“Now not Bugsy. Don’t do that to me. We have you bang to rights. Come clean and maybe I’ll put in a good word for you with the Judge.”

“Lawyer and a Doctor!” repeated Ethel.

“Why would you need a Doctor? We all know what’s under those clothes. Bugsy Stallone in all his finery!”
Agent Gillespie laughed.

“Don’t you look a sight! There is no way you’d pass in my eyes. I know you of old. Just your luck that we’d gone to Albany to arrest O’Flaherty. Chicago is a mere shadow of its former self especially since Big Al got sent to Federal Prison. He’s not so big now is he eh? Plus, he’s down to be shipped to Alabama any day now. That means the chain-gang for him. I’m looking forward to sending you down there to join him very shortly. It will be like old times eh? Capone and Stallone sharing a cell. Wonderful!”

Ethel could tell that Gillespie was enjoying this.

“Lawyer and a Doctor! If you can’t get me one then put me in front of a Judge. I’d love to know what FEDERAL Laws I’ve broken.”

The smile disappeared from Gillespie’s face.

“Don’t talk back to me. I make the law around here.”

Ethel raised an eyebrow.
“Really? I thought Congress and the Senate makes the laws. You are only here to uphold them, aren’t you?”

Gillespie reached over the table that separated them and slapped Ethel. A cut on her cheek started bleeding.

“Resisting arrest again! Tut-tut. You crooks never learn!”

“Lawyer and Doctor and put me in front of a Judge. I’m never gonna speak to you!”

“Persistent… I’ll give you that.”

Gillespie stood up and left Ethel alone with her cheek still bleeding.

He repeated the process with Stella and got exactly the same result. This frustrated the hell out of him so he tried again and failed.

It was late in the day so he got the girls sent to the cells with instructions for them not to have any contact with the outside world nor any food or drink. He would see how they reacted in the morning.

---

To his immense frustration, there was no change in their responses the next morning.

“Ok, have it your way. I can keep you here forever if I want to and at the moment, I’m minded to do just that. I’ll get you to talk one way or the other. Have it your way.”

Ethel glared at him.
“If you would actually ask a question then you might get an answer. But I’d need a lawyer here and I want to see a Doctor.”

“Oh! The fake woman has a voice.”

“You know what I want…. I want everything. I own you. You are nothing. Understand that?”

“You don’t own me. You are nothing. You are going to have to put me in front of a judge sooner or later then you will get what you deserve or are you planning on killing me? Why don’t you do it right now eh?”

Agent Gillespie fumed internally. There was no way this fake woman was going to get the upper hand with him.

Ethel carried on baiting Agent Gillespie for another ten minutes. In the end, he hit her really hard. This time, the force of the blow knocked her off the chair and she banged her head against the wall of the room.

“Shit!” exclaimed Agent Gillespie as Ethel remained motionless on the floor.

He ran from the room to get help.

It was more than ten minutes later that Agent Gillespie returned with two other agents. Ethel was still lying on the floor.

“Sorry Boss. We need a Doctor. She’s obviously unconscious and needs medical help.”

“Stop calling her a her. That is Bugsy Stallone in a dress.”

“Who?” asked one of the other agents.

“He ran hooch for Capone back in the twenties.”

“Never heard of him,” exclaimed the other one.

“He was a serious player in Chicago.”

“That’s why we’ve never heard of him. Are you sure he’s wanted here?”

“Of course, he’s wanted. He was part of Capones gang.”

“I’ll go and find a doctor. Doc Robbins was around earlier.”

Agent Gillespie thought for a moment. Then he said,

“Go on before I change my mind.”

The agent disappeared.

A little while later, the agent returned with a man who was carrying a medical bag.

The doctor bent down and examined Ethel. After a minute he sat up.

“This woman needs to be taken to Hospital. At least for observation.”

“She can’t. She’s under arrest.”

“On what charge Boss? There is nothing in the daily log about her or the other woman.”

Agent Gillespie looked at the agent with glaring eyes.

“What other woman?” asked the Doctor.

Agent Gillespie didn’t answer.

“She’s in the room next door.”

The Doctor stood up.

“Show me. This other woman can fill me in on her medical history.”

“Doc… That’s not a woman. That’s a man in a dress. He’s a fugitive from Chicago.”

The Doctor glared back at Agent Gillespie. He started to say something but stopped.

“I need to speak to this other woman now.”
Then he spoke to the second agent.
“Please go and organise an ambulance right away.”

“Those two are not going anywhere. They are under arrest.”

The Doctor ignored him and went into the next room where Stella was being held.

Once inside, he told the other agent to wait outside.
“Medical Confidentially and all that.”

With the door closed he sat next to Stella.

“Doc Robbins at your service. Tell me about your friend… Ethel I think her name is.”

“Why what’s happened?”

“Agent Gillespie lost his temper. I understand her name is Ethel? Anyway, she is lying on the floor unconscious. I think she will be fine but I want to take her into Hospital for treatment and at least overnight for observation.”

Stella thought for a moment.

“Is Agent Gillespie still saying that she is really a he?”

The doctor nodded.

“She isn’t a he.”

The doctor smiled.

“That’s what I thought. I saw her breasts when I examined her. Why is Agent Gillespie so convinced that she’s a man?”

Stella smiled.

“We ran a transport business in Chicago. Ethel lived and dressed as a man. If she hadn’t we would have got nowhere in business. He was known as Bugsy Stallone. I was his broad.”

The doctor laughed.
“You two should write a book… when the statute of limitations has run out naturally.

He stood up.
“I’ll see if I can get you two released. Agent Gillespie is in for a bit of a shock. Do you know what you are going to be charged with?”

“I have no idea at all. We were in Chicago. As far as I know, we have done nothing wrong outside of the City of Chicago so there really is no reason for the Feds to be holding us. Agent Gillespie was based in Chicago when we were operating so perhaps it is a case of sour grapes.”

The Doctor thought for a second. Then he said,
“Have you asked for a Lawyer?”

“Yes, many times. I’ve not had any food or drink since we were taken from our home.”

“Where is that home?”

“Troy. Not far from Albany.”

The doctor shook his head.

“Don’t quote me on this but it sounds like Agent Gillespie is doing this without proper authorisation.”

Then he stood up and rapped on the door.

“I’ll be back soon. I’ll make sure that Ethel is looked after at the Hospital.”

“Thanks Doc.”

“Oh, and don’t say anything to Gillespie. I’m sure that he knocked Ethel over despite his denials. He’s saying that she was resisting arrest. Her hands were still cuffed so this resisting charge is clearly bogus. Going after mobsters is one thing but beating the hell out of a woman is a bad move in my eyes.”

Once outside, the Doctor looked in on Ethel. She was starting to come around.

He comforted her until the ambulance team arrived.

“He’s going nowhere without handcuffs and one of my people at her side,” demanded Agent Gillespie.

“Ok but if your people get in the way of treatment then they will have to leave. Understand?”

“They are not going to let him out of their sight.”

The Doctor ignored him and watched as Ethel was transferred to a stretcher. Gillespie quickly handcuffed her and order one of his men to go with Ethel.

---

At the Hospital, another doctor examined Ethel and agreed with Doctor Robbins on the diagnosis of concussion.

“Take her to Ward Three,” the Hospital Doctor ordered.

“Excuse me Doc, that’s a man in a dress. His name is Bugsy Stallone,” said the Agent who had accompanied them to the Hospital.

The Doctor smiled.
“Who told you this?”

“My Boss. Special Agent Gillespie.”

“Well Agent, you are wrong. Two doctors have examined the patient and both agree that the patient is female. Perhaps you should report back on this?”

“I’m not to let him out of my sight.”

“Even so you can use the ‘john’?”

The agent didn’t answer but followed the orderlies who were taking Ethel to a female ward for observation.

When they’d gone, Doc Robbins went to a phone.

“Grammercy Two Two Nine Three please?” he said when the operator came on the line.

“William? Barney Robbins…”

“I’m fine and so is Mary. I’m calling because there are two Women being held at the Agency and they need legal representation. They were brought down from Troy yesterday. One is in Hospital suffering from concussion. To me, this is an agent trying to impress J. Edgar. You do know that he’s trying to make his operation Federal? They have no idea what they are going to be charged with and have been denied food and drinks.”

“Yeah, perhaps that might bring a little discipline and order to their operations.”

“William, you need to know that the Agent in charge is Gillespie.”

“Yes him. He has got it into his head that the one that is here in the hospital is really a man. Another doctor has examined her and agrees with me that she isn’t a man.”

“Apparently they ran a trucking business in Chicago but left well before the crash.”

“Good. I’ll leave things to you.”

The doctor hung up the phone and went about his business.

---

The man that the doctor had called soon swung into action. William Harcourt the Third was not a man to be trifled with. My mid-afternoon, a New York Federal Judge had ordered the release of Ethel and Stella. The Judge took all of ten seconds to consider the evidence or rather the total lack of it and the fact that there were no arrest warrants out for either Ethel or Bugsy in Chicago nor Illinois. Neither were they the subject of any ongoing investigation by Federal Agencies in Chicago.

Agent Gillespie was not pleased.

“You have not heard the last of this,” he said as Stella was released.

“Agent Gillespie, making threats against an innocent woman has been noted and may be used against you at a later date,” replied William Harcourt the Third.

“Are you threatening me?”

“No Agent Gillespie. I am not threatening you. I am merely stating something that should be obvious to you that Stella nor Ethel is not subject to any arrest warrants either here nor in the State of Illinois and that they are not subject to any current investigations again here nor in Illinois. At the moment, I have seen no reason for their arrests in the first place.”

The Judge paused.

“Before I made my decision, I took the evidence to Judge Smith and he agreed with me. I don’t want to have to go back to him and get my clients released again. If I have to then I’ll make sure that your boss knows all about it when he next has to testify to a congressional committee. Call it a promise of further action if…”

Agent Gillespie was clearly fuming with anger but didn’t respond.

“Come on Stella lets go and find Ethel.”

Stella did not need to be asked twice.

---

Ethel was released from Hospital late that afternoon with strict instructions to take it easy for a few days.

This was not Ethel’s style.

“We have to be getting home,” she said to Stella and William.

“Nonsense,” replied William.
“Both of you will be my guest for at least tonight. We can talk again in the morning after both of you have had a good meal and some sleep.”

Stella smiled and held Ethel’s hand.

“He’s right you know.”

“How can we pay for your services?” argued Ethel.
“We have no money with us. We were snatched from our home.”

William smiled.

“Don’t worry about that. This is all pro-bono. No charge.”

This seemed to placate Ethel for the time being.

Sleep for both of them was hard to come by that night. Despite being tired out, they had to sleep in separate rooms. This was the first time that they’d done that in over six years.

---

Ethel was much like her normal self the next day. After a hearty breakfast, William’s driver who by some coincidence was also called George drove them to Penn Station where they took a train north to Albany. William had refused any payment even for the train tickets.

Both of them responded by giving him a huge kiss. The poor man was really embarrassed.

“Before you go, one thing puzzles me,” said William.
“Were you this ‘Bugsy Stallone’ as that Fed kept insisting?”

Ethel smiled and nodded her head.

“My pa was going to get me married off to someone I’d never met and was more than twenty years older than me. He thought that my marrying this man would be good for his business when he got back from France. I tried running but somehow, he always found me. The last time I ran, I cut my hair, stole some male clothes from a washing line and jumped onto a freight train. That train took me to Memphis. I sort of just fell into living as a man and managed to make a few bucks driving trucks. After the war, that work dried up and what with all that Flu spreading everywhere, I headed for the hills. I met Stella here a few years later. We had a bit of money so we teamed up and headed for Chicago where it seemed that we could make a whole load more.”

William laughed.

“Did you know that Bugsy was not really a man?”

It was Stella’s turn to laugh.
“From that first night I did. At first, I was shocked but we decided to give it a go as a married couple, or what appeared as one. We bought into the trucking business and well, the rest is history.”
Then she looked at Ethel before saying,
“I know that many folk will condemn both of us to eternal damnation but I grew to love her and she loves me. It really hurt me to see her bind her chest every day and hide the fact that she was everything to me. But, we got lucky and are still here. Now we can grow old together appearing to be two spinsters living together and not caring about men.”

Even William’s wife saw the honesty in what she’d said. To their surprise, she gave the girls a hug. She also slipped a $10 note into Ethel’s hand. She whispered,

“This is for a Taxi home when you get to Albany.”

---

I was dark when the Taxi pulled up outside their home. It didn’t take long to realise that the place had been ransacked in their absence. Even the mattresses had been sliced open. Hardly a stick of furniture remained intact.

Once the girls had stopped cursing they cried. They’d worked so hard to make the place a home. Now it was destroyed. The front and rear doors had been left open and there was evidence of animal tracks on the porch.

This was verified when Stella found a Skunk in the bathroom. Thankfully, she shut the door before It could let off its stink.

That caused them to laugh. When they’d recovered, Stella said,

“That was a close call. Shall we look at George’s room?”

“I think we should. Hopefully they didn’t trash that as well.”

Their luck was in and there was no evidence that anyone had been in George’s room since he left it a week earlier. They spent the night there happy to be in each other’s arms again.

In the morning, Ethel said as they started to clear the mess from the kitchen. Every tin of food had been prized open and emptied onto the floor. At least one Bear had eaten most of it.

“I think we should get a rifle each or at least a shotgun. Then I can put a load into Agent Gillespie should he come calling again,” said Ethel as she looked at the mess.

“And go to jail for it?”

“I don’t care. That man needs seeing too.”

Then both of them realised what Ethel had said and burst out laughing.

“I’m sure that there are some bullock castration tools hanging on the wall in the barn,” said Stella.

They laughed and laughed. So much so, they failed to see that someone was standing in the doorway.

“What’s so funny?” said that someone.

The girls turned around and saw that it was George.

The girls literally ran to him and hugged him tight.

All was well with the world again.

To their intense relief, neither Agent Gillespie or and Feds returned to their home and after a while, the girls started to feel safe again but they decided never to eat at the Hotel again just in case.

Just before the following Christmas, they were listening to the news on the radio one evening and a there was a report about a raid and an arrest that had been carried out by none other than J. Edgar Hoover himself. The person arrested was identified as none other than Agent Gillespie. He was charged with corruption and murder. The last straw had been when he battered to death a man for getting in his way on the sidewalk right outside a Police Station.

Stella smiled at Ethel and said to George,
“I know that we should not celebrate the arrest and probable demise of anyone but I think some of that hooch you have buried behind the woodshed would be very appropriate just about now.”

[The End]

[authors note]
I hope you liked my little tale set in the era of Prohibition.
AFAIK, it is not one that has been covered before even though this is a different twist on many more conventional TG stories.