The goods are hidden under a canvas in the backseat. I pinch my nose. The smell’s giving me a headache.

“Lux,” Frank says as we putter down the road.

I remember the advertisement. Lux soap, rich in fragrance.

“Every box has a layer of soap on top. Not Ivory. Miss Helen says it’s not strong enough.”

“But you can’t smell sealed moonshine anyway,” I say.

“No. But she says if I’m stopped, I’m supposed to say I’m delivering soap to Common’s Variety in Houston.”

“And if we are stopped, say I’m your little sister. It would look daffy otherwise.”

“Deal.”

We settle in for the drive, Miss Helen’s directions between us.

“You know what she told me before I left?” Frank says.

Before I’ve counted to three, Frank says, “Get there as fast as Holly Gap gossip.”

I backhand his shoulder and laugh. “Then we should already be there,” I say, and settle into Nervous Town where a daddy finds out his daughter lied.

Excerpt from The Moonshine Thicket by CD-W