Walk Tall Walk Straight: Part 6
Hard Knocks:

Following the incident in the food hall, Judd was left pretty much alone. Periodically he would receive little jibes, but the physical stuff was directed to other newbies, while he was allowed to continue his sentence under the mentoring of his cellmate. Under the watchful eye of Scoops, Judd established himself amongst the general population and had in the preceding months he had been inside, managed to make the acquaintance of most of the prisoners who had decided to see out their sentence and leave as soon as possible, with the minimum of fuss.

Christmas Eve 1934

In the three months that Judd had been working in the kitchens, it had become obvious to him that all the quality food found its way to the warders while the prisoners got the scraps. With Christmas in mind he had been secreting small portions of luxury food away in the kitchen, now it was just a simple matter of getting them back to his cell. He wasn't sure yet how he was going to do so, but one possibility had presented itself that morning while he had been bathing. That was why he had gone straight from work to his cell, and picked up the biggest towel he could find, prompting Scoops to jokingly enquire if he was bathing with a friend. His cellmate was the only person who could make jokes about his size without offending him. From his cell, Judd had wandered to the bathhouse, trying to curb the enthusiasm he felt over what he was about to attempt. Entering one of the single toilet cubicles, he locked the door behind him, placed the towel over the cistern and began his task. Climbing back over the closed door he used the top of it as a leg up to the ducting system which had originally been used to run water pipes and electrical cables throughout the prison. Being of a small stature it was no bother to him to clamber into the small duct via the access point he had spotted earlier while bathing. He only hoped that the route he had figured out in his head was the right one he didn't much fancy dropping in on the guards taking a break

Half an hour later, having managed to safely negotiate his way to the ducting above the kitchens, Judd dropped silently onto a metal bar suspended above the main part of the kitchen. It was here where all pans where hung. Judd had tested its strength throughout the day by hanging from it when things had been quiet. Using skills that he hadn't been sure he still had, he walked the bar almost to its full length until he reached an air vent above the cookers. Silently pulling out the grill he removed the food he had secreted earlier. With his improvised tea towel sack over his shoulder, he spun on his toes to face the way he had come and made his way back along the bar to the ducting. His journey back to the bathhouse was done with the minimum of fuss and he considered himself lucky enough to be able to make his way back to the cubicle with no one entering the area. He took a quick shower to wash away the sweat and grime of his little adventure and with his ill-gotten gains safely secreted in his towel, he made his way back to the cell. "I thought you'd gone over the wall, the amount of time you've been away", Scoops said upon his return. "Oh I had to take care of a couple of things, lets wait to lockdown and I'll give you all the details". He pushed his towel under his bunk and settled down to read for a couple of hours while he waited for the last cell check of the day. He decided to read 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' by Oscar Wilde. It always reminded him that he wasn't the only person to have suffered for being outside what was considered the norm.

Around two hours later a warder appeared in the doorway, "Okay gentlemen, going to have to lock you up for the night. Santa's due and the last thing we need is for him to think your all bad little boys, then again, considering where you are, he's got to be some kinda of idiot to think anything else". They could still hear him laughing at his own joke long after he had locked the door and repeated it at the cell next door. "What an idiot", Scoops said, "makes you wonder why more of us don't commit murder once we get into places like this". Judd laughed, "well I found it totally hilarious and am still splitting my sides". At that they both laughed and it took a minute or two before they settled down again. "So Judd, what exactly where you up to this afternoon, you where gone long enough? Judd reached beneath his bunk and pulled out the towel. "Read a book for a minute, or pretend you can and I'll show you". While his cellmate acted out being distracted, Judd went into a blur of activity. "Happy Christmas Scoops" When he opened his eyes, Scoops was a little taken aback by the banquet for two laid out before him. "I won't even ask where this lot came from, but I notice that the meat is already sliced", "Well I wasn't going to bring a knife back, if I get caught with this lot, it's thirty days down the block, a knife is a whole new sentence and I want to get out of here as soon as possible". They both settled at the small table in the middle of their cell and began their own private Christmas dinner.

"So Judd, what do you intend to do when you eventually leave this wonderful place?" Judd finished chewing the 'Honey Roast' gammon in his mouth "I'm going to head north and look up someone who might know where Cameron might have gone. He used to do a knife act at some of the towns we visited. I'll never forget the day he got into a truth or consequences contest with Cam, ended up with Cam in a drunken stupor and 'Twoyoungmen' almost piercing his assistant's ears with eight inch 'Bowie' knifes. Brandy?" Judd poured two very large brandies and passed one across the table. "A knife throwing Indian called Twoyoungmen? You've led an interesting life my friend, did he have a first name?" Scoops asked. "If he did I didn't know it, all I know was that he was a 'Sarcee' Indian who was excellent with a blade, but who gave the impression that he was maybe more than he let on. Anyway, you know enough about me, what about you, I've been here almost seven months and know next to nothing?"

Judd's cellmate refilled their mugs with brandy and settled back into his chair. "Where to begin? I suppose my real name would be a start, but only on the understanding that it is never mentioned again. It's Clarence, Clarence Saddler... Now you know why I prefer the nickname I'm known by?" He paused while he took a sip of brandy. "I'm in my late thirties and am an only child. I haven't had contact with my kin since I was twenty. Christian folk don't like having a wayward son associated with them". Judd chuckled, "Wayward, You?" Scoops lent over to the table, rolling a large piece of beef, he crammed the whole lot into his mouth, Judd poured more brandy and Sadler went on. "I also left a son in my wake, who I haven't seen since he was about ten. Guess he'd be around eighteen or nineteen now. Would have been good to really get to know him, but her family considered me a wastrel, guess they were right. So I wandered... met Megan, she had a comely charm, well if you consider charm being able to uncap beer bottles with her teeth. We Flim Flammed the public and she Flim Flammed me. We'd made quite a bit from our activities and she obviously decided that one hundred percent of something is better than fifty. She accidentally left rat poison boxes lying around. When I came back from being out, she'd act secretive and suspiciously. A few weeks of that and you become convinced that your life is in danger. So I thought I'd better get her before she got me, four standard fly papers and a quick soaking later she gets two scoops of solution and is immediately down the hospital demanding analysis of her stomach contents...I had never actually suffered any illness so my counter claims went unheeded while her results showed arsenic in her system, I got prison, she got the money. I keep myself happy by convincing myself that if I hadn't tried to kill her, she would have eventually killed me. Prisons got to be better than death...Anyway, I don't regret anything I've done. Never regret Judd, just learn"

As they made their way through the contents of the brandy bottle, the two cellmates talked of trivial things and at some point made their way to their bunks. Pouring one last drink, Judd said, "I guess we'd better get some sleep, Santa's coming tonight". "He's already been Judd, happy Christmas bud and thanks"