Unknown
Southern tramp
(AG – 109)
CHAPTER ONE
"What in the dickens shall I do today?" Melanie Wilkerson pouted pettishly, sitting in the open French window which looked out upon the verdant land and gardens that belonged to her wealthy father.
Melanie was an extremely beautiful girl of sixteen, a lovely combination of woman and child, the type only to be found in the South. She had lambent golden curls which cascaded around her shoulders prettily, framing an oval, porcelain face with enormous, long-lashed blue eyes, a perky upturned nose, and full, strawberry-hued lips. Her complexion was peaches and cream. Indeed, she looked the picture of health, a stunningly gorgeous Southern peach, renowned throughout the county for her lovely features.
Today, she was wearing a white silk dress with puffy sleeves and a dipping cleavage which revealed her ample, jutting breasts, far larger than those of most girls of sixteen. Her figure was like that of an hour glass, lusciously curvaceous with an incredibly slender waist and long, sexy legs. Many a lusty young buck had drooled over the sight of the dimpled Miss Wilkerson parading through the town's streets usually shaded by a parasol, and more often than not, with her begloved hand slipped in the crook of her father's arm.
Rhett Wilkerson was a burly, powerfully built man, a man who was fiercely possessive and extremely ambitious. He was also one of the wealthiest men in the state. The Wilkersons had dabbled in politics since before the Civil War, and there had almost never been a time in recent history in which the family was not represented in the Senate or Congress, or at least the state's legislature. Two times a Wilkerson had served as Governor, and it was Rhett Wilkerson's lifelong ambition to become the third and youngest man in his family to gain that coveted political post.
Wilkerson was not a scrupulous or particularly compassionate man. He could ladle charm when necessary, and during the past few months, he had bombasted the state with an expensive campaign, kissing numerous babies and visiting every orphanage and old folks home he could. Recent polls placed him neck to neck with another ambitious young politician, a handsome Democrat named Lance Hardman. Both men were in their early forties, and therefore, which ever one won the election would become the youngest Governor in the state's history.
The State had habitually elected Democrats to office, but Wilkerson, a staunch and conservative Republican, was banking on the fact that Hardman was known to be a bit too liberal for the people of the State, especially in his attitude toward race relations. And Rhett Wilkerson intended to win the election, whatever the cost…
Melanie was sick and tired of hearing of nothing but the election, day in and day out. She had been forced to accompany her father – a widower – to many a social function, and pose with him for numerous newspaper photography sessions.