Shafter Bailey > Quotes

“Cindy Divine and her parents paused by their boat to take in the natural beauty. Lake Barkley could have been a top-paid model for a glossy postcard company that morning. It lay between little hills all dressed up in new green, and its mirror-like water reflected a cloudless sky everywhere except along the shoreline where the hills were upside down. Clusters of blossoms, dogwood and redbud, were scattered here and there on the hillsides, and a brightening red was coloring the sky along the eastern hilltops.”
― Shafter Bailey, Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings

“Charley threw Cindy on the bed and pulled a switchblade knife. He pressed the release button and a five-inch blade flipped open. “One word to anybody and your ugly dog gets his throat cut!”
― Shafter Bailey, Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings

“James Ed smiled. “We should start a cuddling movement. Cuddling would solve most of the world’s problems. I can just see our bumper stickers. Have you cuddled today?”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children

“James Ed went to his office and sat down at his small, metal desk. He smiled as he considered Penny Jones’ plan to shame him out of her life. Would he let her do that? He shook his head as he thought, No way in hell!”
― Shafter Bailey

“Sir Edwin Chadwick (1800-1890) was an England reformer. His words are true and relevant in 2025. He said, “There is a moral as well as an intellectual objection to the custom, frequent in these times, of making education consist in a mere smattering of twenty different things, instead of in the mastery of five or six.”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children

“Don’t bother to have your thugs break into my house when you give me an out-of-town assignment, Ms. Jones,” James Ed said. “They won’t find anything. My tape will be in safekeeping at Farmer’s Bank.”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children

“you calm down and listen carefully to these words.” He pressed the play button on his recorder and held it to the sending end of the telephone.”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children

“Private Detective, John Ballou, opened his glove compartment and took out his Colt 45 thinking an ex-con might be setting him up to settle an old score. He checked the bullet clip and slipped the powerful pistol into his coat pocket.”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children

“The Beautiful Lady told me that her instructions would always serve good purposes,” Cindy said. “She said some of the good purposes wouldn’t be revealed until they could best serve the need that created the purpose.”
― Shafter Bailey, Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings

“Forget professional,” Penny said. “Tonight, you and I are just man and woman like Adam and Eve, Tarzan and Jane.”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children

“What’s your version of old-fashioned discipline?”
“A belt across the back! I felt the belt a few times growing up. Didn’t hurt the way I turned out.”
― Shafter Bailey, Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings

“Senator Collins and Speaker Bowling are two cuts or more above typical politicians. If all politicians modeled their examples, we’d have a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children

“Ben and Freda were happy for Cindy. She had recovered from the horrible abuses she had suffered the previous year. Her last bad dream was over five months behind her. Her schoolwork was excellent, and her home and farm chores were done promptly without any supervision. Her face without a smile was a rare sight. Ben and Freda exchanged glances. Tears had slipped glistening over their eyes.”
― Shafter Bailey, Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings

“We must go back to the firm discipline and simplicity of the one-room schoolhouse to find a better education for our children.”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children

“You better understand this, Cindy,” Wanda said. “The sooner you do the better your life will be. In your eyes, no man will ever measure up to Daddy. If I picked Jesus Christ to marry, He wouldn’t measure up to Daddy.”
― Shafter Bailey, Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings

“James Ed’s statistics even made me feel guilty,” a businessman said. “Let’s make him a millionaire.”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children

“The feeling of that moment defined earthly rapture for James Ed. Before his state of mind could enjoy a full minute of the ultimate feeling, the six-year-old memory intervened. “Goddamn that memory!” he thought.”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children

“The faint outlines of two packages on his front porch attracted his attention. The size of the packages matched his two packages that contained his Christmas gifts and handwritten cards for his son and daughter. Samantha wouldn’t do that, he thought.”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children

“Cindy, when you went to sleep this night, you did not know you would take the first step of the proverbial thousand-mile journey before the next dawn. You will need genuine strength for each step. Remember, truth is the only source of genuine strength on planet Earth.”
― Shafter Bailey, Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings

“When Cindy’s crying slowed to convulsive gasps, she picked up Floppy and they got in bed and she looked at the picture of her and her father at Lake Barkley. “Good night, Daddy. I love you!”
― Shafter Bailey, Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings

“The beautiful stranger cuddled Cindy, and she rocked the chair slightly as she spoke softly to her. “Suicide is a problem, not a solution. Humans you love would be hurt deeply if you left them. Becky Johnson and her parents would be crushed. Your grandparents in Florida never forget to mention your name in their evening prayers. I have loved you before and since your first heartbeat. Your father loves you. He will be rightfully proud when I tell him about your brave attempt to protect Pretty Boy.”
“You will speak to Daddy?”
“I will.”
“Please, may I know? Who are you?”
“I am your guardian angel, Cindy.”
― Shafter Bailey, Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings

“The beautiful stranger cuddled Cindy, and she rocked the chair slightly as she spoke softly to her. “Suicide is a problem, not a solution. Humans you love would be hurt deeply if you left them. Becky Johnson and her parents would be crushed. Your grandparents in Florida never”
― Shafter Bailey, Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings

“Ed Sanders chuckled. “The ivy-covered walls at Columbia University have limited the depth of your insight, Professor Gilmore. The rehearsal flight is a ploy cooked up in the White House to take advantage of Cindy Divine’s immense popularity.”
― Shafter Bailey, Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings

“Someone else is watching James Ed Hoskins, Ms. Jones. I don’t know who or why, but he is being watched.”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children

“Good morning,” one of the soldiers said. “I’m Captain Joseph Walker and this is Sergeant James Vanetten. We are members of the One-Hundred-and-First Airborne Division, Fort Campbell.”
Wanda nodded
“May we know your name?”
“Wanda May Divine.”
“Are David and Thomas the first and middle names of your husband?”
“Yes.”
“Is he currently deployed in Afghanistan?”
― Shafter Bailey, Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings

“Ben and Freda were happy for Cindy. She had recovered from the horrible abuses she had suffered the previous year. Her last bad dream was over five months behind her. Her schoolwork was excellent, and her home and farm chores were done promptly without any supervision. Her face without a smile was a rare sight.”
― Shafter Bailey, Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings

“The weather was as ready as the school and campus. The sky was cloudless and the temperature was expected to top out at 76 degrees. Early morning mowers had sugared the air with the fragrance of freshly mowed grass.”
― Shafter Bailey, Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings

“Your friends and I want you to stay aware of your surroundings, James Ed. These days you cannot anticipate what a disgruntled, former employee might do.”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children

“Cindy Divine rushed out of her first-period classroom at Calloway County Middle School. Betty Sue Bowling, her English teacher, rushed to the doorway and ordered her back to the classroom. Cindy ignored her as she ran to the nearest fire alarm and pulled the handle. A screeching blare flooded the classrooms and hallways.”
― Shafter Bailey, Cindy Divine: The Little Girl Who Frightened Kings

“I suggest you write I love you in your daily diary when we hang up so that you can refer to it should you ever develop that need to read those words again.”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children