You could call Sam a drifter as she is living out of her car, travelling all over the Southwest never stopping long enough to settle down anywhere. It’s hard to tell what keeps her going, as she doesn’t seem to be looking for anything in particular. Maybe moving along in it self is reason enough for her to go from place to place, or maybe she just hasn’t come across that someone who could give her reason to stop, changes her life and settle down?

Had she been given a choice, Piperton in small town Texas would properly not be a place Sam would want to stop for more than gas, but as her beat up car breaks down for good, she has to stay for a while getting together enough money to buy another car to get back on the road.

In a town like Piperton Sam’s sticks out as the butch lesbian, looking the part with her heavy work boots, tight t-shirt and wallet on a chain. This doesn’t make her stay in Piperton any easier, and perhaps slightly more dangerous that she had bargained for.

So what’s to do for someone like Sam in a town like Piperton? Well if you’re a bigot you might say that she would spend her time corrupting the local woman, but that’s really not Sam’s intention at all. What she does need though is a friend, and after a bit of a bumpy start Sam lucks out – twice.

Not only dose Sam meets Betsy who gives her a job, a place to stay and a sense of family, she also catches Janie’s eye. Janie is a rather disillusioned, unfashionable kind of woman, who lets her father and her rather unattractive boyfriend run her life. I would say that she comes across as rather unhappy, but somehow lacking the reason or ability to changes her life. An uneasy friendship with Sam changes all that, and Sam becomes the catalyst to alter not only Janie’s life, but the lives of others – including her own.

The first part of the story is rather bleak, painting the picture of two woman not really having found happiness in life and not really looking for it either, but the story brightens up as Sam and Janie strikes up a friendship that moves along towards an attraction.

There are a couple of loose ends in the story as pointers towards a history of hate crime by Janie’s “ex (almost) father in law” is laid out, but really not expanded on. It doesn’t really matter as the basic non-lesbian friendly environment in Piperton comes across just fine without it.

You might like to know that Piperton seems to have made it into print, which I think is a bit surprising, as I could point to other stories of better quality, which hasn’t made it into print, but it might be that the printed version has a broader storyline or something that could warrant publishing.

Anyway why not enjoy a little on line entertainment when it’s free of charge?

http://www.academyofbards.org/fanfic/c/carriecarr_piperton1.html