Zadie Hudson lifted her fiddle and tilted her bow. Catching the tune, she began to play. Behind her, the music stopped. Unheeded, she continued until her brother, Wade, yanked her instrument from her hands.

"What do you think you're doing?" Wade bellowed, his nose touching hers.

"Joining your band," Zadie yelled back, grabbing her fiddle.

"No, you ain't," her older brother responded hotly. "Ya'll too young." Forcefully, he pushed his little sister to one side.

Several years ago, Wade and Cash Hudson, along with their friend Riggs Bolt, created a band called the Rebel Rousers. They achieved success by playing at local honky-tonks, weddings, and the high school prom. Their dream was to eventually perform at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. Zadie decided she wanted a piece of the action.

"Ain't too young," Zadie announced, hands on hips. She stood firmly before her brothers and wagged her head.

"You're too young," Cash asserted from behind the drum set. "Go on back in the house and play with your dolls."

"I have news for you, Cash Hudson," Zadie stated, marching toward her brother. She snatched the drumsticks from his hands. "I quit playing with dolls when I was ten." Skillfully twirling the sticks, she beat them on his head.

"Hey! Quit it!" her middle brother exclaimed, throwing his arms over his head. "Get her outta here, Wade."

Swiftly, Wade stepped behind her and encircled her waist. Lifting her off the floor, he carried her toward the garage door. Zadie kicked her long legs and flailed her arms. Wade dropped her outside the side entrance and slammed the door. Leaping to her feet, Zadie pounded on the door. It opened, and her brother shoved her fiddle into her hands. The lock clicked.

"I'll get you for this, Wade Hudson," Zadie screamed at the door. She kicked it hard and pouted at it. After a while, she gave up and walked toward the house. Before she entered, she turned back. "I'll show you. I'll get to Nashville before the both of you. And I'll become a star while you're still playing in Honky-tonks."

Zadie entered the house and ran upstairs to her room. Sitting yogi-style on the bed, she lifted her fiddle and played a rousing tune. While she played, she studied herself in the mirror. Her long blond hair framed her heart-shaped face. Blue eyes glittered above an aquiline nose and pert red lips. She wore cut-off denim Daisy Dukes and a halter top. Red leather cowboy boots adorned her tiny feet. Zadie looked like a perfect country music queen.

Talent ran in the Hudson family. Her mother and father performed at the Opry as a duo long before Wade, Cash, and Zadie were born. They reminisced fondly of sharing a stage with Hank Williams and Patsy Cline. Soon, the next generation of Hudson's would arise and take their place in country music history. Zadie would have liked to join her brothers, but they acted selfishly. She was determined to strike out on her own and make it big.

Wade, Cash, and Riggs continued to practice in the garage. Their music wafted through Zadie's open window, and she played along with them from her room. Finally, Riggs pulled his pickup to the garage door, and the brothers began loading their gear. They were scheduled to play at The Silver Saddle in Chattanooga that evening.

"Hey, ya'll," Zadie yelled, crawling out her window and standing on the veranda roof. "Ya'll can't have a country band without a fiddler." She waved her instrument and bow at them.

"Not a problem," Cash hollered back, holding his hands up to cup his lips. "Spanky Wall is meetin' us there."

"Spanky Wall, ya'll kiddin' or what?" Zadie snidely scoffed. "Spanky saws that ol' fiddle of his. He doesn't play. Sounds like a cat in heat."

"Spanky's the best damn fiddler these parts," Wade stated, laughing. "Ain't that right, Riggs?"

"Right, Wade," Riggs agreed quickly. "See ya round, Zadie honey." He kissed lips in her direction before jumping into his pickup's driver seat. Wade and Cash piled in with him. The truck picked up dust on the way out of the driveway.

Zadie waited up for her brothers' return. Riggs pickup pulled into the drive after two-thirty in the morning. The boys unloaded into the garage and said goodnight to their bandmate. Finally, they tramped up the stairs.

When Zadie came out of her room the following morning, she found a flyer on the upstairs landing. Picking it up, she studied it carefully.

Calling Local Talent, it exclaimed at the top.

Next Saturday night

The Silver Saddle Hosts

A Come One, Come All

Talent Show

Several Top Nashville Talent Scouts

Assured In the Crowded Audience

Zadie decided to attend.

The Rebel Rousers practiced in the garage during the following week. Zadie tuned up her fiddle in her room and played along with them. Someway somehow, she would find her way to the Silver Saddle in Chattanooga. She knew she had to take the stage. When the talent scouts heard her play, they would surely pick her as the winner.

"You ain't got a chance, ya'll know," Zadie tormented Wade and Cash. "Ya'll might have talent, but ya'll ain't all that."

"You don't know nothing," Wade replied, sneering at his sister. "The Rebel Rousers are gonna win that prize. We're going to Nashville."

"Not if I get there first," Zadie fired back, hands on hips.

"How are you going to win, little sis?" Cash interrupted. "You won't get on that stage because you won't be coming with us."

"Humph." Zadie marched away. She stopped, hands on hips, and posed. Turning her face, she pursed her lips and threw her long hair over her shoulder. "I got something you ain't got."

"Nerve," Wade hollered back.

"Pizazz," Zadie countered. "Sex appeal." She rotated her hips back and forth.

"You ain't go sex appeal," Cash scoffed. "You're just a babe in the woods."

"That's what you think, Cash Hudson," she hollered back. "I ain't no babe."

"You're my babe," Riggs cut in, puckering his lips. "Come over here and give me a wet one."

Zadie's spine straightened. She hated the thought of kissing Riggs. His dirty blonde hair hung in straggles, and his lips were thick and moist. She'd rather kiss a porcupine.

"Keep your thoughts about me to yourself, Riggs Bolt," she declared hotly. "You got a face only your mama could love."

"Quit the banter, you two," Wade cut in. "We gotta practice." The bandmates picked up their instruments.

Tossing her long hair over her shoulder, Zadie strutted from the garage. She returned to her room and her own practice session.

On Saturday night, the Rebel Rousers packed up their gear. Hiding behind the garage, Zadie waited until they piled into the pickup. Duck walking toward the back of the truck, she tossed her fiddle case into the bed and climbed on board. She lay flat while the band rushed along the highways toward Chattanooga. As soon as they reached the Silver Saddle, she slipped away before her brothers unpacked their equipment.

The talent show began. Each participant either received rousing cheers or disgruntled boos. The Rebel Rousers brought the audience to their feet. Many couples danced between the crowded tables, and the judges nodded their heads with satisfaction. Wade and Cash began congratulating each other while the last performers played.

"We have one final last-minute entry," the contest's MC announced, waving his hands for silence. "Introducing Miss Zadie Hudson."

Zadie strutted past her brothers. She noticed their aghast expressions as she marched toward center stage. Lifting her fiddle, she began to play and sing a song of her own composition. Her short denim skirt emphasized shapely legs. The leather fringe of her tan vest swayed to her movements. Pushing her black Stetson back, she raised her face and let out a rebel yell. The clacking of her red cowboy boots accentuated the rhythm of her fiddle.

When she finished her piece, the crowd and the judges leaped to their feet. Zadie bowed at the waist and acknowledged the standing ovation. The MC joined her on stage, indicating he wanted silence.

"There's no doubt in anyone's mind this young lady has won your hearts," he announced, grabbing her arm and lifting it high. "She has also unanimously won first prize." The crowd erupted again.

"Nashville, here I come," Zadie yelled into the microphone. She lifted her fiddle and began to play again.

Zadie stood center stage at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. During the previous week, her debut album came out. The first single immediately reached #1 on the country music charts. The Grand Ole Opry hosted her inaugural live performance. To her delight, the Rebel Rousers became her backup band.

Smiling coyly at her brothers, Zadie lifted her fiddle and began to play. Wade and Cash grinned at each other. They never teased their little sister again.

!!!COMING SOON!!!

OHIO