Kate Bender

(Poem)

This is the story of dear Kate Bender
Baby of the family
Her parents opened a one-roomed inn
In 1873

there she would draw suitors in
With her breath-taking beauty
But it was always more than their heart
She took; her family was her duty

Lone travelers would come to rest and
Dine on a home-cooked meal
But underneath this welcoming front
Danger breathed quite real

When pretty Kate did serve his plate
With a smile and a bat of her eye
You can guess what happened next
As Pa Bender crept up on the sly

As their guest put down his fork
And declared that he was full
The crushing blow of a sledgehammer
Rained down upon his skull

And once his money was taken
And the poor fellow surely dead
The body of the traveler was planted
In sweet Ma's flower bed

No one knows what happened
To the Bender family
Some say that they were burned alive
By some vile vigilante

But others still believe
Even to this very day
These brutal "Hell Benders"
Just up and got away.