Short-a-Day: Ron Rash's "The Trusty"
Originally published in The New Yorker, May 16, 2011. Personal enjoyment rating (out of 100): 83.The only problem with Rash's story is that it's a bit too reliable: from the moment we learn that Sinkler -- a "trusty" who is allowed to roam free in return for his hauling water (from wells at the neighboring farms) to the chained members of his hard-labor prison gang -- was arrested for scamming people, you can't help …