Читать книгу North of Springville - Justin Rowland - Страница 4

The faint sound of the rooster crowing in the distance woke Adam and John. Within the first seconds of consciousness, they expected to hear the playful voices of their parents joking and teasing each other. The mornings had always been special, filled with the sounds of their parents’ laughter. But this morning was silent. Reality set in quickly and the weight of their life-changing event again took hold, creating a new unspoken bond between them. Adam sat up, looking around for Jedidiah, while John lay motionless with his eyes wide open, still trying to digest the horrors from the night before.

Adam leaned over to ask, “John, you awake?”

“Yeah,” John’s voice cracked through his broken heart.

Regaining their bearings, they realized that a wool blanket had been spread over them that could have only been put there by Jedidiah.

“Have you seen him?” John asked.

“No. I’m going to see if he’s still where he was last night. Will you come with me?”

John got to his feet in reply. “I’ll bring the blanket.”

As they backtracked to where they had last seen Jedidiah, they were so emotionally drained from the previous twenty-four hours that no expression could be found on their faces. They felt like ghosts of their former selves. But as they reached the spot where they expected to find him, their hearts sank even more. The stranger was nowhere to be found. The obvious signs of him were there –– the matted down grass where he kept watch, the slight indentions in the ground where his elbows had been. But Jedidiah was gone! In that moment, their young hearts processed a range of emotions from terror to disappointment to rage. They stood there trying to decide what to do next, when John suddenly grabbed Adam and pulled him down while simultaneously moving back behind one of the big trees. In their confusion they had been standing in plain sight of the bandits. John realized this only a fraction of a second before noticing a man moving about on their homestead. As they stared out over the open field, their hearts began to pound again. He was now obviously walking in their direction. Panic began to set in as their minds raced for an answer. Should they run or stay frozen in place? They weren’t certain they had been seen, but the man was walking directly toward them. As their muscles tensed, Adam suddenly cocked his head to one side, watching the man approach as if he was seeing something John had not noticed.

Seeing his brother’s expression, John looked out whispering, “What?” But, just as the word left his lips, they heard a familiar voice.

“John…Adam. It’s alright. It’s me, Jedidiah.”

The boys were speechless, their minds flooded with questions. Had the bandits gotten away? Was he one of them? Had he killed them all? With great uncertainty in their eyes, they began to slowly stand.

Reading their expressions and body language, Jedidiah again attempted to reassure them. “Truly, it’s alright. The raiders are secured and are awaiting your judgment.”

More confused than before, the boys were uneasy about coming out in the open. But, by then, Jedidiah was within arm’s reach. He could see their eyes, and he understood their fear.

Once again, he dropped to one knee, his rifle now slung over his back, and repeated, “Adam… John...the raiders have been bound. They are awaiting your judgment. It is safe. Please come.”

When the boys began to move forward, Jedidiah stood, turned, and walked back toward the property, with Adam and John following. Now that day was breaking, they were able to see what this stranger looked like. In the short time they had known him, he had almost seemed superhuman. From rushing in and attempting to rescue their sister, to staying up all night to watch the bandits, to finally, somehow, capturing them alone. But now, in the glow of the early morning light, his appearance seemed rather unremarkable. He was a man of average size with dark hair and a full beard. His hair was beginning to gray making him appear older than they had expected. His skin was dark and leathery, as were most folks who lived in the territory. His words and his eyes, however, spoke to them. They inspired trust –– they made the boys want to trust Jedidiah.

As they began to enter the homestead, Adam and John slowed their pace. They could smell the smoke from the smoldering cabin and, as they looked around and remembered the horrific sounds and sights, their eyes began to swell with tears. Jedidiah turned back toward them.

“Boys,” he said, “don’t come in here if you’re not ready. Take your time. There is no rush. No rush at all.”

In silence, they both looked up at him. He knew they couldn’t speak without losing their composure, so he softly placed a hand on their shoulders and gently reiterated, “Don’t rush this.”

At that, he turned and walked away toward the main barn. As their eyes left him, they began to take in their surroundings. With the exception of the burned-out cabin, everything seemed so peaceful. It was hard to believe what had happened there the night before. They half expected to see their sister, Helen, pop out from behind a tree to tease them into chasing her, or to hear their father call out to them to fetch a tool. They could picture their mother standing on the front porch of the cabin, as she did every morning, calling them to wash up for breakfast.

But today, there were no sounds of the family they loved so much. There was only silence. After standing there for several minutes, John began walking in the direction Jedidiah had taken toward the main barn. Adam wiped his tears and followed. Rounding the corner to the barn’s entry, they noticed something to their right. There, just to the left of the smoking rubble that had been their home, were three covered objects. Immediately, they knew what they were. Walking toward the remains of their family with obvious difficulty, they felt as if there was a massive weight resting upon them, or as if someone was pulling them backward as they walked. The closer they got, the more audible their crying became. They could see that great care had been taken to position the bodies. Jedidiah had acquired large burlap sacks from their barn and cut open the bottoms. By sliding the sacks over the bodies like a sock, one after another, he was able to completely cover the dead. The sack over their feet and heads he did not cut open, leaving the ends sealed off. The sacks were not sewn together, but were placed with such care that the bodies could not be seen, but the boys could easily determine who was who by the sizes of the improvised body bags. They fell to their knees as they reached the first body. It was Helen.

***

Half the day was spent moving from body to body. At times the boys would cry out and at other times they sat or stood silent. They spoke to each other and to their dead, expressing regrets and love. They grieved to the point of exhaustion.

Sometime after midday, Jedidiah brought them some water and walked back to the barn without saying a word. He had known loss and knew they needed space.

By midafternoon, the boys had been sitting in silence for well over two hours. Adam stood up and began walking to the barn. As he walked into its cool shadow, his eyes began to adjust to the change in light. There in the middle of the barn were the bandits, hog-tied and gagged, lying face down. There were four more lying among them not tied, but obviously dead. Adam looked up from them and saw Jedidiah hard at work restacking their grain and trying his best to put things back where he thought they might belong. The raiders’ eyes were filled with fear. Jedidiah worked around them as if they weren’t even there. Just as he turned with a bag of grain on his shoulder, John rounded the corner behind Adam who had frozen in his tracks taking everything in, and ran past him toward the bandits. As he ran, John grabbed one of the rifles that Jedidiah had lined up on the inside of the barn wall, and stopped short at the closest man. As the bandit stared up through his dust-covered eyelashes, John aimed the rifle at his face. The bandit squirmed and tried to beg for mercy through his gag, but John pulled the trigger. They heard the hammer strike the firing pin, but the round did not discharge. He jerked the bolt back in an attempt to chamber another round but found that the rifle was empty. The man closed his eyes and breathed out heavily with relief. But as he did, John drove the butt stock into the back of his head. The man immediately lost consciousness but John continued to hit him. As if suddenly wakened from a dream, Adam looked at Jedidiah expecting him to do something, but Jedidiah stared right back at him without expression, standing still with the sack of grain on his shoulder. Adam rushed to stop his brother, but not before he got off one last glancing blow that tore the man’s scalp back like a flap of leather. He dropped the rifle to the ground, buried his head in Adam’s shoulder, and began to cry. As the two boys clung to one another, Jedidiah returned to his self-assigned duties in the barn.

Several minutes passed before the boys regained their composure. They looked over at the thieves and murderers and thought how strange it was that less than twenty-four hours earlier, they were the frightened ones. Now, as they looked down on these nine wretched souls, they could see the absolute horror in their eyes as they waited for the unknown.

Adam and John sat in silence for some time with their backs against the inside of the barn walls looking at the captives and watching Jedidiah tirelessly working. Sweat dripped from his brow as he unloaded the raiders’ pack animals. There were several dogs he had already unloaded and had tied up in the shade with some water. He was now working on the horses and mules, removing their rigs and brushing them down, gently speaking to them as he went.

John walked over to one of the animals not yet tended and began unloading. Adam soon followed, and so the three worked into the evening hours, no one saying a word.

***

As dusk approached and the work was finished, Jedidiah and the boys stepped outside to take in the breeze and sit down for a drink of water.

Adam finally broke the silence, “We need to bury our family.”

“If you would like,” Jedidiah said, “I can dig the graves tonight and you two can bury them in the morning.”

“No sir. We will do the digging and the burying. You have done so much already. Mr. Jedidiah, you have proven yourself to be our friend, and we thank you.”

The boys stood and walked back to the barn for picks and shovels. As they passed Jedidiah, John reached down and touched his shoulder as if to say “thank you” in his own way. Jedidiah watched the boys pick out a place for their family and begin to dig. Life was hard and made for short childhoods, but the maturity of these two boys impressed Jedidiah. They, he thought, would be fine.

***

As the next morning dawned, their stomachs ached with hunger. So much had happened over the last two days, they had neither made the time nor had the desire to eat. But as their eyes opened, their nostrils were filled with the smell of breakfast. Jedidiah had been up for some time and, knowing the boys would be regaining their appetites, he thought he would treat them to breakfast. He had eggs, cheese, sausage, and bread ready for the taking. John and Adam sat up from the barn floor and hungrily made their way outside to where Jedidiah was sitting by the fire.

His back was to them as they walked up, but he spoke as if they were face-to-face. “I figured you boys would be hungry.” He sipped from his cup, then said, “You two up for some breakfast?”

“Yes sir, Mr. Jedidiah. Thank you so much,” Adam responded, followed by John’s, “Yes sir. Thank you.”

So they sat in silence filling their stomachs.

After breakfast, Jedidiah spoke the words the boys knew would come. “What do you fellas plan on doing with those raiders?”

Neither boy responded. They didn’t really know what to do. In the minutes following the murders they wanted nothing more than to go after them and kill them in a shootout. But now, things were different. The nine men and women were bound and the killing would be more like an execution.

Adam finally asked, “Mr. Jedidiah, what would you do.”

“I would kill them,” he replied simply. “Not in anger or judgment, but for protection of the innocent. If they live, they will hurt more families. The burden of responsibility has fallen to us to ensure that does not happen. It has fallen to us, and we must bear it.”

They had asked and he had given his advice, but nothing else was said for several minutes.

Finally, Jedidiah added, “You boys decide what you’re going to do. If you need my help with anything, let me know. But if you’re going to let them live, you’ll need to water them soon and look after the one John got a hold of. The decision is yours and it’s a serious one.”

He stood up and walked away leaving the boys staring at each other over the fire.

“What should we do?” John asked in a low voice.

“I think we both know what needs to be done, but neither one of us really feels good about doing it,” Adam replied, keeping his voice low as well.

“Maybe we should just ask Jedidiah to do it for us,” Adam added, finally saying out loud what they were both thinking.

“No… No.” Adam seemed to answer his own question. “Sometimes doing the right thing isn’t the easy thing, and we know we have to keep these men from hurting other people. Jedidiah is right. The burden of responsibility has fallen to us. It’s a heavy burden, but it’s ours.”

John knew his brother was right. Neither of them thought there was any other choice. And it wasn’t that they didn’t want the bandits stopped; they just had to work it out in their own way and in their own time.

“I think I’d feel better about the whole thing if we hung them instead of shot them,” John said.

“Yeah...,” Adam replied, “me too.”

“We’ll probably need Jedidiah’s help, Adam.”

“I know we will. Let’s go talk to him.”

They found Jedidiah on the other side of the property, squatting down to inspect a tiny flower. This man was still a mystery to them. He hadn’t seemed like the kind of man who would be interested in admiring the beauty of a flower.

He continued to examine it as they came up behind him. “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?”

Neither boy answered, but in response, knelt beside him to see for themselves.

“They’re like our lives, these flowers. Here today, in all their glory. But after a season, they wither and die. It’s important that we remember this and live accordingly. We should make our choices with purpose knowing that life is short.”

The boys didn’t know how to respond to Jedidiah’s puzzling words and waited for him to continue. “So what is your decision, my friends?” he asked, without looking up.

Adam cleared his throat and paused before answering. “We think they need to be stopped, but we’re not comfortable shooting them and think they should be hung.”

Still taking in the beauty of the flower, Jedidiah offered no response. Giving the boys ample time to communicate their thoughts, he gently caressed the tiny petals with his callused thumb, careful not to damage the fragile little life.

“And, well, Mr. Jedidiah,” John added, “we’re going to need your help.”

Without hesitation, Jedidiah looked up and said quietly, “Of course, I will help you. Have you two ever seen a man hanged?”

They both shook their heads, indicating they had not.

“It’s an ugly thing,” he said with caring eyes and a low voice. “It’s important for you two to understand that if a man is not hung properly, his death can be very slow. He’ll die of suffocation rather than a broken neck. If you want them hung, I’ll help. But it may actually be more humane to shoot them.”

The boys looked at each other with conflicting emotions.

“Mr. Jedidiah,” John finally said, “to be honest with you, the main reason we chose hanging is because we didn’t feel right about shooting them. It just feels… well, more like murder.”

With approving eyes, Jedidiah looked from one to the other. “I understand how you would think that. But if it’s done correctly, I think you might feel differently. If you would allow me the responsibility to prepare and execute them, I think you’ll have peace with it. However, if you want them hung, I will do the best I can to ensure they die quickly.”

He had said exactly what they needed to hear. He knew they didn’t want to be the ones to pull the trigger, nor did Jedidiah want them to. These boys, he knew, had experienced enough loss and tragedy for several lifetimes. He didn’t want them to live with the emotional scars that come with taking another person’s life. They would probably experience it sooner or later, but Jedidiah wanted to protect them from it if he could, at least for now.

“You boys take some more time to consider what I’ve said, if you need it. There’s no need to rush this and you want to have peace with your decision.”

The brothers looked at each other with relief.

Adam spoke after only a few seconds. “I think that would be fine, Mr. Jedidiah. If you would take charge of the execution for us, we would be fine with them being shot.”

As soon as Adam finishing speaking, Jedidiah glanced over at John for his approval.

“Yes sir, Mr. Jedidiah,” John added. “I think that would be fine.”

“I think you two have chosen wisely,” Jedidiah responded as he put his hands on their shoulders. “I will begin to make the preparations. But before I do, I think we should address the bandits.”

This was something Adam and John had not considered, and they both expressed looks of anxiety.

Jedidiah squeezed their shoulders. “I can do that for you as well if you’d like.”

“I think we’d like that, Mr. Jedidiah,” John replied.

“Very well, then,” Jedidiah said walking toward the barn. “Let’s go speak to them.”

As they rounded the corner back to the inside of the barn, Jedidiah began to speak to the raiders as they still laid face down, hog tied, and gagged.

“You all have been in this same position now for nearly thirty-six hours. I would like to put you in a more comfortable position, allow you to drink, and relieve yourselves. I encourage you to follow my instructions and not attempt escape. If you do, I will kill you.”

He said this with a calm and sure voice. They knew not to test him. He had taken initial control of them with such violence of action that first early morning that they could not doubt his resolve. Plus, they thought, maybe there was hope for their survival after all. They had assumed they would be killed, but now maybe they would be released. Why else would they begin to receive better treatment?

Jedidiah first approached the man that John had beaten with the rifle. With the man’s head and face covered in dried blood, Jedidiah pulled his knife and cut loose the cords that bound him. The man groaned with pain as his joints moved and better circulation began to flow through his limbs. Jedidiah tore both sleeves from the man’s shirt and dressed his head wound. The man was given all the water he could drink, offered to be allowed to relieve himself, and then securely retied with hands behind his back and ankles bound. His gag was put back in place, but he was not hogtied, allowing for a more comfortable sitting position, given the circumstances.

So Jedidiah continued, looking to the raiders without any outward expression of anger, or any other emotion for that matter. And, as Adam and John watched, they began to understand what they were about to do and found peace in it. Through Jedidiah’s actions, they could see the execution was not rooted in hate and vengeance, but out of necessity to protect the innocent. These men and women were a threat and they had to be stopped.

***

It took the rest of the afternoon to finish tending to the captive raiders. More than once they would try to speak to Jedidiah, pleading for mercy or attempting to explain why they had no choice but to participate in the crimes. The boys watched him continue to look after them without uttering so much as a word in response. And, after he finished retying the last man, he stood up, dusted himself off, and began to speak.

“It has been decided that you are all to be executed.”

Some of the raiders squirmed while trying to yell through their gags, some began to cry, and one or two just hung their heads.

“This isn’t a decision that has been made lightly, nor is it something we’re looking to enjoy. You’re deeds have been evil. It is your own actions that have caused this end. You have forced our hand in this. You will be shot to death on the morrow.”

At that, Jedidiah turned and walked out of the barn, passing Adam and John who were standing just inside listening to his words. He paused just long enough to give the boys a somber nod. They looked over to the group of men and women who were bound, some of them begging with their eyes for mercy. Adam and John stayed only seconds before turning to leave the barn. Even knowing what the raiders had done to their family, the boys could not help but feel some pity for them. It stirred them, and they didn’t want the killers to see it.

The boys came back out into the open, and seeing Jedidiah waiting in the stand of trees near the back side of the barn, they began to make their way over to him. As they walked, John leaned over and jokingly whispered, “Are we going to get a lesson now on how we’re like trees, you think?”

Adam answered with half a grin. But as they came along side Jedidiah, the joking stopped. Jedidiah was looking down at the ground where he found Helen. And, though they could not know this, they could see the blood stains on the ground.

“What happened here?” Adam’s voice cracked at the thought.

“This is where I found your sister.”

As he spoke, he dropped to one knee and gently touched the blood-stained grass. Both boys stood without saying a word, trying to fight back their tears. Jedidiah stood up and left them to their thoughts. His actions had purpose. They needed a gentle reminder of what the raiders had done. He hoped this would help strengthen their resolve for the execution.

***

The sun was touching the western horizon when Jedidiah returned to the homestead. The boys were working on supper over the fire and talking in low voices.

“Where have you been?” John asked, as Jedidiah walked in.

“…Went for a walk. What are you gentlemen cooking for supper?” he asked.

“We thought we’d try to make some of Mama’s beef stew,” Adam answered with a smile. “She made the best stews! I don’t think it’ll come close to hers, but we thought it might be fun to try.”

“It sure smells good,” Jedidiah said as he pulled the steam to his face with his hand.

“It should be ready shortly,” John said as he added some carrots to the pot.

Jedidiah had planned to talk to the boys about possible locations for the execution, but decided not to bring it up and spoil their high spirits. That conversation, he thought, could wait until morning.