Heckel Casey

by James Hoch

  "Sadly, yes, I do."

  "I think it was about a year after Bloody Super Bowl Sunday that various churches collided in a bloody war," Jackson recounted. "The idea of religious tolerance became a thing of the past.

  "Unfortunately, our history is peppered with clashes between religions," I added, putting a larger log on the fire. "There were the Catholics and the Protestants fighting each other, the Muslims and the Catholics and on and on. Remember all those terrorist attacks linked to the Muslim extremists?"

  "Of course, the intolerance started with small verbal attacks from one church to another in our own country. The Mormon war was probably the bloodiest."

  "Yeah, there was a news commentator who coined the expression, 'My God can beat up Your God,'" I added, recalling another of the tragic episodes leading to more of our collapse.

  "The day my parents died I was at our church when they were slaughtered. I had gone out to the car to get my mother's purse, where she had her offering envelope. While I was getting it, I saw a large group of attackers barricade all the doors. Men and women threw gasoline on all the sides of the church. They were laughing and praying as they did it. A single match was thrown at the church. I can still hear the explosive sound when the gasoline ignited, and see the door being pounded from people desperate to get out. The screams from the inside were deafening. The stained-glass windows were broken and people started to crawl out. The attackers threw bottles filled with more gas onto the would-be escapees and into the broken windows, causing the fire to erupt more inside. Within minutes, there were no further screams. I cowered in fear as I watched."

  A steady stream of tears flowed down Jackson's cheek and a lump filled the back of my throat.

  After a few minutes, he continued. "The violence among religions got so out of hand. Every Sunday morning, you'd hear about some congregation being attacked. Lots of innocent people lost their lives in the name of religion."

  "It was so contrary to what religion tries to preach," I said. "We were supposed to love thy neighbor."

  "Yah, only if they were in the same 'club,'" Jackson said as he made invisible quotation marks.

  "If my memory serves me correctly, didn't the National Guard start patrolling the streets on Sunday mornings?"

  "Yes, they did. I believe Madeline ordered a token effort to try to stop the bloodshed. It was pretty ineffective. In the end, though, people just stopped going to services. They lost their faith with all the violence."

  Remembering all about the church wars made me ill. We lost so many virtues along the road to the collapse, respect and tolerance probably being at the top of the list. Respect for authority. Respect for other religions. Respect for each other, to name a few. Our penchant toward violence emerged from each one of us to the point of epidemic proportions and our potential destruction. And Madeline started it all!

  "I'm so sorry for your loss," I said quietly to Jackson.

  He remained silent, staring into the burning embers. At one point, he picked up a branch and stoked the coals.

  "What did you do after you lost your parents?"

  "I stuffed my backpack and just started walking, trying to stay out of trouble and away from people."

  "I know what you mean. At a certain point, it was better to withdraw."

  "But now is the time to try to come together…for better or worse," he said with a slightly derisive sneer. His facial appearance was a little faded and distorted from a sudden plume of smoke covering him. It frightened me. From behind, I heard a familiar hiss and saw Jerky near a bush. She looked like a Halloween cat with the classic arched back.

  "I need to get going," Jackson said abruptly as he spotted the cat.

  Before I could even move, Jackson stood up and bolted away from the campfire. "See you later," I yelled.

  He gave a weak, dismissive wave. What made him so nervous? Maybe his emotions got the best of him…or was it Jerky?

  Chapter 22

  "Would you like some more oatmeal, Bobby?" Vonnie asked as she took the bowl.

  "Yes, ma'am. That's the best oats I've ever had. I really like the brown sugar and you put some dried apples on it. You are the best cook ever."

  "Well, Bobby, thank you. You're a good boy," Vonnie said spooning more cereal into his bowl.

  Suddenly, Bobby's insides twisted and knotted up. What was wrong? Then he remembered what Madeline had given him, the twisty-looking knife, and what she wanted him to do with it. She said he'd be a hero and get lots of presents. Bobby stared ahead into empty space, wondering if he really wanted to be a hero.

  "Is something wrong, Bobby?"

  "No, just thinking."

  "Are they happy thoughts?" she asked as she set a pot of water on the fire to heat up to wash dishes.

  "Yeah," Bobby mumbled.

  After breakfast, he thanked Vonnie and ran off to play with some of the other kids. He really enjoyed the friends he had made since joining up with Heckel and the rest. As he raced out to meet up with a small group of boys, Bobby spotted Jackson out near the edge of the field. A sharp staccato whistle and a quick arm wave from Jackson clearly sent a signal to Bobby that he was needed. Bobby put his head down and walked slowly over, all the while thinking-Oh great, I wonder what he wants? I don't think I like him. Madeline sure does.

  "Hey, Bobby, how ya doin'?" Jackson said putting his arm around the boy's shoulder.

  "Good," Bobby answered. He hoped he didn't get into trouble for lying so much.

  "Did you have a good breakfast?" Jackson asked as he led Bobby behind a tall, wide bush.

  "Yup."

  "Do you remember what we have to do?"

  Bobby looked down and remained silent; he hated thinking of the twisty knife.

  Suddenly, Jackson grabbed Bobby by the back of the shirt and pulled him close. He shook Bobby hard and slapped him behind the head.

  "You dumbass kid. I asked you a question."

  "What?" the young boy asked timidly.

  "You heard me," Jackson said, now twisting Bobby's arm.

  "Ouch, let go of me."

  Jackson glowered, waiting for Bobby to respond to his question. He then twisted Bobby's arm harder.

  "Okaaaay, I know what to do."

  "Is the knife safe?" Jackson asked with a calmer voice. His piercing eyes stared like they would bore a hole into Bobby.

  "Yes, it's in my backpack. Um…what if I changed my mind?" Bobby asked sheepishly.

  Jackson laughed a weird high-pitched laugh that reminded Bobby of a girl he knew when he was in school. It was a bit weird that his laugh lasted a long time. The more that stupid laugh went on, the more afraid Bobby got.

  Bending down to look Bobby in the eyes, Jackson finally said matter-of-factly, "That's not gonna happen, my little friend. You made a promise to Madeline and you're going to honor it."

  "Why don't you do it?"

  Another girly laugh. Boy, was that irritating, Bobby thought.

  "Because, apparently, that's not how it works. For some bizarre reason, it has to be you. Madeline said something about the innocents or some crap like that."

  Jackson stood up, twisted Bobby's arm more and shook him. "Look, you little shit, when we get to the border of Arizona and California, we will be crossing the Colorado River. That night when we are camped, you will sneak into Heckel's tent and…"

  "I know. I know. You don't have to say it."

  Jackson's face was all red and sweaty. His eyes looked heavily bloodshot and huge like fake Halloween monster eyes had replaced his normal squinty ones.

  "Fine. You understand?"

  "Yes," Bobby said softly. "Please, let go of my arm."

  "What? I didn't hear you," Jackson said, twisting the small arm harder and farther up the boy's back.

  "Ouch! Yes, I understand everything."

  "All is settled. You be ready when I come to get you that night. Do you hear me?"

  "Yes."

  Jackson twisted Bobby's arm one last time, ruffled his hair and then shoved
him away.

  "Have fun playing," he yelled as Bobby took off running. At one point, Bobby turned to look for him and tripped on a rock. He wanted to start crying, but anger took over instead. He didn't like the man.

  Bobby didn't find his friends. Playing was the last thing on his mind. Instead, he walked along the stream until he found a wide pool, a perfect place for throwing stones. There was a sizable pile of boulders jutting out into the water. After grabbing a large handful of stones, he climbed up onto one of the larger boulders and sat down.

  Bobby stared at the water for the longest time, doing nothing. His mind was a million miles away in a place where he thought he was safe, but it was yanked back when the image of that twisty black knife crept into his mind. He threw a stone at the water really hard, making a good-sized splash. Anger flared inside him every time that knife appeared in his mind's eye and he tried to appease it by pitching another rock into the water.

  Slowly, the face of Vonnie replaced the image of the repulsive, evil-looking knife. She made him feel good inside again. Maybe if I told her what Madeline wants me to do, she could tell me if I have to do it or not, he thought. Jackson would be really mad at me, though, and he'd probably tell Madeline. She'd be very upset with me. I just don't want to do it. Even though Madeline said she'd be helping guide my hand. Thinking about Madeline made him scared. He hurled another stone at the water as hard as he could.

  "Nice arm."

  Bobby spun around. Heckel was standing there. A lump formed in his throat and it was difficult to speak. Bobby dropped his head and stared at his feet, hoping they would sprout wings.

  "Can I join you?" Heckel asked softly.

  Bobby nodded his head slowly and lobbed a stone into the water. Finally after what felt like an hour, he got his mouth to work. First he muttered, "Thanks." As Heckel moved closer, he said louder with more confidence, "Sure, you can join me."

  "This is a good spot. I bet it'd be a fun place to swim or take a bath," Heckel remarked as he sat down on the large boulder.

  "I think it's probably really cold," Bobby mumbled, watching out of the corner of his eye as Heckel tossed a stone into the pool. I really don't know this man, but he seems like a friendly guy. Why would anyone want to hurt him?

  "It looks like it's going to be a nice day to travel," Heckel tossed another stone in the water. "Are you all packed and ready to go?"

  "Yup. Vonnie helped me pack my bag."

  "She really likes you."

  "I like her a lot too. She makes great food."

  Heckel continued to pitch stones into the pool. Thinking of Vonnie made Bobby remember his mother. "I miss my mom," he said with a quiver to his voice.

  "I'm sure she misses you too. When did you lose her?"

  Bobby's arm stopped in midair. Tears quickly formed in the corner of both his eyes as if they were wild bulls waiting to be released at a bull-riding contest.

  "I don't like to talk about that," he said, hoping Heckel didn't push him. He didn't like the tears that came when he thought of his mom.

  "That's okay. You don't have to. Someday if you want to talk, you come find me and we'll share stories. Okay?" Heckel asked.

  Bobby nodded his head. Heckel slid over next to him and put his arm around his shoulders. His touch made Bobby feel comfortable and relaxed. It made his insides feel safe, unlike Jackson's.

  Heckel looked down at Bobby, smiled and said, "We probably should get back to camp. I think we are leaving pretty soon."

  "Okay," Bobby said tossing the rest of the stones into the pool. "Thanks for talking to me," he said quietly. Heckel extended his hand and Bobby shook it.

  "You're perfectly welcome. It was nice hanging with you as well. Are you riding with Vonnie today?" he asked as they started walking back to camp.

  "Yeah, she said I could. It sure beats walking. My feet still have blisters from all the walking I did with Jackson. He's kind of a…" Bobby caught himself before he said anything bad.

  Heckel looked down at the young boy and just nodded slightly as though he knew what he was going to say.

  Walking back to camp, they chatted about fun things like baseball, school, drawing and reading. It was all cool stuff Bobby hadn't thought about in a long time. He cracked some fun jokes too. Bobby had never heard 'Knock, Knock jokes,' or 'Why did the chicken cross the road?' Heckel reported that they were classics. Bobby felt really good to laugh, and laugh hard, even though some of the jokes made him groan. After Heckel left him at Vonnie's campsite, Bobby sat down on a log. His thoughts were going ninety miles an hour. One thought braked in front of his mind-I…can…not…hurt my new friend. I don't care if I'm not a hero and Madeline can keep all her crummy gifts.

  Chapter 23

  The day we left Flagstaff, summer decided to come out by midmorning, and preview what it had to offer for its upcoming season. Temperatures climbed their way to around eighty. Sela said she thought it was about mid-May. Someone else we talked with thought it was closer to the beginning of June. At any rate, it got hot and that meant we'd soon have a shortage of water. Everyone did begin rationing and mostly made sure the horses had enough water.

  Fortunately, we made good time that first day out and managed to make it to Williams, Arizona. There we found water at Gonzalez Lake, not too far off Interstate 40. It had a lot of water from the winter snowmelt. We decided to stay an extra day to enjoy the lake.

  Before we left, everyone worked hard to fill every conceivable container with water. People were really good about rationing and we made it to Kingman, Arizona, just in time to find an old watering spot called Camp Beale Springs. As soon as we made camp, we were met by a small group of about fifty people who had managed to survive. Initially, we were suspicious and guarded. We just didn't trust anyone and our first reaction was to suspect Madeline. After we talked and decided they were not tainted by any evil, we invited them to join us. They were eager to become a member of our merry band of would-be warriors. I sat down that evening with the new people and gave them the Cliff's Notes version of what had transpired. They were filled with questions, most of which Sela was happy to answer. She always knew when I was getting a little overwhelmed or even just whelmed.

  We hadn't seen much of Jack and Vonnie over the past few days. Of course, we heard that Vonnie and Missy were taking really good care of Bobby. I hadn't seen Jackson since that morning when we talked.

  We stayed three days in Kingman. Our next stop would be the Colorado River crossing into California. Now for some odd reason, I kept getting nervous every time I thought about entering California. What's waiting for us in California? What's Madeline got up her sleeve now? More snakes? Another bad storm? Demonic roadrunners?

  "Just keep your guard up," I mumbled to myself. I looked down and Jerky was curling her body around my legs. "Yeah, I know. You feel it, too. Don't cha?" The cat looked up at me and meowed. I picked the big bundle of fur up and petted her. "Whew, you're getting heavy. With all those mice you've been eating, I bet your cholesterol numbers are high."

  "Well, are you two having a little bonding session?" Sela asked.

  "Yup, Jerky's my second-best girl and you're my first," I said, putting my free arm around Sela. Jerky leaned over and licked Sela's cheek.

  "You guys ready for dinner?" Sela asked, petting the top of Jerky's head.

  "Absolutely," I replied, setting Jerky down. The cat ran off most likely to find her own dinner. "Try a salad for a change," I yelled, prompting Sela to give me a quirky frown.

  I stuck my head out of the tent early the next morning and Jerky slithered under my chin to get outside. "Okay, let's not be a pushy broad," I mumbled. Sela rolled over and grunted something unintelligible.

  "Hmm, looks like a cloudy start to the day," I muttered.

  Sela stretched and with a groggy voice asked I how slept.

  "I had a couple of bad dreams," I answered. "But I was able to get back to sleep."

  "Yeah, me too. I kept waking up and reliving some of them. Do you th
ink its Madeline messing with us?"

  "Maybe. Hadn't thought of that," I said patting her behind. "We better get going. We should make the crossing into California hopefully tomorrow or the next day."

  Right after I said California, Sela sat up, grabbed me around the neck and squeezed hard. "Can we go another way?"

  "What's wrong?" I asked, lifting her head to kiss her on the cheek.

  "I just have a bad feeling. One of my dreams was…um…I should say a nightmare and something bad happened at the bridge."

  Okay, now I was freaked out. Sela must have had the same dream I had. "We'll be fine. If there's trouble waiting there for us, we just have to keep our guard up and meet it without fear." She hugged me tighter. I made a mental note to have a small impromptu meeting with Jack and the rest of the leaders so that we were prepared. I also had an idea to implement as a precaution. "I'll go out and get the fire going. It seems a tad nippy out there."

  Sela slid lower into the sleeping bag. "Give me ten more minutes."

  "Absolutely," I said kissing her tenderly. "I'll let you know when the fire's going good."

  Later that morning, as we were heading toward the Colorado River, I discovered that almost everyone's dreams were nightmares. People were on edge and, frankly, scared. As a precaution, we sent a few riders up ahead as scouts. They returned shortly after lunch and said the way was clear.

  Sela put her rifle on her back. Looking around, I noticed most folks had a weapon of some kind poised and ready.

  We stopped for the evening around five o'clock. People were still very cautious and on guard. You could cut the tension with a knife. After Sela and I set up our camp, I went looking for Jack.

  "Hey, Heckel, what's up?" Jack asked with a big smile as he finished making a fire.

  "You picked a good place to camp. Plenty of firewood around."