The Granite Heart (An Ozark Mountain Series Book 2)

by Alan Black

  Susanne looked about, searching for a way to get in and speak to Buckner without confronting all of the men, but they were near the center of the clearing. LillieBeth dug her heals in and spurred Fletcher into a gentle trot straight toward the fire. The mare followed, regardless of what Susanne wanted. She wondered why she had not asked to hold one of LillieBeth’s guns. The young girl still had the Winchester rifle and the .38 revolver. Susanne was sure she would not be able to shoot anyone, even if she held a gun. She was not so sure about LillieBeth.

  The men saw them riding and jumped up.

  Susanne waved pleasantly and called out “Hello the fire.”

  Steve Buckner froze in place, but the other men started laughing. Buckner looked around realizing there was nowhere to run. He held his hands up in surrender.

  A short man with long hair and a sparse beard said, “Buckner? Are you crazy? These are just two pretty young women come to visit and party with us gents.”

  The man was not yet out of his teens. Susanne was good at guessing youngsters ages, having been a teacher. She pegged this young man at no more than eighteen. But like most eighteen year olds he was struggling to look and act older. A younger fat man and an older fellow in overalls laughed and waved greetings at the women. There was a slight family resemblance between the two younger men although the heavyset man was clean shaven.

  Steve shook his head, but did not speak.

  LillieBeth stopped Fletcher in front of Buckner. She stared down at him.

  Shorty started around the fire. LillieBeth drew her revolver and pointed it at the short man. She never took her eyes off Buckner.

  Shorty hollered, “Whoa there, little lady. I was just funning about the party thing. No need to be pulling irons on us.”

  Fatty and Overalls started moving sideways to get out of the line of fire.

  Susanne shook her head. “Please gentlemen. Stand where you are. I can assure you, Miss Hazkit is an excellent marksman. However, she seems to be in quite a foul mood today, so stand right where you are and everyone should be fine.”

  Shorty gulped, but threw up his hands in surrender. Fatty and Overalls followed suit. The men stood as still as Stonewall Jackson’s bronze statue, although it was obvious Shorty was close to wetting his pants.

  LillieBeth holstered the revolver, slid to the ground, pulling the Winchester loose from the saddle ties. She levered a cartridge into the chamber and gestured for Buckner to take a seat next to a tree stump.

  Buckner sat gently on a log, putting his hands flat on the stump. It was a warm afternoon, and the fire was blazing, but that did not explain the sheen of sweat forming on his face. LillieBeth kicked a log over to the stump and sat across from Buckner. Her hands never left the rifle. The rifle muzzle never left its bead on the man.

  Susanne said, “The rest of you gentlemen, please sit right back down where you were. And like good little boys, please keep your hands in your lap.” She looked at a pan in the grass next to the fire. “May I?” she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she picked up a couple of bread slices, filling bacon between them. She handed the sandwich to LillieBeth and made one for herself.

  LillieBeth ate with one hand. The other hand held the rifle. She stared at Buckner, but did not speak.

  Susanne said, “Oh, I am Susanne Harbowe. And this young lady is Elizabeth Hazkit. I presume she knows Mr. Buckner, but we have never been introduced to you other gentlemen?”

  Overalls said with his hands in his lap, “I am Joe Carver. These are my boys, Andrew and George.” He gestured with his head as to which was which.

  Susanne nodded, “Pleased to meet you all. We just have a few questions and then we will be on our way.”

  Joe Carver said, “Ask your questions then. I am not partial to being held at gunpoint when I’ve not done anything.”

  LillieBeth, not taking her eyes off Bucker, asked, “Mr. Carver, have you and your sons been on the road toward Galena recently?”

  Carver said, “No. We have been up this away looking for work, but we have not gone that far west.”

  Shorty, whose real name was Andrew, looked away. LillieBeth did not notice as she was staring into Buckner’s face. The anger in her eyes was evident. Susanne spotted Andrew’s look. It was the same look she had seen on many young boys’ faces when they were trying to duck a question and not answer truthfully.

  She said, “Really? Is that true, Mr. Andrew Carver?”

  “Pa ain’t a liar,” he said.

  Susanne glanced at Joe Carver. She nodded politely to the man. “I never said he was, Mr. Andrew Carver. Why would you think I would say that?”

  Andrew looked at his feet, but kept his mouth shut.

  LillieBeth said, “I suggest we begin with Joe Carver. Dump your saddle bags out on the ground.”

  “Now see here, young lady-” Joe started.

  “Shut up and dump,” LillieBeth commanded.

  Joe said, “You ain’t got no right to go through my gear.”

  Susanne said, “You have no one to blame but Andrew. We wouldn’t have to do this if he just told us the truth. Please just dump it out at your feet.”

  Joe dumped his goods. “I don’t have any money, if that is what you’re looking for.”

  Susanne shook her head. “Mr. Carver, we are not thieves. I mean, I may have helped myself to a bacon sandwich, but I honestly do not want anything you have in that pile.”

  Having finished the sandwich, LillieBeth pulled the granite heart from its pouch at her waist. She slammed it down on the stump, missing Buckner’s fingers by inches. It caused him to flinch. She touched the rock with one finger and then pointed that finger at Buckner.

  Susanne was baffled. She had no clue what LillieBeth was trying to say. She was sure Buckner did not understand either, but the man closed his eyes and did not move.

  LillieBeth glanced at the pile of goods at Joe Carver’s feet. She shook her head. “Thank you, Mr. Carver. You may put your stuff back.” She went back to staring at Buckner. “George is next.”

  Susanne shrugged, “All right, Mr. George Buckner, please dump your belongings at your feet.”

  George complied without comment.

  Bucker had turned his head to look at the action. He did not move any other part of his body.

  LillieBeth picked up her granite heart and slammed it hard on the tree stump. The noise caused Buckner to jump. She was closer to his fingers, but she still did not hit him. She touched the rock with a finger and pointed at Buckner. He froze in place and closed his eyes. It was obvious to Susanne that he expected the worst.

  LillieBeth looked at the contents of George’s possibles bag. “Stir it around a bit. Do not use your hand, Mr. Carver. Use that stick at your feet.” After a silent moment, the girl said through clenched teeth. “That,” she pointed at the pile. “Miss Harbowe, please pick that up.”

  Susanne looked at the pile and then saw it. She picked up a large white cloth. It had been folded into a small square. But, unfolded it was a large sheet with a red Saint Andrews cross crudely sewn onto it. There was a hole cut, where a man could stick his head through.

  Joe Carver looked at his son in shock. “What the furry side of the devil’s bottom are you doing with that?”

  George shrugged, “I ain’t saying, Pa.”

  LillieBeth said, “I am asking the questions, Mr. Joe Carver. You may have time with your sons to ask your questions after I have finished.”

  Joe Carver said, “May have?”

  LillieBeth nodded. “We will see.” She looked back at Buckner staring at her with wide eyes, blood drained from his face.

  Susanne said, “Andrew Carver, you’re next. Dump your saddle bags.”

  “No,” Andrew said.

  LillieBeth slammed her rock on the stump. It was so close to Buckner’s fingers he flinched again. She touched the rock with a single finger and pointed that finger at Buckner’s face.

  Buckner closed his eyes and did not move.

  LillieBeth sh
ifted slightly, rotating the muzzle of the rifle in the general direction of the Carvers.

  Joe Carver shouted, “Dump them bags, Andy! Or I will come over there and do it for you. These women are not fooling around.”

  “Dang it, Pa,” Andrew shouted back. He grabbed his bags and dumped them on the ground.

  Susanne knew what she was looking for this time. She spotted the folded up white cone hood. She picked it up between her thumb and forefinger as if afraid of contamination.

  Joe Carver jumped up, heedless of LillieBeth’s rifle. He reached across and slammed a fist against Andrew’s head, knocking his son to the ground. “You idiots. I done told you that the Carvers have got no truck with the Klan.”

  Andrew looked up from the ground. “We ain’t real Klan, Pa. We did it just to scare some folks.”

  Susanne said, “I do not want to interfere between a father and a son, but please sit down again, Mr. Joe Carver.

  Susanne pulled a piece of paper from a pocket along with a small stub of a pencil. “Let’s see. Andrew Carver.” She wrote the name on the paper. “And George Carver.” She wrote his name on the paper.

  George spoke up. “Pa weren’t with us.”

  Susanne said. “I did not think so.”

  LillieBeth placed her hand on the granite heart and looked into Buckner’s face. “Steve Buckner? Look at me, please.” Her voice was slow and quiet, but edged with heat. “Where is your sheet?”

  Buckner shook his head. “I burned it. It made me feel dirty.”

  LillieBeth patted the rock. “I can imagine it did.”

  Buckner said, “Honest, Miss Hazkit. We weren’t going to do anything more than try to scare the sheriff into turning Trance and Dangle loose.”

  George said, “That’s right, Miss. We’uns just wanted to put a scare into that man. But he did not scare none.”

  Buckner stared at LillieBeth with panic in his eyes. “Please, you know my family owes your father for saving my uncle’s life in France. We did not know he was even going to be there. We certainly did not want him killed.”

  Joe Carver shouted. “Killed, you got some man killed?”

  Andrew said, “It wasn’t us, Pa. It was them two guys the sheriff had chained up in his wagon. We was just supposed to scare the sheriff into letting them go. We got the two fellows free, but they shot them two men, it wasn’t us. George and I hightailed it out of there as soon as they started shooting.”

  Buckner said, “I got it coming, Miss Hazkit. I don’t want to die, but I know that I was wrong, whether your father was supposed to be there or not. The sheriff and your Pa were not supposed to be killed.”

  LillieBeth said, “Mr. Steve Buckner, you did help to kill the sheriff of Oasis, Mr. Clayton Grissom, but my father is not dead.”

  Joe Carver could not contain himself. He jumped up and struck George. “You two wool for brains fools help shoot a lawman?”

  Susanne said, “Please Mr. Carver. Can you hold off beating your sons for a while?” She had whacked a few boys on the knuckles with rulers and smacked a few behinds over the years, but this father’s brutality on his own sons was unsettling.

  LillieBeth looked at Susanne. “I do not care if he beats them to death.”

  Susanne said, “Miss Hazkit, allowing that to happen would make us no better than those who shot your father and murdered Sheriff Grissom. I do not want to watch as he beats them.”

  LillieBeth nodded. “Yes, Miss Harbowe, you are correct. I am sorry.” She looked at Buckner. “Trance and Dangle killed Clayton Grissom because of what you did. And they shot my father, leaving him for dead. What should I do with you?”

  Buckner shrugged. “I am sorry. I wish I could take it back, but I don’t know how to undo it.”

  LillieBeth said, “What do you think my father will do to you when he heals up?”

  Buckner looked into her eyes and then up at Susanne. “Whatever he does is nothing less than I deserve. I talked Andrew and George into coming with me. They did not know anything about what was going on until it happened. Then we all ran, leaving all five of the Braunawalls behind.”

  Susanne said, “Five Braunawalls?”

  Buckner said, “There was an uncle and a couple of cousins. They set the whole thing up.”

  Susanne said, “Mr. Andrew Carver, please take this pencil and write down the names of everyone who was there the day Sheriff Grissom was killed.”

  Andrew shook his head. “Can’t. I can’t write. Besides the onlyest ones I knew were George and Steve. And we only knew Steve for a few days from camping out here.”

  LillieBeth fingered her rock with her left hand and the Winchester with her right. “Mr. Buckner, did you help convince the witnesses to Fletcher Hoffman’s murder in Oasis to change their story about the Braunawalls doing the shooting?”

  Steve shook his head. “Their uncle said all the witnesses admitted they were wrong and they took back what they saw. I do not even know who the witnesses were. Their uncle told us the witnesses admitted Trance and Dangle were just trying to defend themselves from a crazy old killer. The uncle said Trance and Dangle said they never even seen that wild hermit before the day he attacked them.”

  LillieBeth slammed the rock onto the stump. “That is a lie.”

  Buckner flinched. “Honest, Miss Hazkit. Lie or not, that is what they said.”

  LillieBeth said, “Do you remember the first day we met?”

  Buckner nodded. “On the ridge road where your pointed us toward Fern and Magnolia.”

  LillieBeth said, “Where did Trance and Dangle go after you left me on the road?”

  Buckner looked puzzled. “They said they were going down to Oasis to Samson’s.”

  “No. They turned back. They tried to rape me that day. They would have if Mr. Hoffman had not stopped them.”

  “Rape?” Buckner looked confused. “But they-”

  “Rape, Mr. Buckner,” LillieBeth said. She pounded the stump with her rock at the word rape. “Mr. Hoffman beat them and made them cower in the dirt. I think they killed him because he was a witness to what they tried with me and as revenge for their beating.”

  Joe Carver glared at his sons. “You two helped men go free who did that to a young woman? I ain’t gonna beat you no more, but your Ma is going to skin you alive while you sleep.”

  Andrew said, “Ah, Pa. You heard her. They just tried to…you know…do that to her. But that other guy stopped them.”

  Susanne cleared her throat. Everyone looked at her. She wondered if she could speak about her rape. This was a group of strange men. How could she say anything aloud about such a personal and humiliating trial in her life? She shook her head, but then spoke. “There was no one to help me when they raped me.”

  Buckner looked shocked. “I did not know. I would have helped hang them myself if I knew that was what this was about.”

  LillieBeth slammed her rock on the stump. “Rape.” She slammed the rock down again. “Murder.” She looked at Buckner. “Trance and Dangle will pay for their crimes, either here or in heaven. The question is: what do we do with you?”

  Susanne said, “LillieBeth, remember we promised his brother John that we would not shoot or hurt him if he answered our questions truthfully. I believe he has been truthful.”

  “John did not have anything to do with this,” Steve Buckner said. “He was off with Magnolia the whole time. Kill me if you have to, your father will kill me anyway. But leave John alone.”

  LillieBeth shook her head. “I cannot speak for my father, Mr. Buckner. He may hunt you down and kill you and he may not.” She looked up at Susanne and back at Buckner. “Fern Schmitt likes you. Do you like her?”

  Steve nodded. “I do. I like her a lot. She is bossy, but I kind of like that in a woman.”

  LillieBeth said, “She is my friend and I like her too. I cannot hurt you without hurting her, so I am not going to shoot you or even hit you with my rock. I want to, but I will not.”

  Susanne said, “One question, Mr.
Buckner: where is Trance Braunawall and his brother Dangle?”

  Steve said, “I haven’t seen them since that day. I don’t know, but if I was looking for them, I would start at Samson’s place in Oasis. I can go with you, show you where Samson’s is and help you look for them.”

  LillieBeth shook her head. “No, sir. I do not relish your company. I have three tasks for you as punishment. Will you accept them?”

  Buckner nodded and agreed, “I am at your command. I deserve whatever you say.”

  Andrew shouted, “Not me. I didn’t do nothing that deserves getting killed by this woman’s father.”

  Joe Carver threw a rock and hit his son in the shoulder. “Shut your yap, you fool.”

  LillieBeth said, “First, you will go to the Hazkit house. You will say all you know to my father and apologize to him. He may kill you or not. But if you do not go to my father, then I will find you and, Fern or not, I will remove you from God’s good green earth.”

  Buckner nodded, “My grandpa always said if you messed up, then you have to just ‘fess up. Art Hazkit will kill me for certain if I don’t go to him on bended knee.”

  LillieBeth said, “I do not think my father will kill you. He is a hard man, but not a murderer. Second, when you leave the Hazkit place, I want you to go to Galena and tell your whole story to the Stone County Sheriff. Admit it and take your punishment.”

  Susanne nodded. “You did not pull the trigger and had no intention of hurting anyone. I expect the sheriff will take your statement and send you on your way.”

  Buckner seemed to relax. “Do you think so?”

  LillieBeth nodded. “I have met the Stone County Sheriff. He appears to be a reasonable man. This is about the death of a lawman, so I think he will be mostly concerned about who done the killing.”

  Susanne said, “’Did’ the killing, Miss Hazkit, not ‘done’ the killing.”

  “Yes, Miss Harbowe, sorry.”