by Alan Black
“Trance ain’t here. So it is just you and me, Hazkit.”
LillieBeth said, “That is right. You do not have him around to hold me down. I would bet that you cannot even take a woman without someone to help you.”
Dangle spat curses, lunged forward and cut at the night air. He swung too hard, lost his balance and fell backward. The knife cut deeply into Ike. Dangle gurgled, vomited and tried to pull the knife out, but it was stuck in the dead man’s back. He spat curses at LillieBeth, screaming at her. He rushed at her, but in his drunken confusion he ran the wrong way racing straight at Susanne. He yelled obscenities and swung his fists, beating the air.
Susanne wanted to run, but her feet froze in fear. She saw LillieBeth raise the Winchester. She did not want her young friend to kill a man on her account. She was not worth the heartache it would cause the young woman.
Dangle was up on the dock, just a few feet from her.
“No!” she shouted. She knew her scream was for LillieBeth and not Dangle.
Dangle saw her. He screeched, “You!” He turned and twisted to grab her. Tripping over a loose board he went headfirst into the raging White River.
Susanne rushed to the edge. She wanted to save the man. He was evil, but he was still one of God’s creatures. LillieBeth had not killed the rattlesnake in the moonshine cellar, could she treat Daniel Glen Braunawall any less? She could paddle around a calm pond, but this was a raging river. She looked around to find something that would float, but there was nothing at hand. She shook her head. Even if there was something to throw to Dangle, he never came up. She did not think he would ever come up. The White River was a raging torrent even on calm days. This close to flood stage it was a frothy whirling watery whirlpool.
Samson called out the back door. “What is all of this shouting going on?”
A flood of people poured out the two doors, top and bottom. People took their entertainment wherever they could find it in a small town like Oasis. Vidalia and Maggie sloshed through the water heedless of their state of dress, or in their case, undress.
Susanne saw LillieBeth step backwards moving farther into the darkness. The night hid the younger woman. She knew where LillieBeth was standing, but she could not see her. She was still on the dock, but the raging river behind her masked her silhouette. She stood still, trying not to even breathe.
Vidalia said, “Ike Braunawall is over here. He looks dead.”
Samson’s man said, “I saw most of it. It looks like Dangle Braunawall stabbed his cousin Ike in the back.”
Vidalia rolled Ike over. She laughed. “Yep. That’s Dangle’s knife, sure enough. I seen it fall out of his pants pockets often enough to know.”
Maggie said, “Is Ike dead?”
Vidalia looked up at the other harlot. “How would I know, you lame brain. I ain’t no doctor. He was laying face down in the water, but it is too dark to see if he is breathing.”
Samson called out. “Then you leave him be. Let him lay there. He is alive if he gets up. He is dead if he don’t get up by morning.”
Vidalia said, “Where is Dangle? Trance and Zeke are going to want to know.”
Samson’s man said, “Dangle ran off hollering like a crazy man and jumped into the river. I did not see him come up. I don’t expect anyone will find his body until it washed up against the dam down in Taneycomo.”
A man laughed. “I saw the Braunawalls head out to their campsite an hour ago. Zeke and Trance were going to head for home, crossing the river over the dam. Maybe Dangle will beat them to the dam.”
Samson asked Vidalia, “Did you check Ike’s pockets?”
Vidalia laughed, “Of course, this ain’t my first drunk in the alley. Mary Margaret must have cleaned him out upstairs.”
A female voice called out from the top of the steps “I did not take anything that I did not have coming to me.”
Susanne heard Vidalia ask Samson as she walked back to the door. “What are we going to do with Ike’s body in the morning?”
Samson’s man reached up and shut the light off over the door. It did not make much difference in the illumination of the area. Ike’s body was no longer a dark shadow lying in a darker shadow. It disappeared into the night.
Samson’s man closed the door behind him as Samson said, “Ike’s body is not inside my building, so it is not my problem.”
Susanne let out her breath and sloshed through the water to LillieBeth.
The girl was crying. “That was not what I wanted.”
Susanne wrapped her arms around her young friend. She said, “You did not kill Dangle anymore than I killed Ike. Dry your tears; let’s go get out of this water.”
LillieBeth sniffled. She stopped and looked down. It was too dark to see anything. She said, “It is going to take all day to get this dress cleaned before church on Sunday.”
Susanne nodded. “Church sounds right. I could use a little preaching right now.”
“Amen. Besides, if Trance is across the river we will have to go after him another day.”
SATURDAY – MORNING
LillieBeth leaned down and hooked the Hazkit gate latch over the post.
Susanne sat quietly on the chestnut mare. “Well, let’s get this over with. There is no way your Mama and Daddy do not know that I kept you out all night.”
LillieBeth grunted in surprise. “And here I was worried about what they would say for me keeping you out all night.” The younger woman giggled at her own sense of humor. “What are they going to do? Keep me home from school? Mama might tan my bottom, but I expect I deserve at least that much.”
Susanne said, “Suppose we tell them I already spanked you.”
LillieBeth laughed, “If you had really given me a spanking, all that would mean is that I get spanked twice.”
“Well, then, suppose we leave out the part where I let you go into Samson’s place?”
LillieBeth said, “You mean, where I went and you were forced to follow to try and protect me?”
“Yes, Miss Hazkit. That place. They would be sure to send me packing down the road as an unfit role model for you.”
LillieBeth chuckled, “What? You unfit? You, the woman who caused one man to fall down stairs and break his neck and then the woman who trips another man into the river so he would-”
Susanne burst into tears.
“Oh, Susanne,” LillieBeth cried. “I was only teasing. You know I did not mean it.”
Susanne could not stop crying, but she leaned across the space between the horses and hugged the younger woman.
LillieBeth said, “Well, we should ride on up to the house and let me take my punishment.”
Susanne thought that it would be easier to cut a path from the road directly to the house. Instead, they had to ride straight down the lane, enter into the meadow, turn and ride back to the house. Still, she knew their hearts would not be filled with the beauty of the meadow if they cut across directly to the house. The lane led them to such a beautiful spot at the end.
And it was beautiful. She stopped the mare, unconscious of the fact that this was the very spot LillieBeth had stopped on her first day into the meadow. Ankle-deep dark green grass covered the gently rolling field. Even with horses and mules grazing, the field was large enough the grass had not been cropped close.
Asters bloomed in a sprinkling of white pedals. The flowers stood starkly against the grass as if sugar had spilled across an expanse of green felt. A light breeze danced through the trees tickling the tops of the grass and whispered in the ears of the asters, telling wild forest secrets of far off places the asters would never see.
Susanne’s tears of sorrow changed into teardrops of joy. God’s love and bounty was never more evident than sitting in this spot. She had read the theory of evolution in college. It had been required reading, but how could this vision have come about by accident? Only a master craftsman could have set this in motion and then design her eyes and mind to enjoy the artisan’s work.
LillieBeth said,
“I know this is pretty, but you should see it on that small knob at the far end. You see the meadow when you look one way. You see the White River Valley and the far off expanse of the world when you look the other.”
Susanne tried to soak it in as a lasting vision. She hoped without hope that she would not be ordered to go. And, this would not be the last time she rode the chestnut mare across this meadow.
They rode up to Hoffman’s old lean-to.
Roy Turner was standing there putting a saddle on Ruth. A saddle already sat on Naomi. He said, “Thank God you are home.”
LillieBeth asked, “Blasphemy, Mr. Turner?”
Roy shook his head. “Honest thanks to God. Mr. Hazkit told me to saddle these mules. We were going to go looking for you two.”
Susanne said, “Art is injured. He can’t go riding around the countryside.”
Roy nodded. “I know it, but I did not have any way to stop him, so I decided to go with him.”
LillieBeth slid off Fletcher dragging the Winchester with her. It only took a moment for her to strip the saddle and blanket off. She pulled the bridle gently of Fletcher’s head. She then reached for a currycomb. She would have brushed him down, but with his freedom gained, he bolted to the field. He dropped into the grass, rolling with all four legs in the air.
LillieBeth grabbed the chestnut mare’s bridle before she could take off after Fletcher and take Susanne with her. The younger woman helped her to the ground, removed the saddle and bridle and turned the mare loose into the field.
LillieBeth turned back to Roy. “You can just unsaddle Naomi and Ruth.”
Roy grinned, “Yes, Miss Hazkit.”
“And see if you can tie a rail from that pole on the lean-to to the back wall so we can get these saddles up off the ground.”
“Yes, Miss Hazkit.”
Susanne was anxious to get into the house and take her punishment, but she refused to leave this young couple alone.
LillieBeth put both hands on her hips and stared at Roy.
“What do you mean, ‘yes, Miss Hazkit’?” she demanded.
Roy looked baffled. “Um…I mean the opposite of no. I guess I mean I will unsaddle the mules and hang a rail for the saddles.”
“Just like that?”
Roy grinned, “I am sorry, Miss Hazkit. I did not know you wanted an argument. Your father, Mr. Hazkit hired me to give him a hand around this place. It is just part-time on some afternoons and Saturdays. Since it is Saturday, I guess you are the boss, too.”
LillieBeth grinned. It was a lopsided amused grin. “So, I am the boss and you have to do whatever I say?”
Roy grinned, “Yes, Miss Hazkit.”
LillieBeth chuckled. “Then, it is clear that Daddy did not kill you for asking to come courting me? Or even threaten to kill you later?”
Roy laughed, “Oh, he said no right fast when I asked to come courting, but your mother said it was fine if I behaved like a gentleman.”
LillieBeth said, “Well, if you are going to work on the Hazkit farm you had better be ready. So, if you have to do what I say, then show me your hands.”
Roy held his hands out, palm up.
LillieBeth took his hands in hers. She tried to look thoughtful as if she was examining his hands for calluses, but her blush gave her away. “Um…they are not really hardened from farm work or for wrangling horses, but…um…nice hands.”
Roy grinned. He did not let go of her hands. “Thank you, Miss Hazkit.
LillieBeth said, “If you really have to do what I say, then kiss me.”
Susanne all but shouted, “Elizabeth Hazkit!”
LillieBeth blushed a deeper red. It was so red that most of her freckles disappeared. “I mean…kiss my hand. Sorry, Miss Harbowe.”
Roy stepped in close. He leaned down, but just before his lips reached the back of her hand, he turned her hand over and brushed his lips lightly across her naked wrist.
Susanne blushed. It was so tender and soft that she felt weak in the knees. She stepped gingerly between the two. “Roy Turner, you best be getting to your chores.”
“Yes, Miss Harbowe.”
LillieBeth took Susanne’s hand and they moved toward the front door of the house. The younger woman pulled them to a stop before they came in sight of the window.
“Susanne, does it always feel that nice? You know…having a boy hold your hands and kiss you like that?”
“Is the color red always pretty?”
“Yes…no…yes…I mean…maybe. Some reds are prettier than others.”
Susanne nodded. “That is my answer about boys. Some are and some aren’t.”
She could tell LillieBeth had other questions, but the front door burst open. Art stood in the doorway. Heat boiled from inside the house. She wondered if Clare had the cast iron stove going to keep Art warm or if it was heat boiling from his anger.
LillieBeth looked at the ground. “Hello, Daddy.”
Art said, “Don’t say anything. Either of you. Get in this house.”
Clare called from the kitchen. “In here everybody. Art, please sit down; you are supposed to be resting. Elizabeth O’Brien Hazkit, sit now.”
Clare was kneading bread dough. Her face was passive, but the dough was taking a beating.
Susanne slid into a seat. “It is my fault-”
“Hush,” Clare said.
They sat quietly for a while. Art fumed, but kept his mouth shut. He drained a tin cup of water and scooped another cupful from a bucket set at his feet. He started to speak, but closed his mouth again at a look from Clare.
Clare finally looked up. In a conversational tone, she said, “Roy Turner seems like a nice young man.” It was almost as if she were commenting on the taste of another woman’s apple pie, and a bland pie, at that.
LillieBeth blushed, but did not say anything.
“He will be a help around here while Art finishes healing up.” She looked at Susanne. “Even the small pittance we offered him for part-time work will come back to us, as he pays Susanne to tutor him in math and Latin.”
Susanne did not say anything. She was worried that anything she said would break the spell.
Clare continued. “That is nice, but I did not even know our Miss Harbowe knew Latin. Of course, we will have to be cautious when he is here. He has admitted that he is sweet on my daughter and we told him that he could see our daughter socially, depending on what Elizabeth O’Brien says.”
LillieBeth did not say anything. She just nodded.
“It would have been nice if we heard about him from our daughter before he showed up, but it is settled. They must be chaperoned. Always…and I do mean always. I do not want anything…untoward …to happen. That will be a job for Susanne and me, agreed?”
Susanne sighed with relief. “Agreed.” Now she was sure she would not be sent away from a second home in the span of less than a week. She would have agreed to clean rattlesnakes out of the cellar by hand to avoid being sent away. Chaperoning two young people would be much easier than trying to herd rattlesnakes.
Art grumbled. “What about me doing some of the chaperoning?”
Clare said, “Hush, Art. You wanted to shoot that boy for asking, as polite as could be, to see your daughter. How would you act if you caught the two of them holding hands? No, just hush and remember Roy Turner will not be any help around here with broken hands.”
Clare sighed and set the bread dough aside in a bowl. She covered the bowl with a towel.
She looked at the two young women. “We had other visitors that you sent calling.”
Susanne said, “Steve Buckner and the Carver men?”
Clare nodded. “Art would have shot them, but he only had the little .22 rifle and his shotgun. Since I hid the ammunition, neither gun did him any good.”
“Did they tell you who the other men were who attacked you and Clayton?” Susanne asked.
Clare nodded again. “Zeke Braunawall and his sons, Ike and Abe.”
Art glared at his daughter.
“Those rascals you sent here actually apologized. How am I supposed to kill someone when they are on their knees apologizing? Dang it!” He looked embarrassed. “Sorry for the language, ladies.”
Clare looked at her daughter. “Elizabeth O’Brien Hazkit, did you threaten to kill those men?”
LillieBeth did not look up, but she nodded.
“Would you have shot them?” Clare asked.
LillieBeth shrugged.
Susanne said, “Yes. She would have. She is her father’s daughter. She will not sit still while someone hurts her family or her friends.” She could see tears sliding down the younger woman’s cheeks.
Art reached across and grabbed LillieBeth’s hand. LillieBeth lowered her head, resting it on her father’s hand.
Clare said, “Did you two tell those men to go confess to the county sheriff in Galena?”
LillieBeth nodded, but kept her head on her father’s hands.
Susanne said, “I do hope they go through with it, for their own sakes, if for nothing else.”
Clare nodded. “They were headed that way when they left.” Her face clouded and tightened up, eyes shut, lips clenched tight, and her jaw muscles twitching. It looked as if she was about to burst forth in anger. Instead, a laugh burst out. “Did you really tell them that they had to learn to read and write or you would hunt them down and shoot them?”
Susanne said, “I did not say any such-”
“Yes, we did,” LillieBeth interrupted. “I said that if they did not go through with the tasks we gave them, I would hunt them down.” She did not raise her head from her father’s hand. It was like she was holding on, trying to keep her head above water, clasping onto the last branch before being swept away by flood waters.
Susanne looked surprised. “Well…I guess we did say it that way. But, it was for their own good.”
Art said, “No wonder the school board doesn’t want you teaching their children to read. Threatening to shoot them if they don’t do their homework.”
Susanne was shocked. “I would never…I mean …we did, but they were full grown men, not children.”