by Chad Leito
Bradley sniffled. “Umm.” His voice was slow and rumbling. “And. And.” He looked up at the sky before continuing. “And I lost it. I had had enough. I got up and I charged at Glen. I got one good punch on his face and then I was on the ground, Salyer guards punching and kicking me.
“’Stop hitting him, just hold him down,’ Glen said, and they did. They held me down and Glen told my little brother to take his shirt off and bend over.
“At that point I was screaming for him to stop. After Glen had brought that whip down twenty or so times down on my brother’s back I was silent.” Bradley didn’t turn around, but his shoulders moved up and down with his sobs. “He just kept whipping him, until he was dead. He bled so much. He whipped him fifty, one hundred, two hundred times. He tore a hole all the way through his torso. He was a mad man, bringing that whip down onto the back of a mutilated corpse. Then Glen turned to me and said, ‘that’s why you don’t help people.’ He tossed his whip down in the dirt and walked away.”
Bradley cried for some time and didn’t speak. I looked at his back and what he said soaked into me.
He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry that I left. I was just scared.”
“It’s okay,” I whispered.
Bradley turned around to me, his eyes puffy and red. “The worst part wasn’t watching him die, Walt. The worst part was thinking that I brought on his death.” Bradley stuck his finger through the Cell at me and said with defiance in his voice, “but let me tell you something! I didn’t kill him! Glen did! And you didn’t kill Saul! You loved him. You would do anything for him. You didn’t kill him. This farm did. Do you understand?”
I nodded.
Bradley smiled and looked around at the bars of my prison. “It took me a long time to realize that about my life, that it wasn’t my fault. It looks like you don’t have a lot of time to figure that out. So I thought that I would just tell you.”
Bradley stayed with me for a long time. I crawled over to where he stood at the edge of the Cell and I reached my hand through the bar and grabbed his. He missed dinner for me and just waited patiently with me in silence. After some time I began to weep. He put his arms through the bar and pulled me towards him. We hugged with metal poles in between us and he began to weep too.
Finally, guards came and took Bradley away. He went back into his cabin and I was left outside lying on my back looking at the stars.
I started to feel better. Thirst came to me and I realized that I had a headache from being in the sun all day. I wasn’t as numb as I had been.
I thought of how much Saul knew about baseball and smiled. He had been a great person and if he had to die, he would have liked it to have been helping other people. I chuckled to myself remembering how hard he laughed in the UV room that time while he was reading his comic books. He bothered everyone in there, but he didn’t know; he was in his own little world. A tear ran down my face and I stared into the night sky. “Say hello to mom and dad for me, Saul.”
And I went to sleep.
16
The Sun
The sun was drying me out like a raisin. I smacked my dry lips together and looked over the metal bars of the Cell. Mixed in with the rust on the metal was dried blood. I imagined someone going mad from thirst and banging their head on the metal until they were dead. I wondered if that would happen to me.
I turned over and looked out at the fields. I saw heads moving and dipping into the rows of green as the slaves picked the cotton. Saul should still be out there picking. He should still be alive. Then I looked over Lauren’s house, standing tall and white in the sun. I should still be reading in the library instead of shriveling in blistering summer. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about water. My mind went off into odd thoughts and disjointed dreams and I stayed that way for some time.
Something hit me in the arm.
I didn’t move.
Something else hit me in the arm.
“Hey!”
I rolled over and peaked under my eyelids. Di and a gang of Salyer guards were standing beside the Cell. Di was holding a canteen and with his free arm he threw another pebble that hit me squarely in the forehead. “Get up,” he demanded. I opened my eyes all the way.
“What?” I asked. With no water in my throat my voice was cracked and dry.
Di shook the canteen so that I could hear the liquid sloshing inside. “Thirsty?”
I nodded and gazed longingly at the canteen.
All of the Salyers laughed. Apparently my thirst was funny to them. Even though I thought that it was more than likely that they were just taunting me with the canteen, I couldn’t help but wish for it. “Can you answer a few questions for me?”
“I would love to,” I said and the Salyers cracked up again.
“Okay,” Di said. “What were you two doing last night? Why were you sneaking in?”
I had nothing to lose, I was already going to die and my brother was dead, so I answered honestly. “We were sneaking in to break a few servants out.”
“How’s that going for you, Little Salyer?” Di laughed and his cronies followed. “And speaking of you being a Little Salyer, why is your head shaved?”
“I had to go to town to get,” I paused and looked down at my leather shoes. “Some food.”
“And you didn’t want to get caught, right?” Di asked.
“Right.”
“That’s pretty smart. Way to go, Little Salyer. Here’s your water.” Di tossed me the canteen and I caught it in fumbling hands. I opened up the top and gulped a few mouthfuls down my throat. An awful feeling came over me. I turned and vomited. Something wasn’t right. The guards were laughing their heads off. I walked over to the bars and threw up all of the liquid that I had just consumed and then more.
“It was rubbing alcohol, you idiot!” Di said. The guards were laughing uncontrollably now. Strings of mucus were hanging from my mouth. I had almost no moisture left in my body and I couldn’t afford to throw up so much. It was just speeding up the process though, I thought.
Di tried to talk to me some more, taunting me about my brother and such, but I didn’t respond. When the Salyers saw that I wasn’t going to be fun anymore, they left.
In the distance, out on a dirt road, I saw Lauren riding on a black horse. Behind her, Julia was holding onto her mother and bouncing up and down as the horse went. Lauren hadn’t come to visit me once yet. They rode along the farm and went out the front gate together. ‘Where are they going?’ I thought. ‘To town? When I’m dying? I thought that she cared about me.’
Feeling even worse, I fell into a sleep full of wild dreams.
“Get up! Now! Stand!”
I opened my eyes and saw that Lauren was standing before the Cell. The black horse was snorting behind her. She was wearing a long leather coat in the hot sun and was sweating profusely. Her face danced back and forth in my vision and I felt like I was going to be sick again.
“Get up!” she screamed. “I’m not kidding, now!”
I didn’t budge, but only looked at her in the face. How had she become so corrupted in the little time that I was away from the farm?
Lauren then looked around to see if anyone was within earshot and then whispered to me. “I’m saving you. I love you. Stand up.”
My brain was fried, and I didn’t have the energy to work out what she had said. I didn’t know if I could trust her, but I didn’t really have another option. I got to my feet and stumbled to the front door of the Cell. Lauren took out a set of keys from her pockets and unlocked the door. The hinges squealed and it opened.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
“C’mon,” she said.
Lauren helped me up onto the back of the black horse and then she got onto the saddle herself. “Where are we going?” I asked again. She didn’t answer and I rested my dizzy head against her back. She slapped the reigns, squeezed her heels, and the black horse jolted out into a sprint over the dirt roads.
&nbs
p; I held on tight to Lauren’s slender body as we jostled up and down over the land. Around us, crops danced in the wind and sweaty Beardsleys and Grecos were bending over to pick cotton. A cold sweat ran over my face and I kept my mouth shut for fear that the motion would make me vomit. I looked around Lauren’s leather coat and saw that we were headed straight for the gate at the front of the farm.
Lauren pulled the reigns and the horse skidded to a stop at the gate. A tall Salyer with a golden earring stood in front of the entrance. He had a sword in a sheath beside his hip and his arms were crossed. “What can I do for you, Lauren?”
“Open the gate,” Lauren said.
The guard kept his arms crossed and shook his bald head. “I’m afraid that I can’t do that, seeing as you have a prisoner with you,” he said, nodding at me.
“I’m taking him to the Theatre. I demand you to open the gate for us.”
The Salyer laughed. “I don’t think so, sweetie. Something that you need to understand is that you’re not in charge here anymore and Di said that…”
Lauren pulled a musket out of her heavy coat making the guard freeze midsentence. “Open the gate,” she said sternly. The guard swallowed then nodded. He took his key ring off of his hip, flipped to the correct key, and twisted the lock. He pushed the gate open and Lauren put the weapon back into her coat and we took off.
The grass whipped underneath us and Lauren pushed the horse to a pounding pace. I wrapped my arms all the way around Lauren’s midsection as the wind whistled off of her coat. I was being jostled up and down as the animal dug into the earth and sprang itself forward. We rode like that for twenty minutes; we held on tight and the horse kept an incredible pace. Lauren directed the horse over to the tree line and then pulled the animal to a stop.
When the horse was still, Lauren jumped off and walked over to her daughter who was tied to a nearby tree. “I tied her here this morning,” she said. “I didn’t think that I could get both of you out at the same time.” She looked off in the direction of the farm. “We need to be quick.”
“Can I have some water?” I asked. “And where are we going?” I was hunched over on the saddle with my eyes closed trying not to be sick. Lauren handed me a canteen and I began to gulp the water down.
“I don’t know where we’re going,” she said. “I figured that you had a place.” Fresh sweat sat on her forehead as she hoisted Julia up and put her in front of me on the saddle.
I drank down some more water. “Yeah, I have a place. It’ll be hard to find though.”
“But can you get me there?”
“I can try.”
I drank the last of my water and put the canteen around my shoulder. Lauren hopped onto the front of the horse and grabbed the reigns. “Hold on,” she said.
I wrapped my arms around Julia and grabbed onto her mother in front of her. The horse jerked and we were flying forward again. With some water in my stomach my head began to clear some, but I still didn’t feel like riding a horse at full speed. We ran over the land until the neat fields were behind us and the trees grew wild with clouds of green leaves. The Salyer guards never caught us and I wasn’t even ever sure that they followed us. I pointed and told Lauren to go this way and that. I didn’t have as good of a sense of direction as Saul or Rusty, the horse that took me to town, but with days of wandering through the forests and a few trips to Burl’s of experience to work with, I was able to get us close. That’s where we ran into the trouble. We wandered around the area that Burl’s house was in for hours. I saw meadows that I recognized, big trees, and then I pointed and somehow never was able to find the place. Julia began to cry and the sun went down. Lauren was understanding with me, but she was upset that we hadn’t found it yet.
“Are you positive it’s around here?” she asked.
“Yes, I’m certain. I remember that tree specifically. Saul and I stopped there and camped one night. So I think that if we just head in that direction then we should be there soon.”
Just then, the sound of a dog barking rang out from the opposite direction that I had pointed in. Lauren looked at me. “What was that?” she said, her face had grown worried.
I was scared at first too; a wild pack of dogs could have easily overtaken us. But then I remembered and a grin spread across my face. The dog sounded vicious and its vocal cords strained with anger. “That’s Snuggles,” I said.
“Snuggles?”
“Yes, Snuggles. It’s Burl’s dog. Follow the sound of that bark.”
From there the house was easy to find. The snarls and barks were loud and vicious, leading us right to Burl’s house. The brick structure sat dark under the moon. No flame flickered in the windows. “Is this it?” Lauren asked. From where we sat we could see Snuggles thrashing about in his cage, throwing its body against the walls.
“This is Burl’s.”
We went and put the horse in the pasture with the rest of Burl’s livestock. Lauren took off its saddle and it slumped off, tired from a hard day’s work. We walked along the little paths in the land toward Burl’s house. Snuggles had stopped barking and it was quiet except for the chirping insects. “You’re going to love Burl,” I said.
“He is a good guy?” asked Julia. She was trotting along beside her mother, walking fast to keep up with our longer strides.
“Oh, the best. He’s the nicest guy.”
“And he won’t mind having us?” Lauren asked.
“No, not at all. The reason that Saul and I were going to the farm was because Burl said that he would house some escapees. He’s lonely out here all by himself. He’ll enjoy the company.” We walked across the lawn and to the front door. “Here it is,” I said. I opened the door and we stepped into the quiet house. It was all dark in there and the candles sat cold and unused. Silver light projected in from the windows and spilled onto the floor.
“Burl?” I called out, looking around.
“Bu-urr!” squeaked Julia.
I went throughout the house, into the guest room, Burl’s bedroom, and again I checked in the kitchen; no one was home. I got a match out of the pantry and lit a few candles. The orange flame flickered and filled the room with a soft light. Lauren pulled Julia onto her lap and sat down at the table. I searched the room with my eyes looking for some clue as to where Burl had gone.
“Where do you think he is?” asked Lauren.
I sat down at the table and looked around the room once more. “I don’t know,” I said. “He was acting as though he would be here when we got back. I guess that we are a little late though. I hope that he is okay.”
I fixed us all something to eat. We split loafs of bread and drank glasses of water. It wasn’t an extravagant meal, but we were hungry.
“So how did you find this place?” Lauren asked.
I told her the story starting with my escape from the farm. As I talked, Lauren listened and petted the little girl who had fallen asleep in her arms. When I was done the room became silent and Lauren held onto Julia in the light of the candle.
After some time Lauren looked at me and whispered, “I’m sorry about Saul. If I could have done anything to stop it I would have.”
“I know,” I said.
Lauren got up, put Julia to bed in the back room and then came and sat back down at the table. I got up and fixed us both glasses of water and we sipped slowly and sat still as if we were waiting on something. The night dragged on and the candles grew low around the kitchen. I sat staring out of the window wondering where Burl was sleeping that night and if he was okay. When Lauren’s water was all gone she stood up, walked over to where I sat and kissed me on the forehead. She retired to Burl’s room and I stayed up late that night by myself wondering when he was coming home.
I was up early the next morning and moving around the house. Burl’s bedroom door was shut tight and I didn’t want to bother either Lauren or Julia. I cut myself some bread and covered it in peach jam for breakfast. Burl’s pantry was filled with a variety of jarred fruits and jams.
I paced around the Burl’s living room for a while, trying to figure out in my head where he could have gone. I guessed that town was the most likely option. He said that he sometimes traded in town. I knew that he had done it before and that he knew what he was doing, but still, it made me nervous. I wanted him to be back, to be okay. I cared about him. After I had paced around for a little over an hour I decided that I had to get out and do something to occupy myself. I wrote a note on some old yellowed parchment and left it on the kitchen counter.
Lauren,
I’ve gone out to work on the farm. I’ll be back before dark.
Walt
I went out the front door and although it was still early the day was muggy and hot. Snuggles was barking in his kennel so I went to the chicken coup, picked some eggs, and rolled them under the food slot of his cage. He devoured four eggs and when he was done he glared at me with angry eyes and egg running down his muzzle. He snarled and showed me his teeth.
Then, I went up to the garden. I took a big bucket and picked all of the ripe fruits and vegetables that I could carry. Then I climbed the swanness tree and ate some of its fruit. The inside was runny and even though I was careful, the purple juices ran down my chin and stained my shirt. I laughed out loud remembering the time that I had woken up to find Saul’s lips and chin covered purple. When I was done laughing I started to hurt and miss him. So I got down from the tree and kept working.
I walked by the pasture and saw cows and horses bending down and chewing on the grass. I hadn’t noticed last night, but Rusty was gone. I looked up at the clouds and again hoped that Burl was okay.
The lake was smooth and still. I entered the shed and grabbed three of Burl’s fishing poles. I put some wiggling worms that I found in the damp earth near a tree onto the hooks and then cast them out into the lake. When the lines were tight I thrust the end of the poles into the dirt so that they would be held upright. While I was waiting for a fish, I got water from the lake and shined my shoes. When that was done, I cleaned the poles. Then I cleaned the shed, inside and out. I cleaned the baseball bats, I cleaned the shovels, hoes, rakes, I cleaned the wrenches, hammers, screwdrivers, and I cleaned all of the cobwebs out of the windows until they were sparkling and clear. When that was done I went and sat back down by the poles. I reeled each one in to find that all of the hooks were still baited. When that was done I cast them back out and waited. I looked around, nervous, trying to find something else to clean. I looked down at my shoes. They had gotten dirty from walking around, so I cleaned them again. When that was done I sat looking at the water. I looked around me again; the shed was nearly sparking in the sun. I couldn’t find anything else to do. I sat, wrapped my arms around my knees, and did what I had been afraid to do for the last few hours-I cried.