“You sure?”
Rising to his feet, Steve winced. “Ya. It’s just a seat for me. Your leg needs it more.”
When Eddy lay down, the cot nearly caved in. "Thanks Steve. Now someone mind filling me in on why we are all in jail?"
By the end of the story, Eddy did not believe it himself. "What? The Preacher is saying God demands Nick to be sacrificed?"
"Yup."
"Steve, I gotta give you credit,” Eddy began, adjusting the angle of elevation under his leg. “I don't have your patience. Screw knives, I'd have snapped the Preacher’s neck. That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! But I just don't get it? How the hell did this happen?”
Lisa pointed to the adjacent cell. "I wish we could talk to LT, but he's been out cold since we got put in here."
"What do you think happened, Steve?
"Honestly, I have no clue. Nick and LT were supposed to head back to town, but Nick is too good to have gotten spotted. Plus they said they caught him coming back in with a bag of drugs? It just doesn’t add up. Something else is going on here."
Eddy shook his head in confusion. "We have an entire town chanting for Nick's sacrifice, I think it's safe to say this entire situation is fucked two ways from Sunday."
Suddenly, Binky swung open the door. He paced back and forth, mumbling to himself until he finally asked, "What the hell is going on?"
"There's been a terrible mistake!”
“Nick’s innocent!”
"He wasn’t trying to smuggle drugs into town!”
“And he sure as hell is not the Antichrist."
Binky grabbed the bars. "You promise me that Nick didn't do that, youswear it to me!"
“Nick didn’t,” Steve began but paused to clutch his ribs. “He didn't even come with me. He and LT just put me on the right path then I went off. Ask LT, he will vouch for us.”
“I will as soon as he wakes up. But you swear that these drugs weren’t yours? You didn’t stash ‘em away before you got here?"
“Of course not!” Lisa protested.
"What did the Preacher say?"
Binky pulled away and let his hands slide off the bars. He backed up against the wall, took off his hat and let it rest against his thigh.
Steve repeated the unanswered question.
"He said Nick had to die. He said God called for it. Just about everyone in town is with him."
"You have to do something!"
"You have to stop this!"
"This isn't right!"
"I know this isn't right!" Binky unintentionally yelled back. "Look, I'm sorry. Give me some time to figure it out. I need to think."
Binky stormed to his office and slammed the door shut.
Steve labored himself to his feet, stood on his toes and looked through the barred window out into the town center. He watched the townspeople gathering wood and placing it around Nick's crucifix.
"I don't think time is on our side."
1604 hours
The hours passed by faster, and as the afternoon sun began to set over the mountains, clouds drifted over New Jerusalem dimming the blue sky and changing the color to a fiery orange.
Inside the jail, Steve, Jenny, Lisa and Eddy waited not-so-patiently for Binky to return. The Lawkeeper had been gone for hours, and they were uncertain if that was a good sign.
When the door crept open, those who could, rose to their feet.
“Neil?” Jenny called out. “What are you doing here?”
The tray of food in the boy’s hands negated the questions, but still he answered, "I brought you something to eat.”
As appeasing as the small portions of bread, butter and stripped chicken looked, the hungry prisoners preferred freedom to food.
"Hey, Neil is it? Neil, can you do us a huge favor? Can you get the key off the wall and hand it to me?"
Neil took an indecisive step back. "I-I don't think I'm allowed to."
"No, wait," Steve said, reaching through the bars to wave him back. "The man outside, his name’s Nick. He’s a good man, and he’s in trouble. The other people think that he did something he didn't do. And they are going to kill him if we don't help him. You wouldn't want a good man to get hurt would you?"
Neil shook his head from side to side. "But the Preacher-"
"It's okay, really. All you have to do is let us out so we can talk to the Preacher. That's all we want to do. We just want to talk with him..."
Steve thought it best not to mention the part where after he got out, he would arm himself with any weapon and hold the Preacher hostage in order to escape New Jerusalem.
“So can you help us?”
But based on Neil’s timid look and slight lean backward, Steve could tell that Neil was inclined to say no.
Eddy labored to sit upright. “Hey Neil. We never got a chance to meet, but my name is Eddy. Do you remember our friend out there?”
“Hi mister. Ya I remember him. He saved me out in the forest.”
"Well now he could really use your help,” Eddy continued. He limped over and graciously accepted the tray through the bottom slot. “We really appreciate you bringing us the food, and we don’t want you to get in trouble or nothing, but maybe you can at least go get your dad so the grownups can talk? That way you don’t feel like you’re doing anything bad.”
“Ya, pretty please,” Jenny added, looking sad through the iron bars.
"I...um...ya okay. I guess I can do that. I’ll go now.”
What seemed like an eternity later, Neil returned.
"Neil, why are you taking me to the Lawkeeper's office?" Leonard asked, walking through the threshold. He gazed upon the nervous and anxious prisoners, and began to turn around.
"Sir! Please wait!” Steve declared. “You have to help us!”
Neil wandered too closely to the cell, so Leonard grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. "Neil, that’s close enough. And how do you want me to help you? Neil already brought you some food."
"We need you to let us out of here."
"What? You can’t be serious! And even if I could do something, it's not that simple-"
"It is that simple! The keys are right there! Right next to you,” Steve said, pointing to the key ring on the wall next to the door. “All you have to do is bring them to me. Hell, toss ‘em on the floor and I'll grab them."
"I can't-"
"You can!"
"Do you know what they would do to me? To Neil? They’d send us outside! Or worse!”
Steve’s jaw muscles flexed with anger. "Do you knowwhat they are about to do tothat man outside? The one who saved your kid's life? They’re gonna burn him alive!"
Leonard covered Neil’s ears. "Come on, don't do that! Don't use my kid like that. That's not fair.”
Steve’s hands tightened around the bars to the point his knuckles went white. "Fair? Do you think what's about to happen to my friend out there isfair? He is innocent of everything they’re accusing him of. Plus, Nick saved your kid's life! You owe him!”
"Look, I know he saved Neil. LT told me. And I can't thank your friend enough, but-"
"But what?"
"But I can't go against the Preacher! You see it just like I do,” Leonard replied, pointing beyond the door. “He's got everyone in town behind him! What do you think he'll do if I let you out?"
Eddy winced as he returned to the cot. "I can tell you it won’t be any worse than what's about to happen out there.”
"Look, do you believe in karma? Good and bad coming back around?" Steve asked, letting go of the bars.
Leonard half-nodded.
"That's exactly what this moment is. The opportunity to pay back a man for the good he showed you; saving the son of a complete stranger.”
“You didn’t know him,” Lisa followed, “but Nick was a Park Ranger. He started a camp back in Washington that took in everyone. Me, my dad, so many people who needed help. He’s a great man, not some two-bit junkie conspirator.”
“Leonard, this is your c
hance to do something right."
Leonard stared at Steve, then at each sincere pair of eyes inside the cell. Then his eyes drifted to the keys dangling on the wall.
As the prisoners watched Leonard mentally debate the scenario, no one breathed.
And then, after a long, tense moment, Leonard decided. But Steve and the others could read Leonard’s expression before they heard the answer. "I-I'm sorry. I can’t help you."
"But-"
But it was too late. Leonard had dragged Neil out the Sheriff’s station.
Zoned out, speechless and heads drooping, the prisoners were defeated.
Then suddenly, just when their hope of rescue had diminished, the door crept open. They all believed it to be Leonard coming back with a change of heart.
But it was not Leonard courageously answering his call to action.
It was Binky.
The Lawkeeper sauntered inside, utterly demoralized; his shoulders sunken, his chin an inch away from his chest.
"What happened?”
“What did the Preacher say?"
Binky disregarded the questions and avoided all eye contact. He made his way to the back office, dropped to his chair, and then pulled open the bottom drawer. From a hidden compartment, he removed a bottle of bourbon.
But the real heartbreak came next.
Outside, church bells began to ring throughout New Jerusalem.
***
With a flaming torch in hand, Jill Cromwell strolled out from the church. The long robe and hood over her head made it appear as though she was leading an ancient ceremony.
The Preacher followed in her wake, moving more like a serpent than a human. "Come, my children! Come! Now is the hour of our atonement."
Steve stepped on the toilet and peered through the bars. Then he looked back at the others and said, “It’s starting.”
The townspeople exited their homes, dressed as though they were attending Sunday service. They gathered in a half-circle around the crucifix and waited.
The Preacher stepped on top of a wooden crate and gazed upon Nick who had been awake for some time, but a cloth gag around his mouth prevented any speech.
"Thank you all for coming. I can see your faces. I can sense your unease. But believe you me no one knows how difficult this is, but it must be done...Like Abraham with Isaac, I wanted to ask the Lord why? Why a sacrifice? Why not exile or any other offering! But this is God’s will, and He has a plan, and it is not our place to question it...”
The townspeople looked nervously at one another. The moment, the sacrifice, was real, but none dared reconsider or walk away.
“Justin, would you please remove the gag,” directed the Preacher. “Now, the Father did not specify, so in keeping with our human traditions, I wanted to allow the heathen any final words.”
"It's really happening," Steve mumbled. He turned to the others and repeated himself louder. "It's really happening."
“I wanna see,” Jenny insisted.
“No!” Steve shouted, hand outstretched. “Stay back! Lisa, take her and cover her ears!”
Jenny struggled, but soon after gave into Lisa’s sad embrace.
“Nick!” Steve screamed through the bars. "Nick! We are right here, my friend! All of us! Don't you worry! We are right here with you!"
The crowd looked over to the jailhouse.
Nick made no attempt to struggle; the bindings were too tight and his body was too weak. "I'm not worried, my friend! This is what is meant to be! This is the way of my life! Remember, no more anger, no more regret. Promise me that you will let go..."
Steve knew exactly what Nick was referring to. Though, he could not help but feel the anger and hatred coursing his veins.
“It’s up to you now to watch over the others! Tell our friends goodbye. Tell Alex I’m sorry, I’m sorry I have to break my promise!"
Nick then turned his words to the crowd.
"You are making a terrible mistake. You have been deceived by a liar, a cheater and a fraud! The Preacher is nothing more than a magician from Las Vegas-”
“What?”
“What’s he talking about?”
“Blasphemy!”
“Liar!”
“As you can see, my children,” the Preacher began, calmly and confidently, “even facing imminent demise, the evil looks to confuse and fill our heads with lies rather than come clean and face his sins. Sad. We pray for you, Nicolas. We will pray you.”
Nick scanned the audience. Eyes of hatred and disgust looked back at him. In that moment, he knew there was no undoing the brainwash.
“I have not done what I am being accused of, but I can see there is no convincing you. You have bought right into this travesty. But I fear for your spirits. And the false world you have created for yourselves. Today, evil truly has succeeded, because good men have done nothing-”
“He’s scared!”
“He knows what’s coming!”
“He’s trying to get us to feel sorry for him!”
Nick shook his head from side to side. “I do not fear death. I know where I am going. And I know that I will face my judgment with a clear conscience and a free spirit!"
"You are right, Nicolas,” the Preacher followed. “You will face your judgment, very soon."
Steve hopped down and threw his shoulder against the bars, caring not about the ensuing bruises. "Binky! Damnit, Binky, put that bottle down and help us!"
The Lawkeeper only moved enough to take another pull of bourbon.
"Please, you have to stop this! You have to let us out of here so we can stop this!"
But Binky was well on his way to the bottom of the bottle and was not taking any conversations.
"Damnit Binky! Nick is about to die out there for something he didn't do! Without a fair trial! Nick Stronghead is about to be murdered by a cult of people! Tell me what part of this is even remotely right? You have to do something!"
The Lawkeeper finished his gulp and stared blankly through the door frame. He was beyond stunned. Beyond shock. Beyond words. He was morally twisted and as a result physically defeated.
"I'm not sure what happened?” Binky mumbled to himself. “Not sure when we lost our way?"
"Damnit Binky!” Steve said, fists pounding against the bars. The act drew him no closer to freedom or the help which he desperately sought.
Jenny was crying hysterically. Lisa was trying her best to hold back tears, but hers began to trickle. Eddy had wrapped an arm around each girl and repeated the phrase, “It’s okay.”
Steve scrambled back to the barred window. His diaphragm lifted and lowered from an adrenaline-induced increased heart rate. He shook the small iron bars but like before, they did not give.There’s gotta be another way! There’s gotta be something we can do?
But no help came from Leonard or Neil. None from Binky. Not one of the townspeople voiced contention; not one engaged in rational thought. None stopped to debate the irrational course of action. And as a result, there was nothing to be done. No hope, no rescue.
Time slowed for Steve as he stared haplessly, helplessly, and hopelessly through the bars.
He watched the Preacher take the torch and without any words or hesitation, toss it on the wood. The flames caught and in a few minutes the fire was blazing.
Nick's eyes were closed. He appeared to be mumbling something, but the words were too low in volume to decipher.
Then, as the flames grew and engulfed his body, Nick opened his eyes. But he did not scream. He did not curse his murderers. Instead, he used the excruciating pain and chanted in his native tongue.
Steve wanted to think that the Sioux words were a prayer. Or perhaps a call to his fiancé in the world of spirits.
The words, whatever they meant, were tragically beautiful.
And then, after enduring unfathomable suffering, Nick Stronghead went humbly into the next world. And for that, for his display of courage, for employing no hate or spiteful curses, Steve considered Nick the most courageous man
he had ever known.
Still, painful tears ran from Steve’s eyes. "Nick," he whispered, “Nick..."
Chapter 11
“The Retribution”
New Jerusalem
December 5, 2009
0559 hours
Eddy wasn’t snoring but a slight wheeze came with each exhale. Despite infrequent tossing and turning, Jenny and Lisa had long-since cried themselves asleep under the comfort and safety of Eddy’s arms.
Steve, though, had stayed awake throughout the night. There was nothing else he could think about, nothing else he wanted more than liberation from the cell so he could punish the man responsible for publicly executing his friend.
"I can't even remember the last time I did this," Steve mumbled, dropping to his knees. He folded his hands and looked at the ceiling. "If you're up there, if you'rereally up there, God, then you saw one of the most horrific acts take place. You just watched as a good man was burned to death for no reason. You stood by and let Nick die..."
Steve’s nails began digging into the backs of his hands.
“You have taken damn near everything away from me. My family, my friends, Sarah-"
He paused momentarily and, for the first time, quelled the anger that used to be associated with that sacred name.
"Sarah used to pray to you, every night. She believed in you, and look what that bought her. I'm at a loss. I don't know what to do. I'm desperate. I want to believe in you, I want to know that good things are still possible, that you're still hanging around this planet, but I need sign, I need something, anything. I need your help, God. Please. I need your help."
Steve gently pressed his head in between the cold bars. When his eyes opened, he noticed Binky cough his way out of a dream.
"You're awake."
Moaning, Binky smacked his lips, desperately in need of water.
"Ah, what's the smell?" he asked disgusted and genuinely unaware of the still-smoldering flesh outside.
"His name was Nick."
Binky struggled to stand without support. "I-I'm sorry.”
"You're sorry? Funny, I could have sworn you were a man of the law."
The Longest Road (Book 3): The Other Side Page 60