Purling Road - The Complete First Season: Episodes 1-10

by M. L. Gardner

  He replaced the tin, stuffed the rag in behind it and pulled the blankets straight. Walking past the bookcase his wedding picture caught his eye. It was a small print and the only picture he had of the two of them. He removed it from the frame and tucked it in his pocket. After taking one last look around, he left, locking the door behind him.

  He cut through the woods, stopping by a large house at the front of the property. The owner of the house they rented answered the back door and as always, looked happy to see him.

  She was an older woman of German descent, considered wealthy and held a general distrust of all society. He never asked and she never explained why she revered David and his family so much. She was, in essence, the reason they were able to stay in one place this long and amass the savings they had while everyone else seemed penniless.

  Ilma Wallmer’s rent was more than reasonable and her offer to watch their son when his and Loretta’s shifts at the hospital overlapped was invaluable. He told her in rushed words that it was time and he’d be away for a while. He paid the next month’s rent in advance and accepted a bundle of bread and cookies for his journey. And with that, he was on his way.

  If he hurried, he’d make it to Rockport in time to catch the last train to Boston. From there, he’d board another south bound. There was a spring in his step as he realized he just might make it there in time.

  The sun had fully set and the temperature plummeted. By the time he got to the main road, it began snowing. Lights in the distance were a welcome sight.

  ***

  The next morning it wasn’t the bright light that woke Jean, but the shaggy black dog licking his face. He opened his eyes with a shiver and blinked several times before laying his hand on the dog’s head.

  It was shortly after leaving his home that the dog found him. Though to Jean, it seemed as if he was waiting for him at the end of his street. He had introduced himself with a woof and began following Jean. No matter how many times Jean turned and ordered him to go home, he wouldn’t. He’d only stop, sit and stare with his head cocked. When Jean began walking again, so did the dog.

  As night began to fall, Jean turned off the dirt road and went into the woods. There he found a piling of rocks. To a small boy it looked like a cave and a good place to sleep.

  He sat up and rubbed his eyes. “It’s cold,” he told the dog. In fact, he couldn’t ever remember being this cold and began to wonder if he should turn around and go home. With his mouth set, he shook his head. He’d be going back to double trouble. First for the fight and second for running away. And there was no reason to believe they’d let him come back. Maybe they were even glad to be rid of him.

  No, he was on his own now. He had a plan and would see it through, he decided as he crawled out from under the shelter of rocks onto the frosty ground and stretched.

  The dog stretched as well and then let out a long whine.

  “I know. I’m hungry, too,” Jean said, scooping up his pillow and bundle. He regretted not bringing a bit of food with him for his journey. He remembered hearing about scamps who stole pies from the window sills of houses and swiped chickens from yards. Hungry as he was, he didn’t think he could bring himself to steal. It was better to hurry and get to where he was going. The nip in the air quickened his step back to the main road that would lead him north and away from his problems.

  ***

  After an hour of walking, Jean’s feet hurt and he struggled to keep up with the dog.

  “Wait for me, dog!” he called with a fast awkward gait. The dog jogged ahead, throwing his head with a yelp.

  “What’s got you so excited?” he called out. Jean stopped and flapped his arms. “Wait! I can’t keep up!”

  The dog finally stopped and let out a long whine. Jean hurried and as he grew close, the dog became fixated on something just off the road and began barking.

  Jean sidled up to the dog and saw what had him so upset. A man lay motionless in the ditch, covered in a light dusting of snow.

  “Is he dead?” Jean whispered. The dog barked again, nudging Jean closer with his nose.

  Jean shook his head, his eyes wide. “You check,” he whispered. “I’m scared.” The dog barked again, three times. Biting his lower lip, Jean’s eyes darted. He spotted a stick and bent slowly to pick it up, keeping an eye on the man in the ditch. Even more slowly, he extended the stick and pushed against the man’s ribs. Each time he poked harder and still got no response.

  “I think he’s dead,” Jean whispered. The dog began barking, loud, fast and continuous. Just as Jean pulled the stick away, the man’s arm twitched and Jean jumped back. The dog quieted. They both stared, waiting.

  With a long groan the man was slow to roll to his back. He winced with pain as he did.

  Jean and the dog watched as he opened his eyes.

  “Are you okay?” Jean asked, taking a step closer. He wasn’t nearly as afraid of strangers as he was of dead strangers. He squatted down at the edge of the ditch and held out his small hand. “Why are you sleeping in the ditch?” he asked.

  “I wasn’t,” the man said, sitting up slowly and stretching his neck carefully. “I got jumped.”

  “Jumped?” Jean asked, pulling his hand back.

  “Attacked,” he said, looking up at Jean. He had a large lump on his forehead and his lip was split from the fall. “By bad men.”

  Jean’s eyes flashed with the recognition. The man also had a flash of recognition and began tearing through his pockets. He growled and cursed loudly as he found each one empty. The he fell forward with elbows on his knees.

  “They took everything,” he said angrily.

  “You can walk with me,” Jean said.

  “Oh yeah? Where are you headed?”

  “I’m joining the circus,” Jean said.

  The man frowned. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”

  Jean dropped his eyes. “I ran away and I’m not going back. I’m going to join the circus like the boy I read about in my book.”

  “What’s your name, kid?” the man asked as he stood up.

  “Jean. What’s yours?”

  “I’m David.”

  After climbing out of the ditch, Jean squinted up, taking in David’s full height as he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked around, despondent.

  Jean looked with him, not sure what he was searching for. Then he spotted something. Jean bent, picked up a picture and looked at it.

  “Is this yours?” he asked holding it out.

  David took it with a sad smile. “Yes, thank you.” He wiped away bits of ice and snow. His wedding picture was wrinkled, the corner torn. There were small spots of water damage. He sighed as he put the picture in his pocket and looked up at the horizon.

  “Is that your dog?” he asked Jean.

  Jean gave a sloppy shrug. “He found me last night and slept with me in the cave.”

  David’s eyes widened. “You slept outside last night?” Jean nodded as the dog walked over and wormed his head underneath David’s hand for a pet.

  “So did you,” Jean said, looking up.

  “Your parents must be worried sick,” David said.

  Jean’s face fell. “No, they’re mad at me. And they don’t really want me. They had to take me.”

  “What do you mean, they had to take you?” David asked.

  Jean shook his head and put on a strong face. “I don’t want to talk about it. I only want to get to the circus. Do you want to come with me? You’re so big…maybe they need a strong man for the sideshow?” he asked, pointing down the road that led away from Rockport.

  David glanced down at the dog, buying time to think. Suddenly, his face pinched, he grabbed his side and groaned.

  “What’s wrong?” Jean asked.

  “My side…it hurts. So does my head.” He sank slowly to the ground and sat, moaning. Jean hunched down beside him.

  “What can I do?” he asked.

  David took his time answering, writhing and groaning. Finally he rai
sed a wobbly finger and pointed. “Can you help me get to town? I need a doctor, Jean.”

  Jean nodded swiftly and put his hands on David’s arm, trying to help him up. After David was on his feet, he put his arm down to Jean’s shoulder. He was only resting it, but to Jean, it felt as if his whole body’s weight was pressing down.

  “Hang on,” he said, struggling to walk beside David. “I know where the doctor lives.”

  David looked down at the top of Jean’s head and as they began walking, he threw on a heavy limp and smiled.

  ***

  Jonathan leaned on the hood of the car with his stomach in knots, his mind screaming with worry. He looked up as the sheriff pulled in. He wasn’t driving fast enough to have bad news. Or good news for that matter.

  “Anything?” Jonathan asked, walking toward him.

  “No,” William said, shaking his head. “I’ve got someone posted on the roads leading out of town and a few men are going door to door.”

  Jonathan turned to a group of volunteers who had, like he and his friends, been out all night. “Start searching every barn, shed, fish shack and boat.”

  “We already have, Jon.”

  Jonathan twisted, throwing his arms out, growling with frustration. “Look again! He’s a small boy, he couldn’t have gotten far!”

  They took no offense at Jonathan’s outburst. If it were their child, they’d act much the same way. He started to walk away and then turned on his heel. “The woods. Check the woods by Caleb’s place.”

  As they hurried off, talking between themselves about recruiting more volunteers now that it was light, William approached Jonathan.

  “Why don’t you go home for a bit, Jon. You’ve been out here all night. We have at least two dozen people searching for your boy.”

  “I’m not going home without my son.”

  “And it’s very possible that he might show up at home after a cold dark night alone. You said that he most likely left because he was afraid of being punished for fighting at school. But spending a night out here alone had to be more frightening than the idea of facing his father.”

  “Ava is waiting at home, just in case. We have someone at every home, in case he shows up at any of our houses. I thought the first place he’d go would be Arianna’s,” Jonathan said. With his head on a swivel, he squinted into the distance. “I can’t understand why he’d be so afraid of me that he’d run away. I’ve never raised a hand to him. I’ve never even raised my voice…that I can remember.”

  “Often they’re worried more about their parents being disappointed than a spanking.”

  “He is sensitive,” Jonathan said, shoving his hands in his pockets and rolling his shoulders against a chill. “He’s always been worried about what people think…whether they like him or not…” He stared off with a hard look of concern.

  “It’s been my experience in cases like this, the children come home on their own. Usually because their stomach is growling. I’ve never known a child to run away and bring more than a few cookies with them.” William smiled, attempting to raise Jonathan’s hopes and spirits.

  What he got was a nod of consideration, washed with worry.

  ***

  Jean continued to whisper words of encouragement for David to hold on, reassuring him that they were almost there. He puffed his breath, struggling under the weight of David’s hand resting on his shoulder.

  As the car approached, David’s posture miraculously snapped straight, he lost the limp and raised a hand over his head.

  It came to a slow stop and the driver leaned over to the passenger window, his eyes lighting up as he recognized Jean, and darkening as they rolled over the tall dark stranger.

  Brave enough to ask, but not brave enough to get out and face him, he glared. “You take this boy?” he asked.

  “No,” David said. “He found me, actually. After I was attacked on the road a ways back. Told me he ran away. I was tryin’ to help him get home.”

  Jean’s head snapped up. “You told me you were hurt and needed a doctor!”

  “I could probably use one,” David said with a smile, nudging Jean’s shoulder. “But more than that, you need to be safe at home with your family.”

  The driver, Howard, was an older man and lifelong resident of Rockport. He stepped out of his car cautiously. “Your father’s been in fits looking for you. Get in, I’ll take you to him.”

  “What about the dog?” Jean asked.

  “Is it your dog?”

  “No, he found me. I don’t know where he lives.”

  Howard pulled his hat off and rubbed his bald head. “Well, leave him be, he’ll find his way home from here.”

  “But what about David?” Jean asked.

  The man looked uncertain as to what to do with him. “I suppose the sheriff will want to speak to you.” He threw his eyes up and down with a distrustful glance. “Make sure what you’re saying is true.”

  After a moment of deep struggle, and looking as if he’d rather die than say it, he jerked his head. “Get in the back and don’t try anything. I have a gun.”

  ***

  Howard came tearing down the road, laying on his horn, barreling toward where the search party was centralized. The people in the street cleared quickly and some just in time. He came to a skidding stop near Jonathan and the sheriff.

  “Got him!” he yelled out his window. “I got the boy!”

  For a moment, Jonathan looked as if the bones of his shoulders had dissolved. Then, not entirely believing it, he jogged over to his car. Seeing it was in fact Jean, alive and safe, he threw open the door. Jean winced as he yanked him out, dropped to his knees and pulled him into a fierce hug.

  David unfolded himself from the backseat and stood off to the side, giving some space. He couldn’t quite hear what Jonathan was whispering, but from the look on Jean’s face, it was good, thankful and reassuring.

  Moments later and before Jonathan let Jean go, Arianna, Caleb and Aryl arrived. They pushed through the small gathering crowd, utterly relieved after laying eyes on Jean. Arianna especially wanted to grab Jean up, but gave Jonathan his time first.

  “Where’d you find him?” William asked. Howard jerked his head, pulling him aside. He whispered urgently, throwing his hand in David’s direction. Then he frowned as he looked over. William made eye contact and nodded politely. David nodded back.

  “Dadee, this is David,” Jean said. Jonathan gave him a bit of room to breathe, but wouldn’t let him go. “I found him and he tricked me into coming back.” Jean set his lips firm.

  “Is that so?” Jonathan asked, looking up at David with a smile.

  “Yes, he was hurt and told me he needed a doctor. But he only wanted me to come home.”

  He stood, holding onto Jean’s arm and extended his hand. “I greatly appreciate it.”

  David gripped his hand. “Glad I could help.”

  “How did you get hurt?” Jonathan asked. Now that he took a moment to notice, he could see the raw red swelling on his forehead. Before he could answer, Arianna greeted David like a long lost friend.

  “David, hello! I haven’t seen you since the…” she paused, looking to see that no one outside their circle was close enough to hear. “The memorial for Simon and Elizabeth. I’ve wondered how you’ve been,” she said. And to the surprise of a few elderly passersby, touched his arm.

  “I was fine until last night,” David said.

  “What happened last night?” Arianna asked.

  David’s eyes went from her to Jonathan. “I was on my way to the train station and got mugged. Knocked me out cold and took everything I had. Left me in a ditch to die. Luckily, Jean here came across me this morning and woke me up.”

  Jean nodded quickly in agreement.

  “It’s a wonder you even lived, out in the cold all night!” Arianna said.

  William stepped up, having heard the end of the conversation. The way Jean was acting and the way Arianna obviously knew him, he had no desire to arrest
him as Howard had asked him to, justifying the action with ‘just in case’.

  “Did you see them? Do you have a description?” William asked.

  Sadly, David shook his head. “No, sir. It was dark and they had their hats pulled down low. I heard a voice, but I don’t think I could spot it again.”

  “How many of them were there?”

  “Two in front, at least two behind me. I stepped aside to let the two in front pass. That’s when one behind me called out. I turned around and they hit me with something. I didn’t even have time to see with what. Must’ve knocked me out cold because I don’t remember anything until this young man and his dog came along this morning.”

  “What were you doing out on the road at night?” William asked.

  “I was headed to the train station to be with my wife in Georgia. She’s expecting any day now.”

  “Ah,” William said. “With no description, no idea which direction they went, I don’t have high hopes of finding them. I will ask around though.”

  “I don’t expect you to find them,” David said. “Even if you did, they’d have spent my money by now.”

  “How much did they take?” William asked.

  “My life savings of forty-four dollars.”

  Jonathan closed his eyes and groaned. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.” He stood, keeping Jean at his side, under his arm. He was grateful that the crowd had started to dissipate and with David’s troubles, they weren’t the center of attention at the moment.

  “How will you get to Georgia?” Arianna asked.

  David shoved his hands in his pockets. “Don’t know. I thought I was smart to not leave my money in an empty house, so I brought it. Turns out that was a mistake, too.”

  “How far away do you live?” William asked.