Hogarth II

by Vicky Saari

  Job was still trying to kill time, all the while keeping his eyes on the road. He had been right about asking the Pritchetts what was going on. Nathan told him about the bounty hunters and how they had tried to threaten him with the dogs when he swore he knew nothing about a runaway darkie. He also told Job why his pa had told him to watch the road and to let him know if he saw the men coming. “I heard pa say something about settin’ a trap for them. But I don’t know what kind.”

  Job was disappointed that his dad hadn’t told him everything, but he liked the excitement of being in on it all. He had no use for bounty hunters, leastwise not these kind. Being a half-breed himself always made him feel uncomfortable around some people, though he didn’t know why. No one had ever really bothered him, not around here, anyway. He had heard his pa and ma talk about the time they had been chased off their land and had everything stolen because the people “didn’t want no Injuns around.” He reminded himself that the same kind of people who bought and sold slaves had also chased his mother’s people off of their own land. He remembered the stories his uncle, Big Eagle, had told him the one time he had come to their house. Someday, he hoped to find Big Eagle. In the midst of his musings, he heard horses, and then dogs, coming down the road. He didn’t wait to get a really good look for fear of being seen. Instead, he raced to the house to tell his pa that the men had arrived.

  Opal took off his leather apron and ran into the house to get his gun and handed it to Job. “Guard the tannery while I’m gone. Stay inside and latch the door. If anyone tries to get inside, use the gun on them,” he commanded as he hurried off toward Jed Hogarth’s on foot.

  Jed was ready, and as soon as he saw Opal, he opened the gate to his pig lot and quietly began herding his hogs up the lane toward the highway. He’d learned from his ma one of the easiest ways to herd pigs was simply to carry a bucket of feed, and they would follow to wherever you wanted them to go. She’d been doing this with his pigs every time they got out and into her garden. She was never afraid of the big boars or their tusks. Opal had a board that he used to help direct them. Every time a pig attempted to stray in the wrong direction, he used the board as a blockade to guide it back onto the desired path. Personally, he wasn’t sure how much damage six pigs would do to the dogs, but he could only imagine how much damage they could do to the rest of the town.

  “Somethin’s not right,” Jeff cautioned his brother. “That cobbler and that other man back there sure were starin’ at us funny-like.”

  “Don’t be such a ninny! These hicks here ain’t got any sense. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be out here,” Morely reassured him.

  As they approached the town, even Morely’s nerves began acting up. “Why is that fancy coach behind the grocery store?”

  “They’s a lot more horses in town today. Look at that inn. There must be a dozen people in there,” Jeff pointed out. Suddenly, the dogs began jumping and growling. They smelled the darkie on top of the fancy coach and didn’t like it. Morely and Jeff both jerked on the lines holding the dogs and were trying to keep them under control when someone shouted from behind and a herd of pigs came barreling down the street and rammed into them. The dogs went berserk from the scent on the scraps of cloth tied to the pigs’ tails. In the scramble, the men’s horses reared and threw them off, leaving the dogs, still in their muzzles; free to chase after the pigs. Two men jumped out of the stagecoach and grabbed the horses while two other men ran from the blacksmith shop and grabbed the bounty hunters and began tying their hands behind them.

  “What’s going on here,” demanded Morely. “We’re bounty hunters looking for a runaway slave. You got no right to do this to us!”

  “I’m the sheriff in this here county, and we don’t like killers here.” In the distance the dogs yelped, and the pigs squealed in triumph. The dogs with muzzles were no match for pigs with tusks. The Maynard boys cheered in triumph. Mrs. Hamburg went back into the house for the rest of the day.

  “Ain’t you ever heard of the Fugitive Slave Law?” Morely yelled. “It says we got a right to be here.”

  The sheriff ignored his taunts and turned the men’s horses over to John Bascom for care and feeding until the county decided what to do with them. “Thanks, Seth, for sending your man to get me. We’ve heard some pretty nasty tales about these two varmints that had nothing to do with hunting down slaves. It seems they like to turn them dogs onto innocent people and livestock when they get bored,” the sheriff said as he loaded the men into the stage and turned back toward the village, which was where the new county seat had been located. “We have a brand-new jail just waitin’ for them.”

  As he turned to leave, a second thought came into his mind. “You know, if you do come across that slave, I am obliged to send him back. Slavery ain’t legal here, but they’re right about the law.”

  “If any strangers show up, you’ll be the first person we tell,” Seth said reassuringly as he waved good-bye and turned back to the grocery store, where he knew more trouble would be brewing.

  “Seth Hodges, what do you mean, he’ll be the first you’ll tell?”

  “Tut-tut, Martha. Walk home with me, and I will explain.” Once they were out of earshot, he merely stated, “The only new person I’ve seen in this town is Caleb’s new hired hand, and he ain’t no stranger.” Martha caught his drift, smiled, and on impulse she threw her arms about him and gave him a hearty kiss on the cheek.

  “Opal, I hope you have a plan for gettin’ all of my pigs back,” grumbled Jed.

  “I sure do.” He took Jed’s feed bucket and pounded on the side, yelling “SUEY! SUEY!” Sure enough, the pigs forgot what they were doing and began racing toward the bucket. “Now all you have to do is lead them home,” said Opal with a grin as he handed the bucket back to Jed.

  John took the bounty hunters’ horses to the stable and began to brush them down and examine them. They were going to need a lot of care, he was certain. Luke, without being asked, went into Zeke’s shop and grabbed a shovel and went to check on the dogs. When he got to them, the Maynard kids were already looking them over. “Want us to get a gun and shoot them for you?” they asked.

  Luke was surprised at first by their offer, but after he examined the dogs, he knew there wasn’t much time left for either. “Why don’t you two help me dig them a grave, instead?” he asked. “They’ll be ready for it by the time we get it dug.” Once it was finished, they helped drag the dogs to it, and he handed them the shovel and told them to finish the job. He didn’t say anything, but he was beginning to question his decision to follow his uncle Morgan to Louisville. He wondered how well Jacob and Priscilla were managing.

  ******

  The carpenters, Charlie and George, were busy studying the damages the tornado had done to the century-plus house. Charlie let out a low whistle as he marveled at how well the house had withstood the storm. He turned to the Parsons and said, “You know, there’s less damage here than there was in a lot of the newer homes. I guess they sure knew how to build ’em in 1820. Isn’t that what the paper said?”

  Brad Parson carefully withdrew the brittle page he had pulled from inside the fallen stone wall of the tower, which he now had preserved in an acetate sleeve. It read “This tower bilt in 1820 by Jacob Dunbar.” George looked on in awe. He’d known the house was old, but he’d never believed it was that old. “I know a good stone man. If you’d like, I’ll call Dave and ask him to come out and look at the tower, but he’s awful busy right now.”

  “Did you ever figure out where that water was comin’ from when we wuz workin’ here the first time?” Charlie asked curiously.

  Brad and Kayla looked at one another, and both broke out into laughter as Brad responded, “Our daughter said that it was Hogarth’s tears!”

  Charlie and George looked at each other curiously. “I told you this place was haunted,” smirked Charlie. George shook his head, stalked away,
and then, when he was sure no one was looking, he turned toward the remains of the old house and thought to himself, “You may be right, Charlie.”

  Chapter 7

  Jessie and her namesake had just finished dumping the tub of water they had carried in the day before for George to bathe. Rather than carry it outside, they dumped it on the floor of the old cabin, and both had brooms, which they used to scrub the floor. “Ain’t been nobody livin’ in this cabin since Jed married Sarah, and it’s been more like a barn than a cabin. George, I hope you don’t mind sittin’ outside most of the day till this floor dries up,” Jessie called out the door as she swished a broom full of water along with it.

  George sat on a log under a tree, where he studied his surroundings. He was still wondering if these people were real or not. Never in his life had white folks done so much for him. To tell the truth, it made him feel kind of uneasy having white folks taking care of him. When he heard a small voice calling out from the hill behind the house and saw a small white boy running toward him, he was sure he was a goner this time.

  “Gramma! Gramma! Ma needs y--!” his words were cut off when he saw the strange-looking man sitting in front of his grandma’s cabin. Suddenly, he became shy and fearful and was uncertain of what to do. Fortunately, he saw his aunt Jessie swinging a broom out the cabin door.

  “Aunt Jessie! Where’s Gramma?” he was nearly in tears when he saw his grandma toss her broom down and come running out to meet him. She threw her arms around him and pulled him up to her shoulder to comfort him. She turned toward George and introduced him to her grandson.

  “He ain’t never seen a darkie,” she apologized self-consciously. Turning her attention to the boy she asked, “What’s wrong with your ma?”

  “She was sittin’ at the table, and the floor wuz all wet under her. All she said was go fetch Granma.” He replied. “She said she thinks the baby’s coming.”

  Jessie rushed into the house and to her round room, where she kept all her medicines. She then hurled a list of commands toward Little Jessie and George as she grabbed Little Jed by the hand and hurried up the hill. “I guess that means we’re on our own,” Little Jessie grinned at George before she disappeared back inside the cabin to finish her work.

  “When we get to the house, I want you to go find Abner and Brad and fetch them, too. Tell them I think we are about to get a new baby,” she prattled on as she gasped her way up the hill and out of sight.

  George sat on the log and watched as the grandmother and the small boy ran to help the boy’s mother. He shook his head in disbelief. He wanted to like these people, but he was also worried about those bounty hunters. He may have gotten away, but somehow, he couldn’t see them giving up that easily. Nervously, he scanned the woods around him for some sign of danger. To be quite honest, he wasn’t used to being alone, and the few times he had been didn’t seem nothing good had ever happened. He remembered Miss Martha and wondered which way her house was. He also wondered how she’d ever ended up here. Back in Kentucky, she was always the belle of the ball. After a few moments, his mind wandered to his immediate surroundings. He hadn’t seen much of the place, but the cabin was more than comfortable. It reminded him of the cabins on the plantations where he’d lived, plain and simple, nothing extra. Then, as he turned toward the house, he noticed the round room at the end. It struck him as kind of odd in a place like this, but he’d been around white folks enough to know they sometimes had strange ideas. Just as he was about to turn to look in the other direction, a movement and snuffing sound near the house caught his attention. It took a few minutes for him to figure out what was happening, and then he rose from his perch and began to hobble toward the Hogarths’ garden.

  “Get out of here!” he began yelling at the huge pig pushing against one of the fence posts surrounding the garden. Without thinking, he picked up a fist-sized rock and threw it at the errant swine. “Shoo! Git!” A second rock was enough to distract the large pig and turn it in another direction.

  “Are them pigs back again?” Caleb called from the far side of the house. He was surprised to find his wife’s star boarder on his feet and chasing off pigs. He walked to the post and tried to secure it back in the ground. “We been wonderin’ how they keep gettin’ in there,” Caleb grumbled as he went to meet George and help him back to his perch. “You’re gettin’ kinda brave on that leg of yours.”

  “Well, Miss Jessie wuz scrubbin’ the floor of the cabin, and the Missus took off when a young boy came runnin’ sayin’ his ma needed her. She told Miss Jessie to finish dinner and ran. I didn’t think you’d be wantin’ the pig in your patch up there,” George apologized. “I feel real bad that you folks have done so much for me, but I been worrin’ about those bounty hunters that wuz chasin’ me. What they might do to you if they come back and find me. They don’t care who they hurt.”

  Caleb chuckled at the realization that everyone knew what had happened to the hunters but the man who most needed to know. He brought George up to date on what had transpired on his behalf. The man was overcome by the tale he had heard. “You mean all those people helped trap those men? I knows they killed white folks, too. I think they kill just for the fun of it.”

  “Well, right now they are in the jail in the village. I jest hope the sheriff can keep ’em there. Leastwise until we can make sure you’re someplace safe,” Caleb responded. “Where were you plannin’ to go?”

  “I wuz hopin’ to get to Canada. They says it safe up there for darkies. The laws up there says we’uz free. All we gotta do is follow the North Star until we get there.”

  “I understand you knew Mrs. Hodges back in Kentucky,” Caleb said. “She told us about you not long after she came here when her niece, Priscilla, first came.”

  George was surprised but curious about the strange man whose home he had been welcomed into. “Mr. Hogarth, as soon as I get well enough, I’d like to find some way to pay you back for all your kindness. I also want you to know that Martha’s brother-in-law was the man who put the bounty on my head. I jumped over the side of one his boats in Louisville before they had a chance to get me chained down. They wuz takin’ me to St. Louis to sell.”

  Caleb halted for a second, uncertain of what to say. One thing he didn’t believe in was sellin’ people and treatin’ them like livestock. “Well, the first thing you gotta learn around here, there ain’t none of us use the word ‘mister.’ I’m Caleb. As for Martha’s brother-in-law, he was leaving this morning to take his daughter and her family back to Louisville. For the time bein’, you are as safe here as anywhere. As soon as things settle down a bit, we’ll figure out what to do next. Let’s go see what my daughter is doin’ to your house. You know, she’s the one who found you layin’ in the weeds down by the crick.”

  Caleb offered George a helping hand as they inched toward the old cabin. “Mittens!” her pa called, and she stuck her head out of the door. “I figure your ma’s gonna be busy for a while. Why don’t you start makin’ us dinner, and George and I can look this place over to see how to make it livable. I figure we can make room elsewhere for some of this stuff.”

  Then he turned to George and said, “If you were really serious about helpin’ out around here, I could sure use some help gettin’ my crops in. Seems ever since my two boys growed up and got places of their own, you’re lookin’ at the only farmhand I got. You can live here in this cabin, and we’d be glad to feed you. You can come up to the house and eat with us if’n you don’t mind. We don’t have much money, but I’ll try and figure out a way to make it even for you.”

  George studied the man before him and wondered if he was really alive or if this was just some kind of a dream. Not knowing what else to say, he held his hand out and said, “I’d sure be obliged, Mr. Ho …, I mean, Caleb.”

  *****

  Charlie and George had just finished setting up the new trusses for the new roof over the old house. “T
hat wasn’t so tough,” swore Charlie as he reached inside the truck to pull out his paper lunch bag.

  George gave him a dirty look and turned his attention to the driveway at the top of the hill. “Dave said he’d be here before noon. It’s almost twelve now.” He withdrew his own lunch from his van and sat on a stack of lumber alongside the paved parking area. Just as he had taken his first bite from the hero sandwich he’d made himself that morning, an ancient pickup truck backfired at the top of the hill to signal Dave’s arrival. He waited for the rusted truck to come to a halt and greeted the bearded man behind the wheel as he eased his way to the pavement.

  Hogarth watched the little tableau unfolding before him. He didn’t know what impressed him most about the man: his cowboy boots or the huge brass belt buckle that rode his waist.

  Dave was the kind of man who didn’t like to waste time with a lot of talk. After his initial greetings, he studied the progress his old friend had already completed on the house and then turned his attention to the remains of the stone tower. “How old did you say this place was?” he asked Charlie and George.

  Chapter 8

  “All right, Sarah, go ahead and push,” commanded Jessie as she saw the crown of her newest grandchild make its appearance. It had been less than two hours since Little Jed had come running through the woods to get her. She had sent him to find Brad and Abner and he was now busy entertaining his sister out under a tree. She had quickly packed them a lunch of buttered biscuits and blackberry preserves that Sarah still had on the table.

  “I think our menfolk are gonna get a real surprise when they come in for dinner and find there’s nothing fixed for them,” Jessie said to her patient to try and distract her from her pain for a moment. “I told Little Jessie to finish up that rabbit stew I had started and bring it all over here, when I left.”