by Glenn Trust
When Clay did not answer, Cy said, “I care about her too. She’s like my little sister.” He smiled. “I reckon one day you two will marry up and she will be. You do what you got to do, but tell me. Don’t leave us in the dark, wondering. You owe me and Mama that much.”
It was true; Clay nodded. He owed them that and more.
Cy leaned against a steel pillar in the midst of the expanse of concrete while his brother spoke. When Clay had finished, Cy shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at the floor. After a minute, he raised his head.
“You know what they’re gonna do,” he said quietly.
“I know.” Clay shrugged. “What they’re gonna try to do.”
“No. It’s what they will do. You know the Stinsons. Hurting people is in their blood. You killed their brother. Accident, or not, they only know one way to settle that.”
“That’s right, I know the Stinsons, and I know what they will do to Lyn. I won’t let that happen. I figure I have a fifty-fifty chance. She won’t have any.”
“Let me come with you…as backup. They won’t know.”
“Can’t risk it. They think I’ve told anyone, they’ll kill her.”
“Let me help, brother.”
“Can’t.” Clay shook his head. “Even if I could, you’ve got a wife, kids. I can’t let you into this.” He put his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I’ll be all right. I’ll find a way to handle it…talk to them…wait for the right time and get the law involved…as soon as I can make sure Lyn is safe. Until then, I’ll follow along…do what they say…go where they tell me to go.”
“Let’s tell the law now. We can go to the sheriff. I’ll go with you.”
“No. You know how that works. There’ll be deputies and troopers and police looking for them on every interstate and back road.” Clay shook his head. “I saw what Carl Stinson did to Ruby. I know what his brothers will do to Lyn. I’m not gonna let that happen.”
Clay turned and walked towards the door. The afternoon sun shone through onto the concrete, lighting the dust particles in the air.
“Where you going? They said be in Mobile tomorrow. It’s less than a day’s drive. We could have dinner…talk this out.”
“Nothing left to talk out. I wasn’t thinking. I got angry…went to see Carl Stinson. I made this mess. I’ll clean it up.” Clay turned his head smiling the smile that his brother had known all of his life. “Gonna go home…see Mama.” He shrugged. “You know…in case things don’t work out.”
In case things didn’t work out? Hell, the Stinsons weren’t going to give him any chance to work things out. Cy wanted to shout it at his brother. He said, “Well, keep that phone on so I can call you…see how you are.”
Clay lifted a hand in goodbye as he walked away. “I will.”
He watched Clay pull out of the parking lot. When he was out of sight, he packed up his tools, threw them in the bed of his truck. As far as he was concerned, the project at the shopping center was done. Going back to work now was impossible. He turned the engine over and spun the tires as he pulled onto the highway.
The first fifty miles back to Pickham County were a numb daze. Once during the drive, he became aware of his surroundings and couldn’t remember how he had gotten there. Clay’s smile flashed in his mind along with the promise not to tell anyone.
By the time he crossed the county line, he made his decision...promises be damned. He could not go to the law. Clay was right. There was no doubt that the Stinson brothers were capable of taking it out on Lyn…maybe kill her…make it hard on her when they did…do their best to make sure she would never be found.
Brushing away the pang of guilt, Cy considered his options. He had promised Clay not to speak to anyone about the situation because of the danger to Lyn.
But, there was no doubt that Clay would be in danger if the Stinsons got their hands on him. He had killed their brother. Accident or not, their warped code required that a price be paid. The Hatfields and McCoys would have nothing over the Stinsons when it came to blood feuds. The payment would be made, and Cy knew the price they would demand.
He had never faced down a killer the way Clay had. Instead, he had always opted for keeping his nose to the grindstone and staying out of trouble. He had done that the first time, those years ago when Lyn was abducted and Clay had almost died.
It all came down to one truth. Clay was his brother, and Cy Purcell had his own code to follow. He would be damned if he would abandon his brother now.
He had no idea where to begin, how to do what was needed. His mind whirled. He drove in a fog, desperately trying to come up with a plan. Then, the thought came to him. It wasn’t a plan really, but there was someone he might be able to talk to…who might listen…who might know what to do and how to do it.
45. Sleepin’ Like Babies
The girl’s eyes were dim, not frightened or confused…just dim and distant. She sat opposite Lyn in the compartment behind the cab and stared into space. Trussed up and unable to speak or move, the young woman’s eyes told the story. Whatever was going to happen to her would happen. She was caught up in events over which she had no control. That was her story.
Lyn knew that story as well…had lived it once before. She nodded and reached out to take the woman’s hands in hers. “I’m Lyn.”
The woman nodded and her eyebrows lifted a little in the only greeting she could make. Feeling her own sense of confidence rise in the company of the girl, Lyn said, “We’ll figure a way out of this.”
“You think so?” Albert called over his shoulder from the front seat. “You ain’t goin’ nowhere ‘til we say so. That boy don’t get where we tell him to go, you ain’t goin’ nowhere…ever.”
Lyn looked into the eyes of the bound girl. “You can’t keep us prisoner like this, Uncle Albert.”
“The hell, I can’t!” He smiled in the mirror looking at his niece. “Now sit your ass back and shut up.”
Miles rolled by as Albert crisscrossed south Georgia, burning time, staying away from Judges Creek, keeping to backroads, making sure that the captive girls were out of sight of any passing deputies or troopers. Eventually he worked his way back into swamp country, to a place they knew…a place they could stay out of sight for the day.
The hum of the tires and rattling vibration of the old truck made the women drowsy. After a time, their heads nodded to their chests and they slept unaffected by the steamy interior of the truck.
It was not exactly the rest of the condemned. Their sleep was a profound, visceral need. Eyes drooped; breathing became regular. Nature took over, conserving their energy and strength for use when the time would come to fight or flee.
Bain turned to look at the women. “Look at them…sleepin’ like babies.” He looked at Albert. “Damnedest thing I ever seen.”
“Not so strange. Pen a hog up…night before you’re gonna stick it and butcher it…it sleeps, just like that.”
“That ain’t the same.”
“Sure it is. Hog knows it can’t do anything about the situation so it just goes to sleep and rests up some.” Albert grinned at his brother. “But you best watch out come the mornin’. That hog’ll be ready for a fight. You don’t keep things under control, he ain’t gonna let you just cut his throat. He’ll stomp you to death, he gets the chance.”
“You sayin’ they gonna try and stomp us or somethin’?”
“You are one dumb son of a bitch,” Albert said with disgust and spat out the open truck window. “I’m sayin’ we got to control things so they don’t get the chance, that’s all.” He shook his head. “Never mind little brother. I’ll take care of things. You just do like I say, when I say it.”
Bain nodded without making a reply. Why did Albert always have to call him a dumb son of a bitch? It wasn’t right.
Bain figured he was as smart as either of his older brothers, if not as mean. Maybe smarter, he thought. After all, Carl was the one got himself knifed and killed. And Albert liked to boss people around an
d talk big, but that didn’t make him no smarter.
Bain leaned his forehead against the passenger window and looked out into the late afternoon. Sun would be setting soon. The dark would come.
He shivered involuntarily. They were near the place. He never really liked the dark since that night in the woods at that place, with his brothers and daddy…and mama…and that Will Tandy boy.
46. A Chance
Headlights swung off the county road and bumped along the gravel driveway until they came to the big oak in the yard. When they were extinguished, the moonlight reflected off the old pickup’s windows. The driver slammed the door, stood watching the porch, a dim silhouette in the dark. Finally, as if the shadow had made up its mind about something, it walked briskly to the porch.
Seated side by side in their customary places, George and Sharon watched the shadow approach. When it reached the bottom of the steps, it spoke.
“You remember me?”
George squinted at the young man, now lit by the yellow glow of light thrown out from the open front door. “You look familiar.” He leaned forward and then sat up straight, surprised. “You’re…”
“No, not him.” The young man smiled. “His brother. I’m Cy Purcell, Clay’s brother.”
“You favor him.”
“Most people say we could pass for twins.”
“You could.”
The two looked at each other without speaking or moving, George remembering the brother, Clay. Cy waiting, searching for a way to begin the conversation he had to have with the former deputy.
Finally, Sharon broke the silence. “Come up on the porch Cy. Have a seat and tell us why you’re here.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He mounted the steps and sat in the old kitchen chair to one side. Eyes still squinted, George watched him, not sure how he felt about the young man sitting in old Fel’s chair. After a few seconds, he shrugged. Fel would have given him the seat if he were still around.
“So, why are you here, Cy Purcell?” George reached into the old cooler by his chair. “Want a beer?”
“No, thanks.” Cy hesitated, and then forged ahead. “I’m here about my brother…and the girl.”
“The girl?” George lowered the beer can to his lap and nodded. “The girl.”
“Yes. Lyn Stinson, the girl…you saved her life…you and my brother.”
“I remember.”
“There’s trouble.”
George and Sharon listened without comment. Cy reviewed the beating of Lyn and Ruby, the confrontation at Pete’s Place, the fight between Clay and Carl and then Carl’s death. He ended with the call from Albert to Clay, the threats to Lyn and the instructions to go to Mobile.
“It was an accident,” he concluded. “Clay was defending himself. He didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
“Doesn’t matter,” George said somberly. “It’s a blood fight now. Not about who was right or wrong.”
“Matters to me. He’s my brother…my blood.”
George nodded.
“What are you going to do?” Sharon asked.
“Follow…try to find them. Clay said he would stay in touch on the cell phone. Maybe I can be there if things go bad…stop it somehow.”
“You know they intend to kill him…and the girl.” George said it bluntly. The boy needed to hear the truth. “They’ve already committed several felonies. They may be mean, but I doubt they are stupid. They will settle the score with your brother then eliminate the witnesses.”
“I know.” Cy nodded. “That’s why I came here.”
“How’s that?” George’s eyes narrowed.
“I…I was hoping maybe you might help me…go with me…maybe at least tell me what to do.”
George shook his head. “I’m not a deputy anymore.”
“I know.”
“Hell, I’m a convicted felon, I can’t even carry a firearm.”
“I’ve got guns.” Cy motioned his head towards his truck. “.30-30 Winchester and a twelve-gauge. I hunt. I know how to shoot.”
“You ever kill a man?”
“No.”
“Not the same as a buck or a goose. You pull the trigger and he’s gone…a human being…not a trophy for the wall…or meat for the table. A man is dead.” George leaned forward his face grim. “And you did it.”
“I know.” Cy nodded. “I don’t have any choice.”
“Go to the sheriff.”
“No. I promised Clay. He said they would kill Lyn.”
“They might…they will…anyway.”
“Maybe I can stop that from happening.”
“Not likely.” George shook his head.
“It’s certain if I don’t go. I’ve got to try and stop it.” Cy’s voice was quiet in the stillness of the night, just the three of them, on the porch. “Like you said, they will kill him…and the girl. Will you help? I’m going with or without you.”
George stared out into the night, beyond the circle of light on the grass. It had all come full circle, like a giant practical joke played by the universe on one George Mackey. He sighed, wishing the universe would leave him be.
Sharon waited. When he turned to her, she said nothing, looked into his eyes and nodded. It was not a practical joke. It was a chance, nothing more.
Along the way there might be more…some way to make sense out of things. The decision was made silently between them. He would play it out to the end.
“I’ll go.” He turned towards Cy. “You say Mobile by tomorrow noon?”
“Yes. That’s what Clay said. They will give him more instructions from there.”
“Right.” George nodded, thinking. “You meet me here at five in the morning. We take your truck. Gas it up. We’re gonna be on the road. Got a few stops to make.”
“Stops? He said Mobile.”
“We need an advantage. I’ve got an idea where we might get one.”
“All right. Five in the morning.” Cy stood. “I’ll be here.” He walked down the steps into the dark.
They watched the headlights bounce back out to the county road. George reached out and took Sharon’s hand.
“I have to do this.”
“I know. Just one thing, though.”
“What?”
“Do it for them…do it for us too.”
He nodded, lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly.
47. Stirrin’ Up Trouble
“What we doin’ here? You said Mobile. Ain’t we goin’ to Mobile?”
“That’s right, I said Mobile, and no, we ain’t goin’ to Mobile.” Albert pulled the old truck into the gravel lot of the motel. “This is where we’ll set up until it’s time.”
Once dark had fallen, he had driven from the swamp back onto the county road. Bain had been relieved to leave the place where his nightmares were born and assumed they were going to follow the Purcell boy until they settled the score with him.
“Here?” Bain looked around surprised. “But…”
“Shut up. Wait here. I’ll get us a room.”
Alone in the pickup’s cab, Bain turned and looked at the girls, each huddled in a corner of the compartment behind the seats. “Ya’ll stay put and everything’ll be fine.”
“You know that’s not true.”
Lyn looked at him, her face firm and determined. The other girl, still taped and bound, watched them through eyes that grew more distant with each passing hour.
“What do you mean, it’s not true? Course it’s true. We ain’t got nothin’ against you girls. We gotta settle the score with that one who killed Carl.” His lip lifted in a smirk. “Think you’d want us to, since he killed your own father.”
Lyn did not say that she could have cared less what happened to her father. That Clay had taken his life while defending her only made her feel guilty.
“And when you settle the score? What do you suppose Uncle Albert is gonna do with us?”
“Why, we set you loose, that’s all.”
She laughed. “You know that w
on’t happen. Albert won’t want anyone left around to say who did what or who settled what score. I reckon he’ll do for us too.”
Bain’s eyes narrowed. “You mean you think he’s gonna…” He laughed. “Girl, that’s just plain silly. You’re blood…one of us. No way we gonna hurt you.”
“What about her?” Lyn nodded at the girl across from her. “She blood too?”
“Well…” A question flew across Bain’s dim face.
“That’s right,” Lyn said, spitting the words at her uncle. “She ain’t blood, and with Carl…Daddy…gone, when it’s all said and done, I don’t expect Uncle Albert will be thinkin’ too much about my blood relation either.” She shook her head. “No, it’s pretty plain to see what’s gonna happen. He’s gonna settle the scores.” She looked her slow-witted uncle in the eye. “All of them.”
The question on his face turned to confusion. Bain’s mouth opened halfway to make a reply. It remained agape. The things she said…it was all mixed up in his head. He needed time to think it through, put it all together so that he could tell her why she didn’t need to worry.
There was no time. The truck door jerked open and Albert tossed a room key hanging from a plastic tab to Bain.
“We’re in, brother.”
Bain nodded.
“What’s wrong?” Albert took note of the puzzled look still visible on Bain’s face.
Bain shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Nothing, my ass.” He looked over his shoulder at Lyn huddled as far away from him as she could get. “You been stirrin’ up trouble, girl?”
She shook her head and lowered her eyes. As it had been with her father, submission was always the best course with Albert. Even at that, there were no guarantees that the Stinson fury would not be unleashed for the slightest sign of rebellion…real or perceived.
For now, her uncles held all of the cards. Maybe she had planted some small seed of doubt in Bain…but maybe not.
They would have to ride things out…see where they led…hope for a chance. Until then, she and the girl, whose name she did not know, had to be ready. When, and if, an opportunity to escape arose, they would only have seconds to act.