Detective Tumbler and the Man in Brown (Detective Tumbler Trilogy Book 2)

by Jason Balistreri

  “A cart will make it obvious,” Billy remarks.

  “Not if it is one of the Pinkerton’s,” Hank says.

  “How the hell are we going to manage that?” Jack asks.

  “They’ll be making a drop off the night before, we’ll kill them just outside of town, we’ll take the cart back into town the next morning. On the map, I have marked your positions, we’ve done this nearly a thousand times, remember: no names, masks up.”

  “They says there’s a bounty out on us, for you it’s double,” Jeremiah says.

  “If any man wants to claim it, by all means, he can try. There’s been a bounty out on me for twenty years now. We’ll kill him first, then we’ll kill his family. This is a hard life, we’ve put ourselves in harm’s way too many times to count, if a man means to do any of us harm, we’ll put him in the ground,” Hank looks at the gang, his eyes are reddened and wild. “I don’t want any of you in a cathouse tonight; get your rest, tomorrow we get to work. Do you understand?”

  “We understand,” Jack says.

  “What about the rest of you?” They all tell him that they do. Hank stands up from the table, “I’ll come and get you all before noon.” He walks out of the basement of the saloon with his guns jangling clear.

  “Old Hank’s getting paranoid,” Billy says.

  “Hold your tongue, boy. You never fought with us in the war. That man would take a bullet for any one of us if he had to. I think the pressure’s just getting to him,” Jeremiah says.

  When Hank is alone, he looks out the window at the town at night, he looks up at the stars, then he sees his own reflection in the glass, he shakes his head, looks away, and takes a seat. He takes his boots off and thinks back to the end of the war.

  “We have until sundown to surrender, just head to the top of the hill. The terms of the surrender are as follows: Confederate soldiers shall lay down their arms, any soldier who surrenders will not be punished for any crimes committed during combat, he must give up all weapons, no property shall be forfeit…” John Hawkins explains before he is interrupted.

  “You can stop right there,” Hank says.

  “Excuse me?” Hawkins responds.

  “You want to be a coward, then you go on and surrender. Any of you that walk up that hill, you’re yellow and you’ll have to live with that until the end of your days. I don’t’ have that in my character.”

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Hawkins asks.

  “I’m doing who you should be doing; I’m telling them the truth.”

  “I’m your commanding officer,” Hawkins says, “and I won’t have you callin’ me a coward. We’ve lost Hank, I’m sorry if your thick head does not allow you to comprehend that.”

  “You’re not my commanding officer anymore, you’re surrendering. But my brother didn’t die for nothing. If you want to prove your fortitude, we can start right now for all these men to see but I think we both know it will end with my boot on your skinny neck. If any of you men want to join me, you keep your good name and we make up our own rules. And if not, then you can always head up that hill like our leader here.” Jack, Jeremiah, and Ernest are the only ones that step forward.

  “If they find you, they will throw you all in jail or kill you,” Hawkins says.

  “The only honest men in this world are outlaws. Someday maybe, you’ll read about us in the paper,” Hank says.

  “You won’t live that long,” Hawkins says.

  “But we have our names, you may live a long life but you’ll have to live with the shame. You might try to drown it with whiskey or suffocate it with whores but it will follow you until your last breath. It was an honor to fight with all of you but surrendering is not in my cards,” Hank says, he nods to Jack, Jeremiah, and Ernest; they ride off until they make it back home a few days later at night beneath the starry sky.

  “What do we do now?” Jeremiah asks.

  “You tend to your land, make time with your families, I intend to move mine and suggest you do the same. Two days from now, we’ll meet outside town. If Union soldiers come before then, we meet in Pillaker’s woods by the dead Sycamore, then we show them that the war’s not over.”

  “All right, then,” Jack says. Hank rides back to his home and sees his wife, Suzanne and their infant son, Sterling Wright. Hank takes his hat off as Suzanne embraces him, she starts weeping.

  “How’s the boy?” Hank asks.

  “He’s fine, I thought he was too young to notice but I think he knew you were away.”

  “How’s Ma?”

  “She’s sleeping,” Suzanne says.

  “And how are you?” Hank asks.

  “I got lonely with you gone, I didn’t expect you back so soon after they called an end to it, the other wives in town are still waiting,” Suzanne explains.

  “Listen, they’re going to come looking for me. Tomorrow, I’m gonna need you to go to your mother’s house with the boy and my mom if she’ll go but she’s a stubborn old lady.”

  “The war’s over, why do we have to leave?”

  “I didn’t surrender, Susie. Jeremiah, Jack, and Ernest wouldn’t surrender either. They’ll come looking for all of us but you’ll be safe and, when I can, I’ll return.”

  “The boy’s never gonna know his father and I, well I can’t keep living without my husband around. Pride’s a sin, Hank.”

  “It wasn’t about pride, it’s my name, you know me, I wasn’t going to let them take that away.”

  “If the other men are surrendering, then there’s no shame in it.”

  “There is, they just don’t see it yet. But one day they will. I know it’s not an ideal situation but I can’t let anything happen to any of you, Finn is dead and that’s about all I can bear, I can’t lose anybody else.”

  “What do you intend to do, Hank?”

  “I’m not entirely sure yet but I do intend to finish what I started, I have to do it for Finn and for everyone we lost,” Hanks says, they watch Sterling asleep in his crib; Hank holds his small palm and smells his head.

  “What are you doing? You’re going to wake him up.”

  “I haven’t smelled innocence in a long time; I needed to see my boy.”

  “If he wakes up, it takes two hours to get him back to sleep. Besides, I’m all the innocence you’ll ever need.”

  “I am not a foolish man darling. We both know you are many things but innocent ain’t one of them.”

  “That’s because you made me that way.”

  “Aw, now you gonna make a man blush,” Hank says, they go to bed, and make love quietly so they don’t wake the boy or Hank’s mother, Suzanne puts her head on his bare shoulder once they’re finished. “It would be foolish to think we could go on like this forever.”

  “You could have surrendered. You know they’re all going to anyway.”

  “You know me better than that. I could never look the boy in the face if that happened, I couldn’t look Ma in the face either. If a man starts going back on what he believes in, why, he’ll never stop and then he’ll get to a point where he doesn’t even recognize himself in the mirror.”

  “What was it like out there?”

  “Darling, there are some things you’re better off not knowing.” The next morning, they all eat breakfast together.

  “I’m so glad you’re back and unharmed. I heard men lost their legs, arms, you name it,” Hank’s mom, Darla, says.

  “I saw too much of that but now I’m back, I only regret that it won’t be for long.”

  “What do you mean?” Darla asks, her eyes widen, her white hair is pulled back into a bun.

  “Susie and Sterling are going to her mom’s house without me; I want you to go too.”

  “What happened? You’re back, why do you want us to leave?”

  “They wanted us to surrender, I wouldn’t do it. It’s for your own safety. I’ll look after myself but I can’t let anything happen to the three of you. If Pa was still around, he’d understand.”

&
nbsp; “You’re my boy, I know you don’t back down but I don’t back down either, Susie and my grandson can go, but I’m staying here with you.”

  “I wish that you wouldn’t. I don’t know what they mean to do to me or Jack, Jeremiah, or Ernest but family, they can use against me and against them.”

  “I ain’t gonna let anything happen to this house, your Pa built this house with his own hands, it’s all that’s left of him.”

  “I had a feeling you might say that. We’ll see Susie and my boy off to her mother’s. I can’t make you go with them.”

  “You’re damn right you won’t. You may be tough and stubborn but you got all that from me.”

  “I know,” Hank says as he eats his first full home-cooked meal in so long he can’t remember the last time he did so. They pack up the wagon and load it up with Susie and Sterling’s belongings in two trunks; Hank wears his hat low and keeps his eyes out for soldiers as they prepare the wagon for their departure. “Ma, the baby and I will hide in the coach, Susie, you drive that wagon, I’ve got my rifle and enough guns and ammunition to take down any platoon that tries to stop us.”

  “I wish you would drive the cart,” she says.

  “You know that’s too risky. If they see me, they may open fire and I mean to get you to your mother’s safely. Ma will have her gun too; they have no reason to stop you. If anyone does, I’ll deal with them.”

  “What if someone asks where I’m headed? I’m not good at lying.”

  “Then you tell them the truth. You’re going to your mother’s house. I’ll take care of the rest.” Suzanne drives the cart out of town with Hank, Darla and Sterling in the coach, Darla holds her grandson with her gun on the seat, Hank keeps his rifle leaned against the coach window, the rest of his guns are bundled up in a blanket on the floor of the carriage, the back fourth of the curtain is moved aside so he can watch what transpires outside, he watched the trees as they travel, he still hears the cacophony of rifle shots and explosions though they are all just in his head, he sees Finn lying in the mud with his guts spilling out, when Hank turned him over, he saw the white glaze over his eyes and the yellow hue of his skin, the spirit of his brother was gone, a shell of him was all that remained. He would still see the face of Finn in dreams and sometimes when he would close his eyes, Finn always looked more like their father, Hanks shakes his head and continues his vigil until they arrive at the farm of Susie’s mother.

  “Why, this is a pleasant surprise,” her mother says, Hank opens the carriage and steps out of the cart with his rifle in his hand. “Were you expecting trouble?” her mother asks.

  “Barbara, Susie and my boy will need to stay with you, I would like for my dear mother to stay too but she’s just as stubborn as I am. I will send money but it will not come under my name and I will visit when I can.”

  “Are we in danger?”

  “You are not and that is why I’m entrusting your daughter and my son to your care. If any Union soldiers ever ask, you tell them Hank Wright never came back from the war.”

  “I can do that.”

  “Susie, I love you. If I don’t make it back, you make sure the boy knows who his father was.”

  “Don’t talk like that, you’ll come back.”

  “I mean to but I don’t know what’s gonna happen and, even if I do, something tells me I won’t be the same man I was before. Then again, I’m not the same man I was before I went off to war so you could say the circumstances of life have changed me on a permanent basis, I assume those circumstances mean to change me some more.”

  “I love you, you’re a good husband, you’re an honest man. Don’t forget that.”

  “Raise the boy to be hard, he’s gonna have to be.”

  “You come back as soon as you can.”

  “If I can’t make it back soon, I’ll write you but I’ll use a different name, you’ll know it’s me though,” he says, he sets his rifle on his shoulder; he kisses his son on the forehead and smells his head again. Then he kisses Susie before he turns to his mother. “Are you sure you won’t stay?”

  “If they’re coming for you, they’re gonna have to take me too.”

  “Thank you, Barbara, for your hospitality.”

  “Despite anything I may have said before, you’ve made my daughter happy and you’ve given me a beautiful grandson,” Barbara replies.

  “That means a lot. I know I’m not exactly what you had in mind for your daughter, I’m rough around the edges, I’ve got a fiery temper, and an unpleasant disposition but you keep them safe now and, in the end, I plan on having more to give you. Ma, you drive the carriage, I’ll be in the coach.” They depart and head back towards town; Darla brings the carriage to a stop as they approach. “What’s the matter?” Hank asks quietly, Darla can hear him though.

  “Union troops are on the move through the town.”

  “Take us around and out to Pillaker’s woods.”

  “Why the woods?”

  “That’s where I told the boys to go if they came looking for us.”

  “I have to protect the house.”

  “Ma, your life is more important than the house. Once we get to the woods, I’ll go back into town to check on the house.”

  “You go back into town and they will put you in the clink or kill you. I will not see my only remaining son put in the ground before me. I had to watch them bury Finn; a mother should never have to bury her only sons.”

  “I’m a tough man to kill, Ma. Don’t you worry.” They arrive at the old dead Sycamore and Hank sees the men sitting in a circle, their horses are hitched to the tree.

  “Boys, I told you they would come quick, did anyone confront them directly?” Hank asks.

  “Jeremiah’s boys saw them coming on the outskirts of town, he came by and got me,” Jack responds.

  “The boys all had their guns out, I had to explain to them that it was no use,” Jeremiah says.

  “You did the right thing; if anyone will spill Yankee blood here it will be us and not our kin. Ernest, what about your Betty?”

  “She was planning on leaving tomorrow but she answered the door and I escaped out the back, they’re holding her Hank, I couldn’t take ‘em all on my own.”

  “Shit, I’ll get her back, first I’ll check on Jeremiah’s boys and Caroline, at least you all got back here safely,” Hank says.

  “Henry, I’m going with you,” Ma explains.

  “No, I have to do this alone. I told you boys not to surrender and now the town is overrun with Yankee soldiers. This is my fault and I’ve got to make it right.”

  “None of us regret what we did,” Jeremiah says. “We each made a choice; we knew there’d be hell to pay.”

  “We ain’t lettin’ you go on your own,” Jack says.

  “Yeah, you are, you’re staying with Ma, together we’re dead, on my own I have a chance to get in and get back out. Trust me. If I fail, here’s the letter I wrote when we were in the war, it’s for Susie. I don’t care which one of you gives it to her, I trust all of you equally,” Hank says as he holds the envelope out with the letter in it. Jack takes it, he shakes his head.

  “This wasn’t how it was supposed to be,” Jack says.

  “They haven’t taken anything from us yet, not today anyway,” Hank says, he undoes the hitch on one of his horses tied to the cart; he mounts it bareback after he wraps his guns up and slings them across his back, he checks his pistols in his holsters.

  “If you ride into town, they’re going to kill you Henry,” Ma says.

  “I’ll hitch the horse before I head in, you didn’t raise a stupid boy, Ma.”

  “But I sure raised a stubborn one.”

  “There ain’t no denyin’ that,” Hank says, he takes out a black handkerchief and ties it across the lower half of his face. “You boys hear any shootin’, don’t come runnin’, you get her out of here and you don’t come back.”

  “What do you want us to do?” Ernest asks.

  “If some day you should decid
e to avenge me, I suppose that would suffice,” Hank says, he pulls on the reins.

  “Thank you, Hank,” Jeremiah says.

  “Yes, thank you Hank,” Ernest adds.

  “None of you need to thank me, not ever again.” Hank departs with his horse. He rides quickly around to the south edge of town where Jeremiah’s farm is, he hitches his horse and approaches the farmhouse, he sees no soldiers around.

  “Now who is that?” the oldest boy asks, they are all in their bedroom that they share, looking out the window.

  “I don’t know, I say we shoot him,” the middle son responds.

  “Pa said no shooting,” the youngest one replies.

  “What the hell are you boys doing? Put those guns away,” their mother says.

  “But there’s a man approaching the farm,” the oldest boy says.

  “He might mean to kill us,” the middle boy responds.

  “Or do us harm,” the youngest son replies.

  “You boys hide under that bed now,” Caroline tells them.

  “This is downright humiliating,” the oldest son says.

  “We’re always put upon,” the middle son responds.

  “When we’re grown we can shoot anyone we want,” the youngest son reasons.

  “You boys quit your yappin’ and don’t you make a sound now,” Caroline grabs the shotgun and holds it by the door, Hank knocks. “Who is it?” she asks, her breath is quick.

  “Caroline, just open the door.”

  “Hank, is that you?” she asks, she opens the door and places the shotgun barrel there. Hank pulls the mask down to reveal his face.

  “It’s me, just let me in.”

  “Why the hell are you wearing a mask showin’ up at my front door, I thought you meant to murder us?”

  “Caroline Wilkins, you know damn well those men that came by to question you will shoot as soon as they see my face.”