“Are you all right?” she asked Hazel and Carolyn.
“Mostly. What are you doing here? It’s too dangerous to be on our side,” Hazel cautioned Mrs. Deanwood.
“It’s too dangerous for my soul to be on theirs,” Mrs. Deanwood smiled. “Elmer and Rodger are with us. We’ll figure this out.”
“Mrs. Deanwood, I’m astonished at you! How could you be in cohorts with the likes of them?” Mrs. Gable shouted.
“Shut up, Mrs. Gable. I’ve had enough of you. I’ve had enough of you too, Mrs. Bean,” Mrs. Deanwood responded.
“All right, knock it off, will you? There are three of you standing between a town-full of us. We’re taking those women to the shed. That’s how it is. I’d like to not use my bullets on people since I’ve got all those vermin that need killing in my fields, so don’t force my hand,” Ronnie announced.
“There has to be another way, Ronnie. There has to be,” Rodger pleaded.
“We can’t have their kind in this town,” Mrs. Bean disputed.
“Let them run. Let them leave town. The world out there will be just as hard and hostile to them as it would be here. We don’t have to be murderers tonight, see? They’ll never be back here again,” Elmer attempted.
Thompson grew tired of conversation and Ronnie’s threats. He was ready for action. In his mind, there was one way to handle the situation. It didn’t involve a shed.
“You want us to just let them runaway together?” Mrs. Gable scoffed.
“I’ll see Carolyn dead before I’ll see her alive with that woman,” Thompson stated.
Swiftly, Thompson grasped Ronnie’s arm. He twisted it until Ronnie’s gun landed in his hand. Carolyn saw the look in Thompson’s eyes as he pointed the gun in her direction. She pushed Mrs. Deanwood and Hazel to the side just before Thompson pulled the trigger.
“No!” Hazel howled when Carolyn fell to the ground.
Mrs. Deanwood stood in front of Hazel as a human shield. Hazel dropped to her knees and lifted Carolyn into her arms. Meanwhile, Ronnie and Elmer lunged at Thompson. Elmer got the gun while Rodger held Thompson down. Hazel pressed on the hole in Carolyn’s chest.
“Carolyn? Sweetheart? Look at me,” Hazel begged. Weakly, Carolyn looked at her. “There you are. Now, don’t you leave me, Carolyn. You’re going to make it, understand? I’m getting us out.”
While Rodger and Elmer were busy trying to gain control of Thompson, Ronnie was still concerned with Hazel and Carolyn. He raised his arm as if he were ordering an army to charge. Mrs. Deanwood urgently reached to Hazel’s shoulder. Hazel glanced. She saw what was coming.
“We have to move,” Hazel told Carolyn.
Using pure adrenaline and the muscles that she had earned, Hazel picked up Carolyn. Carolyn held onto Hazel’s neck as they ran. Mrs. Deanwood did her best to hold off the swarm of people, but it was failing. Hazel’s arms were failing as well. She needed a moment to breathe.
Hazel and Carolyn ducked into the storage barn, hoping that the darkness covered their movements. Unfortunately, Ronnie was watching too closely. He pointed at the storage barn. The group moved towards it. Elmer realized what was about to happen. He snatched Rodger and led him quickly to the barn.
Inside, Hazel carefully laid Carolyn on a pile of soft hay. Hazel ripped off her shirt and held it firmly to Carolyn’s wound. Hazel noticed that Carolyn’s eyes were beginning to close. She shook Carolyn at the shoulders.
“Stay with me. Come on, Carolyn. Stay with me,” Hazel whispered. She glanced at the patch in the roof with a distressed smile. “Do you know where we are? Do you remember what happened, sweetheart?”
Carolyn blinked several times. “You and me.”
“That’s right. We happened in here. And, we aren’t done yet.”
On the outside of the barn, Mrs. Gable and Mrs. Bean stood beside Ronnie. Ronnie dug through his pockets until he found his pack of cigarettes. He kept a pad of matches tucked inside. Mrs. Gable and Mrs. Bean exchanged looks.
“Well?” Ronnie asked.
“There’s no choice,” Mrs. Gable said.
Mrs. Deanwood ran into Mrs. Gable at full force. “There is a choice! Don’t do this! Elmer! Rodger!”
Elmer and Rodger picked up speed. Mrs. Bean shoved Mrs. Deanwood backwards as Ronnie struck the first match. He threw it onto the dry hay that clung to the bottom of the barn. Flames slithered up the barn on one side. Ronnie merely had to glance at his older brothers and farmhands. They threw matches on the other end.
Mrs. Deanwood’s legs folded beneath her. Sobs shook her shoulders and tightened her throat. Rodger sunk to the ground beside her, crying heavily. Elmer removed his hat before joining Mrs. Deanwood and Rodger. He put his arms around both of them. They had failed.
Thompson walked nonchalantly past them. He went to Ronnie’s side and confiscated Ronnie’s pack of cigarettes. Ronnie watched as Thompson held a cigarette to the burning barn. Calmly, Thompson took several drags of the cigarette. Ronnie was shaken by the serenity in Thompson’s eyes.
The town stayed until there was nothing left but ash.
Forty-eight
When the letter arrived, Sally screamed in anguish. She crumpled the paper into a ball and flung it across the room. Several hours later, Orville came home with the girls. He searched the house for his wife, but he couldn’t find her. Finally, he happened to look through the window. Sally was lying in the grass in their backyard.
“Sally?” Orville yelled as he ran outside. “Sal, what’s happened?”
“My sister is dead,” Sally simply stated.
“What?”
“She burned alive. The letter is on the floor in there.”
Orville went back into the house. He spotted the ball of paper on the floor. Promptly, he unfurled it. After he read it, he fell against the sturdy doorframe. The truth was in black and white.
To Hazel Mayer’s family:
I’m not sure if this is the right address. It was listed as Hazel’s address on a letter I sent one time. I hope it’s correct. I want her family to know what’s happened.
Hazel died the other day. She was trapped in a burning barn and didn’t make it out alive. She died with the love of her life at her side, and I know that’s how she would of wanted it. I am so very sorry for your loss. Hazel was a wonderful woman. We miss her.
With grief,
Elmer
Sally was never sure if she would see her sister again, but she had hoped. She received a letter just a week earlier that was addressed to Hazel. It was from Carolyn Arksdale in Debarr. Though Sally was curious, she didn’t open it. She held onto the letter. She told herself that someday she’d give it to Hazel in person. Now, her sister was ash.
When Sally told their parents, it was a horrific scene. Mr. Mayer fainted, and Mrs. Mayer broke anything that she could throw. Hazel never realized just how much her mother truly loved her. Mrs. Mayer would regret that fact for the rest of her life.
Their father promised that they’d have a proper memorial service for Hazel. It took several weeks, yet they pulled together enough money to make it happen. They put the ad in the local paper, informing all of Boston that they’d lost one of their daughters. At least twenty-five people appeared at the service. They were old friends, old classmates, and neighbors. Sally was shocked to see the Millers.
Eugene was furious when they told him that Hazel ran away. The Miller family refused to have anything to do with the Mayers again, yet they walked into the memorial service. They sported solid black and grave expressions. Eugene did not cry, but it was obvious that he had. He placed one rose beside the photograph of Hazel. As quickly as they came, the family was gone.
Sally’s daughters still were not sure what had happened. Sally and Orville weren’t sure how to explain it to such young children. “Your aunt is gone. She’s not going to be back. She’s gone somewhere else now. She’s gone to a better place now.” One day, the girls would understand those words. Sally dreaded that day.
*-*
-*-*
“Hey, sweetheart,” Orville said.
Sally stopped reading for a moment. “Orv?”
“I got the mail. You have a few things in here,” he told her.
Sighing, Sally went to the stack of mail. She began to open the various envelopes, though she wasn’t paying close attention. “What did you want for dinner? The girls want spaghetti.”
“They’ve wanted that four times this week,” Orville replied.
“Yeah. And pasta is all we can afford anyway.”
“Yeah. That’s true,” he sighed.
Suddenly, Sally came across a letter with familiar handwriting. She read it closely.
To Sally Sanderson Boyd,
I am sure by now that someone has contacted you about the death of Hazel Mayer. If they have not, Hazel Mayer was killed in a fire while she was in Debarr, Nebraska. I am sorry for your loss.
This is what you should tell people, Sally. Tell them that Hazel Mayer was huddled in a Nebraskan barn, holding her true love in her arms as they perished. That is what the entire town of Debarr believes. It’s what everyone everywhere must believe.
The truth is that your sister didn’t die that day.
*-*-*-*
Weeks earlier
Nebraska
“They set it on fire,” Carolyn coughed as the smoke began to pour through the boards. “This barn will burn to the ground in minutes.”
Hazel held onto Carolyn’s hand. “It’s all right. Look up.”
“Look up?” Carolyn asked. When she did, she saw the board that they had used to patch the leak in the roof. She understood. “You go. I can’t get up there.”
“I’ll drag you up there if I have to. Come on. The fire is getting higher.”
Hazel took one of the ladders from the wall before it could burn. She set it in place and helped Carolyn to her feet. Painfully, Carolyn pulled herself to the barn’s loft. Hazel followed with a shovel in her hand. After a few hits, the board loosened. Hazel pushed it aside completely. She knew that the fire would distract the town.
Together, Carolyn and Hazel crawled onto the roof. Hazel leapt to the ground on the opposite side of the fire. No one was around that side. She held her arms open as Carolyn rolled off the roof. Hazel caught her securely. From there, Hazel carried Carolyn quickly across the field. They snuck into the horse’s barn.
Hazel prepared the horse. Then, she helped Carolyn onto the saddle. Hazel searched for the bag of money. Once she found it, she opened the barn door. She joined Carolyn on the horse next. Afterwards, they rode from the barn out onto their favorite field. They felt like they were finally riding to freedom.
Nobody noticed their shadows move across the farm. The town was too busy staring at the flames, imagining what it would be like to be burned alive.
“Just hang on, all right? We’ll mend your wounds as soon as it’s safe to stop,” Hazel whispered.
“All right,” Carolyn faintly replied. “Where do you want to go now, darlin?”
“Anywhere. Home is wherever I’m with you.”
*-*-*-*
Weeks later
Boston
Sally did a double-take. She rubbed her eyes and began to read the letter again.
The truth is that your sister didn’t die that day.
We got out of the barn in time. We ran away from Debarr, and we’ve kept going. We found a nice town near the Pacific. I’m happy to be back by the ocean. We feel so free here. Right now, we’re living on a farm as farmhands. They don’t know that we’re together. It’ll stay that way this time. We’ll have our own farm once we save enough money.
I’m safe and I’m happy now. I won’t stay that way if anybody knows that we survived. I wanted to tell you because I’d sure want to know if I were you.
Thank you for everything. I love you so much. Same for Orville and the girls. I hope Father is all right. I miss him and all of you.
With all my love,
Hazel Arksdale
By the way, Carolyn thanks you too.
Sally wiped tears of joy from her eyes. She read the letter multiple times, cherishing the wonderful news. However, the signature confused her. She knew that Hazel probably changed her name to start over, but the name seemed familiar. That’s when she remembered.
She went to a box of Hazel’s things. It was a memory chest of sorts that Sally stored beneath her bed. After flipping through meaningful items, she stumbled across the letter that she was saving for Hazel. She read the return address once more.
Carolyn Arksdale
Out of curiosity, Sally finally opened the letter. The truth was about to be revealed.
My dearest darlin,
It hurts so much without you here. I still wish that I could have come with you. I’ve never loved anyone like I love you.
“Hazel’s lover is a woman?” Sally muttered in disbelief. Then, she began to smile. “As long as they’re happy…”
On the coast far away, no couple had ever been happier.
The Way We Are Page 23