Chapter 3
When they left Hickory Dalton and Cooper were happy and excited as they jumped in the front seat next to Jed. They were excited about being able to spend time with their dad, but they were also anxious to get out of there before Curtis got home. They didn't want him to find out they were the ones that put all the snakes in his bedroom and then tell their dad.
They had a lot of time to talk to each other as they made their way to California. Jed began by telling the boys that where they were going was in the high desert of California. He told them it was real dry and hot during the summer and cold during the nights once the sun went down. “We are going to the three little active ghost towns of Red Mountain, Randsburg and Johannesburg. They used to mine gold around there years ago, but all the miners have left. Most of the houses still standing are the ones the miners built and lived in over a hundred years ago. There are hills all around where we are going, but they don’t have the beautiful trees and thick brush, like they have back home in Hickory. It's just miles and miles of nothing except for sage brush, yuccas and other desert plants." He told them they may not like their new home, but they didn't have any choice so they would just have to get used to it. The boys knew they couldn't go back to Hickory after what they'd done to Curtis.
"We are going to see if we can stay with your mom’s dad and brothers for a while." He hadn't even given it much thought that Dillon and Tucker might be out on their own. Time had almost past him by while he was grieving over Chelsea. "They have a house in the little ghost town of Randsburg. That’s where your mom grew up and lived with her dad and two brothers." Dalton blared out, “Is there any ghost there? Jed laughed, “That’s what some of the old timers that live there say.” Cooper blared out, “I hope I see one. If I do I’m going to kick his ass.” Jed cocked his head to one side and raised his eyebrows, as he looked over at Cooper, “You’re not supposed to talk like that Cooper. You know I’ve talked to you about that kind of language before and told you I don't like it.” Cooper lowered his head and replied, “I'm sorry dad, it just slipped out.” Jed said, “Your mom’s mother died when your mom was just a little girl and she had to help take care of her two younger brothers. Your Grandpa’s a nice guy when he’s not drinking, but he used to get drunk almost every night." Cooper couldn't help himself as he blurted out the words, "You mean, like you dad?" He then realized that was the wrong thing to say as Jed gave him an angry look, but didn't say anything. "I don’t know too much about your mom’s brothers because we left there twelve years ago and they were in their mid to late teens.”
Dalton found his chance to speak when he asked, “Was mom pretty? How did you meet her?" Jed took a deep breath as tears immediately filled his eyes for a brief moment and his mind went back in time, "I met your mom when she worked at the bar and restaurant in Randsburg called, “The Joint." She was only around seventeen or eighteen years old at the time. When I first saw her, I thought she was the most beautiful person I’d ever seen in my life. She had a way about her that just pulled you in. She was kind and gentle, but most of all, she was beautiful. Both of you boys look a lot like her. You have the light blond hair and big blue eyes, just like her. When I first met her she was so friendly and nice and she was easy for me to talk to. I fell in love with her almost at first sight and it didn't take long before I knew she was the one I wanted to be with for the rest of my life." Dalton said, "I wished we could've gotten to know her." Jed said in a soft voice, "Me too Dalton, me too."
Cooper changed the subject and said, “If where were going is such an ugly place to live, why did you and mom stick around as long as you did?” Jed said, “Sometimes you just can't get away from a place that easy. Sometimes it's hard to leave your home. Look how hard it was for us to leave Hickory." They both just shook their heads up and down in agreement.
Dalton asked, "So what did you guys do for fun back then." Jed thought for a minute and said, "Your mom and I spent a lot of time hanging out at "The Joint." Mostly, I just hung out there while she worked and she would come over and visit with me when it wasn’t too busy. I loved those days back then. I wished I had them back. We also drove into Ridgecrest a few times and watched a movie." Cooper said, "That sounds pretty boring to me, dad." Jed then told them that every year they had cowboy days in Randsburg and it’s a two day event and a fun thing for everyone to attend. "During that time, we just hung out and enjoyed the music and the people. We also went to "Whiskey Flat Days" over in Kernville one time and took Justin, Joshua and Mister with us. Mostly, we just enjoyed each other’s company because we loved each other so much. I lived with my mom, dad and two brothers in a little neighboring ghost town called Red Mountain. Cooper didn’t wait for Jed to tell them about his family when he said, “So what happened to them?” Jed hesitated a moment to collect his thoughts and said, “My mom and dad both had a drug problems and died when they were in their early forties from drug overdoses. It's too bad because they would’ve loved you boys.” Dalton said, “I wish we could’ve met them, too."
Cooper asked, "So what happened to your two brothers?" Jed stopped for a minute and tried to keep from becoming too emotional when he said, "Justin and Joshua were both a few years younger than me and they had some type of serious mental issues and couldn't cope with their lives very well.” Cooper interrupted, "What kind of issues did they have?” Jed said, "They didn't know right from wrong when it came to certain things and that got them in a lot of trouble with people in Red Mountain and the law. They each ended up getting shot and killed. Justin was killed by a vigilante group from Red Mountain for peeping into houses at women and Joshua was killed by a Sherriff Deputy after he killed three of the vigilante men for killing Justin. Dalton said, "Wow! That sucks." Jed went on, "Your Grandpa, Justin and I used to break into houses and steal things from people in the three little towns. When Justin and Joshua got killed your mom and I left and went back to Tennessee. That’s why I try to tell you boys to stay out of trouble. I don’t want anything like what happened to my brothers to happen to the two of you. Dalton said, “That won't happen to us dad.” Jed didn't say anything but he was hoping he was right. "When we get to Randsburg you boys can’t tell anyone what I’m telling you about your uncles or what we did. The Sheriff department is probably still looking for me and they would come after me, arrest me, and throw me in jail for the rest of my life. Especially since I was one of the ones that stole things in the Rand area. Do you understand what I'm telling you?" They each shook their head that they did and said they wouldn't say anything to anyone.
Jed continued telling them about the past, “Joshua had a dog named Mister. We got his mom and dad from the SPCA and when they had puppies Mom let Joshua keep one of them. As he grew, he just kept getting bigger and bigger until he became humongous. He was scary and intimidating looking and could’ve eaten either one of you with just one bite." He stopped for a minute and laughed when he said that. "Joshua trained him to do anything he wanted him to do, even kill people. He and Mister had a secret way of communicating with each other, much like the two of you do. All he had to do to get Mister to do something was make a certain sound and he would do whatever Joshua wanted him to do. He was a beautiful dog, but vicious. He was a one man's dog and wouldn't listen to anyone else except Joshua.” Dalton had a serious look on his face as he looked over at Jed, “You know Dad, we’ve never had a dog of our own, do you think we could get one when we get to California?” Jed replied, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves; we don’t even know where we’ll be staying yet. Let's get a home first and then we'll talk about it.
The boys had tons of questions and they continued to hammer Jed with them for the next several hours while he was driving. He had driven about twelve hours when he told the boys he had to stop and get some sleep. They were happy to hear him say that because the excitement had worn off and they were getting pretty tired and sleepy, themselves. They had starte
d falling asleep while he was driving. It wasn't long and he found a cheap hotel in one of the little towns and they bedded down for the night. All the questions the boys had asked him brought back a lot of suppressed memories for Jed and his heart felt heavy that he was going back to Randsburg without Chelsea. When he thought about it, he got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Because of all the emotions he was going through, he felt like he had to have several beers before he went to sleep. Even after the beers, it still took him a few hours to finally fall asleep that night.
The boys were up early the next morning and ready to get on the road again. Now that they had heard so much about where they were going, they were anxious to get there. Jed was a little slower at moving around because of the beers. He also knew he had a lot more driving ahead of him.
For the next three days they repeated the long days of driving and staying at cheap hotels at night. The boys were getting a little tired of all the traveling. On the third night on the road they had made it to Barstow, California. The boys decided they wanted to have a little fun instead of being cooped up in the room. They waited until after midnight and Jed was asleep, then they snuck out to see what kind of mischief they could get into. They walked all around the hotel parking areas and let air out of some tires along the way. They broke a few car windows and antennas off the cars around the hotel.
Not finding anything very exciting to do, they jumped the fence of the locked pool area and stripped down nude and jumped in the pool. They were laughing and making a lot of noise when the hotel manager walked up to the gate and shined the light on them. He told them to get out of the pool and meet him by the gate. They quickly jumped out and put on their clothes. By then the manager had the gate open and waiting for them. He told them he was going to take them back to the office with him and call their dad's room and have him come down and have a little talk.
He'd been getting a lot of reports from some of the people staying there that someone had let the air out of their tires and broke a few windows of the cars. The manager figured, since they were so willing to break the rules and climb the fence to the locked pool, maybe they were the ones involved. He called Jed and told him he had the boys at the office and asked if he would come down and talk to him about what he believed they had been doing. Jed was taken by surprise because he never knew the boys had snuck out. He was tired and sleepy as he made it to the office.
When he got there the manager told Jed what he believed the boys had been doing. When Jed heard what they were being accused of, he asked the boys if they had anything to do with breaking the windows and letting the air out of the tires. Cooper quickly spoke up, "No sir, we don't know anything about what he's accusing us of, all we did was go for a little swim in the pool." Sounding very convincing, Jed said to the manager, "Did anyone see my boys break any windows or let the air out of the tires?" The manager said, "No, not that I'm aware of." Jed replied, "Well, there you have it then. It's just your opinion that they are the ones and you don't have any proof." He stood up, "Come on boys, were leaving." He left the manager there as they went back their room.
When they got back to the room Jed said to the boys, "Get you stuff, we're leaving." They quickly got their things together and put them in the truck. Jed grabbed his things and went to the truck. As he was driving along he said, "That was a stupid thing you boys did back there. You could've been arrested and thrown in jail. I would've had to pay a huge fine to try to keep you out." The boys didn't try to argue with their dad because they knew they were guilty. Jed said, "You sounded way to convincing Cooper, and I could tell you were lying. If you're going to break the law again, you need to make sure you don't get caught, like you boys got caught tonight in the pool. You have to be a lot smarter than that. You automatically get blamed for anything else that happened around the place." That's all he said to them about it. The boys apologized for having to wake him up, but thanked him for standing up for them.
Jed continued to drive until the middle of the afternoon and they finally got to the tiny town of Randsburg. The boys had been giving him a bad time about how dry and hot it was since daylight. They were telling him how they didn’t like the looks of the place. Cooper said, “This place looks like it’s been hit with a nuclear bomb or something. All the trees are gone. What happened to them?” Jed replied, “I tried to tell you boys! This is desert country and there aren't very many trees around here accept for the ones people plant in their yards.” Dalton said, "It's nothing like what I thought it would look like. It's really ugly here. There's nothing pretty about this place at all." Jed smiled, "Come on boys, you just have to get used to it. Some people love it out here in the desert.
Jed found Chelsea’s dad’s house and pulled up in the front. He sat there for a minute fighting the emotions that were going on in his head about Chelsea. There was a car in the driveway, but it didn’t look like her dad’s old car. Hr was really hoping they hadn't sold the place and moved away. After sitting there a few minutes, he told the boys to stay in the truck as he opened the door and got out. He was apprehensive about who he might encounter living there. He was feeling a little guilty that he hadn't kept in touch with Chelsea's dad and brothers as he walked up to the front door and knocked.
A few minutes later Chelsea’s younger brother Tucker, came to the door. He wasn’t the skinny young boy he was when Jed and Chelsea left. He was heavier and looked more like a man now. When he saw Jed he immediately recognized him and got a huge smile on his face and yelled out, "Jed." He left the door open and stepped outside and gave Jed a big hug. He then asked, “Where’s Chelsea?” Jed had his head down as he choked out the words, “She's not with me Tucker, she passed away about eleven years ago. She died when she gave birth to our twin boys.” The happiness Tucker was feeling just moments earlier was now replaced with grief as he cupped his face in his hands, bent over and began to cry. Jed put his arms around him, “I’m sorry to give you that bad news Tucker. I'm sorry I never told you what happened to her before now. I didn’t know how to tell you guys that she had died. I'm still having a hard time trying to deal with her death myself, even after all this time.”
After he calmed down a bit, Tucker asked Jed to come inside where they could talk and catch up on what happened to Chelsea. Jed told him about the boys that were still out in the truck. Tucker walked toward the pick-up and motioned for them to get out and come in. Jed waived to them that it was okay to join them and they jumped out and headed to the house. When they got closer, Tucker said, “Yeah, you're definitely Chelsea’s boys, you have that blond hair and blue eyes just like her.” He stuck out his hand to shake their hands and said, “I’m your Uncle Tucker, your Mom’s brother.” Dalton and Cooper had a smile on their faces as they shook his hand and introduced themselves. "Your dad said you guys are about eleven years old?” Cooper piped up and said, “Yeah, we’re actually eleven and a half.”
Tucker had them come in the house and sit with him as he and Jed caught up on what had happened in the past twelve years since they left. Tucker asked him what happened to Chelsea. Jed looked like he was going to cry as he hung his head down and said in a low voice. “We both thought that she was going to have just one baby, but when she gave birth she ended up having two. She had some kind of condition that caused her to bleed to death before we could get her to the hospital.” He didn’t elaborate about using a mid-wife and trying to deliver the boys at home. He didn’t want to try and explain why he hadn’t taken Chelsea to the hospital in the first place. He had already beaten himself up over that issue a million times. After her death, he always felt guilty about not taking her there for the delivery. He believed she may not have died if he had taken her to the hospital instead of trying to have the babies at home.
Tucker didn’t say much accept, “That must’ve been a terrible way to die and hard on you.” Jed said, “No matter how you die it has to be a terrible when it
’s not expected, but it was the most devastating thing that ever happened to me. I’m still not over losing her. I loved her so much.” Tucker shook his head, “I’m sorry Jed. I know how much you loved her and how much she loved you.”
Jed started telling Tucker how Chelsea used to talk about him and his brother Dillon all the time and how much she missed them. “Chelsea always talked about coming back home and visiting for awhile after the baby was born. She never got that chance. In fact, she never knew that we had twin sons.” Tucker said, “That's sad. I’ve never stopped thinking about you and Chelsea. I missed her so much I can’t even begin to tell you how much. I tried to find you guys several times, but didn't know where to look. I’ve always wanted to tell her that I was sorry for ever yelling at her and acting stupid when she was only trying to help take care of me and Dillon.” Jed put his hand on Tucker’s knee, “She knew how much you loved her and she never felt bad about anything you did or said to her. She loved you guys just as much as you loved her."
Jed then looked around, "Speaking of Dillon, where is he and your dad?” Tears filled Tucker’s eyes as he told him what happened to them. “About two years after you and Chelsea left, Dad had been drinking pretty heavy one day and insisted that me and Dillon go with him to Ridgecrest. He wanted to get something he thought we needed from town. I can’t even remember what we were going after now, but it doesn't really matter. He was driving the car and Dillon was in the front seat and I was in the back. None of us were wearing seat belts. We were traveling pretty fast and going north on 395 when we went around a curve too fast. Dad crossed the center line and hit a car head on. He, Dillon and the guy in the other car were killed instantly. I spent months in the hospital recuperating from fractured bones all over my body. When I got out of the hospital I came back to this old house and I’ve lived here alone, ever since.” Jed was totally taken aback by the news, “Man, I’m really sorry to hear that Tucker. I know how close you and Dillon were. Sorry about your dad too. Looks like we both have had some bad news to tell each other.” Tucker had tears in his eyes again as he shook his head up and down and all he could say was, “Yep, I guess we did.”
Jed quickly glanced around the house and he could tell that it wasn’t kept as tidy and clean as it was when Chelsea took care of it. Tucker told him that the life insurance his dad had on himself paid for the two funerals and also paid off the mortgage that was left on the house. The auto insurance helped him get a new used car to replace the wrecked one. He told Jed that he was able to lie about his age and get a job at the military base in Ridgecrest when he was only eighteen years old. "I’ve been working there almost ten years and I make enough money to take care of myself very well.” Jed asked him if he ever got married and he told him that he hadn't, but he had a fiancé named Amber. He said that she's a dental assistant and has her own place in Ridgecrest. "We're actually getting married in about a month. We've agreed that I'll move in with her when we get married and then I'm going to rent this old house out."
Jed immediately saw the opportunity and asked him how much he was going to rent the house for. Tucker said, “I don’t think I can get much for it, maybe $300.00 to $350.00 per month.” Jed replied, “Me and the boys don’t have any place to go so if you'd be willing to rent it to us I'll get a job and make sure I pay you each month.” Tucker smiled, “I’m at Amber’s house about three or four nights a week right now so why don’t you guys just stay here until I get married and then we’ll talk about the rent. I don't know if I want to charge you anything for rent, Jed. You're my family. The boys can take Dillon’s bedroom and you can take dad's old room.” Jed was very excited as he reached over and shook Tucker’s hand, “That sounds like a plan to me Tucker, thank you very much. We weren’t sure where we would be staying once we got here. I wasn't even sure anyone still lived here."
Jed told Tucker that he shouldn’t tell anyone who he and the boys were because of his bad history in Red Mountain before he left. Tucker knew what he was talking about and agreed he would keep his mouth shut about him and the boys. He then showed the boys to their rooms. When they were bringing their things in from the pickup, Tucker started up the barbeque and threw some burgers on the grill. Although he was devastated by the news of Chelsea’s death, he was excited that he had her boys that he could call family.
After dinner Jed knew he had to ask a dreaded question that had been nagging at him ever since he left Red Mountain. He looked Tucker in the eyes and said, “Do you know if the law is still looking for me?” Tucker replied, "Not recently." Then he thought back for a minute as he replied, “We were contacted by the Sherriff’s department a couple of times right after you and Chelsea first left. They were looking for you then but I haven’t heard anything from them in the past ten years that I’ve been here by myself.” Jed was very relieved to hear that news when he said, "That's great! Hearing that takes a huge load off my mind."
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Nightcrawlers: Reign of Terror Page 4