Mercy

by Richard Turner

"Okay, Sergeant, how are things looking?" asked Cooper.

  "Sir, I took some of the dead man's animal traps and placed them out in the field," replied Hawkins. "I also found some twine and hung some old cans with pebbles in them between some of the trees. If anyone tries to get close tonight, we may not see them, but we sure as hell should hear them coming."

  "Excellent. What about food and water?"

  "We still have a day's worth of bacon and beans. Thomas shot an armadillo just before the sun went down so we've got fresh meat for supper. I made sure everyone filled their canteens from the trapper's well. He had some smoked meats hanging outside of his house. Bear and gator, I think, so we've taken them as well."

  "So we won't starve to death, not right away at least." Cooper looked around at the rest of their party sitting on the ground outside of the cabin. They all looked tired and scared. "Does anyone else have anything to add to the conversation?"

  Rose Melancon nodded. "Maclean's wound opened up sometime during the day. He's lost a lot of blood. I didn't notice it until I went to check on his bandages and saw that his blood had pooled at the bottom of the stretcher. I'm sorry."

  "It's not your fault, Mrs. Melancon," said Cooper. "You've done the best you could have with Maclean. If you hadn't been here, he would have bled to death back at the farm."

  "Thank you, that means a lot to me. However, things for Maclean are dire. I'm not sure if he'll make it through the night. I've washed out his wound and put a new bandage on it, but he may already be too far gone."

  "Good riddance to the man," said Stone. "It'll be no loss if the bastard dies."

  "Justice won't be served if he dies out here," said Cooper. "I'd rather see him hang for what he's done than die out here."

  "I'll do what I can, but his fate is in God's hands now," said Rose.

  "I've had it," announced the pastor. "This has become a bloody nightmare. I'm for turning back. We have to face facts. We don't know where we are or where we are going. I think Owens is lost but is too damn stupid to know it or just won't admit it."

  "Like hell I am," cried Owens, jumping to his feet.

  Cooper raised a hand. "Please, take a seat, Sheriff, the pastor is talking."

  Melancon continued. "As I was saying, if we backtrack to Maclean's farm, we can hold up there a day or so while we make some rafts to cross the river with."

  Cooper looked over at Stone. "What are your thoughts on the matter?"

  Stone removed his hat and ran a hand through his matted hair. "I'm with the pastor. His plan makes the most sense to me. With Maclean on death's doorstep, I've got what I wanted. I'm for going home before we lose another person to whatever it is that stalks these woods."

  "Thomas, Owens, speak up if you have something to say."

  Thomas looked over at his employer. "If Mister Stone be in favor of heading back, my men and me, we done think it's the right thing to do."

  "I say we wait until dawn and get our bearings," said Owens. "We could be only a couple of miles from O'Doul's place. If we turn around now, we'll be walking for days just to get back to Maclean's farm."

  "They say the army isn't a democracy so I won't be putting this to a vote," said Cooper. "I'll think about what you have all said and decide in the morning what we will do next. Now I suggest we all relax while we can and eat our supper. It may yet prove to be another long night."

  Cooper and Hawkins walked to the edge of the swamp to talk in private. A couple of yards away from them was a raccoon sitting on a log as it waited for a fish to swim by.

  "I'd really like to know what you think we should do next, Sergeant?' asked Cooper.

  "Sir, the sheriff, doesn't really know where he is and I'd rather not keep pushing deeper into the swamp if we don't have to," replied Hawkins. "In the morning, why don't Mister Owens and I poke around for an hour or so. If we don't find O'Doul's farm, then I agree with the pastor. It's high time to cut our losses."

  "Sage advice, as always. We'll go with your suggestion."

  They walked back and re-joined everyone standing around a roaring fire. Pastor Melancon and two of the farmhands stood sentry while everyone else ate. Thomas ladled out a soup of rice, beans, and armadillo meat. Cooper tried it and found it to be tastier than he thought it would be.

  Moses sat on the ground beside Maclean, holding his hand. He rocked back and forth saying the Lord's Prayer over and over.

  "He refuses to eat," said Rose, concerned for the boy's well-being.

  "He probably won't eat a thing until Maclean passes on," explained Cooper. "Just leave him be. I doubt he'll leave Maclean's side."

  Cooper could see Thomas standing in the field staring at the trees and walked over to him. "I know you're worried about your missing men. We all are."

  "After seeing what they done did to poor Mister Eyre, I don't hold out much hope that they be still alive, Captain."

  "There's always hope, Thomas."

  "These woods be cursed. The devil is out there watching us as we eat. I can feel it in my bones."

  Cooper pursed his lips. "Thomas, I know you believe there is something supernatural out there in the dark, but the swamp devil is just a story made up to frighten children into being good. There's no monster out there hunting us. It's just a couple of men who know these woods far better than we do, that's all it is. Hopefully, they're foolish enough to try and get at us tonight. Sergeant Hawkins has laid a few surprises for them."

  Thomas turned his head and looked into Cooper's eyes. "I wish I done shared your confidence, Captain. But them traps spread out on the ground ain't gonna stop it. It's gonna come here and take more of us to eat and there's nothing you can do about it."

  Cooper was about to say something more but decided to keep his mouth shut. Thomas had his beliefs as did his men and there was nothing he could say or do to change their minds. He watched Thomas walk back to the fire with his head hung low. It was as if he were already resigned to his fate.

  Toward midnight, the stars disappeared behind a wall of clouds. Within minutes, a heavy sheet of rain began to fall, forcing everyone sleeping in the open onto the porch of the dead man's cabin. After what had happened to the trapper, no one was keen to spend the night indoors. Cooper rested his back against a wooden crate and let out a tired sigh. He hadn't slept more than a couple of hours in the past few days. His ability to think straight and make rational decisions was beginning to fade. He watched as Thomas, assisted by a couple of men, carried Maclean just inside the shack to keep the rain off him. Moses and Rose moved to be near Maclean as he neared death.

  Cooper stood up and walked to the wide-open front door of the cabin. He saw Rose Melancon place a hand on the youth's shoulder, trying to console him. Cooper wasn't deeply religious and had always found it odd that a man, even one as monstrous as Maclean, could have his sins forgiven as he faced death. Still, Cooper was happy Rose was there to comfort the boy as he watched the only person in the world who cared for him slowly fade away.

  "It's gonna be real hard to spot anyone moving about them woods with this rain coming down," observed Owens. "I remember a time at Chickamauga when we snuck up a couple of Yankee sentries during a storm just like this one and killed 'em for their food."

  Cooper couldn't decide if Owens was trying to deliberately get under his skin. "It was war. You did what you had to do to stay alive, as did Sergeant Hawkins and me."

  "We were starving. Our supply chain had broken down and we hadn't eaten anything for days. Yet just a few hundred yards away, we could see the blue-bellies eating and drinking. It wasn't fair."

  "War isn't supposed to be fair. It's about winners and losers. It always has been and will continue to be that way until the world ends."

  Owens shrugged and turned to leave.

  "Tell me, Sheriff, what did you believe you were fighting for?"

  "At first, I told myself it was to preserve our way of life, but after a while, I fought on because my friends and family were there fighting alongside me. Why did you,
a foreigner, fight in the war?"

  "It's complicated, but I guess I fought because I thought the cause of ending slavery to be the right thing to do."

  Owens chuckled, "Captain, you're an educated man, even you must have noticed that this war was fought mainly by people who didn't own slaves. Sure, some of the officers on our side did, but the soldiers like me and my brothers sure as hell didn't. Many men on our side had never even seen a colored person before they joined up to fight against the Union. And let's not forget the thousands of Yankee copperhead volunteers who came south to fight on our side against President Lincoln and his heavy-handed politics."

  "Sheriff, I can't decide if there's more to you hiding behind a facade of indifference or you are just another small-minded bigot."

  Owens laughed to himself. "I think you'll find I'm both. My job is to keep the peace for the good people of Williamstown and I think I do my job rather well."

  "Aye, unless you're a poor former slave." Cooper wasn't in the mood to listen to Owens' moralizing anymore. He turned and walked away.

  Sergeant Hawkins and Stone stood by the fire as it hissed and crackled each time a raindrop fell into the bonfire. Both men were soaked to the bone as their rubber ponchos were with their horses somewhere on the other side of the Mississippi.

  Thomas walked out of the dark and joined them. "I done told the remainder of the men to take a few minutes' rest by the house to warm themselves up."

  "Good idea," said Hawkins. "There's no point in all of us standing around getting wet."

  "I take my hat off to you, Sergeant," said Stone. "I can't imagine doing this for years as you and Captain Cooper did during the war."

  "You kinda get used to the hardships and learn to adapt," responded Hawkins. "After a life of being a slave, what's a bit of rain running down your back."

  "You have me there."

  The faint sound of a pebble rattling around inside a tin can somewhere off to their right made the three men stop talking and turn their heads.

  Hawkins raised a hand, telling everyone to remain still. A second later, they heard the noise again.

  Thomas turned on his heel while he pulled back on the hammer on his shotgun. He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a loud yelp of pain come from the woods. Someone or something had just stepped in one of the animal traps.

  "Wake everyone up!" ordered Hawkins.

  Thomas spun around and ran back to the hut, yelling, "Get up, they're here!"

  Cooper resting against the wall, yanked his hat from his face, grabbed his carbine and jumped to his feet. He looked toward the fire and saw two men standing there with their weapons aimed out into the dark.

  Thomas dashed back to the cabin. Cooper grabbed him by the arm and said, "Stay here with your men and look after Rose and the boy."

  Pastor Melancon and Owens followed Cooper out into the rain.

  "What did you see?" Cooper asked his sergeant.

  "Nothing, sir," replied Hawkins. "We heard something moving around over to our right and then something directly in front of us stepped into one of my traps."

  "Okay, everyone grab a stick from the fire and spread out in a line. If you see something, for God's sake make sure it isn't one of our missing men before opening fire."

  Each man, except for Owens, picked up a piece of burning wood and stepped away from the fire.

  Cooper raised his torch up high and peered out into the gloom. His heart was racing in his chest. Owens was right, the downpour made it hard to see more than a dozen yards in the dark.

  Rose gently placed a hand on Moses' back. "It's all going to be okay. No one's going to hurt you."

  "Mister Maclean's hand is cold," he said, between sobs. "The Lord has come and taken him to his side."

  Rose bent down and placed her hand on Maclean's chest. She couldn't feel his heart beating. "I'm sorry, Moses. You're right, he's gone."

  Moses let go of Maclean and turned to embrace Rose. "I'm all alone now. God has taken everything from me. I guess he'll be coming for me too."

  She held the youth in her arms and began to rock back and forth. Rose opened her mouth to speak when she got a whiff of something musky smelling in the air. She turned her head to look out the open door and froze in horror when she saw by the light of a flickering candle, a tall, dark shape standing in the doorway looking down at her.

  Thomas clenched his shotgun tight in his hands as he watched Stone and the rest of the men spread out into a line. He had moved a few yards away from the cabin and wished he was out there with the other men, instead of being safe. Still, he knew Cooper was right, Mrs. Melancon and the boy needed someone with a gun to protect them.

  "What done made that horrible noise?" asked Lucius, one of the surviving farmhands. "Something large be moving around in the woods," replied Thomas.

  Lucius took a step back. His eyes were as large as saucers. "The Rougarou?"

  "I don't know; I didn't see it."

  Lucius brought up his ax. His hands trembled so bad he nearly dropped his weapon. The sound of a deep grunt from something barely a couple of yards away was all the warning the two men got before a clawed hand reached out from the dark and struck Thomas in the face, sending him tumbling to the ground. Lucius let out a yell and swung his ax at the outstretched arm. His aim was off and his struck nothing but air. Before he could bring his arm back, he was hit in the back. White-hot pain shot from the deep claw marks torn into his skin. He dropped to his knees and moaned in agony. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Thomas' shotgun lying in the mud. He scrambled on all fours, trying to reach it. A second later, Lucius' fingers grabbed a hold of the cold, wet metal of the twin barrels. He pulled it toward him and hurried to pull back the hammers on the gun when he felt something sharp strike his neck. In an instant, he realized he couldn't breathe. He dropped the shotgun to the ground and reached up for his neck. His fingers became sticky from the warm blood pumping from the hole slashed through his throat. Within seconds, his vision began to narrow. Lucius Legrand turned his head to look at what had attacked him. Just before he passed out, Lucius thought he saw a bear standing on its hind legs, staring down at him.

  Rose saw the thing at the door take a step forward. She recoiled back, trying to pull Moses with her. A terrible fear gripped her heart. Rose opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she could.

  Moses saw the beast, pushed Rose aside and jumped to his feet. "Keep away from her, Lucifer. If you want a soul, take mine, you vile creature!"

  With a loud smack, the monster lashed out and hit Moses on the side of the head, sending him flying to the floor.

  Rose remembered her shotgun and turned to reach for it on the small dining table in the middle of the room. She almost had it in her grasp when a hand reached out and grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back. Rose cried out in pain. With all of her strength, she fought to break her attacker's hold on her. A second later, she felt her body being raised up off the ground. "No!" screamed Rose as her head was bashed into the side of the table. Her world turned dark.

  Cooper heard the scream and spun around to face the cabin. His gut dropped when he saw two dark shapes lying in the grass. He heard Melancon call out Rose's name as he sprinted toward the trapper's home. Cooper ran after him. He caught up with the pastor as he dashed into the cabin.

  All of the candles were out. The interior was as dark as pitch.

  "Rose, where are you?" called out the distraught pastor, fumbling around in the dark.

  Cooper dug into a pocket and grabbed his box of matches. With a flick of his wrist, he lit a match and placed it against the wick of a candle inside a lantern. Right away, they could see the room had been turned inside out. What little furniture there had been in the shack had been pushed aside or broken in half.

  A weak moan came from underneath the dining table. Cooper and Melancon ran over and pushed the table out of the away. Rose lay facedown on the floor.

  "Rose, are you alright?" asked the pastor as he dropped to his k
nees and took hold of his wife in his arms. Tears streamed down the man's face.

  "Where's Moses and Maclean?" said Cooper as he looked around the cabin for the two men.

  "Captain, where are you?" called out Hawkins.

  Cooper left the pastor with his wife and ran outside. "I'm here, Sergeant."

  "Sir, Lucius is dead and Thomas looks like he got hit hard on the side of his head," explained Hawkins, standing over the two bodies. "I think Thomas may have lost an eye."

  Cooper grimaced at the news. "Where are Owens and Stone?"

  "They're keeping guard by the fire."

  Cooper didn't like the idea of those two being left alone, but he didn't have much choice in the matter. He was rapidly running out of men. "What about the three other men who were back here with Thomas, have your seen them?"

  Hawkins looked around but didn't see the farmhands. He called out, "Joe, Cole, Francis, where are you?" Two men ran from the far side of the shack. Hawkins recognized the youths as Cole and Francis. "Where was Joe before the commotion began?"

  "He done be standing about where you are," replied Cole. "Thomas done told him to guard the front door of the cabin."

  Cooper moved the lantern around at his feet, trying to see if he could find Joe's tracks. He swore when instead of a man's footprint, he found animal tracks like the ones they had seen at Maclean's farm. Only, this time, there were at least three different sets of prints on the wet ground.

  "They lead to and from the swamp," said Hawkins.

  "That must be how they got in here," said Cooper. "While we were busy looking at the woods, whoever it was snuck in using the water behind the cabin and took Joe, Moses, and Maclean before we knew what the hell was going on."

  "I ain't never seen a mark like that before in my life," said Cole, shivering like a leaf in the pouring rain. "Thomas be right, the swamp devil is coming to take us all to hell."

  Cooper grabbed the terrified young man by the arm. "Cole, monsters don't exist. Now, I need you to look after Thomas. Have him moved inside the cabin and keep watch over him until the sun comes up, alright?"

  Cole nodded and walked away.

  "Captain, what if whoever did this decides to come back?" asked Hawkins.

  "Well, they know precisely where we are, so there's no point in pretending otherwise. Get Francis to give you a hand starting a few more fires. After that, find and light as many lanterns as you can. Let's make it hard for the bastards to sneak up on us again."

  Cooper seethed inside at himself. He had had underestimated their opponents and it had cost them dearly. Cooper vowed he wouldn't make the same mistakes in the future. He was about to go and check on Rose and Thomas when a shot rang out. He pivoted on his heel and ran to join Stone and Owens by the fire.

  "Did you see something?' he asked.

  "I thought I saw a set of eyes in the trees looking this way," said Stone.

  Cooper looked over but didn't see a thing. "Are you sure? It could just be your nerves playing tricks on you."

  "I saw 'em too, Captain," said Owens. "They were golden yellow. I saw the light from the fire reflected in its eyes. It stood a good seven or eight feet tall."

  "We'll have to wait until dawn to go and check it out. Until then, I need you two to stay alert and keep a watch on the woods for us. Whoever is out there is smart, real smart. He fooled us into thinking he was going to use the trees to get near us. Instead, he came in via the water behind the cabin. We found three different set of tracks in the mud. During the attack, Rose and Thomas were injured. We also lost a couple of men along with Moses and Maclean tonight."

  "Did any of the coloreds run off?" asked Owens.

  "No." Cooper bristled at the question. "Lucius is dead. It looks like his throat was ripped from his body. As for the other three, I have no idea, but I'm betting they didn't go willingly with the people who attacked us."

  "Are you still sure it's just a couple of men were facing out here?" asked Stone.

  Cooper was surprised. He had thought Stone was firm in his conviction that the swamp devil was nothing more than a legend. "Right now, all I do know for sure is that we've got to find a way out of here before we all die."

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