Miracles

by Thomas A. Watson

  “I’ll die before I disrespect you,” Chloe said, wiping her face.

  “What did you mean by Little Momma not being fooled?” Shawn asked.

  “All of you think she’s innocent, but Vicki can see inside a person better than anyone,” Chloe said, and saw Shawn’s eyes narrow. “I’m not saying Vicki isn’t innocent, she is, but Vicki can read people very well. My first night here, she came to my room.”

  Hearing that, Shawn wasn’t the only one who jumped. “Little Momma told me if I got anywhere near any of the babies or said she talked to me, she was going to tell Pops I tried to hurt her like a man who chased her yelling for her pussy,” Chloe said, and Shawn nearly fainted because the only way Chloe would know that much would be from Vicki. Seeing shock on Shawn’s face, “I believed her and avoided her, but Vicki told me she knew I was mean and didn’t care for anyone,” Chloe said sniffling.

  “And she was right,” Chloe mumbled. “It’s hard to get hurt if you don’t care and just act mean.”

  “You’ll apologize to Little Momma,” Shawn stated, and Chloe looked at him with fear.

  “Did you hear what the fuck I just said? I don’t even want to think about what Arthur and Wendy would do to me if Vicki told them that! Shit, I would rather face the wrath of everyone else for thinking I would hurt Vicki before them! That little girl is loved by everyone!”

  “I’ll talk to her before you and no, I won’t tell her you told me, but you will apologize because if Vicki thought you needed a threat like that, she thought it for a reason.”

  “You’ll talk to her first?” Chloe asked, and Shawn nodded. “Then I’ll apologize to her too.”

  “Thank you.”

  Just the fact that someone was willing to take a chance on her, filled Chloe with a joy she’d never thought possible. Even if Arthur and Wendy said no, she was happy to admit to herself, she had met good people. “Shawn, you know Dean isn’t really scared of Arthur, don’t you?” Chloe stated.

  “And how would you know?”

  “He lived in a foster home a block down from me. His last name is Chisim. He’s the main reason I left Sherwood before it got bad. I know for a fact he killed his foster parents while they were sick, and the two kids living there who weren’t sick.” Inside, Wendy had to tackle Arthur to keep him from charging outside.

  “Sherwood, that’s right outside Little Rock. How the hell did you make it to Clarksville where we found you?”

  Giving a shrug, “Stole a car,” Chloe answered. “The lady was dead at the steering wheel, so I don’t know if it was actually stealing. I was about to head west until I heard on the CB about the Caravan Man.”

  “So you really knew Dean, like, before this?”

  Nodding, “Like I told you, that’s why I left before it got bad. That creepy asshole wouldn’t leave me alone,” Chloe told him. “I’ve known some bad people, but he’s at the top of the list. Even the adult criminals I knew who’ve been to prison avoided his crazy psycho ass.”

  Shaking his head, “And you really believe he’s not scared of Pops?” Shawn asked, just to clarify to himself.

  “No, just from what I’ve heard about Dean trying to join you and Arthur, not letting him in would piss him off. Dean doesn’t get the ones he’s after by coming right at them. The sneaky little shit comes at you when you’re not looking.”

  “Will you tell Pops everything you know about Dean if he and Momma allow you to stay?” Shawn asked, studying Chloe closely.

  “I’ll tell him everything, even if they don’t,” Chloe answered. “It’s the least I can do for the chance they gave me.” Inside, Wendy let Arthur out of the headlock she had him in to keep him from charging outside. Like Wendy, Arthur was in shock and just looked at the monitor.

  Liking that answer, “Chloe, since you have given me your word and vowed to apologize to everyone, I’ll tell Momma and Pops, if they throw you out, I’ll leave. I may be leaving also and we won’t be staying together, but I’ll ask for you to get one more chance.”

  Chloe’s eyes rolled to the back of her head as she collapsed face first into the patio floor in a dead faint.

  Running over, Shawn dropped down and flipped Chloe over and patted her face. “Chloe, what’s wrong?!” Shawn yelled as Arthur and Wendy walked out.

  Turning around and seeing them, “She just fell down and busted her face!” he cried out.

  Both walked over slowly, still in shock that Shawn was willing to leave to give Chloe another chance. “Um,” Chloe groaned, then reached up to her busted nose. “Ow.”

  “Are you all right, what happened?” Shawn asked her, and Chloe’s eyes snapped open.

  “Shawn, you can’t tell them that! Not for me!” Chloe shouted, then turned and saw Arthur and Wendy. “Don’t-,” she started as she tried to stand up, but Shawn barked.

  “Hey!” and Chloe shut up. “You swore to do what was asked, and I’m asking you to shut up.”

  Turning to Arthur and Wendy, “Momma, Pops, I’ve talked with Chloe and I’m asking for permission to give her one more chance. I feel she understands now what we have here. If you say no, I’ll abide by that but I’m leaving too, but not with her. I do ask that Beth be allowed to stay, please, and don’t hold it against her.”

  “No!” Chloe cried out and jumped in front of Shawn. Never in her life had anyone ever done something like this for her and for the first time in her life, she was afraid for another. “I’m leaving, make him stay! He can’t leave here; everyone loves him and his sister would die! You can’t let him do this for someone like me! Please!!!”

  Way beyond shocked from Chloe’s reaction, Arthur reached in his pocket and handed Wendy back the two silver dollars. “Okay, I never would’ve predicted that, so here.”

  Not taking them and staring at Chloe like she was make-believe, “If you would’ve, I would’ve locked your ass in the basement thinking you were going insane,” Wendy said, shoving his hand away and then turned to Shawn. “You feel that sure she needs another chance? That’s a lot on your word because that’s why we would allow her to stay.”

  “I’m willing to risk it. I think she understands and will be a good member of the family in time,” Shawn replied.

  Hearing it from Wendy, Chloe started getting terrified of what Shawn had taken on, just for her. “I’m leaving!” she blurted out.

  Glancing over at Chloe, “You promised,” Shawn said.

  “Shawn, I might mess up not meaning to. What if I trip and fall down the stairs and knock someone down? I might throw up and someone slips in it and get hurt! Oh, my God! What if-!” Chloe stopped yelling when Wendy put her hand over her mouth.

  “You can think of shit nobody can,” Wendy told her. “I’m taking my hand off. No yelling.”

  Nodding but still terrified, “Now,” Wendy said, taking her hand away. “Shawn, we agree with you. Chloe will get one more chance.”

  Very happy he didn’t have to leave, Shawn felt weak in the knees and wobbled on his feet. “Thank you,” he breathed out.

  Stepping over to Chloe, “I think you’re beginning to see what family is,” Arthur told her.

  “I’m sorry, I ….” she started, but couldn’t go on.

  “Let’s see if you can listen. Go to your room, wash that pigsty, and make it presentable so when people walk by they don’t puke,” Arthur told her. “You will bathe every day until one of us tells you to stop and then only bathe when you need to, but neither of us had better tell you that you need it. You will do all laundry for the next two days. Not double chores, just everyone’s laundry, along with your own daily chores.”

  Nodding, “Yes, sir,” Chloe said.

  “Chloe, I’m not sorry I hit you or pulled a handful of hair out and I assure you, Wendy isn’t sorry you’re going to be peeing blood for a week. You disrespected everyone here and that’s going to be a mountain to climb, but you’ll have to climb it. You made the bed, now sleep in it, and show everyone you’re worth the effort we want to invest in you,” Arthur
told her.

  “I will, I promise,” she sobbed. “Mr. Arthur, I know the Dean you’re after.”

  Shawn was shocked when Arthur didn’t show any surprise that Chloe knew Dean, and he made a mental note to ask. “Oh, so you know the dick sludge? Care to tell me about him?” Arthur asked, reaching out and guiding Chloe inside.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Date night

  Crouched low in the bushes with Daisy, Wendy scanned around with an NVG over her left eye. Glancing at her watch and seeing it was after eleven, Wendy gave a sigh. The house where the small gang had set up near Hattieville was empty, so she and Arthur had pulled back and gone through the mountain of photos the game cameras had sent.

  Using the cameras set up on the roads, they finally tracked the vehicles south to the hamlet of Ross. Unless the group had taken a dirt road out of the area they were still here because no cameras had spotted them leaving.

  They parked the Blazer with Wendy heading west to check houses, and Arthur went east to check. Having finished her sweep, Wendy was ready for Arthur to get back so they could just head into Knoxville where they knew there was a gang. But Arthur had told her he wanted anyone trying to hide out in the sticks near them before those closer to the interstate.

  Feeling Daisy move, she turned around and saw Donald and Arthur coming, with something over his shoulder. When he was fifty yards away, she saw he was carrying a body. “Oh goody, he found them,” she sang out softly and patted Daisy.

  When he reached her Arthur shrugged the body off, and Wendy was shocked to hear it grunt when it landed. “They’re at a small farm two miles from here,” Arthur said, taking his fedora off and wiping his brow.

  Staring at the hog-tied man with duct tape over his mouth gawking at them in shock, “Don’t you think they’ll miss him?” she asked.

  Giving a shrug, “Fuck if I care,” Arthur grunted. “This one was on guard, so I snatched him up.”

  Hearing that did startle Wendy, but she didn’t show it as she turned back to Arthur. None of the other groups Arthur had hit in the past had ever had a guard out. “He was really guarding?” she asked.

  “That’s why I took him. I think we need to know what has him spooked.”

  Acting bashful, “Aw, that’s so sweet. You brought me a present on date night,” Wendy said, trying to bat her eyes, but the NVG screwed up the look.

  “Nothing but the best for my girl,” Arthur said.

  “I can do whatever I want?” she asked, and the man thrashed around until Donald leaned over him growling.

  “You can cut his ass up or set him free if he talks. I don’t care, he’s your present.”

  Yanking her knife out, “Donald, sit,” Wendy commanded, and Donald sat right next to the man’s head. Looking closer, Wendy had second opinions about ‘man’. He barely looked twenty. But he was her present so she leaned over his face, holding the knife between them so he could see it clearly.

  “Make a loud noise and this will be the longest night of your life,” she said rather cheerfully.

  Grabbing the man’s pants, she ran the blade along them to cut out the crotch and found he wasn’t wearing underwear. Then she reached up, snatching the tape off his mouth. Before the man moved, she grabbed his cluster with her left hand and held the knife next to his scrotum hard enough he could feel it. “Are you going to be nice?”

  Barely breathing, “Yes,” he whispered.

  “Oh, such a nice young man for a present,” Wendy said, glancing at Arthur. Turning back down, “Are you my bitch?” she asked.

  Nodding ever so slightly, so his body didn’t move and the blade slice open his sack, “Yes, ma’am. I’m your bitch.”

  “Bitch, why were you on guard? Nobody else has been,” she asked.

  Cutting his eyes to Arthur’s shadow, “We knew we were in the Caravan Man’s area,” he answered.

  “Good bitch,” Wendy said. “So you knew but still came?”

  Nodding, “Yes, ma’am, hiding from bigger groups. Figured if we moved around and stayed small, the Caravan Man wouldn’t find us or mess with us,” he replied.

  “Tsk, tsk, I trust you see the error in your thinking now, don’t you, bitch?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Squeezing his cluster, “From now on, you call me master. Understood?”

  “Yes, master,” bitch grunted out, but never moved.

  Relaxing her grip, “Where’s Dean?” she asked.

  Furrowing his brow, “Who?” he asked, and Wendy squeezed very hard as she pressed the knife up, threatening bitch to become neutral gender. “Who, master?” he rephrased.

  Looking over at Arthur, “I like it when my bitch is smart,” she said proudly, relaxing her grip again and the force she applied to the blade. “Dean Chisim. Where is he?”

  “Master, I don’t know anyone named Dean Chisim.”

  “Tall and somewhat lanky teenage boy with brown hair that people are scared of? I want to find him so he can be my new bitch.”

  When she had asked Dean’s name, Wendy could tell bitch didn’t know, but when she’d described Dean, she saw a reaction but didn’t squeeze his package, just to see if he would answer. “I didn’t know his name was Dean, master.”

  “So you do know him?”

  Shaking his head, “No, master. He’s in a gang in Conway that told us we had to leave or join. To join, we had to be pledges until the gang decided we could be members,” bitch told her.

  “Dean told you this?”

  “No, master. A big guy with a spiderweb tattoo on his neck. Dean was standing next to him but I could tell everyone, including the big guy, was scared of the kid.”

  Still finding that hard to believe, even after listening to Chloe, “You mean to tell me, grown men are scared of my future bitch?”

  “Yes, master. None of us could figure out why, so Oscar asked around and found out the kid had killed six others in the gang.”

  Giving a squeeze, “Oscar?”

  Wincing and answering several octaves higher, “Sorry, master, one of my group. He would be second in charge. Ray is in charge. I’m the lowest ranking, that’s why I had guard.”

  Loosening her grip, “How many are in this gang with Dean?”

  “Don’t know, but there were a lot of them, master. That’s why we left an hour after they told us about joining.”

  Giving a sigh, “Bitch, a lot can be anything, if my bitch doesn’t even know how to count, you’re worthless to me,” Wendy sighed.

  “Master, at the meeting there were forty-seven, but there were more than that moving around the other houses.”

  “Houses?”

  “Yes, master. They’re set up in an upscale subdivision on Lake Conway,” bitch answered very quickly to avoid another squeeze.

  “How many in your merry little band, bitch?”

  “Nine, including me, master.”

  “Eww,” Arthur gasped sarcastically.

  Hearing the Caravan Man, bitch cut his eyes over at Arthur and winced when Wendy gave a squeeze. “Bitch, you look at your master,” she told him, and he moved his eyes back to her. “If you answer truthfully to my questions, I’ll let you go, but only if you tell me everything about your merry little band. We’re going to pay them a visit and if you leave anything out, at all, you’re going to eat this before you die,” she said, giving a short squeeze. “But if you prove to be a good bitch, I’ll let you go so you can tell others you were a good bitch, and what they can expect from the Caravan Man’s wife.”

  Hope flashed through bitch’s eyes, “Yes, master. I’ll tell everyone you were a good master. I swear I will.”

  Glancing up at Arthur, “I like it when you bring me good bitches,” Wendy whispered, and Arthur blew her a kiss. “Start talking,” Wendy said, turning back to bitch.

  After an hour, they moved bitch to the Blazer, moved it closer, and headed in on foot. “How are we doing this if they have beer cans stacked by all the doors?” Wendy asked, checking her rifle.

&n
bsp; Rolling his eyes, “We go in through a window,” Arthur droned. “Think like a criminal.”

  “What the hell do I have you for?” Wendy popped off.

  Popping her on the butt, “To bring you bitches,” Arthur chuckled. Dropping the chuckle very fast, “You remember, we aren’t there to rescue anyone. If one of those they’re holding gets in the way or is used as a shield, you punch their ticket.”

  “I’m not stupid, Arthur,” Wendy snapped. “But I do think if we kill one, we should just kill all the prisoners. I don’t really want it spreading around that the Caravan Man kills those being held, even if they get in the way.”

  Giving a startle, “Damn, that’s hardcore,” Arthur mumbled, then looked away. “Hate to tell you, but I’ve already had to shoot a few who were being used as human shields.”

  “And there were other prisoners?” she asked, and Arthur nodded. “Why haven’t we heard about it?”

  Shrugging, “Have no idea, but some of the prisoners from one group are with Albert at the other site,” he told her.

  “So you don’t think we should just silence everyone?”

  “If you want, I don’t care,” he said, looking around.

  Thinking for a second, “If we do and any prisoner acts weird, we just cap them all,” Wendy told him.

  “Define, ‘act weird’.”

  “Arthur, if you see me start punching holes in them, just join in or move out of the way,” Wendy sighed.

  Nodding, “Iron?” Arthur asked, motioning to his AR, “Or steel,” he added, motioning to his knife.

  Clapping her hands, “Let’s start out with steel and see how many we can get,” Wendy cheered.

  Laughing softly, Arthur headed through the woods toward the farm with Wendy and the dogs following. “Do you really think bitch was telling the truth that he was staying outside all night on guard?” she asked.

  “There was a cooler with food and beer with him,” Arthur replied.

  “Damn, his merry band sucked for him.”

  “It was numbers, babe, and many people are doing whatever it takes to be a part of numbers for protection,” he said, ducking under a limb.