“I ain’t cuttin’ no one up again!” exclaimed Charles Ray.
“Neither am I,” Cooter agreed.
“I say whoever missed their turn last time does it this time,” Joe Bob offered.
“This ain’t up to a vote,” said Brother Eustice. “Jesus himself spoke: ‘You are my friends if you do what I command.’”
“You ain’t Jesus,” said Joe Bob.
“Buck,” replied Brother Eustice, letting the unfinished threat hang in the air.
Buck paid no heed. Instead, he watched the helpless girl in silence.
“Speaking of Buck, he gets a turn this time, too,” stated Junior.
Buck woke from his daydream and glared at the son of the prophet. “I did my part back in Memphis.” He held a wave of nausea that rose in his gut and turned his eyes towards the girl. Nobody dared to argue with him about it further.
“Yes, you did,” said Brother Eustice. “We all done our part. All except Earl, that is.”
“Me? I’m the one that found her and brought her back here,” Earl reminded them. “If it weren’t for me, we’d be in a world of shit trying to explain this to Sheriff Fuller.”
“No, we wouldn’t,” explained Brother Eustice. “If it weren’t for you, she’d still be buried in the swamp. She come back because of what we missed. For once, Junior is right. Until we all do our part, she’ll keep coming back. Buck, my dearest friend, I’m sorry, but it’s the only way. We all gotta take our turn. This means you, too, Earl.”
“And you, Brother Eustice,” said Joe Bob.
“I did my part.”
Cries of protest erupted from the group before the prophet quieted them down. “But I’ll get my hands dirty if it sets y’all’s minds at ease.”
The group fell silent and looked at the girl. “’Course, we can’t do this while she’s looking at us like that,” Brother Eustice noted.
Lacey squirmed in vain against the tight ropes. It was hopeless. Her fate was sealed.
“You had your turn with that,” Junior offered. “Maybe I can take her as my bride before we—”
Whack! Another round of howls from Junior and laughs from Jeremiah ensued. No one else found it funny.
“We ain’t doing that,” said Buck, tightening his grip on his rifle. He sighed, held his breath, and pointed the muzzle before clenching his eyes shut and pulling the trigger. A lone shot rang out in the quiet Alabama morning. A flock of doves escaped from their nests nearby, leaving the scene as if they were next on the menu.
Lacey’s body lay still, blood dripping slowly from the hole in the center of her forehead, her unseeing eyes staring into infinity. Tears ran down Buck’s face as he turned and walked away without another word.
Brother Eustice hobbled out of sight, then returned with the bloodied hacksaw. He offered it to Earl. “You’re up, lawman.”
Joe Bob intercepted the exchange and pushed the prophet’s hand away. “No. It’s you who goes first.”
Brother Eustice stared at the man with fire in his eyes, though it did little good. He saw the others gather behind the challenger. He knew better than to push it, so he let it go. Despite their current insubordination, he knew had them all right where he wanted them. They were in too deep to back out now.
“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelievin’ heart, leadin’ you to fall away from the livin’ God,” Brother Eustice sermonized as he waved the saw around. “You seek to pull me down, to humble me, your great prophet, to your level of debasement. You lead me into temptation and rejoice at my failures.”
Brother Eustice looked at the girl. His knees buckled. He steadied himself and tried again. This time, the hand that held the saw shook as if he were having a seizure. He dropped the foul instrument and threw himself to the ground. “She is my bride! I cannot do this vile deed. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape bein’ sentenced to hell?”
Brother Eustice wailed and spoke in tongues. A strange, high-pitched wail emanated from his throat, and he gasped for air. The others looked at him with a mixture of pity and disgust.
Charles Ray spat on the ground and shook his head. Cooter reached down and picked up the saw, handing it to the deputy. “I guess you’re up, Earl.”
Earl wanted to puke, but he held himself in check. He reluctantly grabbed the saw from Cooter, knelt beside the girl’s corpse, and hacked her left leg off at the knee.
“Save a leg for me,” said Junior.
Jeremiah ran deeper into the underbrush to throw up. Cooter, Charles Ray, and Joe Bob waited their turn in silence. Buck stood at a distance, refusing to even look at the others. Junior eyed the dead girl as if she were a rack of ribs at a Sunday picnic. Brother Eustice wept his alligator tears, all the while sneaking glances at the dismemberment of the gypsy girl.
When they were done, they returned to the swamp and disposed of the girl’s parts as they had before—hopefully for the last time. They made it back to Cooter’s camp by late afternoon and dismantled the magician’s truck. The men stacked the stage props and whatever else they could remove from the vehicle in a pile and lit it on fire. In the early morning, before dawn, they’d take what was left to an auto salvage yard owned by one of the faithful, where they’d have the truck and its scorched contents crushed into a cube.
In the meantime, they sat silently around the campfire and examined what was left of their souls. Brother Eustice offered no sermons. Whatever salvation had been promised them had been squandered. There could be no redemption for their sins. They had fought the Devil, and the Devil had won.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The next morning, the men prepared to separate and return to their families. No one spoke. All they wanted was to go home and forget about the horrendous deeds they had performed. Brother Eustice knew he couldn’t allow the men to leave without a stern warning.
“A prudent person keeps silent in such a time, for it is an evil time,” he said. “I know many of you have doubts, as your faith has been tested. Much of that is because of me. I have failed you as a pastor and as a holy man. I am unworthy, but unable to escape. What y’all don’t know is that I didn’t choose any of this. I didn’t want to be a prophet or a preacher. I just wanted to live my life quietly and look after my own. It was the Lord that commanded otherwise. Who was I to question the will of God?”
Brother Eustice stood up. He looked at the others, one by one, as a parent would look at a child. “I know now that you know how I felt. You know the doubt. You know the struggle. Yet it is in these times that one’s faith must not falter. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, even you—even me. But we should not fear if we hold fast to our faith and remain strong. As the Lord said in Revelations, ‘Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and, for ten days, you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.’ I say, we need not fear even that. If we stick together, if we all tell the same account, we will remain free from this testin’ and tribulation. Brother Earl, tell us what you tell people when you arrest them.”
“What do you mean?”
“Suppose you arrest someone. You ask them questions. What if they don’t want to answer those questions? What if they ask for a lawyer? What do you do?”
“We don’t do nothin’. We give them a lawyer. It’s the law,” answered Earl.
“You can’t make them talk?”
“No. How can we? I mean, we try sometimes, but if they don’t–”
“You can’t make them,” Brother Eustice finished the deputy’s sentence. “What if they do talk?”
“We use it in court.”
“You use it to set them free?”
“We use it to convict them,” Earl corrected him.
“Exactly. You use it against them. What does their lawyer tell them to do when he shows up?”
“He tells them to shut up.”
“But
what if they start asking us questions?” asked Cooter. “Won’t all of us refusin’ to talk make us look suspicious?”
“Yes, it will,” Earl conceded. “It’ll make us all look like we’re hidin’ something.”
“So we talk, but tell the same story,” Brother Eustice explained. “What’ll happen then, Earl?”
“Sheriff Fuller and the boys won’t take it any further, I’ll see to that.”
“But what if it ain’t Dale we’re talking to?” asked Joe Bob. “We killed that magician in Tennessee and took the girl. That’s kidnappin’ across state lines. What if the state police o r the FBI come around hasslin’ us? They’re a might more clever than the sheriff.”
“That they are, Joe Bob. That they are,” replied Brother Eustice. “But we’ve got the Lord on our side, and let’s not forget it. We’ll be just fine if that time ever comes. As long as we stick to our story.”
“What story?” asked Jeremiah.
“The one we’re all going to tell. We’ve been on a religious retreat, brothers, to bring our spirits closer to God. We don’t know nothin’ about nothin’ past that. Y’all got that straight?”
Everyone present nodded.
“Besides, I wouldn’t fret it none. The magician died miles and miles away. Nobody saw us comin’ or goin’ from there. The truck’s gone. There’s nothin’ left of that hunk of junk. Ain’t no one gonna find that girl where we put her. The swamp will hold our secrets.”
“You said that before,” Joe Bob reminded him.
“Just stick to the story, Marine. Stick to the story.”
PART THREE:
THE HOLY RELIC
Foot bone connected to the heel bone,
Heel bone connected to the ankle bone,
Ankle bone connected to the shin bone…
Dem bones, dem bones gonna rise again.
James Weldon Johnson
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Months passed without any inquiries about the dead magician or the missing girl. Earl kept a close eye on the interstate reports, but no one suspected the involvement of anyone in Alabama. It was a Tennessee problem, and it looked to remain so. Eventually, tensions eased up among the church group, though Brother Eustice never quite regained the respect from the men that he’d lost.
The story they’d rehearsed eliminated any suspicions by their spouses or the local authorities. By all accounts, they’d gone on a spiritual retreat into the woods where they fished, hunted, and camped out while drawing closer to God. It sounded stupid to Joe Bob and Charles Ray, but much to their amazement, everyone bought it without further inquiry.
When the call came in, Earl almost panicked. Sheriff Fuller drove out to the location with Deputy Halpin and Deputy Smith. Earl wanted to go but wasn’t invited. He’d been ordered to attend to a domestic disturbance call near Aliceville. It turned out to be just another redneck who’d had too much to drink and took umbrage with his wife’s nagging. The woman looked like she had the beginnings of a black eye, but she denied any abuse, so Earl let it be. By the time the officers arrived at the station, it was all Earl could do to act calm.
“How goes it?” he casually asked as the sheriff and deputies strolled in.
“It’s a gruesome mess,” replied Clyde.
“What did y’all find?”
“A shoe with a foot in it,” said Ricky.
“What?”
“You heard me right—a shoe with a foot in it. It was mostly bones by the time we found it. Must’ve been out there awhile.”
“Who found it?” inquired Earl.
“Lucius Jones,” Sheriff Fuller replied. “He was out fishing with his great-grandson when he snagged it with his cane pole.”
“Do you think he had anything to do with it?”
“Old man Lucius? Hell, no. The geezer is practically a saint. Besides, he’s a might old to be carrying on with such evil deeds.”
“Whose foot do you think it is?” Earl couldn’t let it go.
“Hell if I know,” the sheriff replied. “Looks to be a child’s shoe—a girl. We’ll have to dig through our missing person’s files, along with those statewide and in Mississippi, being that we’re so close to the border. That ain’t the worst of it. We’re gonna have to comb those woods to see if we can find the rest of the body. It’s damn hot out there, and the going is tough. This ain’t going to be good. We’ll get some publicity and some heat. We’re going to have to dot our i’s and cross our t’s. We don’t want a whole lotta scrutiny about the goings on in these parts, if you know what I mean.”
“It was probably one of those coloreds over in Reform. If not, maybe a transient passin’ through,” Earl offered. “We got good Christian folks in these parts. I don’t see any of our own doin’ something like that.”
“God, I hope it ain’t someone from around here” Sheriff Fuller said. “Ricky, get on the phone to Jarvis. We’re going to need his bloodhounds on this. Clyde, call over to Greene, Sumter, Lamar, Tuscaloosa, and Fayette Counties. We’re gonna need some help. See if any of them can spare a few men and ask them about anyone missing. Earl, you’re still part of Eustice Winchester’s church group, aren’t you?”
“Well, yeah,” Earl stammered. “Why do you ask? I’m sure none of them know anything about this.”
“I didn’t think they did, Earl. I was hoping you could put a word in. We could use a few volunteers, people with boats.”
“I suppose I can do that.”
“Good, because we’re going back out there first light. Gentlemen, let’s make this happen.”
The officers got to work. The logistics of the search would be a nightmare. The swamp was a difficult place to investigate. It wasn’t going to be easy, and it wasn’t going to be fun. Sheriff Fuller was doubtful that they’d recover any more of the body parts. Earl wasn’t as certain.
That evening, an emergency meeting was held between Brother Eustice and his select group of deacons. They used the request of the sheriff as an excuse.
“I told you someone would find her,” said Jeremiah.
“They found a foot,” said Junior. “You had the feet. It’s all your fault, dumbass.”
“Brothers, let’s get a hold of ourselves,” interrupted Brother Eustice. “So they found a foot? So what? That’s all they’re gonna find. Besides, we’ll volunteer. We’ll comb the areas where we know there’s parts and come up with nothin’. It’s perfect. Deputy, do they know about the girl?”
“No, and I doubt if they’ll figure it out. The dragnet for the missing child didn’t come down this far. There’s nobody that suspects any involvement by us. The evidence is gone.”
“Except the foot,” said Joe Bob.
“Right. Except the foot,” Earl agreed.
“All of y’all remember our story?” asked Brother Eustice.
“Word for word,” said Cooter.
“Good. Let’s keep it that way. Brothers in Christ, let’s bow our heads in prayer,” Brother Eustice said. “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear that you are standin’ firm in one spirit, with one mind, strivin’ together for the faith of the gospel. Amen.”
“Amen,” the men replied.
They would assist in the search, as agreed. No one was going to find anything.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
By the time the sun rose above the horizon, three dozen men stood ready to scour the swamp. Many of the search party had boats; the others were on foot. Jarvis Brown and his cousins, Vernon and Travis Davis, held the bloodhounds. Deputies from around the region were gathered, looking at maps and deciding on which areas they would be responsible for.
“We can look at these spots,” Earl offered, pointing to a section of wetlands on the map.
The sheriff eyed his deputy for a moment before grunting his approval. Earl glanced at his accomplices and nodded. Brother Eustice felt emboldened enough by the fortunate turn of events that he offered up a prayer t
o begin their search.
“Lord, we beseech thee, guide us in our righteous endeavor,” he said. The men bowed their heads. “What man of you, havin’ a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? We, your humble servants, are on such a quest. With your blessings, will we be successful, for thy have declared ‘Seek and ye shall find’. We seek, not only for the answers to your worldly riddles, but for your grace and forgiveness. Praise be, amen!”
“Amen,” the men replied.
The search party split up into groups and headed out to their agreed upon areas. Sheriff Fuller and Deputy Halpin retrieved a package wrapped in plastic from an ice chest. They carefully untied the wrapping and offered a whiff to the canines, who barked loudly. Earl and the boys from the Antioch Pentecostal Church looked away. They knew what was in the bag. They didn’t want any reminders.
“You think they got it?” the sheriff asked Jarvis.
“They’ll find the rest,” Jarvis assured him. He instructed his cousins, “Vernon, Travis, you boys let Pup and Tick loose first.”
The cousins undid the leashes on two of the dogs, and they ran into the brush, chasing unseen quarry. The other dogs barked and pulled against their restraints, eager to join their companions.
“Hold onto Yonder and Ambrose, but follow the leaders,” continued Jarvis. “I’m gonna give Mojo here a few moments, then I’ll come up fast behind y’all. We’ll find what’s left of that girl. My hounds ain’t failed me yet.”
The men faded out of sight, but the yelping of the dogs echoed through the trees. Earl looked at his friends and shook his head. None of the boys in the Fellowship liked the fact that Jarvis had brought his bloodhounds, but there was little they could do about it. They set out to search the area where they knew they’d disposed of the body parts and prayed for the best.
Hours passed without anyone finding even the tiniest of clues, much to the relief of Brother Eustice and his followers. The morning turned into afternoon, and soon evening was upon them. When the light faded, they gathered their things and went back to where their search had begun.
The Bone Puzzle: The Saga Begins Page 10
