by E A Lake
“Yeah,” she replied, none too convincingly. “You could call yourself that. A regular one-man wrecking crew, bringing justice to the town of Pimento and the surrounding areas.”
I glared at her, mostly so I wouldn’t scream. “Wait; I act alone?”
Her eyes brightened as she rose. “Yes, Quinn. You’re in charge of things. Judge, jury and executioner. All three in one. But like Sara and Livy said, you’re the good guy. The dead people were the bad ones.”
And in an instant, it dawned on me why I was on Shaklin’s farm. I was brought here to kill him, plain and simple.
“Before you get that nonfunctioning brain of yours too high in gear,” Morgan added, looking at me while shaking her head, “you’re still here for us, not Shaklin. Even the great Quinn Reynolds isn’t good enough to take on an army like his alone. You’re gonna need help. Lots of help.”
Well, so much for knowing anything about anything. All I was left with was an escape with four women and a crippled girl. How hard could that be? Of course, it would have helped if I’d known which direction Pimento was.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Our plan was set, but there was a flaw, and a rather large one at that. Shaklin had increased the guards from one to three and two were what the gals called “non-friendlies”. On top of that, they circled the cabins on a never-ending rotation. Not the friendly types who would do anything for my friends; no, the ones who would shoot me the second I dared step outside.
“How long do you think he’ll keep up this vigil?” I asked the group the following morning over breakfast. I got three shushes and a frightened look at the rear window by Sasha. “Okay,” I added, quieter. “Any ideas?”
“Until he finds Quinn Reynolds and kills him, I imagine,” Morgan replied flippantly. “That would be my guess.”
Like that helped. Besides not knowing my recent past, I was more than a little nervous about being a wanted man; one they would shoot on sight if they found me.
“Will I be safe in Pimento if we get out of here?” I asked the group. Again, three sets of eyes fell on Morgan.
“We will be safe in Pimento,” she rebuked harshly. “And when we get out of here, not if. Got it?”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah. It’s just these new developments have kind of thrown me for a loop.”
Sara patted the cushion next to her on the couch. “Come, sit. You need your rest. You’re still not well.”
I did as requested, letting out a huge sigh as I leaned my head over the back of the comfy couch.
“This is kind of a mess,” I said, closing my eyes tightly. “We need a better plan for our escape.” I emphasized the word escape and when I peeked at Morgan, she was grinning. “There’s no way we can just walk out of here anymore. Hell, we can’t hardly sneak away without having them on our butts instantly. And if I have to carry Charolette on my back, we’re not going to make great time. They’ll catch us in a mile, if we even make it that far.”
I stared at my group, trying to read their empty expressions. “Any chance we can leave her behind, given this new development?” I asked.
Sasha covered her mouth as her eyes darted about. Sara’s lips pursed so tightly, I was afraid they might explode. Morgan snorted and shook her head.
“Absolutely not,” Morgan vented. “If they start beating on her for information…” Her words trailed off. I got the point.
“Any new ideas?” I asked quietly as Morgan, Sara and Sasha rose. It was about time for them to head off to work, or indentured servitude, depending on how I looked at it. Liv would be my sole friend again, since Morgan had been deemed ready to return to the big house.
“We’ll think about it while we’re working,” Sara replied, stopping to kiss my forehead. “We’ll come up with something.”
Morgan stopped next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Remember, you’re supposed to be the idea fellow. So, use your quiet time to come up with an idea, fellow.” She tapped the back of my head, albeit lightly, before heading to the door with the sisters.
“Livy,” Morgan added. “Watch those stitches and make sure he doesn’t bleed to death while we’re gone. Keep him sitting or lying down as much as possible today.”
When they were gone, I glanced back at the youngest house member. She offered a nice smile and began to clear the breakfast dishes.
“I sure hope you got an idea of some sort in that pretty little head of yours,” I said. “Because I’m flat out of plans right now.”
She sighed as she fetched the kettle of warm water from the stove to pour in the sink. Guess she didn’t have any either.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Through the curtains, I watched the men make their rounds. No matter how I tried to time them, they seemed to have no set routine. One would pass and 120 beats later, the other would make his way around. Then a mere 90 beats and the first one reappeared. That went on for hours with the same number never coming up twice. Finally, frustrated by the situation, I gave up and took a spot on the couch.
Another problem reared its fangs as I thought about the men. Unlike the women’s regular guards, Shaklin’s men carried guns; rifles to be more precise. I wasn’t sure how accurate they might be with the long guns, but come on. If I passed anywhere within shouting distance of them, I was sure they could easily hit me, moving or not.
As the day waned on and lunch came, I continued to dwell on the issue at hand. Well, two issues actually. First, we needed to get out of our current predicament, back to Pimento — not that I could recall the place — and round up additional help to break the chains of bondage on Shaklin’s slaves. But to do that, I needed to be healthy, as in a hundred percent.
If the only weight I was to carry was my own, I thought I could be ready at any time. But given I was going to need to carry a small woman most of the 15-plus miles, passing out from a low blood level or stitches that might rip open and causing more blood loss wasn’t a particularly good idea. My wounds would have to be nearly fully healed and I’d have to be sure I was properly hydrated.
The second problem was the most critical. Just how in the hell were we going to sneak out past armed guards without getting caught? And once we were gone, what could possibly buy us an extra hour or two so we could make it to Pimento shortly before sunrise?
And while I was venting to myself, I glanced at Livy and she must have noticed my frustration.
“If you talk about it, maybe I could help,” she said kindly.
“How come they have guns and we don’t?” I begged. “How is it possible I’m some modern-day Jesse James and I showed up here without some sort of weapon?”
Liv shrugged and looked away. “We were kind of wondering that, too. We even searched the field real good again after a day or two. Thought maybe you’d dropped it somewhere out there. Then we backtracked your footprints to where you’d been hiding when Mr. Shaklin came riding in. But we didn’t find a thing. Sorry.”
“I’m some big killer,” I stewed. “And I don’t have a gun. Maybe I can find a sharp stick and threaten to put someone’s eye out.”
Liv laughed at my comment. She certainly was a sweet woman. Her almost childlike beliefs and views on life made the whole rotten adventure almost tolerable.
“Do you know how many people I’ve killed?” I asked. Though the question was somewhat morbid, I wondered what she had heard.
“No idea,” she replied. “I’m sure it’s not all that many though. Not what some people say at least. You were always so kind and sweet and gentle. The thing I remember most about you was your smile. You always had such a nice smile. I haven’t seen that since you came. Maybe being good with a gun makes a person that way. Not so happy, I mean.”
That was me; a not-so-happy killer. Yippee.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Two nights later, I laid awake listening to Sasha moan and groan in her sleep while Morgan snored lightly. I’d been relegated back between those two since my little passing-out episode. Morgan said she needed to
keep a close eye on me. Sara had added that they couldn’t take the chance of me getting up in the middle of the night and wandering out on the front porch to pee. She had a point. I’d been prone to doing that while I slept on the couch.
We needed a plan to escape. Better put, I needed to come up with a plan. The women were busy with their weekday jobs and had little extra time to come up with any further ideas. Apparently, the wives were all getting edgy as Shaklin’s anger grew and he took out their angst on the help.
I had tried several times to engage Liv in a gab session where we would toss ideas out and see if any stuck to the wall. For the most part, her thoughts were of safety and thus she avoided our talks with quietness. The bottom line with that one was that she didn’t want to be the one whose plan failed and got us all killed. I guess I couldn’t blame her tepidness.
What we needed was a diversion so as to make our escape into the corn and south to the first main road. From there, we could parallel that road until we were headed north and one of the women, most likely Morgan or Sasha, knew where we were. Both claimed to know the area between Hymera, the nearest town just north of our location, and Pimento.
With 15 hours of travel time, our diversion needed to come somewhere an hour or two before sunset. That and another 12 hours of complete darkness would get us close enough to Pimento by sunrise. We’d talked about it and had agreed that if we were within a mile or two of our destination when the first rays of light hit, we’d be safe enough to continue or hide out until we knew it was safe to get into town.
The problem with the diversion idea was that if somehow Shaklin’s men discovered it was a ruse before the sun went down, we might end up easy pickings for them. That meant the ladies would be returned to their boss for punishment, most likely in shackles, and I’d be executed on the spot.
I climbed out of bed gently enough as to not wake my companions and made my way into the living room. Outside it was bright; I think we were near a full moon. The whitewashed landscape looked eerie to me. I noticed all three guards directly ahead of me, maybe some 50 yards, just at the edge of the tree line. They seemed to be chatting about something.
I couldn’t remember the name of the women’s guard, the one on that night, but he was easy to spot. He was the one not holding a rifle. I noticed the moonlight glint off the barrels the other two held. They’d be the death of me yet.
Two men turned and walked away as a third one with a gun made his way directly towards our front door. Something inside my head screamed for me to hide, but I found myself frozen in place. Was he going to come knock on our door?
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
At the last moment, he turned right and bounded up the steps to Cabin Three. I heard his boots slap against the porch boards and then his fist pound on the door.
“Charolette?!” he shouted. With the window open about halfway and not a hint of a breeze, I could hear everything he said clearly. “Charolette, you need to come out here. I need to talk to you.”
I saw a lamp flicker to life inside the cabin and then one of the older women opened the front door.
“Ramos Stanlard,” she scolded loudly. “You need to go back to your duties and leave us alone. It’s the middle of the night and we need our—”
“Shut up,” the guard replied. “Charolette needs to get out here so I can talk to her. Mr. Shaklin’s orders.”
“She will not be doing any such thing,” the woman retorted. “I don’t care if God himself is asking. Her foot still needs time to mend.”
I watched as he removed the rifle from his shoulder and let it hang by his side in a show of brute strength.
“I’ve asked nicely, Mrs. Hampton,” Ramos replied in a deep voice. “I’m not going to ask again.”
“Damn it,” someone beside me in the dark whispered. I jumped and nearly filled my pants. I looked briefly to see that it was Morgan, then saw the others coming to watch the show as well.
“I knew something like this was going to happen,” Sasha added nervously. “The minute he let his goons near us, I knew there’d be trouble.”
“Shush,” Morgan said. “I want to hear what’s going on.”
In the dimly lit doorway, a small form appeared. It could have only been Charolette.
“Here I am. So, what do you want, Ramos?” the young woman asked so quietly we could barely hear her.
He pointed towards the center of the cabins. “I’m supposed to see how your foot is coming along. Do a couple laps out front and let me see your progress.”
Morgan bolted for the door before anyone could stop her.
“She’s in her night clothes,” the older woman scolded.
“Not a big deal,” Ramos replied with a laugh. “Ain’t much to see on her anyway. Not like I’ve got any interest in a runt like that.”
“Stop right there!” Morgan shouted from our porch. “Her foot needs to heal more before she can just go climbing steps and doing a lap. Use that head of yours for something besides holding up your hat, Ramos.”
For a long, tense moment, the three on the other cabin’s porch stared at Morgan. She held firm, hand on her hips, taking a few small steps towards the edge. When Ramos jumped from the other porch and approached ours, my remaining housemates gasped collectively.
“Mind your own business, Morgan,” he advised sternly. “You’re barely healed from your last round of smarting off.”
“You don’t need to do this,” she pled. “Just go tell Shaklin she can barely walk still. He won’t know the difference.”
In the moonlight, I could see the man sneer. “Oh how I’d love to take my rifle butt to that smart mouth of yours. Shaklin would probably reward me for doing that. Then maybe I’ll go inside and drag Livy out here and make a woman out of her. Oh, I’d like that, Morgan. So, go ahead and smart off again.”
She knelt, folding her hands as though she were in prayer. “Please be decent. Please don’t do this. Only harm will come to Charolette’s foot if you do this.”
“Why don’t you come out here then and help her walk?” he asked, still seeming amused by everything going on. The barrel of the gun pointed back at Charolette.
Morgan carefully climbed off the porch and went to help her friend. In small, uneasy steps, the pair climbed down and stood in the moonlight.
“Walk out to the tree line and back now,” Ramos ordered. “And don’t dawdle. I got other crap to do yet tonight.”
The pair walked slowly out and back, Charolette’s intermittent yelps piercing the still night air. When they tried to pass in front of the man, he raised his gun to stop them.
“How about another lap?” he asked in a calm voice, far too calm for my liking.
“Please, Ramos,” Morgan replied. “She’s already hurting enough. You’ve seen she can’t hardly walk. Let’s just be done.”
I saw him nod slightly but couldn’t see his face. “Okay, you wanna play it that way, I can play.” His pause seemed evil-like, as though he had something worse planned for the pair.
“I don’t want to play any games,” Charolette whined. “I just wanna go lay down. My foot really hurts.”
He took two steps closer to Morgan and the small woman. They were now less than five feet apart.
“If that’s the way you want it,” he said, loudly enough for everyone to hear. I could see the others from cabins three and one on their porches and my three housemates scooted past me to join in solidarity. “I can let you off easy this time.”
I let out a long breath. Charolette’s ordeal was over.
“I just need you both to do one thing for me,” he continued. “I need you both to take your clothes off for me.”
And then hell broke loose on the three porches.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
“Shaklin will string you up when he finds out, Ramos!” someone from Cabin One shouted. “Don’t do it, girls. He can’t make you.”
His weapon rose quickly, pointing at the two young women before him. When he turned and faced th
e group, all humor was gone from his face.
“Here’s what’s gonna happen,” he snarled. I heard the hammer of his rifle click back. “My buddy took your boy up to the big house to get his ass chewed by Shaklin. Something about sloppy work that someone’s been reporting. It’s gonna take a while. And since I got time, I thought I’d put it to good use. I ain’t gonna touch either one of them. I just want to see what they’re hiding.
“Now if they don’t start peeling those night shirts off by the time I get to three, I’m gonna shoot Morgan. Seems like she was trying to escape. And when poor Charolette tried to run off after her, well, she gets shot too.” His pause was meant to intimidate. It seemed to be working, as not another word had been uttered.
“If any of you want to try and fight me,” he continued, “I’ll kill as many of you as I can. Mass insurrection, you know. Y’all had me outnumbered and tried to take advantage of the situation. Now, it doesn’t have to be that way. Your two friends here can make everything cool.” He turned and faced them again. “Just get peeling those clothes off and come give me a nice, up-close look.”
Everyone was silent as time stood momentarily still. When neither Morgan nor Charolette complied with his request, he reached for his side. The flash of steel signaled that he had a knife as well as a gun, and a rather large knife at that.
“When I get to three, I’d better see some action,” he seethed. “Don’t make me use this knife to cut those clothes off of you two. Because I won’t be gentle.”
Morgan slowly lowered her hand. I assumed she was about to lift the bottom of her shirt. Instead, she shocked me by taking Charolette’s trembling hands in hers.
“No,” Morgan replied defiantly. “You can kill us, but you’re not going to shame us.”
