The Encounter

by Norman Fitts

  "Drop it, now." Sarah's finger took the slack out of the trigger pull.

  The man glanced around, then let the gun fall. The others scrambled to their feet. Again Frank's rage overrode his judgment. He forgot about his sidearm, went for the knife in his boot and lunged at Margaret.

  She grabbed the knife hand with her left, and his throat with her right. She easily crushed his right wrist. He screamed and she lifted him into the air. She held him there a foot off the porch, kicking and gasping for air. The other four backed away staring. One missed the steps and fell from the porch.

  Margaret dropped Frank. He rolled on the porch, his hand grasping at his throat.

  She reached down for the knife. "I'm tired of seeing these things." She flung it. Everyone watched it disappear over the barn several hundred feet away. She stepped over Frank toward the others. Everybody backed away. Even Sarah took a step back. "Get these two and get the hell outta here..." Nobody moved. She raised her voice. "Move..."

  "Before you do", Sarah jumped in, "leave the guns."

  Everyone dropped their guns on the porch. They picked up Frank, and the one Sarah shot, and got them on a horse. Everyone else mounted up.

  Margaret stepped up. "Tell anyone else that wants to cause trouble, if they try anything like this again I'll finish this fight."

  Margaret and Sarah stood next to one another and watched them go.

  Sarah looked at Margaret. "You'll finish this fight?"

  "Heard that in a movie once."

  "What's a movie?"

  "Never mind. Let's go out back and pick something for lunch, then I'll give you a little history lesson in reverse."

  Sarah and Margaret turned toward the door. Margaret looked at Sarah. "Stay here. There's another one by the barn."

  "By the..." Sarah started to turn.

  Margaret took her by the arm. "Don't look." They entered the house.

  ***

  Josh's shortcut had gotten him there about the same time Frank rode up to the house. Josh dismounted and took his rifle with him to the corner of the barn. He saw Margaret come out, but he couldn't hear what was being said. He saw most of them go after her and one go toward the door. That one had to be after Sarah. If he let him get inside he couldn't help her. He pulled back the hammer, but before he could fire, Sarah shot the man herself. He swung his rifle toward Frank, hesitated, and then witnessed the rest of what happened. Margaret wouldn't have spotted him if he hadn't jumped when the knife whistled over the barn.

  What the hell was going on, he thought. How could a woman, or anybody, do what he'd just seen.

  He decided to approach the house. He backed away from the corner of the building and turned to face Margaret standing behind him. She grabbed the rifle from his hand.

  He took several panicked steps back, lost his footing and sat down hard. "I... I... wasn't with them. I followed them to see if I could help."

  Margaret stepped up to him and reached down with her hand. He hesitated, and then took it. She pulled him to his feet. "Go to the house", she said.

  Josh walked quickly away from her, toward the house. She knew Josh was there to protect Sarah, but shooting your own brother would have been a difficult thing for anyone to do. She tied off his horse and followed him.

  ***

  Joseph sat on the ridge watching the woods beyond the water hole. The two mares grazed at the end of their tethers.

  Lawrence sat a little ways away from him. "You never answered my question", Joseph ignored him, "about whether your father would want you to do this."

  Joseph's head came up at the sign of movement in the trees beyond the water hole. The two mares stomped around and pulled at the ropes. He held up his hand for Lawrence to be quiet. Lawrence began to look, himself.

  The stallion stood just inside the cover of the forest. He saw the mares. He also saw the ropes. That usually meant men, but he couldn't see them or smell them. The rest of his harem began to edge toward the water. He stamped and snorted warning them off. He wanted to look this over a little longer.

  Joseph stretched out and brought the rifle to his shoulder. Lawrence lay down beside him.

  "That's a long shot for a Seventy-three Winchester", Lawrence whispered.

  Joseph looked at him. "If you're gonna keep talkin', go back with the horses".

  Lawrence looked at him, then back to the water hole. There he was. A large, black stallion walked slowly toward the far side of the pond.

  Joseph eased the hammer back and began to sight his target. Every nerve in his body anticipated the hammer fall. He took a deep breath and let it out.

  ***

  The man Sarah shot slumped forward holding onto the neck of his horse. As life left him he slipped to one side and fell to the ground. This loss of life caused a time paradox that filtered back to the present.

  ***

  There was a cracking sound. Lawrence screamed, rolled on his back and grabbed his right thigh.

  Startled, Joseph fired before he wanted to. The bullet grazed the meaty part of the horse's shoulder. He jumped to his feet and tried to chamber another round, but the stallion was gone. "God damn you." He screamed. He looked back at Lawrence and caught his breath.

  The femur in Lawrence's right thigh protruded through his pants. Lawrence grimaced with pain. Blood spread out around the hole in the cloth. Joseph dropped the rifle and knelt beside him. Then, before his eyes, the broken bone receded back into Lawrence's pants and the bleeding stopped.

  Lawrence lay with his eyes closed. His breathing was steady and he didn't appear to be in pain any longer. Joseph slowly stood back up.

  Lawrence opened his eyes and looked up at him. "Did you kill him?"

  Joseph was staring at Lawrence's pants. Lawrence looked. His eyes widened and he sat up quickly. He reached down; touched the blood soaked material and looked at his fingers. He felt around the hole, but nothing seemed wrong.

  Lawrence got to his feet. "What happened?"

  Joseph hesitated. He was dealing with powers here he couldn't understand and wasn't sure he wanted to. "Your leg just... broke. The bone was sticking out. Then it fixed itself. I never seen anything like it and I never want to again."

  "My leg?" Lawrence dropped his pants, and then tore the hole in his underwear to expose his leg. The blood was still wet, but the wound in his leg was an old surgical scar. He ran his fingers across it, then pulled up his clothes and looked at Joseph. "I did break my leg, five years ago in an auto accident... You say it just happened?"

  Joseph nodded. "What's goin' on?"

  "The future", Lawrence said, more to himself than to Joseph. "Something changed the future..." Lawrence glanced around thinking about what he'd just said. Suddenly he shouted, "The house... Something's happened at the house." He ran for the horses.

  Joseph yelled after him. "I'll cut the mares loose."

  Lawrence looked back. "We don't have time for that."

  "I'm not leavin' 'em tied off." Joseph ran down the hill toward the water hole.

  Lawrence grabbed the reins of his horse and swung into the saddle. He picked up the reins to Joseph's horse and spurred his mount toward the top of the hill.

  The mares were gone. Joseph was almost back. The stallion would win this one, he thought. Unless his bullet had cut deeper than it looked.

  Lawrence topped the ridge, dropped the reins, and then whipped his horse to a gallop toward home.

  Joseph picked up the reins, mounted and started after him. "Please God, let Sarah be alright", he said to himself.

  ***

  Margaret had followed Josh back toward the house. Sarah met him on the porch. They stood apart for a second, and then she held out her arms to him. He went to her and they embraced. He could feel her trembling.

  "I wasn't part of this. Please believe me. I almost shot Frank."

  She looked up at him, took his head in her hands and kissed him on the lips. They held the kiss until Margaret arrived.

  Josh ended the kiss, looked into S
arah's face for a moment, and then turned to Margaret. "Somebody wanta explain to me what I just saw? Nobody can do what you just did."

  Margaret still held the rifle. "You first. What's goin' on? Was all this because your brother lost a fight with my husband?"

  "No. Not all of it", he looked at Sarah, "you wanta tell me what's happenin' here?"

  Sarah looked at Margaret not sure what to tell him.

  "Why you looking at her?" Josh wanted an answer from someone. He looked at Margaret. "No woman can do that to a man. What the hell are you?"

  There was that word, what, again. She took the rifle in both hands. "First of all, I'm a who, not a what", and to make her point she brought the rifle down across her raised thigh. Wood fragments, metal parts and springs went everywhere. She took a step toward them holding a piece of the rifle in each hand. Josh stepped in front of Sarah. She walked past them to the door and turned. "I'm tired of people trying to kill us. I wanta know what you meant by, not all of it."

  Sarah stepped in front. "Let's go inside." She took Josh's hand. Josh never took his eyes off Margaret as he and Sarah entered the house.

  This had become much too dangerous, she thought. They couldn't risk another night. History had to be allowed to take its own course. They couldn't interfere anymore even if it meant Sarah and Joseph might get hurt or even die. She followed them in and shut the door.

  ***

  You can only run a horse so far, so fast. Joseph and Lawrence had to slow and let the horses find a pace they could keep.

  Neither one had much to say. Joseph glanced back at Lawrence's bloodied pants. His whole world had revolved around the ranch. He hadn't thought much about what lay beyond the mountains much less the stars. He'd never thought of himself as better than anyone, but now he knew things. Things no one would believe, but he knew them to be true. He thought about abstract things. He wondered how all this had turned out the first time it happened without these people to change things. He couldn't lose the feeling that somehow he didn't belong here. A feeling that had manifested itself the moment she caught the arrow.

  They crossed the mesa toward the house.

  "Everything looks okay", Joseph said.

  "There's a horse tied to the fence. That one of yours?"

  Joseph spurred his horse ahead. Lawrence followed. Joseph dismounted at the fence. Lawrence looked toward the house, and then back to Joseph.

  Joseph rubbed his hand along the horses flank. "Bar-K".

  Margaret stepped out on the porch. Lawrence reined his horse around and spurred him to a gallop. Joseph pulled his rifle, stepped through the fence and pushed his way through the horses. If there were trouble he'd be better off on the ground.

  Lawrence was out of the saddle before the horse stopped. Margaret met him at the steps.

  "What happened to your leg?" She stared at his thigh.

  Before he could answer Joseph ran up with his rifle. "Who does that horse belong to?"

  Sarah and Josh stepped into the doorway.

  Joseph started up the steps. "What's he doin' here?"

  Margaret put her hand on his chest and stopped him. "Slow down. He helped us."

  Joseph glared at Josh.

  "What happened", Lawrence asked. "I know something happened". He touched his leg. "It caused this."

  Margaret looked at Lawrence's blood stained clothes. "Frank Kramer and some others were here. Sarah shot one of them."

  Joseph pointed at Josh with his rifle. "Was he with 'em."

  "No." Sarah spoke up. "He followed 'em. He was tryin’ to warn us."

  Lawrence stepped up on the porch. "Well, whatever happened it changed the future and caused this."

  Margaret took his arm. "Are you alright?"

  "Yeah, everything else seems to be intact. I remember breaking my leg in an accident. I guess my memory was altered along with my leg. Something you did here will cause that accident to happen a hundred years from now. We gotta get outta here while there's still a future to go back to."

  "I know", she said. "Let's talk about it inside."

  Everyone moved back into the house. Joseph passed Josh and Sarah in the doorway. She held tight to Josh's arm. He looked at both of them. It was obvious she had feelings for this guy. For Josh to go against his family showed he felt the same about her. He could live with that. The look on his sister's face said he'd have to.

  ***

  Ben Kramer paced around outside the room that held his son. The doctor was still in with him. Two of the men with Frank brought him home. When he first got there he could still speak a little and he told his father what happened. The two men backed him up.

  The black haired woman wasn't really a woman. She was a demon; a witch.

  By the time the doctor got there Frank could barely breath. The door opened, John stepped out and closed it.

  He faced Ben. "I'm sorry. His throat was crushed. The swelling closed off his airway and he smothered. I'm sorry."

  Ben stared at John, but all he could see was the witch that killed his son. John asked him how it happened, but Ben never heard him. "They're gonna pay, every last one of 'em." He turned and left the room.

  John called after him. "Who's gonna pay? Who did this?"

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  By late afternoon a plan had been settled on. Lawrence and Margaret would outfit themselves with horses, blankets, canteens, smoked venison from the smokehouse, vegetables from the garden and a few canned goods from the storeroom. There were caves, higher in the mountains, a few miles to the southwest. They formed the entrance to some underground caverns. It was a perfect place to wait for help to show up. In a few days Joseph or Josh would resupply them, if they were still there.

  It was getting late by the time they were ready to go. Sarah tried to get them to wait until morning, but they knew the sooner they were out of the McKenly's lives the better for all of them.

  They all gathered on the porch. The horses were tied to the porch supports.

  Joseph extended his hand to Lawrence. "Just cut the horses loose when you don't need 'em any more." Lawrence shook his hand. "They'll find their way back."

  Lawrence released his hand. "Thanks, for everything."

  Sarah put her arms around Margaret's neck. "We wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. I'm gonna miss you so much."

  Margaret hugged her back. "We're gonna miss you too. I'm glad I got to know you both."

  Sarah stepped back. "I guess you're gonna write about us on that thing in your bag?"

  Margaret patted the side of the bag slung from her shoulder. "I already have", to Joseph, "take care of the both of you."

  "Don't worry Miz Casey", Josh spoke up, "I'll be lookin' after Sarah. We talked it out. We're gettin' married."

  Sarah was a little embarrassed. She blushed. She looked at Joseph. He looked back for a moment, and then smiled at her. She smiled back, went to Josh and hugged him.

  "You sure you can find those caves in the dark", Joseph asked? "I could take you."

  "We'll find them", Margaret answered, "but we better use what daylight's left."

  The kids watched as Margaret and Lawrence mounted up. Everyone waved one last time and with a last round of goodbyes, they rode away from the house, Lawrence leading the pack animal.

  Lawrence looked at Margaret. "How much damage do you think we've done? To the future, I mean."

  She took a deep breath. "Well, let's hope the hardest thing you have to do when you get back is explain to your partner what happened to the van you were driving."

  "Or, why I haven't been to the shop for several days."

  They brought the horses to a trot and climbed into the mountains.

  The present is forever manipulated by the past.

  ***

  Ben Kramer had delayed long enough to take care of his son. He was irritated when he couldn't find Josh, but figured he'd just be in the way anyway. He pulled in a dozen of his men, picked up a can of coal oil and half a dozen torches and started for the McKenly pla
ce.

  John went back into town and tried to get the Marshal to do something, but the word had already spread about the witch on the mountain. No one seemed to be against the McKenlys, but he couldn't muster any help.

  Henry Morton couldn't believe his good luck. He never liked Frank very much anyway. He leaned back in the chair behind his desk, drew on a cigar and sipped a whiskey.

  ***

  Joseph, Josh and Sarah sat around the table discussing their plans to help the Caseys when the sound of horses outside brought them to their feet.

  Joseph was the first out the door with his rifle. Sarah and Josh stopped just inside the door. Ben sat on his horse in front of the steps flanked by a half dozen men on each side.

  Ben looked at Josh. "I might've known I'd find you here, with the ones who killed your brother?"

  "Frank's dead?" There was a sudden twinge in his stomach. There wasn't any love lost between them, but Frank was his brother. "They didn't do anything but defend themselves", Josh insisted. "Frank came after them. I saw it."

  "You stand with these", Ben yelled, "against your own kin. You ain't no son of mine", to Joseph, "we want the witch", pointing to Sarah, "and you girl, for murder."

  Joseph moved back inside the door. "Ain't nobody takin' anybody. Now, get off our land."

  Ben looked at his men. "Get the girl and check the house for the others."

  Several of the men started to dismount. Joseph shot the one to Ben's right. Ben drew and fired. The bullet struck Joseph in the stomach. Sarah screamed. He fell back inside and fired again from the floor hitting Ben's horse in the chest. The animal and rider went down. Josh slammed the door, grabbed Joseph's rifle and fired several times through the front window.

  Two men pulled Ben from under his dead horse and they all retreated to the corral.

  Sarah was hysterical trying to do something for her brother. The front of his shirt was covered with blood. He was holding his stomach. His breathing was short and quick.