Silence greeted him. None dared look him in the eye. Not to be dissuaded, Brother Eustice stood up, stared into the heavens, raised his arms, and spoke with authority.
“Dear Lord, look down upon your unworthy servants and bless us with courage in the comin’ days. The Devil will come upon each and every one of us, seekin’ revenge for castin’ out his demon and the demon’s spawn. We will remain steadfast in our resolve—to a man.”
“Amen,” mumbled Buck.
“We will withstand the onslaught of the evil one and not be trapped by his devious schemes.”
“Amen,” said Buck and Cooter.
“We will return evil with righteousness, resist temptation with resolve, and answer cleverness and trickery with silence.”
“Amen,” the group replied.
“Your word has given us the way, oh Lord. ‘Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discernin’ if they hold their tongues.’ There’s ‘a time to be silent and a time to speak.’ This is the time to be silent.”
“Amen!” The chorus grew louder.
Brother Eustice smiled and sat down. He bowed his head, and the others followed suit.
“We end this day givin’ thanks to you, oh Lord. Tomorrow, we rid the world of the tools of the sorcerer. What we hide will remain hidden, for we know that you will protect your holy servants. It will be as you have whispered to your humble prophet, so that his chosen disciples will find comfort in their shepherd. Praise be!”
“Praise be!” echoed the men.
“Let us get some rest,” concluded Brother Eustice. “When the morrow comes, we’ll put the matter behind us and never speak of it again. Let Satan search all he wants, the swamp will hold our secrets.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Lacey ran through the forest in a panic. It was past midnight before she stopped next to a small creek and rested, trying to catch her breath. Her eyes wide with fright, she looked around the thick woods, paranoid that the men were following her.
The girl was lost. She didn’t know where she was or where she was going. Her surroundings all looked the same to her. For all she knew, she’d been running in a circle. But that didn’t stop her from moving on. Lacey saw what had happened to her sister, and she could only imagine what might have been her father’s fate. She was terrified of being caught, so she pushed on through the night.
By the time dawn came, the girl was covered from head to toe in mud, dirt, and dried blood. She’d sustained multiple scratches on her arms and her legs from the thick underbrush as well as a few bruises from the dozens of times she’d stumbled over unseen branches and downed trees. She didn’t dwell on her condition. She only wanted to get away from the monsters pursuing her.
In the rising morning light, Lacey spotted a gravel road and followed it, wary of any other travelers that she might come upon. It was still early, and none could be seen or heard. All the same, she proceeded with caution. Just in case.
An hour after dawn, she heard the tell-tale sound of tires on the gravel road. Lacey ran into the nearby woods and lay on the ground behind a mulberry bush to keep out of sight until the vehicle passed by. Minutes later, a white dented-up pickup truck pulling a small boat on a trailer drifted by. Lacey stayed well hidden for a good five minutes until she was certain that the truck was long gone, and then she continued on her journey.
She desperately needed to get away from the men who had murdered her sister. She wasn’t sure that she’d be able to recognize the men, so she was scared to approach anyone who might be connected to the others. Her plan was to remain hidden and keep moving until she came upon a town or someone whom she felt could be trusted, someone who could save her.
It seemed like hours before she heard another vehicle approaching. Once again, Lacey ran and hid in the safety of the trees and watched pensively. Moments later, another vehicle drove by.
When she spotted the six pointed gold star on the car, Lacey ran into the road, waving her arms in a desperate attempt to catch the attention of the vehicle that had just passed.
“Help!” the girl cried, her voice breaking. “Help!”
Much to her dismay, the car kept going, its occupant seemingly oblivious to the distraught child in the middle of the road.
“Please, help me!” she cried as she stumbled and fell onto the hard dirt.
The unmistakable sound of screeching brakes broke through the quiet Alabama air. Lacey looked up. When she saw the brake lights come on and the roof of the car suddenly illuminated with flashing, twirling blue and red lights, she knew that she’d been spotted. At last, her ordeal was over. She’d been saved.
When the door of the sedan swung open, she knew that, from then on, everything was going to be alright. No longer able to hold her emotions in check, she laughed and cried all at the same time and waited for her savior to end her nightmare.
The deputy had been driving through the quiet area, lost in reflection, when he thought he heard someone scream. He slowed down and glanced at his radio, thinking that a sudden call from dispatch was forthcoming, but all was silent. Shaking the cobwebs from his brain, he drove on, wondering if he’d nodded off in his exhausted state. The last thing he needed was to drift off the road and into a ditch. He’d never be able to explain that to his superiors without being mocked about it for years to come.
The officer slapped his cheek and shifted in his seat, determined to rouse himself. He glanced up into the rearview mirror and slammed on the brakes. What the hell?
The deputy threw the gearshift into park, flipped on the flashing lights, and stepped out of his police cruiser. He looked over at the pitiful child lying in the middle of the road. His ruddy complexion paled as if he’d seen a ghost.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Lacey lay curled up on the back seat of the police cruiser, the deputy’s jacket covering her torn dress and bruised and battered body. The car lumbered on down the dirt road, lulling her to sleep. The serenity of the rural area was a stark contrast to the terror that had constituted her last twenty-four hours. The horror was now over. Lacey could finally rest.
Charles Ray’s head popped up at the unexpected sound. He sat under a shade tree, trying to stay out of the bright, morning sun. The relative comfort of his position made it difficult to stay awake, and he knew that he must’ve dozed off. It was his turn to watch the road. If Brother Eustice got wind of his failure, Charles Ray knew the prophet would send Buck to have a private word with him. He shuddered at the thought and stood up to confront the approaching vehicle, his hunting rifle ready.
Minutes later, a dust cloud appeared through the trees to reveal a black and white police car coming down the lane. Charles Ray took his position in the center of the road and waited.
“Who’s that comin’?” Charles Ray heard a familiar voice behind him.
“Not sure,” answered Charles Ray, “but I’m hopin’ it’s Earl.”
Cooter stood at his friend’s side as they watched and waited. Before long, the car pulled up. Deputy Earl Barber nodded, and the two men stood aside to let the vehicle pass. Someone was in the back seat. Charles Ray and Cooter eyed each other with suspicion and followed the car to the clearing.
Earl drove the car into the center. He exited the vehicle, taking care to close the door behind him, and walked over to where the others waited. The deputy felt sick, but he pushed his ill feelings inside and addressed the group in a calculated, measured tone.
“I came out here as soon as I was able to get away,” he said. He spat a glob of tobacco-laced saliva on the ground. “It’s a good thing, too. You boy’s missin’ somethin’?”
The others looked at each other with confusion. Earl had left before their unfortunate situation with the girl. Nobody wanted to be the first to tell him of the previous night’s activities.
“The only thing we was missin’ was you,” Brother Eustice replied. “You put on that uniform and badge, and you think you’re somebody all of a sudden. Don’t be comin’ ‘round here an
d pretendin’ you wasn’t a part of our mission.”
Earl paused. He wasn’t expecting to be on the receiving end of hostility for doing his duty. The deputy nodded, spit again, and said, “I beg to differ, oh holy one.” The sarcasm cut into the morning air like a knife. Buck instinctively pushed out his chest and tightened his grip on his firearm. Earl rested his hand on the revolver in his holster without batting an eye. “I say you’re missin’ something. You want to argue with me ‘bout it?”
“Boys,” interjected Joe Bob, “let’s not lose our heads. Ain’t none of us got any sleep, and we’re all a bit testy. Earl, stop playin’ Gary Cooper and get to the point. We ain’t in the mood for your bullshit right now.”
A whistle echoed from the direction of the police car. The group turned and looked. Cooter and Charles Ray were backing away from whatever they’d seen hiding in the back seat, both looking as if they would faint at any moment.
“My bullshit?” Earl asked. “It ain’t my bullshit that need concern you boys. It’s the bullshit that I seen on my way over here that you should be worried about.”
Earl walked to the car and opened the door. The girl was asleep on the seat. He gently picked her up and carried her out. She began to wake as he placed her on her feet. He pulled his jacket from around her shoulders, took a step back, and motioned toward his find.
“It can’t be!” shouted Jeremiah.
The men gasped in horror as they stared at the very girl that they’d dismembered and tossed into the swamp the night before. Buck fell to his knees and prayed, finally speaking in the tongues he so desperately sought after. Joe Bob ran to the edge of the trees and hurled the few contents that remained in his stomach. Jeremiah cried. Charles Ray and Cooter backed away, their faces pale as they looked at the ghostly apparition in disbelief. Eustice Junior showed no emotion at all, his mind unable to grasp what he saw.
Brother Winchester shouted to the heavens, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The serpent who deceives the whole world was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him!” The prophet threw himself on the ground and punched the dirt with his fists.
Earl watched the display before him in a state of bewilderment. When he’d spotted the girl trying to escape, he figured she had snuck out in the dark while the others were asleep, and she’d ended up on the road in the morning. He retrieved her without difficulty, being that she had no clue who he was and where he was taking her, and he brought her back into the fold. Earl had been lucky. He used that now to display his usefulness to the group, and he added a measure of swagger to remind everyone that he was an officer of the law. He figured he’d get a round of back slapping and a show of appreciation on his return. Instead, it was as if he’d brought on the rapture.
All of a sudden, he noticed that the girl was gone.
“Shit!” he screamed. “Where she’d go?”
The men turned and looked at the spot where the girl had stood moments before. It was empty.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Lacey had drifted off to sleep in the back of the police car, secure in the knowledge that her nightmare was over. Exhausted from the previous night’s events, she’d closed her eyes for what seemed to be only a moment before feeling the deputy’s arms gently pull her from the car and stand her up. She felt the stagnant heat of the morning sun on her exposed arms when the deputy removed his heavy jacket, and she fought against her lethargy to gain her balance and open her swollen eyes. She heard voices around her. Squinting from the bright sunlight, she stretched and attempted to push the cobwebs from her sleepy mind. As her blurry vision slowly cleared, she froze in horror.
Lacey found herself right back in her nightmare. She panicked and ran into the woods. Through the underbrush and around the pine trees, she flew with the grace of a deer, disappearing without a sound under the green canopy.
Unlike the girl, the men ran with all the subtly of a herd of spooked bison. She could hear them behind her, gaining ground. To the girl, it sounded like a gang of giants were on her heels, tearing through the forest in a vengeful wrath.
Lacey sprinted over fallen trees and hurdled over a small creek, determined to escape; but no matter how fast she ran, the others still came. She was out of breath, and she knew she’d never outrun the beasts, so she found a hiding spot at the bottom of a burned out tree and slipped into the shadows. Lacey desperately tried to slow her breathing, frightened that any noise would give her away. Minutes later, she heard the men approach.
“Where’d she go?” asked one.
“I don’t know, but she couldn’t have gotten far,” another replied.
“She’s ‘round here somewhere.”
The disembodied voices surrounded her, each sounding more menacing than the next. Lacey tried to hold her breath as tears ran silently down her flushed cheeks.
“We gotta get her ‘fore she escapes.”
“No shit, dumbass!”
“How the hell did y’all let her get loose in the first place? She was tied up in the back of the truck when I left.”
“Shut the fuck up, Earl. You don’t know shit.”
“You shut the fuck up, Junior. I don’t care who your paw is, I’ll whip your hide if you talk to me like that, you little piece of shit.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
“Shut up, you two! Shut the fuck up!”
“Calm down, JT. Everythin’s going to be alright. Soon as the prophet catches up, he’ll know what to do.”
“Yeah, like he did last time.”
“Don’t be sassing the word of the prophet, Charles Ray. Do you want Buck to set you straight? Ain’t that right, Buck? Buck?”
“Even he ain’t having this shit, Cooter. I mean, what the fuck?”
“It’s the Devil’s work, I tell you. More reason we listen to the prophet.”
“It was him that brought this down on us.”
“Maybe so, but he’s the only one who can deliver us now.”
“What the hell are y’all going on about?”
“The girl, Deputy. We’re talking about the girl.”
“What about her?”
“Winchester killed her yesterday, Earl.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“He raped and strangled her in the back of the truck.”
“Don’t you be castin’ your aspersions on the prophet like that.”
“It was the Devil that did her in. My daddy didn’t rape no one. She was his bride.”
“Don’t be an imbecile, Junior.”
“Buck, are you gonna let him talk about the prophet like that? You were there. Tell them.”
Silence greeted the request. Lacey choked back her tears and balled up in the shadows. Her heart beat so loudly that she was certain the men would hear it. She trembled in terror, praying that they’d leave.
“Buck? You were there. Tell them.”
“I ain’t had nothin’ to do with it.”
“Ain’t had nothin’ to do with what?” Lacey recognized the old man’s voice and whimpered.
“Nothin’, Brother Eustice. We was just talkin’.”
“Talkin’? Why were y’all just talkin’ and not chasin’ after the gypsy girl?”
“We lost her.”
“Then find her. She’ll be the undoin’ of us all if you let her get away. She is the Devil’s plaything. He will not escape from darkness; the flame will wither his shoots.”
“We don’t know where she is.”
“What’s this I hear about you rapin’ and killin’ her?”
“The hell you say, Brother Earl. A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish.”
“How did she come back, Brother Eustice? We cut her up. I threw her arm in the swamp myself.”
“Stand firm in the faith, be courageous; be strong. This is one of Satan’s tricks. We must continue to fight. We shall prevail.”
“You cut her up?”
“Shut up, Earl. You
weren’t there.”
“Yeah, Earl, you weren’t here. Don’t be castin’ your judgment on us. We did as the prophet commanded.”
“For Christ’s sake, Cooter; listen to yourself.”
“How dare you use the Lord’s name in vain, heathen!”
“Y’all are nuts. I picked the girl up on the road this morning. She ain’t dead. I don’t know what you think you saw—”
“Fuck you, Deputy. I cut her head off myself!”
Lacey couldn’t keep from recoiling in horror, her foot slipping in the moist dirt. A loose pebble rolled down the embankment, making a slight sound.
“Shhhh! Did y’all hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“I didn’t hear shit.”
“Shut the fuck up, Junior.”
“You shut up, JT.”
“Both of y’all shut up!”
Whack!
“Ouch! What did you do that for?”
“Ha ha.”
“Shut up, JT!”
Whack!
“Owww! Cut that out!”
“Shut the fuck up! I hear somethin’.”
Silence. The only sound Lacey could hear was the beating of her heart and the breathing she tried so desperately to quiet.
“Well, well, look at what we have here.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The group of angry men stood in a circle around her, discussing her fate as if she were an inanimate object. Lacey lay on the hard dirt, a rag stuffed into her mouth, her arms and legs bound with rope. Tears ran down her pale cheeks, her cries muffled by the gag.
“How can this be, Brother Eustice?” asked Charles Ray.
“It’s the trick of the Devil,” replied the prophet. “The serpent is craftier than any of the wild animals the Lord God has made. We must not give him a foothold.”
“What can we do? Beelzebub will come for us!” cried Jeremiah.
“Submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. JT, my son, we will defeat the dark one. Of this, I swear.”
“What are we gonna do with her?” asked Cooter, nodding to the girl.
The Bone Puzzle Page 9
