by Sandy Nadeau
****
Kane continued his rough treatment of his father. He raised his hand as if to strike the old man.
Mandy got on her horse and hollered “Hee-ya!” The horse took off at a full run. She leaned forward and pulled back so the horse would jump the fence.
She raced near them hollering, “Get away from him.” As she neared the back porch, she dismounted and ran to her neighbor’s aid.
Kane leveled his gun straight at her.
She stopped in her tracks.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he bellowed.
“What are you doing?” Mandy yelled back. “This is your father.”
“You need to mind your own business. We just came for our stuff, and we’ll be out of here.”
Mandy ignored him, and turned to Mr. Shonee. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m OK. You shouldn’t have come. Fool woman.”
“I’m not going to watch you get hurt.”
Kane laughed. “Yeah, and now you can both get hurt.” He pointed the gun at his father. “None of this would have happened if you’d ‘a just kept that property.”
“Bah. Kane, you were bleedin’ me dry. You’re a lazy, good fer nothin’ son. You could have just gotten a job and been responsible for yourself, but no, you had to leech off me all these years. I’m fed up with takin’ care of you. What good was that land going to do for me, anyway?”
“Do you know how much money I been makin’ out of that cave? It was ours, old man. I found that red gold when I was a boy, but I had no idea it would become so valuable. They got a big piece of it at the museum of the mining college that someone can have for a donation of ten grand. Ten grand! All that stuff in the cave was ours. You sold it off and I could have gotten that rock without all this trouble. If it weren’t for Mark here, causing enough distractions to keep them people away from that side of the land, I may never have gotten in there.”
Mark walked up from the shed carrying a duffle bag.
Mandy studied her former employee. “Mark. You started the fire, didn’t you?”
He wouldn’t look her in the eye.
“Yeah, but if he would have done it right, it would have been worse, and you’d have been too busy to work on anything else. Including nosing around the area.” Kane shouted.
“And the note?” Mandy asked. “The brake line? You did that too, didn’t you? How did you get involved with this guy?”
“We met in town a few years back. He thought if I got a job with you, we’d have a better chance of getting in that mine. Kane wanted the stones. He knew he had to get back in there. Said we could get rich.” Mark stared at his shoes.
“Mark. We treated you like family.”
“I know, Miss Mandy.” He looked up, and then hung his head again. “I’m awful sorry it’s come to this. I didn’t want that girl hurt. She got away, didn’t she?”
“Enough of this. You don’t have to tell her nothin’. Shut up. I gotta think.” Kane stepped over to the stuff they’d removed from the shed.
Jon called out to Mandy as his horse neared the fence.
Kane raised his gun and fired a shot high over Jon’s head.
Jon reared up on the horse.
Mandy screamed. “Jon, go back.”
“Listen to your lady, buddy. Get out of here or she’s gonna get hurt.”
Jon dropped down off the horse and stayed low. “Kane, the sheriff knows you’re here. Let them go and you get out of here. The police are on their way.”
Kane swore under his breath and glared at his reluctant partner. “Get them in the house. I’ll get our stuff to the truck.”
Mark motioned Mr. Shonee and Mandy inside.
Mandy helped Mr. Shonee get to his feet.
The old man whispered, “You shouldn’t have come.”
“We’ll be OK. I’ve been praying hard. Help is coming.”
****
Kane continued threatening Jon with the gun even as he carried boxes to the truck that sat on the east side of the house. He dropped them into the back, and then went to the patio door. He yelled to Jon across the fence. “Get out of here man, or you’ll be sorry. I’ll kill her and the old man. You need to leave, now.”
Terrified for Mandy, Jon offered a quick prayer. “God, protect Mandy and Mr. Shonee, please, I can’t lose her…” He got on the horse and headed towards the ranch.
Kane went inside the house.
Once out of Kane’s sight, Jon turned the horse and went towards the road. The deputies would arrive soon. He grabbed the radio and called in to Sue.
“Yeah, Jon. They’re on their way. They should be there any minute.”
“Call them and let them know Mandy and Mr. Shonee are being held hostage, now. I’m going to try and sneak over there.”
“Jon, wait until help arrives. Let them handle it.”
“Mandy’s in there, Sue.”
****
Mandy and Mr. Shonee sat side by side on the old green couch in the living room.
Mr. Shonee pounded his cane against the floor. “Kane, for cryin’ out loud. This is ridiculous. All this for money? You don’t even care what happens to your old man. At least let Mandy go. You ain’t got no reason to keep her here.”
“Shut up. Since when do you care about them?” Kane went over to the front window, looked out, and then pulled the beige drapes closed. “If she’d minded her own business, she wouldn’t be here.”
Mark stood in the doorway of the kitchen, hands in his back pockets. “Kane, let’s just leave. If we go now, we have a chance to get out of here.”
Sirens screamed as the police raced down the road.
Kane began to panic. He locked the front door. “Lock the back door, Mark.” He peeked through the drapes. “Dang it. There’s two cop cars pulling in.”
Mr. Shonee sat forward. His hands rested on the top of his cane.
Mandy gently rubbed his back to comfort the man as she stared down at her lap. Fear at how irrational Kane had become grew. Silently, she prayed.
Kane went to a small window on the other side of the front door and yelled to the approaching officers, “Get back or I’ll shoot them both.”
They must have done so because Kane began to pace.
Mandy pleaded, “Kane, just let us go. It doesn’t have to get any worse.”
Kane’s red face deepened in color. “This is your fault.” He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet.
She struggled to free herself.
Mr. Shonee swung his cane hard against his son’s legs, which caused Kane to fall back.
Kane slapped the old man’s face.
Mandy, furious that he would do that to his dad, pushed the unbalanced man.
Mark rushed over.
Kane grabbed at Mandy, but his grip fell away as she jerked back her arm. He still held the gun in his right hand. He fell on the floor, and then leveled the gun at Mandy.
She froze.
“No…” Mark hollered and flung himself at Kane.
Mandy fell towards Mr. Shonee, pushing him over on the couch.
A loud pop echoed in the room.
Mandy screamed.
Police burst through the door and were on top of the two men.
Mandy carefully moved off the old man.
Mark was bleeding and holding his arm. He had rolled away from Kane.
The police put handcuffs on Kane, who was pinned face down to the floor with an officer’s knee in his back, arms behind him.
“Mark, are you OK?” She cried, searching for the source of the bleeding.
“Just go away, Miss Mandy.” He rocked back and forth holding his arm, pain in his expression. He wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“Mark, you took that bullet for me. Why would you do that?”
“I never wanted anyone to get hurt.” He held his hand against the wound, but blood continued to drip between his fingers.
Two officers dragged a screaming and cursing Kane out the door.
&nb
sp; A policeman came over to them, pressed the button on the microphone at his shoulder giving the all clear for medical personal to enter and began applying pressure to Mark’s wound.
Jon burst through the door. “Mandy, are you all right?” Fear etched his face.
“Jon.” She jumped up and threw her arms around her husband. “I’m fine, but Mark’s hurt.”
“I thought you’d been shot.” He buried his face into her neck and Mandy felt the warmth of tears.
“Mark jumped in front of Kane when he tried to shoot me.” Her voice trembled as the adrenaline rush left her shaky. “He saved me, Jon.”
The medics came in the front door with their large medical bags. One began to bind up Mark’s wound. The other checked on Mr. Shonee, who abruptly waved them away.
“Mark, how did you get involved in all this?” Jon asked. “What were you thinking?”
“I didn’t think anyone would get hurt, Jon. I’ve known Kane for a long time and we thought I could keep an eye on how much time you’d spend over by the cave that held the red gold. He said it was rightfully his, that he owned the land. I don’t know, Jon. I’m stupid to get mixed up in this. I’m really sorry.” He winced when the medics helped him to his feet to take him out to the ambulance.
The police escorted Mark and the EMTs to the waiting ambulance.
Mandy turned to their neighbor.
Mr. Shonee was leaning on the corner of the couch. A single tear ran down his face.
21
Mandy took Mr. Shonee’s hand and guided him down on the couch. She sat next to him.
Jon squatted in front of him and placed a hand on his knee.
“Are you all right, Mr. Shonee?”
The old man sniffed. “What’s the matter with that boy? I don’t understand what could have made him do things like this. He could have killed any one of us. If he would have shot you, Mandy, I never would have been able to forgive myself.”
Mandy leaned her head against the man’s shoulder, and held his arm. “Even if he had, Mr. Shonee, it wouldn’t have been your fault.”
“He’s my son! What did I do wrong with him?” Tears slid down his cheeks.
Jon patted the man’s knee. “Mr. Shonee, Kane made his own choices in life. We can do all we can to lead our children right, but if they choose to go the wrong way, that’s their decision.”
“That’s right. Remember when we talked that day on your porch? God can work on Kane, but He won’t force Himself on your son. Kane chose wrong and has consequences to suffer, but it isn’t your fault. We would never blame you.”
“Why did you still seem concerned for Mark? He’s just as guilty.”
“Mark got caught up in greed and deceit. It explains a lot of why he’s been so distant all these years. I’ve spent so much time praying for him to find Jesus, it’s hard to just turn that off.” Jon shook his head.
“You two seem to handle all this pretty darn good. You just ought to be really mad at me.”
“Oh, Mr. Shonee, you’re our neighbor.” Mandy said. “I know we’ve had some tough disagreements, but we can’t hold it against you. If we don’t forgive you, how can we expect Christ to forgive us?”
“I don’t know about that stuff. I just know you’re different in how you react to this…to me.” The man shook his head. “How will I ever forgive my own boy for all he did?”
“Only with God’s grace in your heart, Mr. Shonee,” Mandy said quietly. “We can do anything when we have Jesus in our hearts.”
The deputy who stood in the doorway cleared his throat. “Um…sorry, I need to ask you all some questions.”
Mandy really wanted to continue this conversation with her neighbor.
The deputy began asking questions about the entire incident.
Mr. Shonee raised his head. “I heard somethin’ outside. I went to the back porch and saw Kane and that other young man out at my shed. It’s quite a ways back there in the yard. My wife didn’t like to keep things too close to the house. I yelled at them to get out of there. That’s when Kane came marching up to the house yelling at me and Mandy showed up. I didn’t even know they were hidin’ stuff in the dang thing. I haven’t used it in years. It’s too hard for me to get back there.”
“We’re going through their truck,” the deputy said. “We’ll get back to you if we have any other questions or information for you. Call if you think of anything else that may be important.” The deputy set his card on the table and let himself out.
Mandy looked at the dark spot on the carpet and got up. “Do you have cleaners under your sink? We need to get that blood out of the carpet.”
“Nah, just leave it. It don’t matter none.”
“Don’t be silly. You don’t want to see that every time you come in the room. I’m here, I can clean it. I don’t think you want to get down there on your hands and knees to scrub it up.”
“No, I don’t ‘spect I would. Rags and spot cleaner under the sink. Gloves, too.”
Mandy found the needed items and set to work.
Jon helped her.
She sprayed the spot, scrubbed it hard, and worked the stain until it was gone. She prayed the whole time. She had a bucket of soapy water to rinse the rags in as they worked. Thankfully, the old brown shag carpet hid the remaining discoloration unless one knew where to look.
“Nope,” Mr. Shonee said, as if he’d been thinking for a while. “Just don’t understand you people.”
Jon sat back on his heels. “What do you mean?”
“Just don’t get why you’d be so nice to me after all that’s happened.”
“Like Mandy said, Mr. Shonee. We’re God’s children. If we expect forgiveness and love from our Lord, can we do less for our neighbors?” Jon asked.
“Well, I sure wish I could feel like that. Just don’t rightly think God would want me.”
“He does, Mr. Shonee. All you have to do is ask and believe.” Mandy carried the supplies back to the kitchen. She continued to explain from around the corner. “God gave his only Son to die on the cross to save us from our sin. That’s a lot of love.”
Jon sat next to the man and looked him in the eye. “If you want, we can tell you more.”
Mandy peeked around the corner in anticipation of his answer.
“Yeah, I think it’s time I listened.”
Mandy smiled. “I’ll put on some coffee.”
Jon looked around the room. “Do you have a Bible in the house?”
“The wife had one. I think it’s over in the drawer of that hutch.”
Jon had to struggle to get the old dark wood to open. Sure enough, under a lot of receipts, papers of all sizes, and some small tools, he found an old, well-worn Bible. “This was your wife’s?”
“Yeah, she was a good woman. Died twenty-seven years ago. Cancer.”
Mandy joined them. “I’m sorry to hear that. That must have been hard.”
“Well, it’s a good thing she wasn’t around to see what our good for nothin’ son turned out to be.”
“There’s always hope for him, Mr. Shonee. Have you ever heard the story of the Prodigal Son?”
“Nope.”
Jon opened the book to Luke 15 and pointed to the passage. “Jesus told the story of a son who wanted his inheritance early so he could go off and live the life he wanted. He left home and lived a life of extravagance. He wasted it all with a lot of bad choices. It eventually left him with nothing. He had to take the lowest of jobs back then, feeding someone’s pigs, and yet he was starving. He went back to his father who greeted him with love and acceptance. His father welcomed him back in, the past forgotten.”
“You sayin’ Kane will come back like that?”
“Not necessarily. He might, but the story really shows what all of us can be like. We all make bad choices. We all turn our backs on the Father. The heavenly Father.”
Mandy continued, “And when we reach a point of realizing that God was right, we can turn back to Him, and He will accept us into His
family. It’s a heavenly party when we choose His Son, Jesus. God is like the father in the story. He wants us to return to Him. He’s just waiting for us to ask. He’ll welcome you back, right now.”
“No matter what I’ve done wrong?” The old man’s face held skepticism.
Jon smiled. “No matter what. We’re all sinners, Mr. Shonee. We all needed Jesus to die for us so that we could receive eternal life in heaven. He not only died for us, He rose from the grave and waits for us to answer His knock on the door of our hearts.”
“Sounds pretty simple. I’ve not been a nice man most of my life, as you know, and yer sayin’ I can just ask and I’ll get to heaven?”
“That’s it.” Mandy touched his arm. “You just have to believe in Jesus and what He did for us all.”
“Considerin’ my wife believed it, and she was a wonderful woman. Here you two are bein’ nice to me, helpin’ me, after what my son did to you. After all the trouble I’ve caused you over the years, and then you’re scrubbin’ my carpet. There’s gotta be somethin’ to this whole religion thing.”
“It’s not religion, Mr. Shonee,” Jon said. “It’s about a personal relationship with Jesus. Getting to know Him as a friend. Just accept being a part of His family.”
“We’d love to call you a brother in the Lord. Do you want that, Mr. Shonee?” Mandy searched the man’s eyes.
“Yeah, I reckon I do. I sure need something to change in my life. It ain’t been workin’ the way I’ve wanted. I don’t know how else I’m gonna get through this mess with Kane.”
“We can lead you in a prayer. If you can truly believe that Jesus was God’s son, sent to be a sacrifice for our sins, died on the cross and rose again, you can be called a child of God.”
Mr. Shonee chuckled. “Ain’t much of a child anymore, but I do believe what you say. It must be true.”
Mandy sat next to him again.
Jon pulled up a chair and took the old man’s hand and the hand of his wife. He explained, “I’ll start praying, and then all you have to do is ask Jesus into your life.”
“OK.”
Jon bowed his head. Mr. Shonee followed his lead. Jon began, “Lord, we come to You today with thankful hearts. We thank You for protecting us through the difficult events of this day. We pray that You will watch over Mark with his injury and heal his wound. We especially pray that Mark and Kane will come to a realization that they, too, need You as their Savior.
