I picked up a worn copy of Euclid’s Elements and started thumbing through it. I had to do something to pass the time until they brought our supper, and that was going to be a while since we’d just had lunch not long before. The big man, who I now knew was Madge’s husband Carl, had said something about an early evening matinee. I was hoping the technical difficulties he’d mentioned would prevent it or they would just forget. Somehow, I didn’t think they would forget. But I was gonna go crazy if I didn’t do something to occupy my mind until they came for us again, for whatever reason that might be.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Apparently the technical difficulties had not been resolved, because the matinee had been postponed until the next day. This was the message that Carl had delivered when he stuck his head through the door just a few minutes earlier, and news that I was very happy to hear. He also said that dinner would be served in about an hour, which was impossible to determine since we had no way of telling time. We hadn’t seen the outside since we’d been here, but I assumed it must still be daylight outside because the days were still long, it only being the end of August. School would start back in two weeks. I was just hoping I would be there to attend.
I had given up on Euclid. It required too much concentration, so I had started on a fiction novel I’d found among the pile of books. It was about a young boy that had been kidnapped from a wealthy family and was being held for ransom. I had to wonder if the book had been left there purposely, or if it was just sheer irony. I was actually getting into the story. It turned out that the kid didn’t really care if he was rescued or not, since his father had little time for him and his mother and was an alcoholic. In a twisted way, he was beginning to become attached to his kidnappers, one of which was a good listener and was giving him advice on how to win his father’s affection.
Somewhere in the middle of chapter eighteen, I heard the key being inserted into the lock and the clicking sound of the tumblers. This was it. My pulse was racing and my stomach had begun it’s familiar churning as the door opened. This time it was only Carl, brandishing the gun, but not really pointing it at us.
“I couldn’t help but notice you were making use of your little library. I admire a young man who reads and tries to make something of himself. We have many more books on subjects you might find fascinating. If you would let me know what genres you most enjoy, later on I’ll see if we can round you up something you might find more appealing than the one’s we’ve provided.” He stood there a minute as if in deep thought. “Oh, and I wanted to let you gentlemen know that dinner has been slightly delayed. Something about the sauce for some kind of pastries that are being prepared for dessert. But I was assured it would be ready in another fifteen minutes or so.”
“Thank you for telling us,” I said. I didn’t know what else to say. I didn’t know the proper etiquette to address somebody who was being so polite and accommodating and who also enjoyed torturing us and at some point may kill us.
When he’d walked out I let out a long sigh of relief and frustration. My heart was young, and as far as I knew strong, but I didn’t know how much more it could take. I picked up my book and noticed that when the door opened I had just thrown it on the bed instead of laying it face down to keep my place. Of course I thought we were about to attempt an escape and didn’t figure I’d be doing any more reading. I thumbed back through the pages and finally found my place. I started trying to read again, but kept reading the same sentences over and over.
Snake was dozing again and Glenn was looking through one of the magazines. I had to figure out a way of getting them ready to move without letting them or anybody who might be watching through the mirrored window know what I was doing. I walked over to Snake and shook him. He looked up at me with the startled look people have when they are suddenly aroused from sleep. Glenn laid his magazine down. “What did you wake up Snake for? As long as he’s asleep, he’s not worryin’ and askin’ what’s gonna happen next.”
“I thought we could all do a few exercises before our supper gets here. We ain’t had any exercise in nearly two days.”
“Me and you had some good exercise just a while ago,” Glenn said with a big grin.
“Shut up, Glenn,” I said nodding toward Snake.
“What kind of exercise did you boys do?” Snake wanted to know.
“Oh, they just had us walk around a little bit, Snake. It was while you were asleep. What I though we might do was some push-ups. Something to get our blood pumpin’.”
I got down on the floor in the push-up position and nodded to both of them. They both got in the floor and we pumped off twenty-five of them. After a short break, we did twenty-five more. Then we turned over on our backs and did a few sit-ups. Snake was not very graceful doing floor exercises, but he was a good sport about it. When we’d finished we sat back down on our beds. Now we had to wait. If you’ve ever had to go to the dentist to get a cavity filled or a root canal you know what the wait is like. Multiply that several times and that was what this was like.
I got up and started walking around the room, swinging my arms in circular motions and twisting my body like an athlete warming up for a competition. I suddenly thought of something. I walked over to my bed and laid down. I let my right hand dangle off the edge and slowly lifted it up until I could feel the bottom of the mattress. I slid my fingers between the mattress and box springs just to make sure the gun was still there. I slid my whole hand inside, up to my wrist, but I didn’t feel anything! I figured it must have worked it’s way up further with all my tossing and turning in bed. I got on the floor between the two beds, I did a few more push-ups as a ruse and then laid down flat on stomach. I ran my hand up under the mattress and felt around as far as I could without being too suspicious. I was beginning to panic. Had they found it?
The now familiar sound of the key in the door and the clicking of the tumblers could be heard. I quickly got up and moved around to the end of the bed and sat back down. Carl walked in first like he’d done before, pushing the service cart. He was alone this time. Where was the little man? Where was Madge? Then another man walked in behind him holding a gun. I knew that wasn’t Madge. He was almost as big as Carl. He wasn’t carrying a pistol, either. From where I sat it looked like a sawed-off shotgun. One like the cops carried sometimes. My heart sank. They were on to us. My heart was racing and my palms were so sweaty I wiped them on my jeans. Carl started setting up the TV trays and taking the lids off the food. I looked over at the door and saw Madge walk in. Or what I hoped was Madge. Carl saw me looking and turned around.
“I thought I told you not to come in here.” She didn’t say a word but just kept walking. “Go back outside like you were told to…..”
Madge quickly leveled her pistol and shot the man holding the shotgun. Instinctively, I jumped off my bed and dove at Carl, knocking him to the floor. I was on top of him in a flash, trying to keep him from getting hold of his gun that was in a shoulder holster. Despite the adrenaline that was flowing through my body, I was no match for him. He was as strong as a bull. He twisted his bulky body and pushed with his arms and I went sliding across the linoleum floor. I saw him reach for his pistol, then heard a loud thump, like someone had dropped a watermelon on concrete. I saw Carl grab the back of his head, wincing in pain from the blow Snake had delivered from the heavy work boots he wore. Then Madge clubbed him over the head again with her pistol and grabbed his gun from the holster. Then, just to make sure, she hit him one more time. I didn’t want to feel left out, so I jumped up and kicked him in the ribs as hard as I could.
“That’s enough,” Madge yelled, “let’s go.” She threw the shotgun the other man had been carrying over to me and gave Carl’s pistol to Glenn as we started running for the door. Just before we reached the door, I saw Madge running and suddenly drop to the floor on her butt, like a baseball player sliding into second base. She raised her pistol and squeezed off a shot just as the man on the other side of the door fired his gun. I saw t
he man fall and at the same time heard a scream behind me. I turned and saw Snake drop to the floor, grasping his right shoulder. I grabbed his other arm and kept him moving as we started up the stairs. Snake was yelling that he had been shot and was going to die.
“I promise you’re not gonna die, old buddy,” I said.
When we had gotten part of the way up the stairs, I could hear footsteps running down the corridor at the foot of the stairs. I let go of Snake and ran back to the bottom of the stairs. I made a quick dive and slid into the corridor on my stomach. The man stumbled over me and fell. He turned around quickly, but before he had time to pull his trigger, I shot him right in the face with the shotgun. A sawed off shotgun can make a terrible mess of someone’s face at close range. And that image would be indelibly burned into my mind as long as I lived. I had taken another man’s life, I thought. Then I thought, Piss on him. He was about to take mine, or one of my friends lives.
I rushed up to the top of the stairs where Madge was waiting. Glenn and Snake were already standing outside. Glenn had taken off his shirt and was holding it on Snakes shoulder, applying all the pressure he could to try and stop the bleeding. Madge jumped in the drivers seat of the van and told me to get in the front seat with her.
“I need to help Glenn tend to Snake,” I told her.
“Glenn can take care of Snake,” she said, “all he has to do is keep pressure on that wound. Snake is going to be fine. I can be at the hospital in Fort Kane in fifteen minutes, I promise. Now come on, there’s no time to argue.”
I jumped in the front of the van and we were off, weaving our way down a winding mountain road, Madge taking the curves practically on two wheels. Her driving had me almost as shook up as the gun battle we’d just left behind.
“I couldn’t find my pistol,” I said to Madge.
“That’s because one of the other men that was in the building with us did a search of the room and found it,” she said. I guess that explained why the other man and not Madge had come in the room with Carl.
“And there’s something all of you need to know. The sheriff is in on this. He had no idea who was going to kidnap you or dispose of you, but he knew somebody would. He and Jake Bullard are business partners in a business that is not exactly legal. In fact it is highly illegal. I’m sure your parents went to him pretty soon after they realized you were missing and I’m sure he felt relieved when he heard the news. You were the only witnesses against Jake and James and if they were convicted, he would have gone down with them. So don’t say to much to him. Act as though you know nothing about why you were taken and watch your back. You need to tell your parents as soon as possible to contact someone with the state police and the FBI before the Bullards have a chance to send someone else to try and succeed where we failed. Please, watch yourselves and trust no one you don’t know well. It’s better that you trust only family.”
I was speechless after hearing what Madge had just said. Sheriff Andrew White, who I’d known all my life, was involved in some nefarious dealings with the Bullards. Daddy always said he thought he was able to live awful high on the hog on the salary of a county sheriff.
When we were finally on Long Hollow road, Madge really put the hammer down. Before I had time to relive the events of our escape in my mind, we were sitting at the patient drop off of the emergency room at Putnam County Medical Center. Madge told Glenn to get Snake in there quick and tell them that there had been a hunting accident.
“And promise me, both of you, that you won’t tell anyone who brought you here.”
“We promise,” Glenn yelled over his shoulder as he was hurrying Snake toward the door.
I started to jump out and Madge told me to wait, that there was something she had to tell me. I didn’t want Snake to go in without me, but Madge looked very serious.
After Glenn had rushed into the emergency room with Snake, Madge drove the van out to the far corner of the hospital parking lot and shut off the lights to the van.
“I’ve only got a few minutes,” she said. “The cops may be called in even if Glenn tells them it was a hunting accident. Please listen to me closely. There is a culvert that runs under the old sawmill road where you turn to go to our house. On the opposite side of Mrs. Fuller’s house. Do you know where I mean?”
“Of course I do,” I answered.
“I’m going to leave a letter wrapped up in some old newspapers and covered with a plastic bag inside the culvert. Get it out as soon as you possibly can. Whatever you do, go alone. And when you read it, make sure no one else is around. When you’re finished with it, destroy it completely.”
I couldn’t imagine what was gonna be in the letter, but I couldn’t wait to read it. I almost wished she had given it to me right then and there.
“Where are you goin’ from here?” I asked her.
“Carl and I will have to leave immediately, George. I can’t tell you where we’re going.”
“You’re goin’ back to Carl?” I asked incredulously.
“I have to. He’s my husband and I love him.”
“But you just damn near killed him!”
“No, he’ll be fine. He’s as tough as a pine knot. That little bop on the head was nothing to him.”
“Why did you do it? Why did you risk your life to save us?”
“It’s in the letter, George.”
“No. I have to hear you say it,” I demanded.
“Because you are family, George.”
“Wh…what do you mean, family?”
“That’s all I’m going to say. It will all be in the letter. Now go!”
“You and Carl are the ones that put those bodies on Hugh William’s and Ray Turner’s property, ain’t you? You’re the one’s that killed them.” I said, hating to hear the answer come from her lips and hating that I had to ask the question.
“It’s in the letter. Everything. Now, I’ve got to go!”
I opened the door to the van and got out.
“Promise me one thing,” she said.
“Just name it. I owe you my life, Madge.”
“Promise you won’t tell anyone who kidnapped you for at least a few hours. Just enough time for me to get a head start.”
I was gonna be letting two serial killers escape. But I did owe her my life, and that was a fact. I hesitated for just a few seconds and reluctantly said, “Okay. I’ll give you some time. I only hope Glenn or Snake haven’t opened their mouths yet. But Glenn promised and I don’t believe he’d break his promise. He owes you his life, too.”
Madge drove away and yelled, “I love you,” out the open window of the van as she sped off. I watched the van until the tail lights were out of sight. Then I ran to the emergency room to check on Snake.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
The bullet had passed cleanly through Snake’s shoulder and the doctor said that other than losing the use of his arm for a few weeks and some pain, he was going to be fine. They wanted to keep him overnight and Momma insisted that she be the one who stayed with him. We told everybody that we had no idea who had kidnapped us, but they had treated us fairly well until we tried to escape. It was pretty obvious to everyone from the bullet wound in Snake’s shoulder that they had objected vehemently to our trying to leave.
Sheriff White had come to the hospital and I was trying to avoid him as much as possible, while at the same time trying to judge his demeanor. He was clearly not himself and seemed nervous, pressing us over and over about the description of our kidnappers and if they’d said anything about the Bullards. At one point I found myself alone with him out in the corridor of the emergency room.
“Your daddy thinks the Bullards had something to do with this, Junior. He may be right, you know. It would make sense seein’ as how you boys are the only witnesses against him. Did they ever mention the Bullard’s names or anything about them to any of you?”
“No Sheriff. They didn’t say much of anything to us. They just locked us in a room and brought us some food from time to tim
e.”
He looked at me as if he was trying to read my face. To see if I was lying. I kept eye contact with him and used the best poker face I could manage. He seemed satisfied and somewhat relieved. After making sure Momma and Snake were going to be alright, Daddy said he was gonna take me to get something to eat and then take me home so I could rest. The sheriff spoke up, “George, I really need to question him some more. I’m afraid the folks that had him will be long gone if we don’t get some information about who they were and where they were holdin’ ‘em.”
“He’s already told you all he knows, Andrew. He said they were wearin’ masks and kept them blindfolded all the way up ‘til the one that helped them escape brought them to the hospital. They have no idea who the people were or where they were bein’ held. Maybe after a good night’s sleep his head will be clearer and he can remember something helpful.”
“I just don’t feel right, George,” the sheriff said, “letting him go when that bunch is still on the loose. What if they try again?”
“Well, they’d have to get past me and my shotgun. And I was hopin’ you might put some deputies outside my house tonight.”
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