The House in Banes Meadow

by Jessie Cox

  Even in the dim light the bite looked bad.

  The poultice had drawn the poison into the center of the wound.

  Reaching down, John pulled out the choke, turned the ignition on and the kick starter into the start position. Then, standing up, he put his foot on the kick starter. With a grunt, he came up and down hard with a snap of his leg. The infection burst from his leg as the motorcycle roared to life.

  “That’s how you do it,” John told Ray.

  “Drama Queen,” Ray replied, low enough that John didn’t hear.

  “I’ll keep the pant leg rolled up, so the wound can air dry,” John said above the roar of the motor.

  Ray nodded.

  Feathering the choke, John rode the bike into the sunlight. Pausing in the parking lot, he could almost feel Sharon’s arms around his waist and her sweet, soft kiss on his cheek.

  Racking the pipes to hear his thunder, John screamed a Creek war cry that had not been heard anywhere except in combat, for over two hundred years. Then he took his thunder through the streets of Bristow to the old US 66 Highway and out of town.

  Ray stood outside the shed and listened as the thunder faded in the distance. Immediately the wail of sirens in pursuit followed the thunder.

  Ray grinned and, after closing the shed door, got into his truck and turned on his police scanner.

  “...I don’t know, Dispatch. Some nut wearing short shorts just passed my position at over ninety miles an hour, on an old Harley. I can’t catch him in the curves.

  You might want to notify Depew and see if they can set up a roadblock.”

  Ray laughed at that. “Good luck on catching that one.”

  Then turning off the scanner, he started his truck and drove to work.

  Chapter 26

  Amos was punching the time clock in the Maintenance Shack just as Tibbs came in.

  “Let’s give the long grass a few more days to dry out before we mow,” Tibbs said. “Just pick up the trash around the park and clock out when you are done.”

  Amos was finished by noon and took the eight pieces of willow limbs he had collected home with him.

  Four of the sections, two longer and two shorter, he skinned of their bark and shaped into bows. The longer, heavier ones for the boys, the shorter, lighter ones for the girls. A piece of narrow rawhide, twisted tight, was used for bowstring on each. Then came the tedious task of truing the arrows and gluing on the split turkey feathers he used for fletching.

  The finishing task was to whittle a point on each arrow and slide a spent .22 casing, butt out, over the end. A drop of glue kept it from coming off.

  Finally finished, Amos set the arrows aside for the glue to dry and rummaged in the refrigerator for something to eat. His lunch was a bologna sandwich and a glass of iced tea.

  Ted called in Code Seven at the house on Maple Street. Taking the bags of burgers and fries, he knocked on the door. Timmy answered. “Mom! Mr. Watts is here,” he called.

  “Come in and sit down,” Marlene yelled from her bedroom. “I’ll be right out.”

  “Why don’t you go get the kids and we’ll have lunch?” Ted asked Timmy.

  “Yes sir!” Timmy said and ran out of the room, just as Marlene entered.

  “I brought lunch,” Ted said. “Burgers and fries for everyone.”

  “Oh,” Marlene said. “That’s fine. I had made chicken salad for sandwiches.”

  “Chicken salad?” Ted asked. “That’s one of my favorites. I’ll trade you eight burgers, six bags of fries and cold drinks for everyone, for a chicken salad sandwich.”

  “Okay,” Marlene said with a laugh. “But I think you are cheating yourself.”

  “Not really,” Ted said. “I can have a burger anytime, but a homemade chicken salad sandwich only comes around once in a great while.”

  At that moment their conversation was interrupted by what sounded like a stampede across the kitchen floor. The children arrived, puffing and panting, more than ready for lunch.

  “Whoa! Wait a minute,” Ted said. “Boys, there is a cold drink for everyone in cardboard containers, on the seat of my car. Why don’t the two of you go get them?”

  Toby and Timmy ran from the room, making Stooge noises. When they were gone, Sarah looked at Ted and said, “Boys are so silly.” Naomi nodded her agreement.

  “I think so, too,” Marlene said, as she stood to go make Ted’s sandwich. “But some can be so sweet, you want to hug them to death.”

  “What category do I fall into?” Ted asked.

  “Both,” Marlene replied, as she went into the kitchen.

  Ray got back into the cruiser. He was hot, tired and more than a little dusty from climbing around in old houses all morning. Looking down at his uniform in disgust, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a dirty hand. Starting the car’s engine, he turned the air-conditioner on high and, once the cool air was blowing, pointed the vents directly at his face. Leaning back in the cool air, he closed his eyes and relaxed. It was only a matter of moments before he was asleep.

  In his dreams, he saw Jan, only this time she did not run into his arms, as she had always did before. Instead, she stood away from him pointing to something she held in her hand. Something he couldn’t make out, other than it was some kind of paper.

  In his dream, he reached for Jan, but she backed away, pointing repeatedly at the paper she held in her hand, while her mouth formed silent words. Suddenly a single word became so loud and clear that Ray jumped awake in his seat.

  “PICTURES!”

  Ray quickly put the car into gear and slung gravel as he roared up off the shoulder and onto the road. He knew where U’tiun’ta’ was and wanted to do a more careful search of the house in Banes meadow.

  Ray was about to call for backup when he saw a motorcycle parked on the shoulder ahead, while the rider sat in the shade of an old hickory tree just off the road. Slowing to a halt in a cloud of dust, Ray rolled down his window.

  “Hey, John,” Ray said, as John approached the car. “Get on that thing and follow me. I know where U’ tiun’ ta’ is and I need your help.”

  Ray waited until John had the bike started and turned around before starting to drive away, but John pulled alongside and beeped his horn.

  Ray stopped and rolled down his window again.

  “Where are we going?” John asked, over the rumble of the motor. “I’ll ride on ahead and meet you there, so I don’t have to follow you in that dust.”

  “The house in Banes meadow,” Ray said. “But wait until I get there before you go inside.”

  “Okay, but don’t be too long,” John said, before speeding away.

  Chapter 27

  Amos woke from his nap and found sandwich crumbs in his lap. Having no where to put them, he stood and brushed them to the floor, to be swept up later.

  He finished the glass of what was iced tea and, looking at the clock, saw that there was still plenty of time for the kids to play with the bows and arrows. Hitching up his pants and tucking his shirt in, he washed his face in order to fully wake up. Gathering the toys he’d made, he was soon at Timmy’s.

  “Uncle!” Marlene said, when she answered the door. “Come in. Will you eat?”

  “Thank you, no,” Amos replied. “I just thought to drop off these humble gifts for the children.”

  “Let me call the children, so you can give them each the one you made for them,” Marlene said. “Also, Ted is coming for supper. You would be more than welcome to join us. We are having roast with vegetables.”

  “Only if I am not intruding,” Amos replied.

  “Of course not,” Marlene said, as the children came bounding into the room.

  “Here, Nephew,” Amos said, handing Timmy a bow and one arrow. “There is one for you, Toby, and one for each of the girls.”

  After the children had thanked him, Amos said. “Let’s go outside. I’ll show you the way a Creek warrior uses his weapon when attacked by enemy tin cans.”

  Amos and the boys wer
e still shooting cans with arrows when Ted arrived after work. Handing Ted one of the bows belonging to one of the girls, who had tired of the game and went inside to watch TV, Amos said,

  “Watch out, Hawkeye. There is a bad can trying to sneak up on your right.”

  Ted took aim and loosed the arrow, missing the can by inches.

  “My thanks, Great Scout, but I fear I’m about to be canned,” Ted replied.

  “I’ll save you, Dad!” Toby said, as he loosed his arrow.

  His aim was true, and the can flipped backwards.

  The game went on until Marlene called them in for supper.

  The problem of seating everyone at Marlene’s small table was resolved by allowing the children to sit in the living room, eating off trays, while the adults sat at the table.

  After supper, Amos went in to be with the children while Marlene and Ted did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Ted was drying the last pan when Sarah came in to ask, “Daddy. Can we spend the night here?”

  “I think you should ask Marlene that, not me,” Ted said.

  “Can we? Please!” Sarah asked Marlene.

  “I don’t mind, but I have the early shift at the casino tomorrow. I don’t get home until around two in the afternoon. Would it be okay if the children were by themselves for that long?” she asked Ted.

  “Well. I don’t know,” Ted said, looking at Sarah. “Do you think that you and Toby can behave yourselves until Marlene gets home?”

  Giving Ted the ‘look of indignation’, that is the sole property of eight-year-old females, Sarah said, “Yes, Father. We can behave.”

  After the kitchen was cleaned, Ted and Marlene stepped out into the back yard.

  “This is a beautiful end to a beautiful day.” Marlene said, looking at the pink and blue of the setting sun. “It was almost as if we were a family.”

  “I agree,” Ted said. “Perhaps we can do it again sometime.”

  “Or many times?” Marlene whispered.

  “I’d like that,” Ted whispered back.

  Their lips had barely touched when Timmy yelled out the back door. “Uncle has gone to sleep in his chair! I think he wants to go home!”

  Ted and Marlene jumped apart like startled deer. Then, looking at each other, they both laughed and walked back to the house hand in hand.

  Ray sat in Maggie’s, idly stirring his coffee after his shift was finished, waiting for Trudy to get off work.

  Disgruntled because John and he had found nothing, though they had searched the house thoroughly, Ray wondered if Jan could have been wrong. Occupied with his thoughts, he didn’t notice Trudy standing beside him.

  “Darling,” Trudy said, making Ray look up in surprise. “One of the relief girls just called in. Her mother is ill and she isn’t going to make it. I’ve been asked to work a double.”

  Toby and Timmy were telling ghost stories under the blanket of Timmy’s bed. Toby had just finished one about a maniac, with a hook for a hand, whose idea of a good time was to hang out at the local lovers’ lane. Neither knew what a ‘lovers’ lane’ was, but both agreed it must be something special if people are willing to go there when there is a crazy man running loose.

  Timmy, having no other scary stories to tell, told Toby about U’tiun’ta’.

  When he had finished his tale, Toby looked at him in disbelief. “That’s lame,” Toby said.

  “Lame?” Timmy asked. “What does ‘lame’ mean?”

  “Lame means it sucks,” Toby replied. “It sounds like some story made up, to keep kids from having a good time around old deserted houses.”

  “Do you really think so?” Timmy asked.

  “Yeah,” Toby said. “Besides, who is afraid of some old woman with a boney finger, uncombed hair and tough skin? That sounds like my second grade teacher, Miss Walters. If you did something she didn’t like, she’d poke you on the top of your head with her boney finger...like this!”

  “Ow!” Timmy yelped and tried to poke Toby back. The wrestling match was short lived when from the other room, Marlene said, “Boys. It’s time for bed.”

  Chapter 28

  It seemed to Ted that the house was especially empty, upon his arrival after dropping Amos off. Not wanting to face an empty bed, he lingered over a beer while staring blankly at the television.

  “What would it be like?” He wondered. “Would Timmy and Naomi welcome him being in the house? Would Marlene’s family accept him, if they were to get together?”

  The sudden desire to hear her voice made him pick up the phone, but seeing by the mantel clock that it was after midnight, he replaced the receiver. Soon, the beer did its trick of relaxation, and exhausted from playing in the yard, he turned off the television and went to bed.

  Across town, in an older, more rundown house, Nettie was well rested from her afternoon nap. She too, stared unseeing at the television, though her favorite all night Christian program was on. Her bowl of ice cream sat forgotten on the night stand at her side.

  “I done insulted the Lord!” she said out loud. “Here I was askin’ for guns and knives to destroy that demon, and everyone who is a Christian knows the Lord doesn’t deal in such things! No sir! The Lord deals in Faith and Goodness! I’m mighty sorry, Jaysus’. Wanna’ bowl of ice cream? If you do, just help yourself. You know where it’s at.”

  Looking at Potlicker, lying on his back with his eyes closed and legs spread, Nettie said, “That’s what I’ll do, old dog. I’ll team up with the Lord and between us, we’ll hold that old demon down for the three count.”

  Potlicker opened one eye, yawned in agreement, then rolled over on his side and went back to sleep.

  Ray thought John was asleep on the couch when he came home. Going into the kitchen for a beer, he heard John say, “Bring me one, too, if you don’t mind.”

  Ray hesitated, knowing that after his return from the war John had a drinking problem, but with a shrug of his shoulders, he took a second beer from the refrigerator. Entering the living room, Ray handed the cold can to John, then sat down in his recliner.

  ‘I thought you didn’t drink,” Ray said.

  “I don’t, for the most part,” John replied. “I started liking it too much in Vietnam, and it took Sharon to break me of the drinking habit. She kept a case of cola on hand and made me chug it, hot. It burns your throat like whiskey and that is what helped me break my addiction. Now I can have a couple of beers or a mixed drink once in a while, but for the most part, I’ve gotten out of the habit of thinking about booze.”

  “Maybe you should become a counselor,” Ray said, as he opened his can.

  “Maybe,” John replied, taking a sip of his beer and making a face. “It doesn’t taste nearly as good as I remember.”

  Ray clicked the remote for the television, then flicked through the channels looking for something to watch.

  “Ray,” John said.

  Ray turned off the television.

  ‘I want to thank you for everything you have done for me,” John said. “As soon as this U’ tiun’ ta’ business is done, I’ll probably move on.”

  “Where will you go?” Ray asked.

  “I’m not sure,” John answered. “I just don’t think I can stay here, with all the memories of what has happened.”

  “Let’s discuss this after U’ tiun ta’ is taken care of,” Ray replied.

  U’tiun’ta’ had given up on finding the street sleepers in Slick and had hunted the dark streets of Bristow in vain. She knew she had been careless with her kills, but that had not been a problem in the past. “Where did they all go?” she asked herself. An hour before dawn, she settled for a farmer’s goat that she found lying in a pasture.

  Chapter 29

  Timmy awoke to find a note from his mother on the kitchen table. In addition to the usual do’s and do not’s, there was a list of choices for breakfast and lunch. As he was reading it, both Naomi and Sarah came into the kitchen.

  Handing the note to Sarah, Timmy said, “You women of the lodge, ma
ke breakfast for us men, that we make hunt with full bellies.”

  “And what will us ‘women of the lodge’ do, while you ‘men’ are out hunting?” Sarah asked.

  “You will tend the lodge,” Toby said, as he entered the room. “You will clean it, gather firewood and be ready when us men bring home meat for supper.”

  Naomi looked at Sarah and said, “We can watch television and play house while they are gone.”