by Steven Bird
With the grip of the bow already resting in his left hand, Jessie carefully reached over his shoulder and slowly pulled an arrow from his quiver. Seeing the first arrow he’d drawn was a broadhead, he chuckled to himself and thought, I don’t want to spend the rest of the evening digging this out of that tree.
Placing the arrow gently on the ground at his side, he slowly reached back and drew another. This time, the arrow was tipped with a field point. That’s more like it, he thought, and he slowly and carefully nocked the arrow and raised the bow into position. Pulling the old bow back to a full draw, with the string resting ever so slightly against his cheek, Jessie aimed using the top fiber-optic pin on the sight, assuming it was set for close-up shots.
Carefully controlling his breathing, Jessie released the string to send the arrow rocketing toward the squirrel at nearly three-hundred feet per second. With a thwack, the arrow was lodged securely in the tree about three inches to the left of the squirrel, who had almost instantly scurried safely to the other side of the tree and out of sight.
“Well played, little fella,” he said with a grin. Standing and walking over to the tree, Jessie pulled on the arrow to no avail. Drawing his knife, he quickly dug the arrow free and slid it back into his quiver, thinking, a little to the left. I’d better keep that in mind.
Taking his place once again at the base of the tree, Jessie leaned back and pulled his hat down over his eyes. About two hours, then I’ll be on my way.
~~~~
With his head slumped forward and his back against the tree, Jessie woke himself with the snort of a snore. Startled, he quickly looked around, surveying his surroundings for threats.
Seeing no immediate cause for alarm, Jessie yawned and stretched, staggering to his feet while flexing his back from his uncomfortable napping position.
Looking up at yet another brightly lit night with the moonlight shining through the trees, Jessie slid his arms into the straps of his pack and picked up his bow, continuing his journey toward the Hofstadter place.
After just a few moments, Jessie was startled when a snake lowered itself from the branch of an old oak tree. Squinting in the faintly lit woods, Jessie tried to ascertain the species of the snake. “Copperhead,” he said aloud. “I’m sure glad you showed yourself, snake. We could have gotten into a tussle pretty quick otherwise.”
As he began to sidestep to give this snake a wide berth, Jessie was surprised to see the snake begin to contort itself into a strange position.
“What the hell?” he mumbled in amazement when the snake seemed to be tying itself into the shape of a noose. Wrapping its head around its body to form the knot of the noose, the snake looked directly at Jessie with its tongue flicking in his direction. The snake then flung itself at Jessie with its mouth opened wide and fangs exposed.
Dodging the snake, Jessie fell to his side and quickly realized he was still lying on the ground next to the tree where he had been sleeping. “Damn it!” he said, pounding his fist into the ground.
After he regained his clarity of the situation and his heartrate began to slow, Jessie stood, pondering his situation.
Feeling uneasy about the dream, Jessie donned his pack, grabbed his bow, and resumed his journey, only now, at a much quicker pace than before.
Looking up at the stars, Jessie whispered, “Thanks for keeping me on my toes,” and he disappeared into the darkness of the night.
~~~~
When the sun started to rise behind him in the east, Jessie’s pace began to slow. Having traveled at nearly a jog through the woods during the remainder of the night, fatigue was quickly catching up with him.
Stopping for a moment to catch his breath, Jessie leaned forward, placing his hands on his thighs. When his breathing returned to normal and his heartrate slowed, he fished around in his pocket and retrieved the Ziploc bag Frank had given him in the cellar.
Removing the plot map from the bag, Jessie unfolded it, and began to orient himself. Looking around, he mumbled, “I’ve got to be on the outer edges of the Hofstadter property by now.”
Seeing a break in the trees up ahead, Jessie worked his way forward, conscious of the fact that the cover of darkness was quickly slipping away.
Reaching the gap in the trees, Jessie found himself at a fork in an old gravel road. In one direction, grasses and weeds had been overtaking the road for quite some time now. By Jessie’s estimation, the road would be lost back to nature by next fall. People just hadn’t been using it. The other direction of the fork, however, seemed to be reasonably well traveled.
Checking the map once again, Jessie’s assumptions were validated. He was nearly there.
I should be there by noon if I can keep up this pace.
Just as Jessie started to step onto the road, he heard voices in the distance. Although he was unable to understand what they were saying, he could tell the men were speaking casually. That told Jessie they didn't fear being discovered, which meant they felt they were in a position of power.
They’ve got to be in with them, he thought, knowing anyone else in the area would be conscious of the repercussions of encountering either the McCulloughs or the Hofstadters.
Waiting for several more moments, Jessie finally heard a vehicle start up and begin to travel toward his location. Crouching behind the bushes, Jessie watched patiently as a mid-eighties Chevrolet pickup truck slowly drove past.
While the driver and passenger in the front of the truck were consumed with what appeared to be a colorful conversation, a man standing in the back of the truck with a FAL-style rifle kept a keen eye out. The gunman in the back of the truck scanned the woods carefully as they passed, indicating they were indeed a patrol of some sort.
When the truck reached the fork in the road, it paused for a moment, then turned and continued down the well-used portion of the road before quickly disappearing into the shadows of the trees.
“Lead the way, boys,” Jessie said, as he crept across the road behind them, disappearing into the woods on the far side.
Chapter Twenty
The Hofstadter Farm
Waking from a fatigue-induced nap, Isaac looked around to find himself still confined to that evil, old tree. Standing directly in front of him, only twenty or so feet away, he saw a crow staring directly back at him.
“Get away from here, you flying rat!” Isaac growled through his dry, raspy voice.
As the bird took a few steps closer to him, Isaac kicked with his boot, “Git!”
Undaunted, the crow continued hopping toward him, with several more crows flying down from the branches above, joining it on the ground.
Seeing them make their way cautiously toward Billy, who was laying on his side and facing away from him, Isaac grunted and called, “Billy. Billy, wake up.”
Seeing no response from his friend, Isaac cleared his throat and in a louder voice, shouted, “Billy! Billy, wake up!”
Flapping its wings and taking flight, the first crow landed on Billy’s leg and began walking up his body toward his torso, stopping on his hip.
“Get away from him, you God-forsaken, filthy beast!”
“Billy!” he again shouted, trying to wake his friend.
Walking into Isaac’s view was a filthy, rough-looking man of a slim build, with the smile of a person who’d spent a significant period of his life addicted to meth. His teeth were nothing but rotting points. More like the remnants of teeth than teeth themselves.
Smiling and exposing his putrid mouth full of rot, the man leaned the AKM rifle he’d been carrying against a tree stump that was often used as a stool by those who’d come to enjoy the views of suffering at the tree.
Spitting on the ground, the man sneered, “Yell all you want, ol’ man, but he won’t wake up. Them crows figured it out, even if you don’t.”
“Billy!” Isaac yelled in an act of futility. Realizing what the man was saying, Isaac turned to the man and said, “You get those crows off my friend, and you get them off him right now.
“Get them off!”
Laughing, the man said, “What was it that Josey Wales said in that movie? ‘A bird’s gotta eat, same as a worm?’ Yeah, that’s it. I think he was right. Besides, don’t you know crows are the harbingers that give human souls a ride to the afterlife? Why… I think they’re just collectin’ their fees.”
“You keep that wretched heresy to yourself and knock them off him now!” Isaac growled as his rage grew deeper.
The man’s smile extinguished and he began slowly walking toward Isaac, unbuckling his belt before slipping it out of his pants. Folding it into a loop when he drew near, the man said, “I think a good whippin’ will put you in your place, ol’ man. I’m supposed to stand watch over you and to keep you alive, but I wasn’t told not to whip the livin’ daylights outta you, and I’m thinkin’ that’s exactly what I’ll do.”
Raising the belt high over his head, the man showed his rotten, pointy teeth once again as an evil smile grew across his face. Taking a deep breath, the man began to bring the belt down hard on Isaac, but with a thwack, he stumbled backward and fell onto the ground as his hands clutched an arrow protruding through his neck. Struggling while bubbles of blood gurgled around the wound, the man soon fell silent, releasing the air in his lungs and the fluids in his bowels.
Emerging through the brush of the nearby tree line, Jessie ran to the tree stump, grabbed the rifle leaning against it, and then searched the man’s pockets, finding an extra loaded thirty-round magazine in the left-side cargo pocket of his pants.
Jessie scurried to Billy’s side. Feeling for a pulse, he found Billy to be cold to the touch as his life had already left him.
Hurrying over to Isaac’s side with the rifle slung over his back, Jessie quickly cut the ropes, setting him free. Jessie reached down and took Isaac’s hand, saying, “Come on. Let’s get out of here while we can. Those guys are crawling all over the place.”
“Billy?” Isaac queried.
“He’s gone,” Jessie sighed as he put Isaac’s arm over his shoulder, and led him away and into the surrounding forest.
As voices in the distance grew nearer, two men arrived at the tree to find their cohort laying on the ground with his larynx severed by a broadhead arrow and his eyes open, still showing a look of terror as they seemed to stare blindly up at the sky.
“Dammit!” one of the men shouted as he drew his Glock from its holster. “Go tell Jacob. He’s gonna be pissed.”
Within a few minutes, Jacob Hofstadter arrived on the scene with ten other men. In a fit of rage, he stormed around the tree, looking for signs of what had occurred on the ground. Looking at the arrow protruding from his underling’s neck, he grumbled, “It was that damn half-Indian son of a bitch!”
“Who?” one of the men asked, confused by Jacob’s statement.
“The stranger at the Williams place! He and Isaac Clanton had been running together. He’s the only one around here who would’ve had the balls to pull something like this. The others are just sheep!”
Kicking a rock on the ground in front of him, Jacob focused his rage and said, “I want the woman. Go get the woman and bring her here. She’s gonna spill her blood on this tree to pay for what they did. She’s gonna pay their penance for them.”
~~~~
Exhausted, Jessie leaned Isaac against the roots of a fallen tree to rest. Opening the Boy Scout canteen Frank had given him, Jessie gave Isaac a sip of water and whispered, “Are you hurt? Anything serious?”
Coughing, Isaac said, “I’ve seen better days. I’m just battered and bruised, but not broken. Poor Billy took the brunt of what those evil bastards had to offer.”
Wincing in pain, Isaac complained, “My damn shoulders are killing me. Having my arms stretched back around that tree by the ropes took its toll on my old joints.”
Turning to look at Jessie, Isaac asked, “How is everyone else? Please tell me everyone is okay.”
Pausing for a brief moment, Jessie said, “I wish I could. Those bastards showed up under the guise of being sent by you and Billy. It was the perfect Trojan horse scenario. In the middle of the night they struck, making way for their friends on the outside to attack with very little resistance.
“Mike, well, we don’t know about Mike. No one saw what happened, but based on the circumstances, we assume the worst. Paul was injured but is safe. Tina, Allison, and Michelle are also safe and sound, but Shauna and the kids have been taken.”
“What about Frank?” Isaac asked.
“Frank, well, I know it sounds funny, but Frank turned out to be our unexpected hero.”
Watching for Isaac’s reaction before continuing, Jessie could see Isaac was experiencing a whirlwind of emotions. Seeing an opportunity, he continued, “Anyway, Frank had found an old abandoned cellar at the former cabin or homesite a long time ago, and had been fixing it up and stocking it quietly over the years. Evidently, that’s where he’s been disappearing to when no one can find him.
“Once the attacks started, he must’ve heard the commotion from the cellar. He came running—just in time, too, I might add. He led us all to the cellar where we hid until our trail went cold and the area seemed to be relatively free of threats. That’s when I slipped away to try and find you.”
“Is that where the others still are?”
“As far as I know.”
“How did you find me?”
“Frank was kind enough to give me a plot map of the area, marking where the Hofstadter’s property boundaries are. He’s got a lot more going on in that head of his than you’d think,” Jessie explained while gesturing to his head with a smile. “He even gave me this canteen full of water,” he said, insisting that Isaac take sip.
Pushing the canteen away once he’d had his fill, Isaac said, “Enough of this lollygagging. Let’s get moving. They’ll be on our trail before long, and we’ve got a long way to go.”
~~~~
After another hour of working their way through the woods toward the remains of the Williams farm, Isaac brushed Jessie’s arm off him and asserted, “I’m feeling okay. I can walk on my own for a while.”
“Are you sure?” Jessie asked, with concern in his voice.
“It doesn’t really matter, does it? Pain is temporary. I don’t have any broken bones or anything structural going on, so I can press on.”
With a nod, Jessie released his grip on Isaac and asked, “Is this the best route?”
“I reckon it’ll do,” Isaac replied as he looked at the sun’s rays that shone through the trees overhead. “If we keep moving, we’ll make it by nightfall. How far off the road are we?”
Pointing to the south, Jessie said, “County road 2 is just south of us by a third of a mile or so. I’ve been handrailing it to keep my bearings.”
“Good man,” Isaac replied. “I’ve been think’n.”
“Thinking of what?”
“About what to do next. You say they’ve got Shauna and the kids?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, that just won’t do. If not for that, I’d recommend we all pack up and get the hell out of here. The Williams family has been decimated, and their home and livelihood are all but destroyed. There’s no way to verify it just yet, but I’d imagine my place is a pile of ashes as well by now.”
“More than likely,” Jessie agreed.
“We ain’t leavin’ no woman and her kids in the hands of those evil, inbred heathens, though, so we’ve got to take a stand. And on our own terms for once.”
Nodding in agreement, Jessie watched as Isaac’s eyes hardened. “What do you propose?” Jessie asked.
Looking him square in the eye, Isaac said, “Stumbling around in the woods for days to get around isn’t gonna work. We’ve got to get some transportation. Horses, we’ve got to get horses. We could steal a
truck or something, but we’d be too easy to spot and catch. No, if we’re gonna start striking the fear of God into those bastard-ass hillbillies, we need to be stealthy and highly mobile. I’m done with them and their kind. If the good Lord is willing, and if He’ll be my shield and let me be His sword, I’ll put an end to them.”
Pausing to look around, Isaac gathered his thoughts and added, “I know a place where we may be able to acquire a few horses without ruffling any feathers. The last thing we want to do is to bring attention to ourselves before we’re ready to rain hell down on them. Once we’ve accomplished that, we check on the others hiding out in the cellar, then you and I head to my place.”
“I thought you assumed your place was burnt to the ground?”
“I do assume that, but what kind of fool puts all his eggs in one basket? I’ve got a few caches buried around the place for times like these. When the attacks started, I kept a few of my favorites close at hand, but I buried the rest. I didn’t mention it to you before because, well, you were a stranger, and a man can’t play all his cards in the first hand.”
Looking around, Isaac asked, “Do you have anything to write on?"
Reaching into his pocket, Jessie removed his journal and said, “Since I left home—home as in my former homestead in the Rockies, I’ve kept this journal. It’s been an emotional lifeline for me, connecting my past and my present. Sometimes, when I write, I feel as if I’m talking to my wife. We used to share everything, and I just don’t think I’d be able to go on without feeling like I was still communicating with her somehow.”
Handing the journal to Isaac, he continued, “I’d appreciate it if you skip toward the back. The things I’ve written are somewhat personal.”
“Of course,” Isaac said, as he thumbed to the last few pages of the small, spiral-bound notebook to jot something down. When he began drawing on the page, he explained, “The big X is the main homesite. The little X is the barn. You can use that to orient yourself. Each hash-mark is about a hundred paces. If you go in the general direction they lead you from the homesite, you’ll find a small chainsaw cut in the bark of a tree in that general vicinity. At that tree, orient yourself with a compass. If the cut is on the south side of the tree, walk another hundred paces on that heading.
