Bad Day for a Killing (Book Three of the Western Serial Killer Series)

by Hestand, Rita

  Directly he rode off and come back a few hours later.

  "You don't know who she is?" The doc asked as he dismounted. He was put out to come out so far from town and at such an hour, but he came nonetheless.

  He twiddled with his mustache as though it bothered him greatly.

  "Nope, and she passed out before we could find out." Leroy answered.

  The doc nodded and followed Leroy into the house. Leroy's house was nothing more than a few timbers and sod thrown together, but it suited him and his wife. They were very country people and didn't expect much out of life. They were also God fearing people, or they would never have cared what happened to Sadie.

  An hour later the doc came out of the room, his face was gaunt and he looked perplexed.

  "Something wrong, doc?" Leroy asked noting the expression on his face.

  "That woman in there, she's just had a baby…"

  "A baby?" The woman shrieked. "Dear God, did you see her feet, she must have walked a long ways to tear them up that bad."

  "You're probably right, but she did have a baby and not long ago. From the looks of it, she had a hard time of it."

  "Did you ask her what happened?" The woman wanted to know. The doc sent her a reprimanding look.

  "No, Delsie, she only come to for a few minutes. She's gone back to sleep. I'd let her rest up. She ain't in no condition to go anywhere right now. She needs to rest up. Give her a day or so, and she should be well enough to travel."

  "Sure doc, sure…" Leroy nodded. "Poor thing."

  "She'll be alright, but it looks to me like she's more worn out than anything. She needs a little bed rest. Where is she from?"

  "We don't know…She jest came walkin' up into the yard…"

  "Well, if you can, when she gets her strength I'd take her home, if I was you." The doc suggested.

  They nodded.

  "Thanks Doc." Leroy nodded.

  "I was upset with you for comin' and getting' me at such an hour. But now I see the need of it. I'm glad I was here. I took good care of her and she'll heal up fast enough."

  Delsie and Leroy took good care of her too and as Sadie got used to them a bit, she began to talk. "I got to get home. I'm going to Cross Timbers."

  "Cross Timbers, but that's a ways from here and last I heard it was a ghost town since that old mine played out."

  "Don't matter none to me, it's my home…"

  "Is that where you come from?"

  Sadie looked at them, sizing them up, wondering just how much she should tell them. "Nope…but that don't matter, it's where I'm going. I got jest enough money to pay for a horse, or mule or even a donkey, I don't much care which…" She insisted.

  "But…you've just had a baby, according to the doc," Delsie blurted out.

  "That's why I gotta get to Cross Timbers…" She smiled. "Now, do you have a horse, a nag, a mule, anything I can buy from you, to get me home?"

  "Well, we could take you home, in a wagon and then you wouldn't have to buy anything." Delsie insisted.

  "Oh, I'll need a horse, or mule or whatever you got. That way I can get around when I need to." Sadie insisted. "You see I'm on my own, and I'll be alone now."

  Leroy came in as Delsie continued feeding Sadie some chicken broth.

  "I got a worn out ole mule, I'll sell ya, if you have to have it." He announced. "We've grown pretty partial to him over the years, but if you need him, then I'll sell him to you. Just be good to him, he's done his fair share of the work around here."

  "But…" Delsie started to object but she saw her husband's face and hushed.

  "That would be fine. I won't burden his load much. I got nigh on to twenty dollars, would that do?" Sadie asked.

  Leroy looked from his wife and then to her, "That'll do…"

  "Good. I appreciate you puttin' up with me a spell. I didn't mean to cause you no trouble."

  "No trouble at all…" Delsie insisted. "But…I gotta ask you…where's the baby?"

  Sadie closed her eyes and shook her head…"Dead!"

  "Oh my…" Delsie grabbed her chest. Tears were falling down her cheek and Sadie felt bad about telling her such a lie.

  Leroy glanced at her again. "We're sorry for your loss."

  "I'm too old to be worryin' with havin' kids I reckon."

  "You had a difficult time then?" Delsie asked.

  "Breach…I think that's what the doc said." Sadie repeated.

  "What happened to your husband?" Delsie asked. "I mean if you're a mind to tell us."

  "Ain't much to tell. He run off, he didn't even know I was pregnant. I didn't neither until he was long gone. It's no matter. No matter at all."

  She glanced at them both, happy that her little lie had worked so well. She would be telling a lot of lies before her life was over, she feared.

  God forgive me.

  "Do you think you can make the trip by yourself?" Delsie questioned.

  "Sure…with a mule, I can do 'bout anything. Don't you fret none about me." Sadie tried to smile. "I been takin' care of myself a long time. Yes siree…a long time."

  She'd never met such carrying folks as these. It touched her heart and made her feel guilty for the lie she told.

  "Well, the doc said you need some rest and we will see you get some, before you light out again." Delsie promised.

  "That's mighty nice of you folks." Sadie smiled. "And this is good chicken broth."

  "My mama always said that chicken broth could cure anything." Delsie smiled at her. "We're gonna go in the other room, so you can rest now. In a day or so, when you get your strength back, we'll get old Lazybones to take you where you need to go."

  "Lazybones?" Sadie smiled.

  "When we first bought that old mule, Leroy said she is a real Lazybones, so that's what we named her. He worked her for nigh on to ten years though, so I reckon we got our money out of her a few times over." Delsie explained.

  "Lazybones…I like that. Thank both of you…" She began.

  Delsie patted her on the hand. "You just rest now. You've had a hard time of it."

  Sadie nodded and closed her eyes. She'd never allowed herself to be so lazy, but she reckoned the mule and her would get along fine.

  Chapter Nineteen

  John however, was unable to keep silent any longer, He found Mr. Carver in his study one evening. "Mr. Carver, I need to talk to you."

  "Of course John, come on in." He welcomed him. "Would you like a Brandy?"

  "Uh…no, thank you." John shook his head.

  He took his glasses off and turned his wooden chair around to face him. "Why are you looking so perplexed? It's not Penelope is it?"

  Apprehension tightened John's stomach. His eyes scanned the room full of books, the polished desk, the sparse amount of furniture, but the huge amount of paperwork that accompanied running the size ranch Mr. Carver owned. Mr. Robert G. Carver was a man of means and this room reflected that more than anything John had seen.

  "No Penelope is fine. But…well, I am your son-in-law. The way I got it figured, I owe you a lot. Especially my respect." John began, wanting to gain his trust before speaking to him.

  "Well thank you, John. I respect you too, and we are family. You've made Penelope so happy. And I'm actually looking forward to be a grandfather someday. I have to tell you that there were times in the past when I thought it would never happen."

  "I'm sorry, I gotta tell you…" John stared deep into the old man's eyes. He had wrestled with the conversation he wanted to have all night. Once he said something, it would be out in the open, and he wasn't sure it should ever be.

  "What….?"

  "I overheard the conversation that you had the other day beside the barn." John admitted, as though getting it off his chest would make him feel better.

  Mr. Carver scrutinized him for a long moment. "I see…Did Penelope hear it too?"

  "No, she'd gone back inside. It's been troubling me ever since I heard. I had to speak to you about it."

  "Of course you did." Mr. C
arver nodded. "Well…there's nothing I can do about it now. The deed was done." His voice was void of emotion or guilt. His eyes went around the room, as though he didn't want to look into John's face and see the surprise.

  John stared for a long moment. Mr. Carver didn't flinch or act nervous, he was calm and collected with his thoughts. He just couldn't look John in the eyes, that was all.

  "May I ask what happened?" John asked. "I mean…if you want to tell me…"

  Mr. Carver got up and poured himself a Brandy. "I guess I should…because if you hadn't come to me that time about Stanley it never would have happened. So in some ways you are responsible too."

  John's eyes widened. He was laying blame at his feet. John didn't know how to react. He had spent so much time trying to live down his lost memories, his misdeeds, and now to have this shoved in his face, he felt defeated.

  How could a man change?

  Mr. Carver read his reactions. "Now before you get overly concerned. I want you to know that when you came to me, I was more than a little shocked about Stanley. What he was doing…was unspeakable. And you might as well know, we are a community of business men, John. An association if you will. When something is wrong, out of balance or distasteful, we have to take care of such things. Had Stanley been quiet about his perverseness, nothing would have happened. But stepping out of line like that. Announcing it, so to speak. It's just not acceptable. He knew that. So several of my fellow businessmen went with me, to talk to him. And I must admit, at first we only planned to talk. But there is no talking to an egotist, John. He had all the answers. He was scared of us, but he vowed to not keep it a secret. He knew why we were there and he threatened to tell everyone. I had discussed him at length with all the businessmen and we were all united in our thinking. Not everyone went with us."

  "And…" John encouraged a feeling of helplessness swamped him.

  "And he refused to keep quiet any longer. He threatened to expose himself to you and anyone else he thought might enjoy his antics. We told him it was not going to happen in our town. That he was sinning and he wasn't sorry for his actions. He kept on and on about himself. Things got a little out of hand, I suppose, as they often do when you are dealing with someone like that. Well…I have to say we were no better at controlling our own tempers. A man simply can't act like that and be a man. Stanley was bad for this town. So… first we castrated him, then we hung him. But instead of leaving him for everyone to see, we decided to bury his body, so no one was the wiser. He hadn't told anyone else about his problem, only you. So we figured we would be safe with the knowledge. We killed him John. You will never be bothered with the likes of him again. I can promise you. The good citizens of our town won't allow such." Mr. Carver explained reaching for his tobacco so he could light his pipe. It was this action that brought John to understand that what Mr. Carver had done seemed justified in his own mind. He wasn't sorry for his actions. John however had mixed feelings on the matter. Outrage grew inside him like a festering wound.

  When John remembered back on his misdeeds he was extremely sorry. He repented even.

  "Was this necessary? Couldn't you have simply run him out of town?"

  "No…we couldn't. We did what we had to do, John. I know this might be hard for you accept, but you must. For both our sakes. I'm sorry you found out. But it had to be done, John. And since we are family, I expect this to be kept in the family. Penelope must never know of it. She wouldn't begin to understand."

  John sat in stunned silence.

  "Why…why did you castrate him?"

  Mr. Carver almost laughed. "To stop his sin from spreading. That was all we were really going to do to him, but then he went crazy on us and we hung him to shut him up. He screamed and wreathed in pure terror. The man would not be quiet. Why…he even accused me of participating with him once. "

  John physically winced from the thought.

  "It had to be done, John. A man like that, running around soliciting men. Our women folk would have died of embarrassment to know it. We take care of our own, we have to."

  The way Mr. Carver explained it, it sounded like some solid business transaction instead of a killing. He had no remorse, not one drop of it. How could he kill so easily without remorse? John realized in that moment that he had sadly underestimated Mr. Carver. John had killed but he did feel remorse for it. Not Mr. Carver. He didn't ask for forgiveness. Mr. Carver thought it mere justice.

  He suddenly realized that his own murders were no less. That his sin was as great or worse than Mr. Carver, only he had remorse. He felt guilty. He asked God himself for forgiveness.

  "Then…I guess I should thank you…" John said lowly. "For saving the town and me."

  "No thanks are needed. I'm glad you came to me and told me about it. It isn't something that is easy to talk about." Mr. Carver puffed on his pipe. "But you'll get used to our system of justice around here soon enough, John. The law is slow to act, and upon this kind of thing, the law wouldn’t act. It was a moral issue. We had to. To save our people from this evil. And it was evil, John. It's against God's commandments to lie with another man. It's unheard of. Decent people wouldn’t put up with this for a minute."

  John wondered if the citizens of the town had done this to many folks? He wondered if the Sheriff knew. But then, the Sheriff was the one asking so many questions, so he wasn't involved and probably didn't know anything about what the fine business men of Hard Tack had been up to.

  Although John didn't like Stanley, he never wanted to kill him.

  It disturbed him greatly that his father-in-law had become a killer without a shred of guilt. What kind of man was he? And poor Penelope would never know. He would keep this secret, he knew that the moment he shook hands with Mr. Carver.

  ~*~

  Sadie had finally reached Cross Timbers. She looked around the place and sighed heavily. Just being here made her relax and feel better. "Well, I'm back. Lazybones, let's get you in the barn now."

  After she fed and watered the mule, she walked into the café.

  Nothing looked touched. No one had set foot inside it since she left. Relief washed over her as she sat down in a chair by the table and glanced around the place.

  Memories crowded her thinking though. The minute she set foot in the place, she thought about Elmer. Where was he? Did he find a better life for himself? Did he find peace? She hoped so.

  As though she'd been home all along, she went to see if there was food in the old pantry. There was a small barrel filled with oats. She smiled. Good for the hair, she thought.

  She fired up the old stove and began fixing herself some. There was no bread, but she found just a tad of coffee and made herself a pot.

  Tomorrow, after she rested, she'd check to see if the general store was still open. If it was, she might could scrape up enough for coffee. She could do without a lot, but not coffee.

  She went to the bedroom, and immediately the memory of making love with Elmer came to life before her eyes. She closed her eyes, but it was still there. She had to forget about that. She would never love another man. Never.

  She laid across the bed and cried herself to sleep. She felt so alone. She'd given her baby up, she'd given up on Elmer, and was about to give up on herself.

  She dreamt of the baby, growing up in a fine house, learning things at school, an becoming a beautiful woman. She'd hold that dream for the rest of her life. For now though she grieved for the baby she had not looked upon. She'd said she hadn't loved the child…but somewhere deep inside Sadie, she knew that was a lie. She wanted the best for her child and she knew she couldn't give it to her. So she done the next best thing. She gave her child to a woman that needed that love. She gave her child to Vivian to raise.

  The next morning she got up, lit the fire in the stove and reheated the leavings of her coffee from the night before.

  The wind blew hard and cold under the door and she scrambled to find a shawl or something she could wear. Although spring was here, it still felt col
d to Sadie.

  Most of her clothes were gone, because she had move to Melville. But she couldn't carry them, she had to leave them. But she had one other dress and some old underclothes, that would do, she decided.

  Again she made oatmeal and ate it as though starved.

  With no coffee she knew she had to make a trip to the general store. She realized that at one time she had credit there, but not anymore. That was only because she fed everyone. Now she was on her own, and she had no credit.

  Leroy Mills looked up and saw Sadie standing in his store. He adjusted his glasses and nodded, "Sadie, I thought you had moved on."

  Sadie shrugged, "I came back." The place smelled musty, as though he never opened a window or door to let it air out. She sneezed.

  "I see that. I think this is the first time I seen you here in over a year." Leroy said, giving her one sidelong glance, his pity showing in his face.

  "It has been a while." Sadie remarked. Leroy had no use for her because she never spent much money in his store. She had managed for years to raise her own food for the café, and it had annoyed Leroy no end. He'd tried to entice her many times into his store, but she shrugged and kept her gardening up.

  She saw he had the same old merchandise as before, cans of food that had been there for years lay on dusty shelves untouched. Nothing had changed here. But she needed some coffee, and Leroy sold coffee. Coffee was the one commodity that Leroy was able to sell to most of the people in Cross Timbers. They couldn't grow it, so they had to buy it from him, when they could.

  "I'll need a few things…" She began.

  "Well I'll be. I never thought you'd lower yourself to come shop in my store, Sadie. You got money to pay?" Leroy asked, raising his brows.

  Sadie smirked, she drew herself up proudly and marched to stand in front of him. "No I ain't. But all I really need is some coffee. I got enough for that."

  "Coffee huh?" Leroy speculated once more. "Well now, I ain't runnin' no charity like you did, Sadie…I deal in cash or trade."

  His callus remark stabbed her in the heart. All these years, she'd never charged a dime for food nor coffee, and Leroy was now throwing it in her face that she couldn't pay. She folded her lips over and her brows knit. "I got one thing, and one thing only…"