HARD ROAD: Heaven Bound

by Terry McDonald

  “Dry mouth... Water.”

  Jake handed Beth his canteen and watched as the lady took several sips.

  “Better now,” she said with a stronger voice.

  Jake asked, “Do you think you can stand?”

  “I don’t know,” she answered, “is there a doctor in the house?” She began to laugh and cry at the same time causing a stronger stream of blood to flow from her nose.

  Beth wrapped her arms around her and began rocking the lady back and forth, trying to comfort her. “You’re okay now. We’ll take care of you.”

  The woman let Beth rock her and it seemed to comfort her.

  “It hurts to talk,” she mumbled. “My jaw is bruised, maybe fractured. Is that man—?”

  “He’s dead,” Jake, answered.

  “You killed him?”

  “I didn’t kill him,” Jake replied.

  The woman turned to Beth. “You?”

  “She broke the bastard’s back,” Jake said. “I hate to ask, but do you think you can walk?”

  “I can walk, but I don’t know how far. It’s hard to breathe.”

  Beth used a face cloth and water from her flask to clean the woman as much as possible. Jake went to retrieve the packs they had left beside the dead man. When he returned, Beth had him turn away while she dressed her in some of his clothing.

  She was as tall as him, but much thinner. Beth used a section of rope as a belt to cinch the pants. Cleaned, and dressed in baggy clothing, she looked like an abused scarecrow.

  “He beat the hell out of you,” Jake said.

  “I made him mad,” she answered, struggling to form the words. “He tried to rape me but couldn’t get it up. I laughed at him and he beat me. Said he couldn’t fuck an old uppity Yankee Jew bitch. That was what he called me, Uppity Yankee Jew bitch.”

  “Welcome to the group,” Beth said. I’m an uppity nigger bitch according to him. What’s your name?”

  “Eva Herman.”

  “My name is Beth, and he's Jake. Do you feel like going now? We need to get you to our cabin. We have a friend there. She’s a nurse. She can get you fixed.”

  "Are you hurt inside or just you face?" Jake asked.

  “He kicked me. I'm bruised all over, but nothing internal,” she replied, her words slurred with pain. “We’ll have to move slowly, and you’ll need to lead me. I can’t see out of my left eye, and swelling will soon block the other.”

  “We’ll help,” Jake said. “You set your own pace and we’ll guide you. You don’t need to talk. It sounds like every word is killing you.”

  They didn’t make much distance. As Eva predicted, her other eye swelled shut soon after they started back towards the cabin. She had to pick every step with care. Even with Beth guiding and supporting her, she stumbled a lot.

  Jake saw the place he and Beth had camped the night before. He hurried to set the tent in the same spot. Eva said she could not eat and needed to rest. Beth helped her into the tent and into a sleeping bag.

  “Jake,” Beth called out. “She says she needs a lot of fluids. Could you hand me some bottles of water.”

  He did as requested and Beth soon came out to join him.

  “She’s done in,” she stated. “I hope she’s better by tomorrow.”

  “She won’t be,” he replied. "Her face is going to swell even more and I guarantee her jaw’s going to be so stiff she won’t even be able to mumble. She’s in bad shape.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “We call for help. I tried the big radio while getting our packs. We’re out of range, but probably not by much. I’m going to head towards the cabin and keep trying it until someone answers. We need the truck to get Eva back to the camp. She can’t make it in her condition. Besides, she needs Agnes ASAP, her face is a mess.”

  “We can't leave her alone. I'll stay with her to make sure she doesn’t choke to death or something.”

  “That would be best. I shouldn’t be more than two, maybe three hours.”

  “Just hurry back, I don’t like it when you’re not near.”

  “Beth, last night you paid me the highest compliment a man could receive. You want three words from me. Those words will be yours. Not now, but soon, said in the right way. You gave me your heart, and now you hold mine.”

  “Please hurry,” she replied, rising on her toes to kiss his cheek.

  Jake moved at a steady trot, picking his footing through the rough terrain with care. As he ran, he keyed his radio every hundred yards or so, hoping to get a return signal.

  The sun lowered to almost the treetops before he received a return squeal from the radio.

  *

  “Hello Jake, over,” Janie’s voice came weakly through the static.

  “Yes, can you hear me okay?”

  “I hear you good. Are you all right, over?”

  “Yes, can you get Agnes on the radio?”

  “She’s in the basement. I’ll get her.”

  Seconds later Agnes spoke.

  “Agnes here, what’s up?”

  “Agnes, we’ve got a lady here beat up pretty badly and she’s not able to walk to the cabin. I need you to bring the truck as early as daylight allows tomorrow morning. Do you copy?”

  “I copy. Bring the truck at first light, over.”

  “Yes. Have Janie use those ears of hers and listen for any vehicles on the road before you crank it. Drive careful, there are some bad washed-out spots, over.”

  “I copy, what exactly is wrong with the lady?”

  “She has a broken nose, possible fractured jaw, eyes so swollen up she can’t see.”

  “I copy, over.”

  “See you in the morning. We’ll be watching for you.”

  *

  The sun was set by the time Jake returned to the campsite. Beth heard him and came out of the tent. Her hands were bloody and her pullover spotted as well.

  “You’ve got to be hungry,” she said, “I know I am.”

  “I’m starved... How’s she doing?” he asked, nodding towards the tent.

  “She’s asleep. She was choking up a lot of blood, but she had me soak some gauze from your first aid kit in salt water, and she stuffed it in her nose. I helped her.”

  “That had to be rough.”

  “It was horrible. It worked though. The bleeding stopped and she finally went to sleep. She seems like she’s breathing all right.”

  “I’m glad she knew what to do.”

  “She should, she told me she’s a doctor. You got through to Agnes?”

  “Yep, she’ll be headed our way at first light.”

  “What about the noise?”

  “Can’t be helped, we’ll just hope we get lucky and none of Saints men are in the area.”

  Beth went to the creek to wash. Neither of them felt like cooking so they made do with what they had in canned goods. Beth rolled out Jake’s sleeping bag in the place he had prepared the night before.

  He eyed the sleeping bag with amusement. “Are you thinking we can both fit in there?”

  “If you can stand my smell, I can stand yours. Otherwise, you’re in for a cold night. Just try not to bump my bruised head.” They did fit, and after a bit of squirming to get comfortable, and after a good bit of kissing, they fell asleep.

  *

  Just after dawn the next morning, sitting by the camp stove drinking coffee, they heard the roar of the truck approaching. A few minutes later Jake was directing Agnes to the campsite. Al and Janie were in the cab with her.

  “I brought the crew with me,” she stated as she stepped from the truck. “I figured you wouldn’t want me to leave them back there.”

  Jake nodded his agreement. “You thought right. Your patient is in the tent.”

  Agnes went to the tent and peered inside.

  “We’ll have to get her out into the light. I can’t see a thing in there.”

  She and Jake manhandled Eva from the tent. Eva was not able to help and could only moan. They laid her on Jake’s sleep
ing bag. Her face was swollen to the point it no longer looked human.”

  “My God,” Agnes exclaimed, shocked. “Did someone beat her with a hammer?”

  “She’s in bad shape,” Jake agreed. “What can we do for her?”

  “Nothing here, we need to get her back to the cabin. What we need is ice to bring down the swelling.”

  “Let’s get her to the cabin, and I’ll see what can be done about some ice. There’s a diesel generator in a shed behind our barracks. There’s a chance I can get it working.”

  "Give me a few minutes to examine her. In the meantime, perhaps you all could put some padding for her in the back. You were right about it being a rough ride."

  They moved Eva onto the bed of the truck. Agnes and Beth climbed in with her, Al and Janie rode up front with Jake.

  Janie asked what happened to Beth’s eye. After Jake finished telling them, Janie declared she was glad Beth had killed the man.

  “Beth’s real good at killing,”

  He almost responded with some words to moderate her statement, but changed his mind.

  “Yes she is Janie, and it’s a good thing she is, otherwise that bad man might have hurt her.”

  “I’m going to learn how to kill good too so the bad men can’t hurt me.”

  “That’s why Agnes and I are teaching you how to fight. I know sometimes it feels like a game, but it is very important that you learn.”

  At the cabin, Jake again backed the truck to the porch. He had Janie retrieve her bow, go to the edge of the cut, and listen hard for any engines or people. He told Al to grab his rifle to keep her company.

  Agnes and Jake loaded Eva onto a cot Beth prepared, and carried her inside.

  “You two do what you can for her,” he said after they placed the bed where Agnes wanted it. “I’ll be out back seeing if I can get the generator started. It’ll probably take a while.”

  He checked with the two down by the cut before getting started. After being assured they had not heard or seen anything, Jake went behind the cabin to the generator shed.

  The fuel in the tank had mostly evaporated, leaving a gelled, discolored residue. A wooden box in the shed held an assortment of tools. He made short work of removing the tank and removed the fuel filter for good measure. Using fuel from an extra container attached to the truck, he flushed the filter and the tank. The abraded end of a flexible green twig served as a brush to further scrub out the scum from the reservoir. After reassembling the components, he filled the tank and attempted to start the generator.

  His first few pulls on the starting cord were unrewarding. A quick examination of the generator revealed a small pump handle to prime the lines. Just in case they were clogged, he removed the fuel lines and blew through them. More old, gelled fuel shot from the ends. After about fifty pulls and a few false starts, the generator rewarded him with a loud ‘POW’ and roared to life. An acrid billowing of black smoke from the exhaust made him rush for the door, coughing and gasping to breathe. The generator continued running. The smoke from the exhaust slowly diminished until there was none, but the engine continued to spew out a smell that brought back memories of french fries.

  He shut the generator down. With Al’s aid, Jake carried the spare mattresses to the small shed, and attached them to the walls to deaden the sound. It wasn’t perfect, but it did block the noise considerably when he restarted the engine.

  “Al, run inside and tell them to turn off anything electrical except the refrigerator. I’ll be in in a few minutes.”

  Jake went to join Janie at the edge of the cut.

  “Is everything still clear?” He asked.

  “I don’t hear or see anything.”

  “If you were at the road we came here from, could you hear the generator?” he asked, nodding towards the cabin.

  She listened to the sound intently for a few seconds.

  “Maybe I could,” she answered, but I don’t think most people could.”

  “I sure hope you’re right, honey. I’ll send Al back to keep you company.”

  “Could you have him bring a can of peaches with him?”

  “I sure will,” Jake said, smiling, “anything else?”

  “Maybe some crackers too?”

  Jake was delighted to find the refrigerator running and cold air blowing in the freezer compartment. Agnes was filling the ice trays with water and Beth was folding wet face cloths to freeze.

  “You’re a blessing Jake,” Agnes said. “I gave Eva a half dose of morphine. She was so exhausted it knocked her out. I need to set her nose as soon as possible, but we have to get the swelling down first. About all I can do now is some basic reshaping and control the bleeding. Beth can help me with that.”

  “I hope the swelling goes down quick. I don’t like how much noise the generator is making. There’s a good chance it could seize up, it’s been sitting a long time and the oil has probably deteriorated.”

  “If we fill a lot of small containers and freeze them, we could store them in one of the picnic coolers from downstairs and we won’t have to run it that often,” she suggested. “It could take as long as four or five days to reduce the swelling to where I can cast it.”

  “Good idea,” Jake responded. “Do a good job on her. We could use a doctor in our crew.”

  Jake returned outside, and spent time finding and adding material to the sides and top of the generator shed. When he was satisfied there was nothing else to add, the shed, mainly because of the addition of the plastic bags of garbage they had filled in the time they had been there, resembled a huge pile of trash, but he had managed to get the noise level down much further. Janie assured him no one at the road could hear it.

  He hung out with her and Al for a time, making small talk. Once he felt comfortable and relaxed he turned the conversation to another topic.

  “Al, Janie, I’ve got something very special to tell you.

  They stopped talking and gave him their attention.

  “I’m in love with your sister, and she loves me. I want to ask her to marry me, but I wanted to see how you two felt about it.”

  “I knew you would,” Janie exclaimed excitedly. “Beth told me she was going to catch you.”

  Jake burst out laughing, “She did?”

  “Yep, she told us plenty of times she was going to make you her man.”

  “What do you think about me asking her to marry me?”

  “I think it’s wonderful. She told me she loves you.”

  “You’re being quiet Al. How do you feel about it?”

  “If you marry her that will make us like family.”

  “It will make us family,” Jake replied, “You will be my brother-in-law and Janie will be my sister-in-law.”

  Al paused a moment before speaking.

  “That’s not what Janie and me want. While you were gone, and lots of times before, me and Janie were, wishing you was our daddy. If you marry Beth, and we get to choose what we can be, we want to be your children. Beth can still be our sister, but you can be our daddy.”

  In that moment, he realized what Beth had been telling him. Al was still an innocent child. Jake did not have to think about his reply.

  “You two beautiful wonderful children have just made me the happiest man in the world. I would be proud to be your daddy.”

  “If you’re so happy,” Janie asked, “why are you crying?”

  “I’m crying because this happy goes way beyond a smile.” He reached out to pull them both into his embrace.

  CHAPTER 12

  Jake was worried about the noise the truck made using it to rescue Eva, and the noise the generator made whenever he cranked it to make more ice. He told everyone to remain extra alert while on guard duty. He also prescribed there would be two on guard at all times, separated, not only looking for any strangers coming up the cut, but also to guard each other. On the third day after the rescue of Eva, early in the morning, Janie burst into the barracks, ashen faced and frightened. Only the women were inside.
Jake was in the forest working on a project.

  “You’ve gotta come,” she said, “I had to kill a man.”

  They went, with Eva trailing behind, holding an icepack to her face. They expected to follow her to the edge of the utility cut. Instead, she led them a few feet into the tree line about thirty feet in front of the cabin. A man was lying on his back with an arrow through his neck and another buried in his chest. His chest humped from a large radio carried as a backpack, causing his head to hang at a grotesque angle. The arrow in the neck cut an artery allowing blood to spray out both front and back where the arrow pierced. He was obviously dead but Eva bent to check his pulse to be sure.

  “Where’s Al?” Beth asked.

  “He went back to the cut to guard, and told me to get ya’ll. He’s scared there’s others maybe.”

  “Are you okay Janie?” Agnes asked.

  “I’m okay. I had to shoot him because he was about to tell Saint where we are. Al couldn’t shoot because his rifle would make too much noise.”

  “Eva, find Jake and meet us down by the cut where Al is,” Beth directed. “I want us all in one place.”

  Jake and Eva arrived at the cut and found the others kneeling in a close square formation, watching every approach.

  Jake set the radio he had removed from the dead man, on the ground. “Everyone remain in position... Eva, are you okay to take Janie’s place?”

  Eva nodded.

  He took Janie’s hand, and moved into the guarded square the other four made. Their backs were mere feet from them. He sat, pulling her down with him.

  “Janie, the first thing I want to say is thank you for doing what you had to do. You probably saved all our lives today. I’d like you to tell us exactly what happened.”

  “Al and I saw the man coming from where we first came the day we took the truck. He was walking right in the path you made when you drove over the bushes and trees. He was sneaking good, and he was real close before we saw him. We moved away and followed him. Al told me I’d be the one to kill him if we had to because he couldn’t shoot his rifle.

  “The man snuck up to where he could see the house and started talking on his radio to John Saint?”