Beneath the Tombstone (The Tombstone Series)

by Martin Cogburn

  Thankfully, smacking her head seemed to strike Misty as funny because she burst into laughter. At first Jason was afraid he’d knocked her silly but then decided that couldn’t be the case. She was too hard headed. Soon, her laugher became contagious, bubbling over to him. In the end, they both wound up sitting in the floor, laughing uncontrollably. Finally, after their laughter had died down into occasional chuckles, Jason turned, reached up, and shut and locked the door.

  Chapter Four

  The old adobe style house stood resilient against the test of time, its years masked by the fact that it had been taken care of and maintained very well. Wooden shutters framing the windows and a wood porch with pine support post stood out in a unique contrast to the adobe structure. Jason wasn’t sure what they were, but some sort of native cactus with purple flowers bloomed in front of the dwelling, one plant on each side of the porch steps.

  “Susan sure has kept Granny’s old place up, hasn’t she?” Misty asked as she and Jason walked side by side up the front steps.

  “Yep,” Jason said, observing the house. “The porch looks the best… especially the boards that I screwed down,” he added with a touch of pretend arrogance.

  “Oh, we had to replace those two,” Misty fired back, her eyes dancing with mischief.

  Jason kicked back his head and laughed. “You know, if you weren’t so pretty, I might take offense to that.”

  Misty cast a flirtatious look up at him. “Well then, it’s a good thing I’m pretty, isn’t it?”

  “Yep,” Jason replied then grinned at her. “I’ve always liked that about you.”

  As they opened the front door a familiar voice yelled, “Uncle Jason!”

  “Hey Ken,” Jason said, grinning down at the boy who came running across the room towards him.

  “It’s my birthday. What’d you bring me?” his nephew asked, sliding to a stop with a huge smile on his face.

  “Your birthday?” Jason asked, sounding puzzled. “No one told me it was your birthday,” he added, revealing his empty hands. His nephew’s smile vanished. It was replaced with a look of disbelief.

  “Now, be nice,” Misty scolded, standing beside her husband.

  Jason turned to her and retrieved the present that she held out to him. “Really,” he spoke to her, “no one told me it was his birthday,” he paused for a moment and began to smile, “so I guess it’s a good thing I remembered,” he added, turning back to Ken. “Surprise!” he shouted to the boy who looked very surprised indeed.

  “A present!” Ken yelled, his frown morphing back into a grin. “What is it?”

  “A pony!” his uncle replied with a teasing smile.

  “A pony?” the boy asked as he sized up the box wrapped in action figure wrapping paper. “Well, put it on the table,” he said, the doubt of a pony’s ability to fit into such a small space evident in his voice.

  Ken walked over with his uncle and watched as the gift was placed among the others. “I sure do like birthdays. Don’t you, Uncle Jason?” the boy asked eagerly.

  “Yep,” Jason answered. “I sure do.” He leaned over to his nephew and whispered, “You want to hear a little secret? I’m gonna be having a birthday myself in another month or so.” Ken’s eyes brightened. The boy loved talking birthdays.

  Jason looked around the room. There were quite a few boys that looked to be about Ken’s age and a girl who appeared to be a few years older. That seemed a little strange. She appeared to feel a bit out of place and awkward.

  He turned to Ken to ask who she was, but the boy was no longer with him… not in mind, anyways. What was he staring at? Jason followed his nephew’s gaze and it lead to a little girl walking towards the other kids. Jason’s eyebrows arched in surprise. It was the cute little girl from Ken’s baseball game.

  A broad smile came to Jason’s face as he leaned over to Ken and whispered, “How’d you manage to pull that off?”

  It would appear that Ken was over his denial of the fact that he liked the little girl because he didn’t fain innocence or say “huh” but quietly explained, “I asked her.”

  “And she came?” Jason questioned. “Just as simple as that?” The surprise was evident in his voice. No matter how calm Ken was acting about it now, if he knew the boy at all, asking her to his party was one of the hardest things he’d ever done.

  “No sir, she had to ask her family first,” Ken explained. “They said only if her older sister came, too. She said she’d do it for five bucks.” He paused for a moment and gave a slightly distressed sigh as he added, “I sure hope I get me some money in one of them cards.”

  Jason barely managed to contain his laughter. It seemed that he wasn’t the only one willing to do a little underhanded scheming for the sake of the little lady in his life.

  An idea popped into Jason’s head. Leaving the boy standing by his gifts, he headed over towards Misty who stood over in a corner talking to her sister, Susan. Unfortunately for Jason, their mother was also in on the conversation. How wonderful. As he drew near, he overheard Misty regaling the tale of his daring deed. “…and he sent the first one flying into the second one – knocked their heads together and they both went out like a light.”

  Jason was just a little bit offended by the look of amazement on his sister-in-laws face but even more so by his mother-in-laws words. “I find that hard to believe,” she spoke with contempt, her back to him. “Jason is…”

  “right behind you,” he interrupted, curving her sentence to a different finish.

  His mother-in-law turned around. “Jason,” she spoke in surprise. “I didn’t know you were there. I was just, um…” Her voice trailed off.

  “It’s okay, Grace,” Jason said with a dry smile. “I know how you feel about me.” Leaving no time for a response, he turned to Misty. “Hey babe,” he said calmly, “can I talk to you for a second?”

  “Sure,” Misty replied sweetly. “I’ll be right back,” she told her sister before following Jason a few steps away for some privacy.

  As soon as they were out of earshot, Misty turned to Jason with a concerned look on her face. “Sorry about mom,” she spoke apologetically.

  “Ah, it’s okay,” he replied. “I’ve come to expect no less from her.”

  Misty gave him a look that said she was still sorry then asked, “So what’d you need, babe?”

  “Five dollars, if you’ve got it,” he responded quickly.

  “I do,” she answered with a questioning look in her eye. “What’s it for?”

  Jason really didn’t want to tell her. He was afraid it would get back to Susan that her little boy was spending money he didn’t have to get a girl to come to his house – Probably wouldn’t look too good for Ken. “Can you just let me have it please?” he sighed. “I’ll pay you back.”

  “Jason, my money is your money,” Misty said, smiling sweetly up at him. “It’s our money,” she added as she handed him a five dollar bill from her purse. “I was just curious.”

  Jason sighed again, a bit of a grin forming on his lips. “I’m going to put it in Ken’s card,” he confessed, plucking the money from her hand.

  “Why?” Misty asked, surprised.

  “I’ll explain later,” he promised.

  After the pack of wild, crazy children terrorized the house for quite some time, Susan gathered them all together in the living room. “You want to open presents or eat cake first?” she asked Ken.

  “Presents!” the boy exclaimed.

  “Presents it is then!” she responded, mirroring his excitement.

  Jason selected a good vantage point where he could sit and watch the carnage unfold. A small group of excited children gathered around the card table that held the gifts and watched as Ken tore into them with a vengeance. The little girl stood close by Ken, her eyes shining with delight.

  Among the first of the presents to be chosen was the one from Jason and Misty. As Ken ripped it open, he found that, true to his word, Uncle Jason had gotten him a pony. It was extreme
ly small and plastic but it was still a pony. It even came with a small cowboy to ride it. The gift from the boy’s mother was a revolver cap-gun, equipped with a genuine plastic gun belt. The two sisters looked at each other, their eyes showing that they were quiet happy that Ken was so pleased with his toys. It was no accident that he wound up with a bunch of cowboy gifts because, when asked what he wanted, “cowboy stuff” had been his only request.

  “Open your cards, Ken,” his mother prompted after all the presents had been opened.

  Everyone had brought a present for Ken, so Jason figured the odds of his nephew getting the five bucks he needed, without some intervention, were pretty slim.

  A hopeful look was on the boy’s face each time he opened a card… but, alas, each time yielded the same result – no money. He would look at the card for a moment, kindly pretending he cared who it was from before discarding it and reaching for another one. Finally, he reached the last card, which was from Jason and Misty. When he opened it, his eyes lit up. A bright smile came to his face as he pulled out a crisp five dollar bill and put it in his pocket.

  “Thanks Uncle Jason and Aunt Misty,” Ken loudly expressed his gratitude, the huge grin still on his lips.

  “You bet,” Jason replied, smiling in return.

  He overheard Susan turn to Misty and whisper, “He usually doesn’t get all that excited about money.”

  Misty shrugged before whispering back, “Maybe he’s beginning to learn the value of the dollar.” Oh yeah… definitely. Maybe money couldn’t buy true love, but it sure seemed to be able to help get you there.

  “Who’s up for cake?” Susan asked, in a loud announcer-like voice.

  “Me,” all the kids chimed together, giving their answer a sort of odd harmony.

  “All we need is for the birthday boy to come blow out his candles,” Susan said before leading off singing “Happy Birthday” as Ken walked over to his cake. When the song concluded, he huffed and he puffed and he blew every single candle out.

  “What’d you wish for?” Jason called out.

  “I wish I were a cowboy!” Ken blurted out and, as a result, everyone burst into laughter.

  “You’re not supposed to tell your wish,” Misty said in a playful tone.

  “If you don’t tell nobody your wish then how’s it supposed to come true?” the confused kid asked.

  Laughter filled the room once more, and Misty chuckled, “Well, I guess you do have a good point there.”

  After all the kids had gotten their fill of cake, ran around, laughed, and just acted crazy; they, one by one, began to leave. Ken didn’t seem too troubled by their departure… at least not until it was the little girl’s turn to go. Then it was goodbye happy days. It seemed that the boy was reverting back to his shy and awkward ways because he stood with a sad look on his face and just watched her follow her older sister towards the door.

  “Kenny,” his mother spoke in a surprised voice that also held a bit of shame, due to his seeming lack of manners. “Tell you friend goodbye and thank her for coming.”

  “Bye,” Ken spoke shyly as he gave her a small wave. “Thanks for coming.”

  “Bye,” the little girl responded sweetly. “I’ll see you soon.” The look in Ken’s eyes said he really hoped she was right.

  Soon the only ones who hadn’t left were Jason and Misty. They sat on the loveseat talking with Susan and Ken. When the boy’s mother announced that it was time for him to scamper off to bed, the boy eyed Jason closely as he leaned up and whispered something into his mother’s ear.

  “I don’t know,” Jason heard her reply. “You’ll just have to ask him.” His nephew hung his head a little, obviously a bit bashful of his request. “Go ahead,” she encouraged him again. “I don’t think he’ll bite.”

  Reluctantly, without making eye contact, Ken wandered over to his uncle and stood before him squirming uneasily.

  Jason leaned forward. “What is it, buddy?” he asked.

  The boy was silent for a moment longer before he mumbled, “Will you come say my good night prayer with me?”

  Jason’s heart lurched. It was such a beautiful request, but he wasn’t even sure exactly how to pray. “I guess I can do that,” he answered in an unsure voice, “but you’d better do the talking, okay?”

  “Okay!” the boy shouted, breaking into a huge grin. With that, he turned and ran towards his bedroom yelling, “Come on, Uncle Jason. Last one there’s a rotten egg.”

  The rotten egg laughed and chased after his racing nephew. Reaching the boy’s room, he sat down on the bed next to where Ken was already kneeling. “Okay, I’m ready,” he said.

  “Not like that,” Ken instructed. “You’ve got to get on your knees… like me.”

  His uncle complied and, with everything the way it was supposed to be, Ken began. “Dear Jesus, thank you for my birthday and for my horse and for my gun and for my gun holder and for my cowboy… and for Uncle Jason. Amen. Oh, and help me’da sleep good. Amen.”

  Jason smiled. “Good prayer, bud,” he said, giving his nephew a rub on the head. “We cool now? No songs to sing or stories to tell?”

  “If you want to you can,” his nephew replied excitedly.

  “Maybe next time,” Jason chuckled as he stood up. “Good night. Sleep tight and all that good stuff,” he added, giving the boy’s shoulder a gentle shake.

  When he walked back into the living room, Misty and Susan were in deep conversation. “He still calls me sometimes,” he overheard Susan say. “Mainly he just wants to brag about his latest money making scheme, trying to rub it in my face.” She shook her head like she couldn’t quite grasp the concept of someone bragging about money they didn’t yet have. “I mean, does he think I haven’t hurt enough as it is?”

  Jason cocked his head back slightly enough it went unnoticed as he sat down next to Misty, once more. Why didn’t Susan just quit answering the jerks calls? Seeming to read his mind, Susan sighed. “I know I should probably stop answering when he calls but, I don’t know, I guess if I didn’t answer I’d always wonder if that was the one time he was calling to, you know, say he was sorry or something like that.” She looked away and pressed her lips together in an attempt to keep the bottom one from trembling.

  Jason just sat in awkward silence, but Misty, in what seemed to be one swift, graceful move, was at her sister’s side. “I guess I should be thankful that Denton hasn’t shown much interest in our son,” Susan spoke, shaking her head as she turned to look at Misty who, in turn, took her hand and patted it gently. “Unless he changes, it’s probably best if things stay that way.” She paused and tossed her hands in frustration, adding, “And now I feel guilty for saying that because, you know, he has deprived his son of a father. But at least I’ve never had to fight with him over custody.”

  They all sat in silence for a moment then something in Susan’s mind made her smile. She wiped her eyes and sniffed. “When Ken came home from his game the other evening, all he could talk about was Uncle Jason this, Uncle Jason that,” she said, looking first at Misty then at Jason, giving them both a teary eyed smile. “I’m just so thankful that you guys are a part of his life.”

  “We are too. He’s a special little guy,” Misty complimented.

  “He sure is,” Susan sighed, her tone that of happiness under a burden. “He’s not like any other kid I’ve ever seen. And he loves going to church. He’s always asking if Uncle Jason and Aunt Misty are going to be there this time.” She smiled at them as she added, “I wish you would. Ken would have a fit... in a good way, of course,” she clarified, laughing a little as she wiped one of her red eyes once more.

  Jason sat in awkward silence, unsure of how to respond. He had expected the invite. It seemed that his sister-in-law would never completely give up on them becoming churchy. Church was fine. He was glad she found… whatever it was she found there, but Jason knew that church wasn’t for him or Misty either one.

  Right before he was going to politely decline her offer, Susan
mistook their silence for contemplation. Thinking they were actually considering it, her eyes light up. “It would mean the world to Ken,” she exclaimed. “He thinks so much of you and the Lord both. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if y’all got together,” she added with a laugh.

  Her determination made Jason feel bad about doing so, but he was going to have to explain that they just weren’t interested. But before he could, she went on. “Christ has made such a huge difference in my life, and now I want everyone, especially those that are close to me, to experience this awesome feeling. Do you know what it’s like to have all your past sins and mistakes forgotten? I do!” she exclaimed. “It is amazing!”

  Jason felt as if he was being backed into a corner. Unable to control the annoyance building up inside, he defended himself by saying, “Well, of course, some peoples’ mistakes are worse than others.” Oops, was that out loud? He couldn’t believe that he had just said something so cruel. Judging by the expression on his wife’s face, she couldn’t either.

  Susan looked a bit surprised at his bluntness but didn’t appear ashamed of her past errors. “That is true,” she agreed. “In the eyes of people some sins are greater than others, but in God’s eyes all sin is equal.” She then cast a tender look toward her son’s bedroom as she added, “But God’s forgiveness and mercy allows us to see how our biggest mistakes can become our greatest blessings.”

  As he sat there, tasting the bitterness of the foot he’d stuck in his mouth, Jason heard his wife say, “I don’t know about him, but I’d like to go to church with you sometime.”

  Jason found his tongue again. “You can’t go to church without me!” he exclaimed.

  “Well, it looks like the only way,” Misty said, turning to frown at him, “unless you come with me.”

  Jason laughed at the suggestion. “No, I think you should come with me,” he said as he stood. “The only way either one of you ladies will ever see me in a church is standing over my dead body.”