by E A Lake
Later, I drug Barster’s body back by Jimmy Darling. He too was dead. A single shot, most likely from Jean’s Colt revolver, ended his life. She told me she was glad he had to lie there and suffer for a while. Made everything right in her mind.
Spying something rusty and dull in the dirt, I picked it up. My Glock. I shoved it in my back pocket; happy to have it back where it belonged.
With their arms wrapped around one another, Jean and Lucy sat on the ground in front of the dingy house, recalling events since their separation. Most of the day was gone. I wondered if it would be better to shack up here for the night and head home in the morning or start now and stop somewhere along the way if needed.
“We’re taking off in a little bit,” Jean said when I asked her what she wanted to do. “There’s three horses back there, so we’ll each have a ride home.”
She noticed my silence. She hadn’t seen what I had when I dragged Barster back to join his old pal Jimmy.
“Slight problem there,” I began. “Seems like we shot two of the horses. One’s okay, but the other two are dead. Sorry.”
Jean slapped her forehead. “I knew I hit something when Barster ducked around the corner. I just didn’t think it was the horses.” She grinned at me. “Got a coin? We can flip to see who gets it.”
I smiled and stared into the late afternoon sunshine filtering through the trees. A little breeze would have been nice, I thought.
“You take it,” I replied. “I got 10 miles, and you told me earlier you have 20 to cover. I’ll be fine.”
“You can come with us, if you’d like,” Lucy offered kindly. “We could use a good man back home.”
I winked at her. “I’ve got a home and loved ones to get back to. They’ll be looking for me. A couple of them will be pretty damned worried, I suppose. But thanks.”
I helped them load up supplies from Barster’s hideout and watched them ride off into the proverbial sunset. It would have been into the actual sunset, but they headed northeast.
“You take care of yourself, Bob Reiniger,” Jean called out, waving one last time. “If you ever get sick and tired of that Daisy woman, you know where to find me.”
I only waved; no more words were needed.
Turning east towards the road, some four miles through the summer woods, I began my trek home.
And I never planned on leaving again.
Day 1,108
After spending the night in a completely run-down shack, I started back on the road a little after sunrise. I had hoped to make it all the way home, but fatigue — caused by not eating much the last few days — caught up with me. I slept like a baby that night. Even the grotesque amount of bugs in the place didn’t disturb my slumber.
Meandering down the middle of the deserted road, I passed Lettie’s old place. I wondered how the old bird was doing back at Wilson’s fortress. More than likely, she had that group of men saying please and thank you in every sentence. She always figured a little bit of discipline and a whole lot of manners went a long way.
I was three miles from home. Relief flooded over me as I reflected on my time away. This was the tenth full day since I’d left. I hoped they’d be as excited to see me as I was to see them. All of them.
Recalling my dream from many days back, I snickered. Bud was wrong. I could do what had to be done. I did do what had to be done. Now we were safe. Maybe safe for the rest of time.
As I walked the last few miles, I allowed my mind to wander. I thought about Shelly. In a silent prayer, I wished her the best. We would never be together again. Not on this Earth at least.
Mom and Dad came to my mind. I wondered how proud my dad would be if he knew all the things I had accomplished. If he realized, against all odds, I was still alive, with no plans of dying anytime soon.
Daisy was at the forefront of most my thoughts. The life we’d made together so far was nothing compared to the eternity we’d spend with one another. Libby would be our daughter until someday she had to plant us in the ground, or maybe feed us to Chester’s descendants.
We had to deal with Violet and Hope, but no time soon. After the days I’d been through, I figured I could put up for a while yet with whatever Violet tossed my way. By winter, I decided. By the time the first snows came, they’d have to move out of our home and in with Wilson. It was the only logical solution.
Frank and Dizzy were the only ones lost thus far. Not bad considering the world we knew was long gone. Each day was a struggle just to survive. But I’d done better than survive lately. I had defended my home, my family, my friends from the evil lurking outside our very front door. I could see Frank and Dizzy’s smiles. I could almost hear their words: You done good, Bob. You done good.
Ahead, a figure appeared on the road. As I stopped and studied it, I realized it was coming closer…running. I reached for my weapon, checking the chamber to be sure it was ready if needed.
A few more seconds and I recognized the long hair flapping in the wind. For a moment, my heart skipped a beat.
“Daisy,” I muttered, picking up my pace to greet my love.
A few strides later, I realized the hair wasn’t blonde. And I saw the form was taller and thinner than Daisy. I stopped hurrying and waited for the girl.
Violet.
Day 1,108 — continued
She hit me at a dead sprint, leaping at the last moment, wrapping her thin arms and legs around me. She damn near knocked me backwards onto the pavement.
“You’re back!” Followed by a kiss on the lips. “Thank God you’re safe.” Another kiss, again on the lips. “I was so worried about you.” This time, Violet gave me a more passionate smooch and I let it go on just long enough to satisfy her. When I set her down, I saw tears.
She had to know that this was the end of us. We could never be anything more than friends. That had to explain the tears and worried look.
“I know I was gone a while longer,” I said as she played with my hair and then my beard. She still had the damned worried look. “But it’s over now. It’s done, we’re safe.”
Her head shook and she looked back in the direction of the cabin. Something was wrong.
“What is it?” I asked, starting to get that funny feeling in the bottom of my gut. She bit a nail, staring at me for a moment and turned away again.
I grabbed her by the shoulders to face me head on. “Violet, what is it?”
She began to weep and buried her head in my chest. That really made me worry. Did something happen to Hope while I was gone? Maybe word came from Wilson about an illness that had taken Lettie from us? Or somebody could have had an accident with the ax or one of the guns.
“Tell me what’s wrong, Violet,” I demanded, pushing her to arm’s length. “You need to tell me what’s going on!”
“Someone came, a few days ago,” she sobbed, grabbing at my shirt, trying to pull herself closer. “They came and we weren’t ready. They surprised us, even Mr. Wilson.”
My stomach felt lodged in the middle of my throat. I had to clear the phlegm several times before I could speak.
“Who came?” I asked, loud enough to startle the girl. “Who exactly came?”
She looked at me, frightened. Was it the news she held ransom, or me, I wondered? She nodded in a tiny fashion.
“Those people,” she cried. “Those people from Covington. I’m so sorry but they caught us so off guard. Even Mr. Wilson didn’t see them until it was too late. I’m sorry, please forgive me.”
I shook her; I didn’t mean to, but I did. “What did they want, Violet? What did they do?” My words were angry. Any other time, I would have felt bad. But not then. She needed to level with me. Something big had happened and I didn’t have a clue.
Her eyes rose slowly to meet mine. “I tried to stop them. I promise you, I really tried to stop them. There were eight of them, and they had guns pointed at us. They wouldn’t listen. I’m so sorry.”
She paused and I waited for her next sentence. I knew they had killed someone
.
“They took her, and we couldn’t stop them. We tried, but we couldn’t. I’m so sorry. They took her.”
I shook her hard, upset with her vague ramblings. “Who the hell did they take, Violet?!”
Her shaking hands rose slowly to her lips. I saw her fingertips tremble as she began to mouth the words. Her crying intensified. “I’m so sorry, Bob. I did everything I could. But they took her — they took Daisy.”
We sat at the table, four of us. Wilson beside me, Violet with a heartbroken Libby on her lap across from me. I was so upset with her, Violet, that I wanted to hurt her. She wanted this; this is what she had prayed for. It was all her fault. I just knew it.
But the voice of reason, Wilson, said different.
“It was later in the day, two days back,” Wilson started, shaking his head. He blamed himself, and thus far, I hadn’t told anyone I didn’t blame them. “I took Libby down the road to pick berries, just around the corner. When we came back, there were six of them in the yard. Two more stood in the brush just to the north. If I had seen them, it could have turned out different.
“They would have shot me and Libby where we stood if I would have dared to raise my gun. They made that plain as day. They brought Violet and Daisy outside to join Libby and me. I guess the baby was sleeping.” The pain in his voice told me Violet’s story was mostly true, though I still didn’t want to believe a single word of it.
iWilson rubbed his bald head before continuing, “They were after her, Daisy; even told us so. She was the only reason they came. Seems they had to settle a debt with a fish camp. And they needed an experienced person. And they knew all about Daisy’s past experience at a camp. I guess you all know how much Susan Weston hated Daisy. How badly she wanted stick it to her; even this one last time.”
“I told them to take me,” Violet desperately added. “I begged them to.”
I cocked an eye her direction. “Yeah, I bet you really tried your damnedest.” After all, she had received her wish. Daisy was gone and she remained. But I’d move heaven and Earth to change that before the first wet snows of fall came in the next several months.
Wilson laid a hand on mine. “She did, Bob,” he replied in an honest, sincere tone. “She told them she was younger, could work harder. Susan Weston laughed at her. Matt grabbed Daisy and said she was coming.
“Violet begged and pleaded. I didn’t want either of them to go. But it was obvious to everyone she wanted to go in Daisy’s place,” Wilson finished and I looked the teary girl in the face.
“Why?” I asked.
Violet became serious, dropping the finger from her mouth. “You know why,” she answered quietly. “You didn’t want me here. You wanted her. Anyone could see that. In the end, I just wanted what was best for you. I knew if Daisy was here and I was gone, you’d get on just fine.”
“The Weston’s wouldn’t go for it,” Wilson continued. “When they started to leave, Violet ran in front of them and dropped to her knees. She begged them to take her. Matt Weston told her to move. When she refused, he put a gun to her head. Said something like, ‘Just give me a reason to pull the trigger.’”
He paused and wiped his forehead with a red handkerchief. “Daisy saved her, of course. Told Violet it had to be this way. Told her it would be okay. Told her to take care of herself and Libby…and you.”
I sighed and looked between the two. All this time, Libby had been quiet, letting Wilson and Violet tell their story without so much as even a whimper.
The small child looked at Violet in a pathetic fashion. “Do you know when Momma’s coming back, Vi?”
Violet hugged her, rocking her gently in her arms. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I just don’t know.”
I glanced at Wilson. “Any idea where?”
He shook his head. “Last I heard, there were more than 100 small and large fish camps set up on the south shore of Superior. Likely, it’s one here in northern Michigan, maybe the far east side of Wisconsin. But that only narrows it down to 50, maybe 60. At least within two or three weeks’ walk.”
Placing my head in my hands, I let out a low moan. The woman I loved, the woman I adored, the woman who made me whole, was missing.
I had no idea where to find her. Or even where to start. No Where took on a darker aura at that moment, one I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to shake. Not until Daisy Vaughn was back by my side.
############
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