Brave Beginnings (40 page)

Gary swallowed the lump in his throat. “Which
was?”

“An axe.”

“An axe?” He glanced at Chogan and thought of
Sarita. “Why didn’t he just use a gun?”

“Good question,” Conrad said. “As far as I
can tell, there’s only one reason to have an axe.”

Gary shivered. “You think he cut her up?”

“It’s easier to transport a body and bury it
that way, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried it.”

Conrad finished taking care of Chogan and
took a deep breath. “I need to continue on this trail of
breadcrumbs your sister left.”

“I’m coming with you,” Gary said. “She’s my
sister, and I need to make sure she’s alright.”

“Someone needs to watch Chogan,” Conrad
replied. “Preferably to keep him tied down. I’ve never seen a man
more determined to get somewhere.”

“I will stay with Chogan,” Citlali said. “You
two go on ahead. When he is well enough, we will follow. I have
medicine to speed up the healing and to sedate him. You don’t need
to tie him down.”

Conrad turned to Gary.

Gary nodded. “I woke up to find Chogan trying
to ride off on my horse. I’m wide awake. We might as well head off
now. The moon is bright enough.”

“Let’s go.” Conrad agreed.

Without further words, the two men gathered
enough supplies to get them through the next few days, careful to
leave enough for Chogan and Citlali.

~~********~~

Julia checked the distance between the shack
and the barn where Ernest put the horse and buggy. If she could get
out of her room, she might be able to get out of here. She knew how
to hook the horse up and could ride out. Without a horse, Ernest
wouldn’t be able to catch up to her.

She bit her lower lip and tiptoed to the
door. Pressing her ear against it, she held her breath and waited.
The sound of steady snoring assured her that Ernest was asleep.
Good. There was still plenty of night left. That gave her suitable
time to get out of here. She studied the weathered down lumber that
formed the walls of her room. They were weak. Maybe she could pry
the boards. There was a sliver of light that slipped through the
bottom of one board that didn’t quite reach the ground. She was
sure at one time, it reached the floor, but someone had dug up the
floor. Why they would do that, she could only guess. But she didn’t
care. Right now she had to get out of here.

She knelt down and touched the bottom of the
board and cringed. It was rough and dry, parts of it pricked her
fingers. Grasping it with both hands, she braced her body as she
pulled on it. It budged a little bit. Encouraged, she tried to get
a better grip on it but realized she couldn’t. She let go of the
board and inspected the dirt beneath it.

She retrieved one of the blankets and covered
her hands with it so she could dig into the dirt. Maybe if she made
a large enough hole, she could get a better hold on the board and
break it. She dug into the ground and breathed a sigh of relief
when she felt the dirt give way. Encouraged, she hurried the
process, trying not to make any noise as she worked.

After she figured she’d dug enough, she set
the blanket aside and grabbed the board with her hands. Bracing
herself, she pulled. A piece of the wood gave and split. She sat
back for a moment to access the crack. With an inward groan, she
realized she’d need to dig further. She waited in the silent room
and turned her attention to the door. Everything was quiet on the
other side except for the low snoring that assured her Ernest was
still asleep.

I can do this. I just need to keep
going.

Renewing her strength, she took the blanket
that covered her hands and proceeded to make another hole. As she
worked, something sharp poked through the blanket and stung one of
her fingers. Startled, she yanked the blanket away and inspected
her wounded finger in the moonlight. No skin was broken, though a
red spot was on it. Shaking her hand and wiggling her fingers, she
leaned forward to see what had hurt her.

She squinted and saw something poking up from
the hole. Reaching forward, she touched the solid object. What
could it possibly be? She dug further into the hole. In the dark,
it was hard to make out what she was digging out, but she managed
to wrap her hand around the cool object that was bumpy in some
places and smooth in others. Curious, she pulled it out of the
ground and held it up to the window to see what it was.

When she realized it was the bones of a human
hand, she gasped and dropped it. Scurrying to the other side of the
room, she grabbed another blanket and wrapped it around her head
and placed a wad of the blanket into her mouth so her screams were
muffled. She remained on the floor, her back against the wall for a
good five minutes, rocking back and forth as she willed herself not
to wake Ernest. Her breathing heavy, she stared at the hand lying
on the floor, palm up, and its fingers curved as if beckoning her
toward it.

Oh God, what is that thing doing here?

She tightened her hold on the blanket, her
gaze still fixed on the hand as if it would move toward her if she
took her eyes off of it. After what seemed like an eternity, she
finally calmed down. No wonder the floor had been ripped out.
Someone buried a body under here, and that explained why the dirt
was loose enough for her to work with. Whoever dug that body here
was probably in a hurry and didn’t bother packing the earth down.
They must have been rushed if they didn’t build a floor back over
the ground.

She shivered. She didn’t want to know how
that body got there. Anxious, she let the blanket drop off her
shoulders and scrambled back to the board, well aware that she
could end up digging up more of a skeleton. That hand had been
chopped off at an odd angle at the wrist. Whoever had done it was
in a hurry. Shivering again, she dug into the dirt, forgetting to
use the blanket to protect her hands.

When she got enough done, she grabbed the
board and pulled on it, using more strength than before and the
board snapped. She fell back but quickly got up. Gathering another
section of the board, she pulled until it gave way. Excited, she
tested the board above the one she’d just removed from the section
of the wall. It was brittle as well.

She pulled on it, but it took several
attempts before it cracked. Letting go of it, she got on her back
and used her feet to push it outward until it snapped. She stopped
when she heard something from the other room. A heavy moment of
silence lingered in the air as she waited. When she heard Ernest
snore, she pressed through with her plan, trying not to be too loud
as she broke enough of the wall to finally crawl out of the
shack.

Once outside, she bolted for the barn.
Almost there. Almost there!
Her heart sped up with
anticipation. She was going to do it! She was going to get out of
here! Soon she’d be with Chogan and get him to a doctor. He was
still alive. She could feel it.

She entered the barn and hurried to the horse
which was asleep. She searched the place until she found the bridle
and reins. Running to the steed, she slipped the bridle on and
slipped the bit into his mouth. She glanced at the barn entrance
which was empty. Good. She still had a chance to get out of
here.

She attached the reins to the horse and led
him to the buggy where she hooked him up, her hands working fast as
excitement welled up in her. It was happening! She was actually
doing it!

Just as she turned to get into the buggy,
Ernest stepped out from the shadows in the corner of the barn.
Gasping, she stumbled backward and fell to the barn floor.

“Where are you going, Julia?” Ernest asked in
a cool tone as he slowly moved forward.

She scrambled to the door while she struggled
to stand up. Tripping on her skirt, she fell back down.

Ernest strode to the doorway and blocked her
exit. “You didn’t answer my question, Julia. Where are you
going?”

She immediately backed away from him, but he
reached down and yanked her up by the arms.

“Where are you going?” he yelled before he
slapped her so hard she fell back to the floor.

Shocked, she couldn’t react in time to avoid
him when he bent over her and punched her in the jaw. She covered
her face with her arms and screamed at him to stop, aware of the
metallic taste of blood in her mouth.

But he didn’t stop. He hit her on the arms
and the sides of her head until she heard her ears ring. When he
paused, she attempted to get out of the barn, but he kicked her in
the side.

Her first thought was to protect her child so
she rolled onto her stomach and covered her head, sobbing
hysterically into the moldy hay littering the barn floor. “Stop!
Please stop!”

“You won’t leave me again, Julia!” He
continued to kick her in the side. “You hear me?”

“I won’t! I won’t leave!” she cried out, her
body shaking.

He stopped and the only sounds in the barn
were her racking sobs and the horse’s neighing. Standing over her,
he watched her, his face void of emotion.

She turned her face away from him, not
wanting to see those cold eyes. Her stomach turned and before she
knew what was happening, she was vomiting what little food and
water remained in her. Blood dripped out of her mouth with her
stomach’s contents. When she finally stopped heaving, she lifted
her head to gasp the fresh air so her stomach would settle.

“Julia,” Ernest whispered as he knelt beside
her. “Why did you make me do that? I love you. I don’t want to hurt
you.”

Tears slid down her cheeks as she muffled her
sobs. In her mouth, she felt the area where two of her lower teeth
had been knocked out when he punched her. She closed her eyes and
tried to steady herself. A part of her felt that this couldn’t be
happening. She felt as if she was standing to the side of the barn
and watching it all take place. And yet, the other part—the more
real part—of her couldn’t stop shaking. All she could do was
breathe and pray her child was still safe in her womb.

Ernest picked her up, this time with a touch
so gentle it made her tremble. There was no comfort to be had in
the way he was now handling her. She continued to cry silently as
he carried her back to the house, whispering words of love that
were meant to sooth but only frightened her all the more. He was
unpredictable. One minute brutal and the next kind. Despite the
heat of the summer night, she shivered, her teeth chattering.

“We’ll get you a blanket,” he softly told
her.

She didn’t answer as he brought her into the
shack. The light from the kerosene lamp struck her eyes, producing
a headache that made her wince.

“Here.” He laid her on his cot and patted her
head. “There you go. It’s better now, hmmm?”

Though she looked right at him, she didn’t
fully see him. She saw Chogan leaning over her and smiling. More
tears came to her eyes. Even as Ernest brushed them away and kissed
her on the top of her head, she imagined it was Chogan and held
onto the memory of how protected and safe she’d felt when Chogan
touched her.

Ernest turned away to dim the light on the
lamp. “Get some sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

He took the blankets that had been in her
room and laid them out. Then he settled into them.

She stayed awake until he fell asleep. For
the longest time, she stared ahead at the wall, not seeing
anything. In her mind, she was in bed with Chogan. He had his arms
around her and she settled against him. Protected. Safe. Loved. She
blinked and more tears fell from her eyes.

***

Noah rode as the sunrise came over the
horizon, fear from almost being shot pushing him to keep going. A
part of him felt that no matter how far he traveled, he’d never be
safe.

I never should have agreed to work for
Ernest.

His mother was right. She warned him that if
Ernest was paying him as much as he was, then Ernest was up to no
good. Little did he know just how bad things would get if he allied
himself with Ernest.

And had it not been for Julia intervening
when she had, Noah knew he’d be dead. All along Ernest planned to
kill him as soon as Noah had worn out his use.

Noah saw two figures in the distance. It
didn’t dawn on him that he was approaching two other riders until
he was nearly upon them. Startled, he pulled back his reins and
waited, gasping as the two men made their way toward him.

Noah brushed the hair out of his eyes so he
could get a better look at them. He inhaled a few deep breaths,
hoping to steady his nerves.

One of the men tipped his hat. “Good morning,
Mr. Hawk.”

Noah gulped. “Y-you know me?” He didn’t
recognize either of the two men, so why would they know him? He
cleared his throat, aware his heart rate had picked back up.

“You used to work at the Bismarck Tribune.
You distributed newspapers,” the man said.

“Uh…”

Noah paled. Oh no. They knew. They knew he
was in cahoots with Ernest and that Ernest stole money from the
bank before he headed out to kidnap Julia. They knew everything.
And worse, they knew Noah helped by spying on Julia, getting Sarita
involved, and getting those train tickets. Noah tightened his hold
on the reins. How he wished he could go back and do it all over.
Then he wouldn’t have gotten involved with Ernest at all. His
mother had been right. He should have stuck it out at the Tribune
and worked hard instead of expecting his skin color to advance him.
I should never have begrudged Chogan the promotion. God, if only
I could go back in time and do it all over…

“Mr. Hawk?” the man asked, breaking Noah from
his internal litany of his regrets.

Noah blinked and swallowed the lump in his
throat. “Yes, I’m Noah Hawk.” Might as well come clean. He’d
committed a crime, and he’d have to pay his dues. He closed his
eyes and sighed. His mother would be so disappointed. How was he
supposed to tell her the truth?