The Blindness Factor
Chapter One
A huge contract bid was coming up in Olympia, and the three Bolt Brothers Jason, Joshua, and Jeremy, were deciding who should go with the town's lumber mill owner, Aaron Stempel, for the meeting.
It was apparently a "double blind" bid, wherein both parties making the bid (one for lumber, the other for milling/delivery) could not consult with or look at each other's bids before they were unsealed at the meeting. Of course, that never stopped anybody from discussing it among themselves.
Aaron Stempel wanted to play it safe, so he was cagey about his part of the bid, saying only that it was "very good. Great even."
The Bolts discussed the lumber materials at length, until they all agreed on the bid. Each type of timber was specified, and they knew they could cover the entire bid.
When a monetary number was decided, Jason wrote it down, all three brothers signed it, and it got folded neatly in an envelope.
Aaron, wax-sealing both envelopes with a flourish, then proceeded to plan the trip.
"Well, Jason, when do you want to head out? We need to be in Olympia within a week."
Joshua and Jeremy looked a little perplexed. Josh finally spoke up: "Why do you always assume it's Jason all the time, Stempel? His job right now is to finish that large order you gave us with a deadline!"
"All right, calm down, Josh," Jason said. "Can I spare either one of you at this time? Probably not, but one of us has to go. I agree with Josh that I should be the one running things here. The men tend to respect my orders, especially if I bark at them loud enough to step up the pace."
It was Joshua's and Jeremy's turn to look at each other. "Do you think the books can be p-p-postponed that long, Josh?" Jeremy knew his older brother was in charge of the bookkeeping, and it would just get all messed up if someone else were to do that part, especially Jeremy himself, who was not that good with numbers. Joshua just sighed.
"Well, Jeremy," said Jason with a twinkle in his eyes. "It looks like you get to spread your wings just like you did for Silas Harmon's grand clipper ship!" Jeremy had surprisingly landed that large bid against a well-known lumber company, mainly due to his honesty and gentle demeanor throughout the process.
"Oh, come on, Jason, you know it needs to be either you or Joshua on this trip," Stempel whined. Jeremy's eyes grew dark. "Why is that, Mr. Stempel?" Jeremy politely asked. "It's not like I have to do a serious p-p-presentation or anything. I won't even speak unless spoken to. They just need 2 men to bring in their separate bids."
"Well, then, it's settled!" Jason exclaimed, and he ushered his brothers out of Stempel's office before Aaron could whine again.
Chapter Two
Aaron was surprisingly silent as the two men were getting their horses ready to leave. Jeremy could sense his discomfort with the "arrangement."
"Look, Aaron," Jeremy said quietly. "I know I'm not your first choice for this trip, but I promise to do my best not to embarrass you."
"Hmmph!" Stempel snorted, "Well, let's get going then."
They mounted their horses and were ready to take off when Candy Pruitt, Jeremy's fiancée, rushed out of the brides' dormitory with a food basket.
"You two gentlemen don't think you can get out of town without some lunch, do you?"
"Candy," Jeremy said, "where are we supposed to put that huge basket? We're taking only horses on this trip."
"I know just the place," Candy stated, then proceeded to tie the basket on the saddle part right in front of Jeremy.
"That looks mighty uncomfortable, Bolt," Aaron was trying not to snicker.
"That's going to be plenty comfortable, Mr. Stempel," Candy assured him. "Jeremy may want to stop first because he's going to smell all the wonderful goodies in his lap!'
Jeremy smiled at Candy. "Thank you very much," he said. Candy wanted to hug and kiss him goodbye, but seeing as they were already running late, Jeremy just squeezed her hand and mouthed "I love you" as the two passed through town. Candy gave out a big sigh and walked slowly back to the dormitory.
Chapter Three
It was a hot, dusty morning. Both men were re-thinking their idea not to bring a buggy on this mission. They were soon drinking the last of their canteen water.
"Do you see any water around here, boy?" Stempel asked.
"Not yet, and No, I am not your 'boy,' " Jeremy shot back.
Stempel caught himself once again belittling the youngest Bolt brother, who hardly seemed more than a lad to Aaron at this point in time. He had known the Bolts for a very long time, and watched both Joshua and Jeremy grow from mere children into young men in the blink of an eye.
Jeremy pulled up his horse. "Stop. Wait. Do you hear that?" Stempel, not one to be totally observant of his environment unless it had some monetary value to him, pulled up and paused. "What is it?" He asked.
"Over there - look!" said Jeremy, and he took off with his horse to reach the babbling brook just a few meters away.
"Ah, now this is what I call an Oasis!" Stempel declared, pulling up his horse before dismounting. Jeremy was already filling up his canteen, leaning close to the creek to splash water on his face,
"I saw a change in the vegetation farther back, but I didn't get my hopes up until I heard the water," he said between slurps.
Aaron did not admit that he was impressed by Jeremy's observations. Jeremy took a big gulp out of his canteen before refilling it. Aaron also enjoyed the respite.
"Hey, maybe we could partake of that lunch Candy foisted on you back in town?" Stempel asked.
"Sure, Aaron." Jeremy got up and was about to turn towards his horse when he stopped dead in his tracks.
"What's the mat—-Oh!" Aaron exclaimed when he finally saw the large rattlesnake staring at Jeremy from a close proximity. Jeremy held his breath while Aaron slowly reached for his gun.
"Now, stay perfectly still, Bolt.. He cocked the rifle and aimed.
At the same time, Jeremy blinked, and the snake let out a long stream of venom right into Jeremy's eyes! He screamed and fell back, barely hearing Stempel's gunfire pierce the snake in half.
Jeremy fell to his knees, crawled to the creek, and dunked his face in it, opening his eyes to try and remove some of the venom. He stayed under for what seemed like a long time. He came up gasping, and dunked his face again.
After the third time, Jeremy fell to the side of the creek bed, gasping for air.
Aaron tried to help him to his feet, but Jeremy couldn't get up. Instead, he seemed to be struggling with consciousness, still gasping in pain.
"Bolt, Bolt! Stay with me, Bolt! We'll find you help…somewhere…."
Just then a large shadow loomed up behind Stempel, and he turned around and was face to face with a small group of tall Indian Warriors. He didn't know if they were friendly or not; he just pointed at Jeremy and said "The snake bit him!"
Two of the warriors dragged Jeremy's limp body back onto drier land. They both examined him, and spoke in their dialect. Aaron just prayed that they knew a little English.
"What kind…snake? One finally asked.
"Oh, see right here!" Aaron quickly walked over to the dead snake, and showed them both its head and rattler tail.
Aaron grew very concerned when the warriors looked at each other and became quiet. Jeremy, with likely his last ounce of energy, weakly called out for Aaron. "Aa-aaron?" He whispered.
Stempel quickly went to his side and said "Yes, Jeremy, I'm here."
"You… you have to go.. go make the bid."
"No! Both of us have to be there for them to accept the bid! I can't just leave you here to die!"
"I'm already as good as dead, Aaron. Take the snake's head, and tell them…tell them what happened to me. It's the truth." Jeremy was truly struggling now to stay conscious.
"I can't do that…." Stempel's voice trailed off with a look of helplessness in his eyes.
"Do it for Seattle, dammit!" Jeremy thought he was yelling, but his voice was barely audible. The warriors were talking among themselves this whole time, when one of them spoke up: "It is bad venom. We not know if too late, but medicine man can try to keep white man alive."
Jeremy continued hoarsely; "I can tell that these men are from the the Salish Tribe. Friendly. If I'm meant to live, they'll do it." Then he lost consciousness.
The group of warriors turned to Stempel and said "You go… now? He say you must go."
"Well, I….."
"We stay here. Our camp is there," he pointed deep into the woods. "Medicine man good. You - go."
Aaron backed up with a helpless look, but the warriors kept telling him "Go!"
Stempel left Jeremy's horse there, but he retrieved the dead snake's head, the sealed bid from Jeremy's pouch, and the food basket, then he galloped off to Olympia.