THE BEGUILEMENT OF KID CURRY - Chapter Twelve
Amy stopped, if she left the house she would be out in the open with little cover. It would be better to confront Miss Martha within the confines of the house. She snuck back in and pressed herself against the wall frozen with fear as Heyes and Miss Martha passed within feet from her. Heyes had caught the slightest movement out of the corner of his eye. He knew it was Amy. Heyes didn't want to risk her getting hurt, so with a quick shake of his head he silently told her no. He knew he had to buy some time. He felt the wind start to pick up as they stepped outside. He looked skyward and saw ominous clouds gathering in the distance. Using the single crutch Heyes slowly made his way down the porch steps with the Bible tucked under his free arm.
Miss Martha, impatiently pushed the barrel of the shotgun between Heyes shoulder blades and pushed him hard causing him to stumble.
"Why are you doing this?" Heyes asked as he regained his balance.
"You know why...Keep walking," She said, herding him towards the pile of dirt. "No more questions. If you need answers ask Him...although I'll warn you, He has no answers."
"Ain't looking for heavenly answers...just your earthly ones cuz we didn't do what you think we did. You were never suppose to find that letter. We didn't want to put you through that pain."
"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!" Miss Martha hissed. "STOP!" Martha instructed Heyes once he reached the edge of the hole. He glanced quickly at the crudely dug hole. It was about eight feet by eight feet.
Heyes turned to face her. He thought it might be harder for her to pull the trigger if she could see his face, but that thought evaporated once he looked into her cold, black eyes, insane with rage. There was no sanity left to rationalize with. His mind raced. He knew she had just one shot left before she had to reload.
His only potential weapons were a leather bound Bible and a wooden crutch. There were several shovels scattered around but not close enough for him to grab before she got a shot off. Against a shotgun, Heyes really didn't like those odds.
If Kid...Heyes froze as he saw her hand move to pull the hammer back. In one motion Heyes dropped the Bible and readjusted his weight, taking it off the crutch. He grabbed the crutch with both hands and swung it aiming for her head. It missed the mark, but hit the barrel of the shotgun causing her to miss.
She screamed in frustration and anger, swinging the barrel at Heyes' head as she advanced towards him. Heyes took a step backwards, slipping on the freshly dug dirt, causing him to lose his balance. He fell backwards into the hole, the back of his head finding one of the two large rocks that remained in the hole. His head exploded in pain. He instinctively reached towards his head, moaning as he struggled to stay conscious. He saw Martha peer into the hole before disappearing. The last sensation he felt was freshly dug dirt hitting his face, before everything went black.
xxxxxxxxxx
Amy had gone out the back door and circled back through the trees trying to make it to the barn where she could observe Miss Martha without being seen. The skies were darkening with the rapidly approaching storm, and she hoped she could use that to her advantage, but when she heard the shotgun go off, she ran straight towards Martha.
"NOOO!" Amy screamed in horror. "NOOO! JOSHUA!" Tears were streaming down her face as a far off clap of thunder sounded and the start of the rain began.
Martha stopped and rested her arm on the shovel as strands of damp hair lay pressed against her face. Her strange expression was one of amusement.
"You stupid stupid girl. To shed tears for a man. You have a lot to learn."
"WHERE IS HE?
"Where every man belongs."
Amy saw the shotgun laying in the grass several feet away from Martha. The only place he could be was in the hole. She looked at Martha then quickly into the hole. A cry caught in her throat. He looked dead.
"YOU KILLED HIM!"
"Not yet, dear Amy," Martha said calmly.
Amy cautiously turned her head to look in the hole again, "But.."She started when Martha struck her on the side of her head with the shovel. Amy instantly collapsed. Martha bent and callously rolled her body into the grave on top of Heyes'. She picked up the Bible and threw it in the grave, before she retrieved the shovel and began filling the hole with dirt. She thrust her shovel into the pile of dirt, stopping when she had covered the two bodies with a couple feet of dirt. No reason to fill the hole when she had more bodies to add.
Martha picked up the shotgun and walked towards the barn as the rain continued to fall. It would give her a dry space to wipe the weapon down and reload, then all that was left was to wait.
xxxxxxxxxx
Perched in the tree waiting for Thaddeus to return, Marie heard the gunshot. Tears fell as she pressed a hand to her mouth stifling a scream. She was so frightened, but she had promised Amy she would wait for Thaddeus. She clung to the tree as tears continued to fall. She didn't know how much longer she could remain in her hiding place with the storm approaching.
Where was he?
xxxxxxxxxx
Kid rode hard. He knew it wasn't only the urgency of the approaching storm but the nagging feeling that something was terribly wrong. He was close, just another few miles.
xxxxxxxxxx
Marie thought she saw a rider illuminated by a flash of lightning. She quickly climbed down from the tree and made her way to the road.
Kid saw her frantically waving at him. He pulled his horse to a stop so hard it slid on the road. Kid knew immediately that his instincts had been right. He jumped off his horse and ran to the terrified girl. She was so frightened her teeth were chattering as sobs racked her body.
"Marie" Kid said as he grabbed her by both arms.
Marie drew in a quick breath and managed to get out, "Miss Martha.,.she is trying to kill Joshua. She had us dig a hole...We didn't know," Marie's eyes met Kid's asking for forgiveness. "I think it was a grave." She hesitated between sobs, "I heard a gun."
Kid grabbed the reins to his horse and threw himself onto his horse.
"The other girls? Safe?"
"I...I think so. But Amy…" Marie started to sob again.
"Go find a safe place," Kid said as he dug his spurs into the horse.
xxxxxxxxxx
When he came to, Heyes first imagined it was just a terrifying nightmare. He couldn't open his eyes, or move. There was an unyielding weight that increased until it constricted his chest to where he couldn't breathe. He could taste dirt in his mouth and his nostrils. He choked on the dirt that clogged his mouth and nostrils.
Not being able to breathe released his most primal instincts of survival. He was panicking. He needed to calm himself, as he had only a small window of time to free himself before the weight of the dirt would compress his chest, causing him to fall into a coma and die, all within a span of five minutes...maybe less. He screamed at his body to move. He mentally moved through his appendages until he felt movement in his right hand and fingers. He wiggled them free and began to claw at the dirt with his one hand. He strained to flex his body to work some room around it. As long as the dirt was somewhat dry there was a sliver of hope that he would be able to free himself. He felt rain on his freed fingers. If the dirt became wet and muddy, the weight would become too great and it would crush his chest and suffocate him. He frantically clawed at the dirt trying to work his way towards his face.
xxxxxxxxxx
