Chapter 2
Pearl remained withdrawn and quiet, her grief plain upon her pale scared face. Like Justina she bore the effects of her husband's brutality. As he sat through the night keeping guard over the two women and Charles, Mingo pondered the behavior of the people he'd found in the wilderness.
Two passive women, evidently living as wives for years to two sadistic men. The human capacity for endurance awed him, but his own chivalrous nature rebelled at the other men's obvious cruelty. As he lightly dozed his mind circled, searching for understanding.
In the morning he checked Charles' healing wound, then left the camp in search of meat. In a short hour he was back with a yearling deer. Quickly Mingo cut the meat into long strips and propped them over the fire on long thin sticks. Justina had prepared a pot of coffee while he was gone and he gratefully accepted a hot cup of the strong brew. He was sleepy. He knew he needed to stay alert to protect himself and his three companions. To that end he drank cup after cup of coffee, even instructing Justina to make another pot while he checked the roasting meat. Pearl sat staring sightlessly into the fire.
Without warning Pearl threw herself onto the campfire, the flames quickly catching her cloth dress and long loosened brown hair. She screamed as the flames seared her skin. Mingo leaped to pull her out. He and Charles dragged her over the fire ring as Justina threw the pot of heating water on Pearl's burning hair. The two men rolled her on the ground to put out the flames consuming her dress.
The burned woman thrashed in agony, her screams piercing the morning stillness. Most of her bodice was gone and patches of burned skin showed plainly. Nearly all of her hair had burned off including her eyebrows. She shivered uncontrollably.
"Charles, what shall we do? I don't know how to treat burns this severe!" Mingo's voice plainly disclosed his near panic.
Charles sat holding his throbbing side and shook his head. "Justina, what do we do?" Mingo turned to the silent woman standing beside him.
"Shoot her and put her out of her misery, like you would a dog I reckon."
Mingo's head snapped up and his eyes widened in horror at her calm pronouncement. Pearl's screams continued as she writhed in agony on the ground. Mingo stood and grabbed his blanket, carefully wrapping Pearl's body against the morning chill. He rolled her on her back and forced himself to examine the damage. She continued to scream and twist in pain. Both hands were badly burned, as were her forearms, shoulders, and breasts. The wounds seeped a bloody liquid continuously. Her face was nearly destroyed, the eyebrows and eyelashes gone, the skin burned and blistered around her lips and eyes. The skin of her scared cheeks was bubbled and fiery red.
Mingo turned from his examination and stared sightlessly into the forest. After several seconds he walked to the deer carcass and carefully examined it for any fat deposits. There was very little. As he rose from his futile search Pearl's screams faded and she breathed in staggered gasps. Charles crawled to her side and took her claw-like left hand. Justina stood watching, her face an expressionless mask.
Pearl pulled her eyelids open, exposing the reddened blue eyes. She stared sightlessly into the blue summer sky. One word passed her split, charred lips: Ladybug. Then her body shuddered strongly, her back arched, and the ragged breathing stopped. Beside her Charles leaned over and placed his hand over her mouth and nose. There was no breath.
Charles exchanged a long, sorrowful look with Mingo. The tall Cherokee bent to pick up a large rock and spent the next hour covering Pearl's burned body with a layer of Kentucky rocks. Charles fashioned a rough cross and Mingo carefully pounded it into the ground at Pearl's head with a fist-sized rock.
Justina gathered the camp equipment as matter-of-factly as though nothing unusual had happened. Both men watched her, unbelieving. She had shown no emotion at all in the hours the men had known her. None.
When Pearl was completely covered the two men stood beside her body with bowed heads. Justina stood nearby, also silent. Suddenly she spoke. "Pearl always was a bit strange. Doted on Ladybug liken she were a pet. Sung to her ever' night. Didn't pay no attention to nothin' else. Guess she's where she wanted to be, wherever that is. At least she's done got away from Oscar for good."
Mingo and Charles stared at the young woman's calm face. She turned and slung the camp equipment over Pearl's horse. Then she mounted her horse and sat waiting for the men. With another uneasy look Mingo helped Charles to mount. Then he mounted his own horse, took Pearl's horse's reins and led the way toward Salem. He and Charles had decided that the best plan was to seek the aid of the law. Wordlessly the three left the morning camp and the pile of rocks that marked the earthly remains of Pearl Radler.