Chapter 8

The car drove through a gate and a few miles in there was a road that veered off to the right. They had driven to Moses Lake and a ranch that was about 100 miles off the beaten path. There were three or four roads, they took the road to the right and drove a few more miles down. When the arrived, there was a ranch style house with a courtyard and a fountain in the middle. The children were 'unbagged' and taken to a little room off to the east of the courtyard. There were bars on the windows and the door locked from the outside. They were put in the room. It was cool in the middle of the hot sun and had two beds on each side of the room. There was a small toilet off to the side. The children stood there in the dark with just beams of sunlight coming through the windows that were 5 ft above the floor. There was a table and a couple of chairs, child size so that the children could sit at the table and a small bookcase with some children's books as well. Julie looked around, and then helped Jeremy to get used to the surroundings.

"I won't eat you if you help me, Julie!" he said. Julie laughed a little and then said:

"I don't think we have to worry just say some prayers that our parents will find us!" Just then a very tall man came in the room. He had two trays of food, there was fresh fruit, Cheerios, milk, and water for them to drink. He placed the food on the table and pointed and said:

"You eat! My name is Jimmie. I am your friend!" He smiled a big smile. He was tall and heavy looking. Jeremy was afraid of him, he looked like a giant. Julie was afraid but sensed that something was different about Jimmie.

"I can take you for ride on horses later when I am told it is okay!" said Jimmie and he left, locking the door from the outside. Jeremy didn't want to eat he was going to starve himself. Julie looked at him and said:

"If you don't eat, you won't have the energy to escape like the fox and rabbit did!"

"They didn't eat!" Jeremy said.

"Yes, they did! They didn't eat each other!" she said and sat down and poured the milk on her cheerios, Jeremy gave her his bowl and she poured mile on his cheerios as well.

Back at the main house, Jimmie said he had delivered the food.

"Thank you, Jimmie." Elijah said.

"Jimmie has friends to play with? Said Jimmie with a big smile on his face.

"Yes, Jimmie has friends. But before Jimmie plays with friends, Jimmie has chores to do?" Elijah reminded Jimmie. Jimmie left to do his chores; he was happy that he would be able to play some games with the kids. Elijah just looked and shook his head. If Anna had lived long enough, he would not have the responsibility of raising a dumb human. Jimmie was an idiot.

Meanwhile Jeremy was beginning to cry again, and Julie sat next to him and hugged him until he seemed to be better.

"Jeremy, would you like to play a little game?" she asked. She had noticed a shelf with games that they could play. Jeremy nodded yes and she went over and chose candy land and chutes and ladders. They spent the afternoon playing games and talking. It seems that Julie loved to talk so she did most of the talking. Jeremy sat and listened. Once he did seem to want to ask a question but couldn't put it into words because his feelings seemed to overwhelm him.

"Jeremy, what do you like to do?" Julie asked as she laid the cards out for a memory game they could play.

Jeremy looked at her and was about to answer when Jimmie came into the room. Jeremy ran and hid behind the chair. He was afraid of Jimmie. Julie wasn't, she had noticed that Jimmie was about the same age mentally as Jeremy, so he was just as scared as Jeremy. So, she looked around for a particular video she could put on and both would enjoy it. She found the video and placed it in the player. She pointed to the three chairs, and they sat and watched the show. While they were watching she watched as Jeremy slowly began to sit next to Jimmie. The show was about Shrek, a rather large ogre who was very kind and gentle. Jeremy seemed to understand that that was like Jimmie. Jimmie seemed to understand that Jeremy could perhaps be one of his friends and when the donkey was walking and talking, he looked at Julie who could mimic the donkey herself. Soon the video was over and the three of them became good friends.

Toph and Will both came to the little 'jail' and walked in and started to tease Jimmie who immediately began to get a sad look on his face. Jeremy then went in front of Jimmie and stood with both hands on his hips and looked up at them and said:

"Y-y-y-o-ou, meanies! Leave J-j-Jimmie Alone!" Jeremy went over to the two to men and since he was still small, he took a book and banged the book into Toph's shin and the back of Will's knee. Both men were about to grab Jeremy when Jimmie stood in front of Jeremy and said:
"Leave my friends alone! They are nice to me, you are not!" Then Jimmie pushed them out of the door and would not let them come in. Elijah had just come up to take Jeremy aside and let him know some bad news. He wasn't sure about the little girl, so he had another story to tell her but separate from Jeremy.

"Toph! Will! Get away from their kids. Go to the coral and saddle up two horses! I am taking the young one out first!" Said Elijah as he looked at Jimmie. "Well, he does make one hell of a babysitter" He thought as he went to talk to Jeremy.

"Jimmie, can you take the girl…"

"Julie Marie Stemple!" she said without missing a beat.

Elijah looked at her and said:

"Miss Julie Marie Stemple. I would like you to accompany Jimmie to the barn. There you will find a horse that Jimmie will help you to ride. I will be taking Jeremy on a horse ride with me for a little while. I would like to talk to you later if that will be, okay?" He asked. He played the little game of being nice. He did not really want the girl, but she could be useful.

"Okay, Mr.? "

"Harmon and you can call me Elijah if you wish." He said pleasantly. He watched as Jimmie took her hand and they walked to the barn. Jeremy was left with Elijah who was ready to ride a horse and tell the boy the bad news that he had. He went over to Jeremy and said:
"Jeremy, would you like to ride a horse?" Jeremy smiled and said yes. Elijah took Jeremy over to the corral where the other two had prepared a horse for Elijah and a pony for Jeremy. They placed a helmet on Jeremy's head and helped him get on the horse's back. He was all smiles. Mr. Harmon had the rope for Jeremy's horse and helped Jeremy ride the horse by guiding it with the extra rope. Toph and Will watched as they trotted away on the horses.

"Well, grandpa said he was going to tell Jeremy that his family had been killed and that he would be living with us forever." Said Will

"Yeah, and we will have to treat him like a real brother as well! But I don't know as if I like that?" said Toph.

"Yea, but that little girl will be a looker in a few years? Maybe we get to make her a 'sister'? said Will with a sneer on his face as he thought of something terribly evil.

Elijah and Jeremy rode for a while. Jeremy was fascinated with the trees and the lake that was nearby. Elijah looked for a good spot to sit down. He spied a place on the bank of the lake and steered the horses to that place. He got down from his horse and helped Jeremy down as well.

"Are you a little hungry Jeremy?" To which Jeremy nodded yes. So, Elijah brought out the picnic food and blanket. Jeremy helped the best he could by spreading the blanket. The cook had made his favorite sandwich, a Peanut Butter and grape Jelly sandwich and he had even cut the crust just like his mother did for him. They ate their lunch and sat and enjoyed the afternoon. But Mr. Harmon was sly. He sat and pulled out a letter. He read the letter and looked upset.

"W-w-what i-i-is the m-ma-matter?" said Jeremy when he saw the sadness in his face.

He gave a sigh and then said: "Jeremy my boy, I need to tell you. I just received this letter, and it says that your mother and brothers have been killed. They were on the freeway and there was an accident and all of them were killed in an explosion when the car crashed!" Mr. Harmon looked really sad and even had some tears in his eyes.

Jeremy didn't know what to do. He looked at Mr. Harmon and asked:

"Mommy and Jason and J-j-Joshua? Are gone? Just like daddy?"

"Yes, I am afraid so, Jeremy" Elijah said as he held his arms out to hug Jeremy who then realized that he would no longer see his family again. He started to cry and suddenly the tears came faster than he could hold them in. Elijah held the boy for quite some time and then said:

"Jeremy, we will need to go back to the house. Are you ready to leave?"

Jeremy nodded and then asked: "Will we have a cement arie to go to like they did when dad was brought home?"

Elijah thought about what to say and then said: "I don't know son. I will try to find out for you. UP you go now!" He said as he put Jeremy back on the horse. They rode silently back and when they returned, he had Toph and Will help Jeremy and take him up to the main house.

Elijah then went to see Julie. She was nine, she would be a little harder to convince her parents were dead, but he knew if he scared her enough, she would be willing to do as she was told.

Julie and Jimmie were playing in the garden when he came up to them. "Jimmie, you can go find Toph and Will and Jeremy will be with them. I want to have a little talk with Miss Julie please. Jimmie went away to find Toph, Will and Jeremy.

"Miss Julie, would you come over to the bench with me. I need to tell you something." She came over to the bench and sat down.

"Now, Miss Julie, there is something that you will need to do so that Jeremy never questions what I say or do. Will you help me with this?"

Julie didn't quite get what he wanted her to do. But she had read a lot of books, some were about two to three years above her grade level and some books were mysteries. She looked at him trying to determine if he was telling the truth or not.

"Miss Julie, I cannot tell you that your parents are dead, but I did tell Jeremy that his family was dead. Now if you will help me cement the idea into Jeremy's head then your parents and family will be okay. If not, I will have to have them killed!"

Julie looked at him and realized that he was not playing a game. She did not want anything to happen to her family. So, she nodded yes.

"Good, now here are the rules. You agree with everything I say and do, no escape attempts or running away and your family will be safe. If you do attempt to run away, someone in your family will die. You may die also but only after your whole family has been killed! Do you understand me?"

Julie looked scared, she agreed and said a very quiet 'yes' Elijah looked at her and then said:

"One more thing, you will call me grandpa at all times. Jeremy will come to think of me as his grandpa. Toph and Will are his brothers now and the sooner he forgets about his family the better!" Julie stood in the garden. She wanted to cry but kept that to herself.

"Good, you are my granddaughter, so you should give me a hug and tell me that you love me, no?" he held out his arms and she stood very still. She did not want to hug him much less tell him she loved him or tell him he was her grandpa. He looked at her with a stern look waiting for her to come to him and hug him. She did as she was told and said:

"I love you grandpa!" without inflection or her voice raised. She gave him the hug he wanted, and he took her back to the main house as well.