Jeremy's Heartache: Part Two
It's very late in the night. Each one of the Bolt brothers is in his bedroom. Jeremy is not sleeping well. He is having that terrifying nightmare he has had for several weeks.
When the nightmare gets to that certain point, Jeremy jolts awake as he always does.
Jeremy gets out of bed. He sits down on the side of his bed. Jeremy puts his face in his hands. He is breathing as hard as if he had just run ten miles. Jeremy takes some deep breaths which help to calm him a bit.
Jeremy feels guilty. Earlier this evening, Jason asked him if he was alright. Jason reminded him how much he and Joshua love him and how they will always help him. Jeremy lied when he told Jason he was alright. He hated lying to his brother, but the truth was frightening.
The truth was so frightening that Jeremy had carried a pistol in his jacket pocket earlier today. Jeremy knew he had to tell Jason the truth now.
Jeremy put on his pants. He went to Jason's bedroom door and knocked.
"Come in, Jeremy." Jason said.
Jeremy entered the room. "How did you know it was me, Jason?"
Jason got out of bed. He put his pants on. He sat down on the side of the bed. Jason motioned for Jeremy to sit down in the chair.
Jeremy sat in the chair.
"I knew it was you, Jeremy because I know when you are lying to me. You're not alright, are you?" Jason asked.
"No, I'm not, Jason. I'm sorry I lied to you." Jeremy answered.
"There's more to it than you lying to me." Jason said.
"Yes, there is. A lot more." Jeremy said in a trembling voice. His body was trembling too.
.
"Jeremy, you can tell me anything. I'm your brother I love you. I will help you." Jason said gently.
"Do you remember about a month ago, I went to Olympia? I rode Brownie." Jeremy was wringing his hands
"Yes, I remember." Jason replied.
"On the way back, one night when I was camping out…"Jeremy hesitated.
"It's alright, Jeremy. Go on." Jason encouraged.
"Well, those B-B-Bensons that you f-f-fired showed up." Jeremy said anxiously.
Jason was worried. He knew any encounter with the Bensons didn't go well.
"Was it just the two brothers?" Jason inquired.
"No, it was the brothers that you fired and some cousins or uncles. There were six of them." Jeremy told him.
"Tell me what happened, Jeremy." Jason put his hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Charlie and Daryl were angry about being fired. They said they were gonna make you pay." Jeremy said nervously.
Jason looked at his brother. He was getting scared about what Jeremy was going to say. "What happened?"
"I jumped up and grabbed my rifle. But, that didn't help me. There were six of them and each one had a rifle. So they had the drop on me." Jeremy answered.
Jeremy got up from the chair. He walked over to the bed and sat down next to Jason. The oldest brother put his arm around his youngest brother.
"You can tell me, Jeremy. Go ahead. It's alright." Jason reassured him.
"They got a rope and tied one end over a big tree limb. They tied a noose in the other end of the rope. They put me on Brownie. They tied my hands behind my back. They put the noose around my n-n-neck." Jeremy was on the verge of tears.
"Dear God, brother!" Jason said giving Jeremy a side hug.
"Charlie said they were going to hang me. Then they were going to dump my body here on the porch of the cabin . Charlie said when you found me dead you would be sorry you had fired them but it would be too late to fix it." Jeremy told his brother.
"What happened next?" Jason asked.
"One of the Bensons slapped Brownie on the rump. But Brownie didn't move a bit. He stood completely still. Someone slapped his butt again. Brownie just stood there." Jeremy remembered.
Jeremy stopped talking for a minute. He took some deep breaths.
"By this time, Daryl was angry because Brownie wouldn't move. He put his gun to Brownie's head and told me to make him move or he would kill him." Jeremy was choked up.
After a minute, Jeremy continued. "I said giddy up, Brownie. Giddy up. Brownie didn't move. Daryl cocked his rifle. I was scared he was going to shoot Brownie. So, I started yelling at Brownie, giddy up, you damn horse. I said Giddy up! I was kicking him with my heels even though I didn't have on spurs. Brownie did not move a bit. He didn't even flinch."
"Brownie loves you, Jeremy. Good gracious!" Jason exclaimed.
"I know it sounds crazy, Jason. But, that's what happened. It's like Brownie knew if he moved something bad would happen to me. So, he wouldn't move even when I told him too." Jeremy looked at Jason.
"But that's not all that happened, is it?" asked Jason.
"No, it's not. When they realized that Brownie wasn't going to move, they got me down. The took me to the river which was close by. They tried to drown me. They didn't know I can hold my breath under water for five minutes. So, when they saw that they couldn't drown me, they let me go." Jeremy said.
"Why didn't you tell me or Josh before now, Jeremy?" Jason asked.
"The Bensons said if I told anyone, they would kill Candy. Charlie said they would torture her and make me watch. He said it would be so terrible that Candy would be begging me to kill her to make it stop."
Jeremy put his face in his hands and cried.
Jason hugged Jeremy tightly. "It's alright, Jeremy, it's alright."
"Is it really alright, Jason?" How do we know the Bensons aren't at the dormitory now doing something awful to Candy?" Jeremy looked at his brother.
"Jeremy! They really got inside your head, didn't they?" questioned Jason.
"Yes, they did. They told me some of the ways they would torture Candy. It's too awful for me to say out loud, Jason." Jeremy sobbed.
"Whisper it to me, Jeremy. I need to know what those scoundrels said to you." Jason said.
Jeremy whispered in Jason's ear, the horrible things the Bensons threatened to do to his fiancé.
"GOOD GOD! They are animals!" Jason bellowed.
"I know, Jason. What you said about the Bensons getting in my head is more true than you know." Jeremy said in a quivering voice.
Jeremy broke down sobbing uncontrollably.
Jason stood up. He helped Jeremy stand up. Jason hugged Jeremy to himself and swayed slightly back and forth comforting his heartbroken brother.
A few minutes later, Jeremy was able to calm down.
"Jason, I need to tell you something that is awful. I need to tell Joshua too. I hope that both of you will forgive me." Jeremy said seriously.
"Let me go wake Josh. I'll tell him what I know up to now, okay?" Jason asked.
"Okay, Jason." Jeremy sat down in the chair.
Jason went to Joshua's room. Several minutes later, both brothers came into Jason's room.
Joshua walked over to Jeremy. He squatted in front of the chair.
"Oh, Jeremy! I wish you had confided in us sooner! How can we help you to understand that we mean it when we say we love you and we will help you?" Joshua asked.
"I understand, Joshua. I was too scared to tell the two of you because of the Bensons' threats to Candy. I'm terrified to be telling you two now."
Jeremy answered.
"What is it that you want to tell us together, Jeremy?" Jason asked quietly.
Jeremy got up from the chair. "Jason, Joshua, sit down on the bed, please."
The two oldest brothers sat down on the bed. Jeremy remained standing.
"First, I want to say that I love you both very much. And I have never doubted your love for me. All of the things that the Bensons threatened about Candy and the things they tried to do to me have been tormenting me the past few weeks. I have seen the Bensons lurking around town a few times. I was horrified that they were here to murder Candy." Jeremy stopped talking and looked at the floor for a minute.
Jeremy continued, "The torment got to me yesterday. I decided that if I was no longer here, the Bensons would have their revenge for being fired and Candy would be safe."
Jeremy paused as if he was gathering his thoughts.
Jason and Joshua looked at each other. Both of them frightened about where this was going.
"Yesterday afternoon my original plan was not to go rabbit hunting. I left the note to give a reasonable excuse for my not being at home or in town. I took the rifle like I said in the note as you know. What you don't know is that I took the pistol too." Jeremy was crying with tears streaming down his face.
Jeremy looked at his brothers. They had tears running down their faces too.
"Tell us the rest, Jeremy." Joshua whispered.
Jason began sobbing.
"When I was on my way to the cave, I was planning to go in there and….hurt myself with the pistol. But, before I arrived at the cave, I saw some rabbits. Seeing them made me think, Josh has been after me to cook him some rabbit stew and dumplings. He's gonna be mad at me when he reads that note and then finds out that I'm gone and he's not getting any rabbit stew and dumplings." Jeremy chuckled.
"I know that sounds stupid, but that's what I thought. And that's why I didn't hurt myself. I wanted to be around to help my brothers because I love them with all of my heart." Jeremy sobbed.
Jason and Joshua got off the side of the bed. They wrapped their arms around Jeremy. All three of them cried their eyes out.
As the three brothers were regaining their composure, they heard Lottie's alarm signal.
"Jason! The dormitory! It's the Bensons, I know it is!" Jeremy was panicked.
Each of the brothers grabbed their rifles. They ran fast to the dormitory.
Jeremy was right. The Bensons were there trying to kidnap Candy.
Jason signaled for Josh to go to the back of the building. He motioned for Jeremy to go to the side door. Jason would stay at the front door.
Jeremy raced up the steps to the side door. He peeked carefully through the glass in the door. The curtain was pulled back.
The Benson brothers had ahold of Candy. She was fighting hard to get away from them. Biddie and some of the other girls were trying to help her.
Jeremy tried to open the side door. It was unlocked. He opened it very slowly and carefully. Some of the girls turned and saw Jeremy. He put his finger to his lips for them to be quiet. They remained quiet.
Jeremy slipped in the door. He crept quietly across the floor. When he got within a few feet of Candy and the Bensons, he cocked the rifle and yelled, "Ladies, hit the floor!"
All of the ladies including Candy dropped to the floor. Jeremy fired two shots killing both of the Bensons.
Jason and Joshua came running when they heard the shots.
Jeremy helped Candy get up from the floor. "Are you alright, Candy?"
"Yes! I'm fine. Oh, Jeremy! What if you hadn't been here? They would have carried me off and killed me! Oh, Jeremy! You saved my life! Thank you! I love you so much!" Candy cried as she and Jeremy hugged.
Jason and Joshua grinned and slapped Jeremy on the back.
"Yes, Jeremy. What if you had not been here to save Candy?" Jason asked.
"I know, Jason. I've learned my lesson." Jeremy said. "Life is too precious to throw away. No matter what."
Candy looked puzzled.
"It's a long story. I'll tell you later, sweetheart." Jeremy said.
"How about some more rabbit stew and dumplings, Jeremy?" Joshua asked.
"You've got it, brother!" Jeremy laughed.
"What has rabbit stew and dumplings got to do with anything?" Candy asked.
"More than you know, Candy. Much more than you know." Jeremy replied giving her a hug and a kiss.
The three Bolt brothers hugged each other. Then they smiled and laughed realizing how blessed they are.
The End