Chapter 3

While Jason lay on the floor of the cabin near Jeremy's bed, he thought about the events this past week in Olympia. He thought about what had happened to cause him and Jeremy to flee Olympia, on foot. They had been having a good week. He treated Jeremy to a nice lunch at the Olympia Hotel and they had walked around the town looking at the different sights. He even took Jeremy down to the docks, although it was very wet and rainy, Jeremy still enjoyed the trip. They stopped at a candy shop, and he bought some candy for Jeremy, and Joshua and himself for when they got home. A toy store was nearby, and Jeremy wanted to look at some of the toys. There were of course dolls, but when he saw a certain book, Jason wanted to make sure that he could come back and purchase the book. He had also purchased something else for Joshua. This was extravagant for him, usually they all made something for each other for Christmas. But since they were in Olympia, Jason had saved enough money to purchase special things for his brothers.

The business transactions had been going smoothly. He went to meet with the business lawyers and as far as the logging business was going it seemed normal. His company was going to end in the green this year and he was satisfied with that. He left the lawyers office and walked back to the hotel. He had left Jeremy at the hotel. They were planning to go home on his horse Whiskey, the next day. As he walked into the hotel, he was confronted by two men.

"Mr. Jason Bolt?" one of them said

"Yes?" said Jason not suspecting anything.

"My name is Burt Johnson. I think you may remember me, I worked for your company last summer!" Jason looked at him and immediately straightened up. He did remember him and two or three others who he had to fire. These men, had spent their time drinking and causing havoc during the work day that he felt they could not longer work for him. He had given them a weeks pay plus extra for leaving early but they did not leave the town of Seattle. They felt that they should have received more.

"What is it you want?" Jason asked, wary of what may or may not happen.

"All we want is to get our fair share! You hired us for the entire summer, we stayed most of the summer, yet you only paid us for a week and two days! We demand that you pay us the rest of the money!" Burt Johnson said as he was joined by three other men, in the lobby of the hotel. Jeremy was just coming down the stairs. Jason looked up and said to Jeremy:

"Jeremy, go upstairs to our room, I will be there soon." Then Jason said to the men:
"I am sorry you feel that way, but the reasons your were terminated are written down and we can go to a court of law but you will be paying more and you won't' be receiving anything." Jason said and then started to walk toward the desk clerk. Burt grabbed his arm and Jason hit him with his fist. There was scuffle since there were three others who were going to gang up on him as well. The desk clerk ducked behind his desk, and someone screamed. A shot rang out and one of the men fell to the ground dead. Jason saw this and took a step or two away from the scene. Just before the police arrived, Burt grabbed Jason's hand and pressed something into it. The police arrived and saw Jason with a gun and assumed he had shot the other man. They took him to the police station.
Jeremy was worried about his big brother; he had heard the shot and went to the balcony above the stairs. What he saw was someone put something in Jason's hand and the police taking him away. He waited until all was quiet, then he took the keys to the hotel room and walked out of the back stairs. Then he ran to the lawyers office to let them know what happened.

"M-M-Mr. M-m-mar-Mart-Martin!" Jeremy called out as he passed the secretary's desk,

"Hey kid, you cant go in there!" Said the secretary who tried to stop him, but since Jeremy was only 10 he could slip through grownups fingers quite easily, he made it in to the office and Mr. Martin stopped what he was doing and asked:

"You are Jason's brother Jeremy?" He said. Jeremy shook his head yes. He was afraid to say anything because there were way too many grownups, he did not know so he stood there looking at Mr. Martin with wide blue eyes partly scared and partly unsure of what to do next. Mr. Martin sensed this and said to his colleagues:

"I would like all of you to leave for a moment, this young man needs to speak to me in confidence!" Everyone filed out and he was alone with Jeremy.

"No Master Bolt, what has happened?" Mr. Martin said. Jeremy stood there a little longer and then said:

"T-Th-the P-p-p-police took J-j-ja-Jason!" Jeremy said. Mr. Martin looked at Jeremy and then said:

"Let's go to the Police station and find out what has happened." He stood up and took Jeremy's hand and they walked out.

"Please cancel my appointments for the rest of the day, I do believe we have an emergency!" said Mr. Martin as he walked out with Jeremy.

At the police Station, they were questioning Jason and the other men. Burt Johnson said:
"He owed us some back pay and he said no. I argued a little more but then when I tried to stop him, he pulled out his gun and shot Leroy, my sister's brother!"

Jason was ready to shout when Mr. Martin walked in with Jeremy. Jeremy ran to his brother and Mr. Martin said,
"Jason, do not say a word!" He went over to the sheriff's desk and asked to talk to the sheriff alone. A few minutes later, the sheriff let Jason out and he left with the lawyer carrying Jeremy who would not let go of him. When they got back to the office, the lawyer said:

"I want you to pack your things and leave tonight. I will take care of the legal problem. I know you didn't shoot that man, but they have to try to prove it. I also know that you had problems with them last summer. Your father told me to be sure that his boys are taken care of and I will. I will send a letter to you when the trial will be."

"But Mr. Martin, if I leave that shows that I am guilty and I do not even have a gun with me!" said Jason who did not like the idea of leaving.

"Jason, I understand, but these men are out for vengeance, with you out on bail. They will come looking for you. If I can detain them with a legal strategy, I will do it. But the closer you are to Seattle, the better it will be for you. I will contact you there. You also need to get your brother home so that he will be safe. There is no telling what they might do to get to you. He is safer at home than here in Olympia." Mr. Martin said as he walked them to the hotel. Jason shook Mr. Martin's hand and then went inside with Jeremy still clinging to him. They got up to the room and packed some of their things.

"You know Jeremy, I think we might take the next stage out, which is later tonight around 11." Jason said Jeremy just sat quietly for a while and listened to Jason.

"Are you going to be okay?" Jason asked. Jeremy nodded and gave him a hug. Just at that moment, the door to their hotel room burst open.

"So, you got out on bail, well that won't help you, Mr. Bolt." Said Merle Winston holding a gun on Jason. Burt then went over to grab Jeremy who wriggled away from him and stood on the other side of the bed. Burt said to him:

"Now, kid, if you don't want us to hurt your brother, then you will get over here." Jeremy shook his head no. He looked at his brother, Merle was watching Burt and dropped the gun slightly, that is when Jason immediately hit Merle knocking him out and grabbed Jeremy and went out of the door kicking Burt back onto the bed. They ran down the back stairs and over to the stables.

"Jeremy, we are going to get Whiskey and ride from here. Are you going to be okay?" Jeremy nodded yes, he put Jeremy in front of him on the horse and they got out of there in a hurry. Burt tried to catch up and then took a shot but missed. They were gone. They had left without their things and no coats. They had traveled far into the night. As it got darker, the wind came up and the snow started to fall. Jeremy was hungry and tired. Jason was hungry as well. Whiskey suddenly stopped. Jason slid off the horse and realized that they had come to a cliff. The horse was not going to go any farther. So, he took the reigns and the saddle off and hid the saddle under a tree. Jason tried to remember where they were, but the snow started to fall faster. He carried Jeremy for a little while. They kept looking for someplace to hold up for the night, there was nothing. Then he saw some lights in the distance and that is when they found Maggie's cabin.