Asmireen
©2024 by Jonathan Scott
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Chapter 4 - The Road to Eastbrook
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Again Start
2.1 Bahl and Frah, they sit on the edge of the new world and they look. Above they, the sun, it be strong and it be hot. Below they, the earth, it be hard.
2.2 Bahl, he look at Frah and he say, "Bahl, I be not strong enough."
2.3 Frah, she take Bahl's hand and she agree.
2.4 And then, hard or hard not, life, it begin again.
Jake awoke. It was 6 am. The sky was showing its first light. He sat up in bed, tired and muscle sore from the previous day's activities. He felt calm and peaceful. He knew today would not be as bad as yesterday. He was sure that tomorrow would be better than yesterday as well. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that pretty much all of his tomorrows from now on, for the rest of his life, would probably be better than yesterday. So, Jake rose from his bed and unconsciously welcomed the luke warm optimism that enveloped him. It was much better than the despondency that he was becoming accustomed to.
Jake was fourteen. He had lived in this town his entire life. He didn't know any other type of life. But, he did know that he could not stay here, or at least not for now anyway. Leaving seemed to be the only choice.
The road that passed through William's Peace was a left/right road. White River was in the right direction two days away. Pine Mountain was left one day away. Then, if you went left two more days after that, there was Eastbrook. He had an uncle in Eastbrook, so going left seemed to be the only alternative.
And so, with that, Jake began to collect the things he would need for his trip: clothes, weapons, food, money, maps, important belongings, etc.... He would spend the rest of the morning doing this. Fortunately, his predicament did not include poverty. He now had the wealth of an entire town at his disposal. He was not a thief. But, he did know that this trip would be important. Authorities and relatives needed to be contacted and he knew that it would not happen until he got to Eastbrook. The financial matters of inheritance would, of course, be dealt with appropriately and honestly in time. For today though, Jake allowed himself to use the resources that were available.
Hank arrived just as Jake was finishing. They spoke and both decided, once again, that it would be better if Hank accompanied Jake to Eastbrook. There is strength in numbers, even if that number is only two.
"What are we going to do about the animals?" asked Jake.
"Nothing." responded Hank blankly.
William's Peace was a farming community of several dozen different families. Each family had their farm and within each were the average assortment of animals that one would expect to find. Jake was still young enough to care about the welfare of these animals. Hank though was an adult and was very accustomed to seeing the livestock as property and nothing more. Warning the authorities, who in turn would warn other communities, outweighed the welfare of the animals in importance, therefore, the welfare of William's Peace's livestock would have to be sacrificed. Had Jake had the time, he probably would have went from farm to farm to loose the animals so that they could better take care of themselves. But, unfortunately, there was no time.
Jake hitched Gideon to the family wagon. Hank rode alongside on Gale. And so they began their travel left down the road to Eastbrook.
"C'mon Quick!" yelled Jake.
And, at that, a small brown and white dog jumped aboard the wagon.
"I don't know what to do when we get to Pine Mountain." said Jake.
"What do you mean?" said Hank.
"I mean, I was thinking about telling them, but then I was starting to wonder whether or not some of them would come back here and steal stuff. We have to tell them though, right? I mean, what if that monster decides to come back and go there instead? They need to know. I'm just afraid that some of them are going to steal everything while we're gone." continued Jake.
"I say don't tell them."
"The Patty's are over there and you know what they're capable of. Not to mention the Hodges. There's a lot of good folk over there, but, some... Well, we just better not tell them." said Hank again.
"Well, what about Brother Merik? He's honest. Maybe we can tell him and ask him not to tell anyone else."
At that, Hank began to ponder slightly.
"Yeah. I think we could do that. Just him though. Nobody else. I mean it. I got stuff back there too boy. Don't open your mouth unless I tell you." Hank commanded. Hank looked a little strange as he said this.
"Ok." said Jake with a little bit of amazement at Hank's tone.
Jake looked sideways at Hank. Hank had been smart enough to shut up yesterday. Hank's last remark though seemed a little too biting and overbearing. Jake wondered how Hank might become in the future. Hank had slapped Jolie. Jake had forgiven him of it, but nonetheless, he knew what Hank was capable of. He remembered how crazy he looked that day. Hank was still a person in whom Jake could have no trust. Jolie had seemed to try and deal with Hank's anger by doing nothing and hoping that his rage would calm itself. Jake though knew better. He remembered how Jolie's body fell sharply to the ground after Hank had slapped it. He remembered how forlorn she looked. He knew that Jolie had done nothing to merit the violence Hank showed her. Jake knew that doing nothing with Hank when he became crazy was an ineffective solution. Hank was still dangerous and could not be trusted.
Jake knew he couldn't run away from Hank. Hank was larger and faster than him. Gale was faster than Gideon as well. Jake wasn't sure what to do. He touched the hilt of the family sword that he carried around his waist and made the decision to begin practicing with it. He pet his dog Quick once on the head and remembered the time that Quick had killed a fox that had crept into the Tunnis farm seeking chickens. He looked back in his wagon and saw the bow and arrows that he had used for years hunting for food with Shane and his father. He moved the bag that held them closer to where he sat in the wagon. Silently, Jake began to plan ways to defend himself from Hank should the need arise.
Jake and Hank rode on silently. The rolling grasslands spotted with trees slowly moved past them hour after hour.
As they drove, Hank attempted to start up a conversation with Jake several times. But with whatever question or comment Hank offered, Jake's reply always seemed to kill the entire possibility of the conversation continuing. It wasn't that Jake did not respond. And it wasn't that his responses were impolite. It was just obvious that Jake no longer wished to speak.
It was then that Hank began to wonder about Jake. And with this wondering he began to look around. Sometimes he would look at the sky. Other times he would look at Quick walking down the path. Other times, he would look at the trees as they passed by, but then sometimes, he would also look at the young frail fourteen year old body of Jake. Hank began to wonder things about him. Did Jake like him? Had Jake really forgiven him for having slapped Jolie? Did Jake question Hank's goodness? Was Jake afraid of him?
As Hank sat and brooded about Jake, he could sense that something infinitely small had awoken within him. Hank seemed to actually hear its awakening. It almost felt as if somewhere deep within his frame, there was a bell of absolute smallness. Only, if you were paying absolute attention to your mind and soul, and there was nothing else to distract you, could you hear its one solitary never-ending peal. In time, this thing that had awoken within Hank would change and experience several different stages of growth during its lifetime. Soon it would be doubt. Later on, it would be disdain. But, its destiny was assured. Someday, this little pin prick of discomfort would blossom into full blown rage.
Hank sat quietly on Gale. His body was calm. But could you look inside his mind, you would see a pulsating ever-expanding sea of emotion and thought. You would see thought after thought that exploded against his mind as though they were lightning bolts striking randomly throughout the brine. Hank was not a naturally calm nor content man. Someday, Jake would find this out in detail.
The rest of the day came and went. Hour after hour of unremarkable hill, tree and valley slowly crept by them until it all seemed to turn itself into one homogenous unbreaking memory. The only partially memorable thing that would happen to them during their travel that day would be an over turned cart that they would find abandoned by the roadside. There were no people in sight and not even any tracks leading away from it. It appeared that the owners themselves had just vanished in mid stride.
Upon finding it, Jake and Hank dismounted and both began to look through the debris.
"My guess is that the monster flew up behind this guy and then flew off with him." said Hank happy to have a reason to speak.
"What guy?"
"The guy that was pushing this cart."
"How do you know it wasn't just abandoned here?"
"Look inside this basket here." said Hank.
Jake then looked inside to see several small dry loaves of bread and a small sack filled with several silver, copper and tin pieces.
"I just don't think someone would leave stuff like this behind unless they either had a really good excuse, or unless they just didn't have any choice in the matter."
They chose to leave the cart alone. There was always a chance that the owners would come back. Neither Hank nor Jake were hopeful of this though.
And so they continued to ride. It was now well after one o'clock. They had already lunched and rested. Six more hours of the first leg of their journey remained. Pine Mountain continued its silent march towards them. They would be there just in time for sunset.
Jake then looked at Hank and made the decision to break the silence.
"Hey Hank...what are your plans after Eastbrook?" asked Jake.
"What do you mean?" said Hank with a small look of surprise.
"I mean where do you intend to go? What do you intend to do once we get to Eastbrook?"
"I'm not sure yet. I guess it depends on how folks react to our story."
Jake looked at Hank, waiting for the rest of the answer.
"I mean, I assume that lots of people will head off back to William's Peace. Some will go to pay their respects and maybe do a better job burying them then we did. Then, there'll be a lot of people managing everybody's final affairs and such. I just don't know if any folks are going to choose to go back there and live, y'know?" said Hank.
Jake nodded his head in agreement. "I want to go back, but I don't think I'll be able to. I don't feel like living by myself yet." said Jake.
"Well, anyway, if nobody goes back, then there's not much point in me going back either. I don't feel like living in a one man town. If there ain't no one else there, then there probably won't be no stores of any type either, and no one to talk to for that matter. I just don't feel like living so alone." said Hank.
"Somebody's gotta go back though. I mean there's good farms back there that have already been planted. There's some nice homes and buildings. People wouldn't just abandon it, would they?" asked Jake.
"Probably not, but you never know."
"Well, don't forget. Some of the people that go might not be people that have any rights to be there in the first place. Some of them, might just be people looking for a free place to bed down. If that's the case, William's Peace might not be so peaceful anymore. If that's what it turns into, a town full of vagrants and free-loaders, I don't think I'd want to be there in that case either." said Hank.
Jake began to think. The scenery continued to pass them by slowly.
He'd never seen a big city like Eastbrook before. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to live there. Unfortunately though, that was exactly what he was planning on doing.
At about five o'clock, they began to pass by the outermost farm of Pine Mountain.
"Like I said Jake, don't tell anyone anything. I mean it."
Jake nodded in feigned intended obedience.
At this particular time of day on a Tuesday, they expected to see life. They expected to see men in the field preparing to finish up their day's labors. They expected to see women in and around the home preparing dinner. There was no one though. There was only a dog silently laying on the ground tied to a stake.
"I don't like this Jake." said Hank.
"Yeah, we better hurry."
Pine Mountain was the name of a town that sat at the foot of a rather small mountain. Homer had once told Jake about a time several decades ago when he and his friend who happened to be visiting the town on business had watched a forest fire engulf this mountain. Aside from that, and the reputations of several of the town's inhabitants, he knew nothing about this place. He looked at the mountain to see it full of trees and apparent life. He wondered how something that had been so devastated by fire as his father had told him, could look so beautiful today.
They continued their trek into town.
And just as the first farm they saw, they saw others, farm after farm, dead and silent. No sound whatsoever but the now near silent cry of animals begging for water. In the distance, Jake and Hank saw the town center of Pine Mountain. The sky was beginning to darken, but the remaining light still allowed them to spy a solitary figure walking back and forth, pacing and hugging her own arms. It was the form of a young girl.
Then, as they came closer, they were able to see the thing that they hoped they would never see again: a large circular area burned as black as death. The young barefooted girl wearily and anxiously paced back and forth in the soot and ashes. She appeared to be but only about eight years old.
Jake and Hank sped into the town center and approached the lightless area. There, they once again found the charred and blackened bodies of perhaps sixty people. Their minds were instantly filled with memories of their own families and loved ones that they had left behind in William's Peace, and once again, they experienced the dread and dismay that they had managed to escape during the day's journey.
The young girl looked at them and began to squeal. She began to wring her hands together faster and faster until she looked as if she were about to burst. She began to move as though she would run away but then reluctantly forced herself to remain in place.
"Hey there now." Jake said quietly trying to comfort the girl.
"It's ok. It's ok." he said softly.
The girl stood still and seemed to calm down, but then put the heels of her hands up to her eyes as if to hide from them and refused to bring them down.
"What's your name?" asked Hank.
The girl began to cry intensely. Jake took a step towards her only to see her back away in fear, but then agonizingly return to the exact same spot where she had been. She almost seemed as if she were trying to protect the place where she stood.
Jake looked closely at her. She was cleanly dressed in the simplest of nightgowns. But, her hands were covered in black soot, and she seemed to be afraid to look down. She seemed to not want to look anywhere but into her hands.
At that, Jake looked at a body that lay near her feet.
There lay a woman. She had been perhaps thirty-five years old. She lay on her back staring up at the sky. The clothing that still remained on her body was black; as black as any black Jake had ever seen. Somehow though, her face remained whole.
Jake wondered how a person could be burned as badly as she had been but then to still have her face remain unharmed. It seemed improbable. The corpse was also missing her left leg just above the knee and a large portion of her abdomen had been apparently torn from her. He knew that the monster had chosen to play with this woman before she died. He shuddered.
When a bear or mountain lion attacks an individual, it is merely seeking food. It's act is only as evil as the act of a human when he harvests wheat or consumes a chicken. It is evil for the consumed, but a necessity for the consumer. This though, was not an act of self-preservation. This merely seemed to be an act of entertainment. Killing these people had been how this monster had chosen to have fun that day. There were absolutely no redeeming qualities to this action, from any perspective. It was evil. Jake had never really seen evil before. Now though, he could do nothing but look straight at it.
Jake looked closely at the body of the woman again. The closed and calm eyelids of the woman somehow made it look as though she were only sleeping peacefully. Then, he looked back at the girl who had begun to mutter to herself and to once again pace.
"Jake. Come here." whispered Hank.
Jake walked over. Hank bent over slightly and began to speak quietly into his ear.
"That woman is alive Jake." he said.
Jake looked quickly back at the woman and then up at Hank.
"I saw her eyes close." he said.
Jake and Hank approached the body. Hank then extended a foot and lightly touched the bottom of the remaining leg of the woman. The woman's eyes once again opened, she began to look around. Her mouth also began to move as if she were trying to speak. Hank immediately took out his canteen and moved towards her.
As he placed the water into her mouth, the young girl began to watch intensely. The water drooled out of her mouth and down her neck. Then there was a small calm exhale of breath and then the head of the woman gently fell to one side as she died.
There was nothing left to do but grieve. Jake and Hank fell to their knees in horror and fatigue as the young girl began to wail uncontrollably. This was evil; as evil as any evil that had ever existed on this planet.