Word Count: 42,075
Summary of Events:
Theresa's mother and the pastor's wife got into a heated argument over the sovereignty of God while the pastor's wife and some other women were over to offer comfort. Asher went over to where the murders had happened and found the bodies, which reviled him; he pilfered supplies from the house before fleeing back to the mountains as a thunderstorm broke. Theresa's brothers and brothers-in-law had all spent the night due to the thunderstorm and, naturally, gave a report of the developments . . .
Excerpt of the Day:
"And what did you learn?" Luc asked.
"Constance, Emmaline, and Velma were, were moved after they were killed," Alfred replied.
"By the killer?" Mama asked.
"I'd think so," Alfred replied.
"He violated them," Patrice said bluntly, staring blankly at the steaming mug in his hands.
"How horrible," Mama gasped.
Everyone around the table nodded.
Theresa shuddered. It was depraved enough for a man to violate a woman while she was living, but when she was dead? That was an entirely different plane of depravity.
"From what we can gather Jeremy was killed first," Clyde said. "Then Clem, then Wilford and Isaac, Maybelle and Dorothea, Angus, Patsy and Sterling, then Velma, Emmaline, and Constance."
"How horrible," Mama repeated.
"It looks like Papa and Clem heard something," Patrice said. "They went out to investigate and were shot, hearing the shots, Willie and Isaac came out with the rifle and were shot."
"Papa had drawn his gun, but he didn't likely fire it," Joel added.
"Maybelle, holding Dorothea, came to the door to see what had happened and they both were shot," Patrice went on. "Patsy and Sterling were hiding under the table, they got shot there."
"From the looks of things Angus may've been with them and rushed out to his mother when she fell," Alfred added.
"The three girls were washing dishes when they got shot," Clyde finished.
"That's unspeakable," Mama said.
"I don't think I need to ever join the military," Isaiah said. "I don't ever want to see that again."
Mama put her hands gently on Isaiah and Joel's shoulders. She looked tortured to think her sons had even witnessed such carnage.
"Without a doubt they were killed by Bullseye," Patrice said, looking up at Mama. "One bullet in each, right through the heart."
"And with the rain now all his tracks are gone," Mama said.
"We followed them for a ways," Patrice said.
"Then we ran into the Hunter already on the trail," Isaiah said.
"He's in the area?" Luc asked.
"Apparently," Isaiah replied.
"That's good," Mama said. "What had he found?"
"Bartholomew never asked," Clyde replied.
"Why not?" Mama asked.
"Bartholomew thinks the Hunter is Bullseye," Patrice replied, looking at Mama soberly.
"Heaven forbid," Mama said, looking appalled.
"If you really think abut it," Benjamin said. "It does make a brilliant cover: play the part of the best bounty hunter in the West to disguise your real role as the most feared killer in the West."
"He does bring in all his crooks dead," Alfred added.
"Not to mention he's yet to bring Bullseye in," Clyde said.
"Nor does anyone actually even know what Bullseye looks like," Isaiah added.
"I cannot reconcile it," Mama stated emphatically.
"Why not?" Benjamin asked.
"Not with what Jeremy said," Mama replied. "I trust no one's judgement of a man more than I trust Jeremy's."
No comments:
Post a Comment