The Last Jeskey - Chapter 46

 

The Last Jeskey

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 46

 

(Day 12 – Monday)

 

Pamela

 

Monday morning, Lester and I made our way through the county hospital up to Natalie’s room.  Will was inside sitting in a chair.  Even from across the room, he looked awful.  Natalie was asleep in the bed.  Will got up quietly and led us out of the room so we wouldn’t disturb her.

“How is she?” I asked.

“The doctor says she’ll be fine.  She just needs a bit of time.”

“What happened?” Les asked.

From what we’ve been able to piece together, it looks like Gary Jeskey was parked just up the road and across the street.  We think he had been there for a few hours, just waiting for Nat to come home.  Nat says she had stopped at the store before going home and had her hands full of things when she got out of the car.  The deputy got out of his car to help her with the door.  Gary had a rifle in the car with him and shot the deputy first.  My deputy’s dead by the way.”

“We heard,” Les replied.

“His second shot caught Nat in the back and the bullet went entirely through her side.  She was lucky.  Very lucky.  She’s in  a lot of pain though.”

“I believe it,” I said.

“You’re sure it was Gary?” Les asked.

“Pretty sure,” Will replied.  “He was using a small red car.  An older model.  I’m guessing it was the one he was driving when he shot Nat the first time outside your office.”

Les nodded.  “Most likely,” he agreed.  “Will, you know that when you arrest Gary, we can’t defend him.  We know Natalie and you too well.  Conflict of interest.”

“I don’t really give a damn,” Will said.  “I may be the county sheriff, but at this point, I just want to put a bullet in his head.”

Les put his hand on Will’s shoulder.  “I understand,” he said.  “But don’t!”

Will simply didn’t look happy.

“What about the deputy?” I asked.  “He had a family, didn’t he?”

Will nodded.  “Simpson had a young wife and a kid.  A boy.  I had to have Russ give them the bad news last night.  I haven’t had time to visit them myself, but I need to do that…today!”

“I’m glad it’s not me,” Les told him.

Will nodded.  “The worst duty in the world.  It’s possible that when Gary shot him, he may have thought he was killing me instead.  He sure didn’t waste any time though before he fired his second shot at Natalie.  She said it all happened so fast she didn’t know what was happening, and then she was falling down, and she doesn’t remember a damn thing after that.  My neighbor heard the shots and went to check.  He called it in.”

“We heard you found more money out at the Jeskey place,” I said.

“Yeah.  I was still at the station with it when it happened.  I wish to hell I was with Nat instead.”

“Of course you do,” I told him.

“How much money was there?” Les asked.  I could have hit him for asking a question like that.

“I don’t know, and I don’t give a damn,” Will replied.

I didn’t blame him for that answer at all.  “When you left Freaky and her friends, I guess they were all good?”

He gave me a nasty look.  “They’re fine!” he said.  “If they hadn’t found that money then Nat would have been home with me, and none of this would have happened.”

“Easy Will,” Les said.  “You said Gary was just sitting across the street.  The minute either of you walked out of the house he would have shot you.  You could be dead instead of your deputy.”

“Maybe!” Will replied.  “Just maybe.  I’d just be happier if my entire life didn’t revolve around Freaky so much.  Nat’s either.  Especially now.”

“But you did find all that money,” Les reminded him.

“Another headache!” Will said.  “Russ is dealing with it though.  If I’m not careful, he’s going to have my job.”

“Don’t worry,” I told him.  “There’s not a chance of that and you know it.  Everyone here in the county loves you.”

“Except Gary.  He’d just love me to be dead.”

“True,” I said.  “So find him.”

“We’re trying.  I can promise you that.  We’re trying.”

“I guess I better go out and check on Freaky later then,” I told him.

“They should be fine,” Will said.  “Leave them.”

“Will, they need some things still.”

“They’re driving one of the trucks out there.  They can get around by themselves.”

“Oh?  Did Natalie give them some money too?”

“Hell if I know,” Will replied.  “I don’t think so, but I guess you’ll have to check.”

“Don’t worry, I will.”

“I ain’t worrying about Freaky or any of her friends right now.  I’ve got enough to worry about right here!”

“Of course you do,” I told him.

We left him and headed back to our car.  I wondered again if Nat had given Freaky and her friends any money.  Without that, having a vehicle to drive wouldn’t do them much good at all.  And the way Nat and I were working things so far, if either of us had given them some money, the other would know about it.  For that reason alone I felt sure that Nat hadn’t given them a dime.  If they had a truck to drive now, why hadn’t she?  I needed to check.

Once we got back to our office, I got on the phone.  My first call went to Judge Reinhart.  “Have you heard about Natalie being shot?” I asked.

“Yes!  Have you heard how she’s doing?”

“We just left the sheriff at the hospital.  He said she’ll be fine, but she’s hurting quite a bit right now.”

“If she got shot, then I have no doubt she’s hurting.  Damn Jeskeys.  I hope the sheriff finds him soon!”

“We all do,” I agreed.  “And the best news for Les and I is that we can’t defend him.  Conflict of interest.”

“Damn!” the judge swore.  “We’ll have to bring in someone from outside.”

“I’ll have to leave that to you,” I told him.  “Judge, before Natalie was shot, did she ask you about giving Freaky and her friends any more money?”

“She never contacted me.  Why would she?  You and she were the trustees, not me.  And you mentioned something about Freaky’s grandmother from Knoxville too.  That’s your job, not mine.”

“Yeah,” I said.  “I just thought in light of all the money they found out there Saturday…”

“What money?” he asked.

“They found another one of the Jeskey’s hiding places.  Evidently a good one, and it was filled with money.  Some guns too I heard, but mostly a lot of money.”

“How much money?”

“I only heard a lot.  I don’t think the sheriff has been able to process it yet.”

“He’s got other things to worry about right now,” the judge said.  “And if it was a lot, then maybe keeping quiet about it might be the best thing.”

“True,” I agreed.  “I’ll keep my mouth shut from now on.  Okay, I was just wondering, that’s all.  I’ll call Stella down in Knoxville and check with her.  I guess she should know that Natalie will be laid up for a bit anyway.”

“You three are the trustees, and you’re Freaky’s advocate.  You don’t need to check with me.  It’s not my place.”

“Yeah, you’re right.  Thanks.  See you.”

My next call went to Stella Harper down in Knoxville, Freaky’s grandmother.  “Hi Stella,” I said once she had answered the phone.  “This is Pamela McGregor.  How are you?”

“I’m fine Pam,” she said.  “But if you’re calling about something to do with Freaky, then I think it would be better if you talk to my daughter Kathy instead.”

“Kathy?”

“I think she’s going to have to take over handling anything to do with Freaky from now on.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Kathy and I decided it might be better to keep my husband as far from the Freaky situation as possible.  I think he was under the impression that we could find and bring back Brian, but after actually meeting Freaky, that’s clearly not the case.  Kathy on the other hand seems to be fascinated with Freaky.  I think it has something to do with the fact that Freaky looks so much like her mother, Hailey.  And Kathy and Hailey were always very close.”

“Okay,” I said, still wondering about that situation.

Stella gave me Kathy’s phone number.  As I hung up, I remembered the conversation I had overheard in the car after they had met Freaky.  Jim Harper had considered Freaky to be some kind of monster.  I also remembered that I had gotten the impression that Jim hadn’t been happy about the money situation.  Why wouldn’t he be?  He had gotten all that insurance money that should rightfully belong to Freaky.  Was he afraid we would take that money away from him?  I guess now that Brian could be proven to be alive, that was possible.  But of course, even if it did belong to Freaky, should we try and take it away?

I dialed the number that Stella had given me for Katherine, her daughter.  “Kathy?  This is Pam McGregor.  Your mother asked me to contact you about being one of the trustees for Freaky’s money.”

“Yeah,” she replied.  “Mom and I kind of thought it might be better.  Dad’s not too happy about things.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

“I think that dad feels that he should have gotten a piece of all the money Clive’s farms were sold for.”

“Him?  Why would he think that?”

“Who knows?  Maybe just because of all the heartache and distress my sister’s death caused the family.”

“There is that,” I agreed, although I wasn’t sure about how that would go in court.

“I’m not sure that Mom is happy about Freaky either,” she told me.

“She’s not?  I got the impression that she was delighted to see Freaky.”

“Yes and no.  Like Dad, I think they both thought that somehow they could bring back Brian.  Dad especially seems to be…uh…disgusted with the situation.”

“And your mother feels the same?”

“Somewhat,” she confirmed.  “But me…I’m delighted I think.  Especially after seeing her.  I just feel really sorry for her and all the things she’s had to go through.  And she doesn’t seem to know anything!”

“No, she doesn’t.  That’s why we arranged for the teachers.”

“That was a good idea,” Kathy told me.

“Thanks,” I said.  “Listen, Kathy, I’m sure you haven’t heard, but Natalie was shot on Saturday.”

“Shot!  Is she dead?”

“No.  She’s going to be fine.  The deputy with her died though.  But Natalie and the sheriff had just spent a good part of the day out at the farm with Freaky.  They found some more money, and from what I hear, it’s a lot more money.  Nobody knows yet how much.”

“So Freaky could be rich?” she asked.

“Could be.  It’s too soon to tell yet, and we have to be very careful about who that money might belong to.”

“So what do you need me to do?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said.  “Except…for now anyway, Natalie and I decided that all the trustees for Freaky’s money need to be in the loop about every dollar we give them.  Once the money is fully straightened out, we think we can just give them an allowance, but we’re not there yet.  All this is just too new.  Not to mention, it’s been filled with too many things happening.”

“So you need to spend some money on her?  Do it!  And while you’re at it, buy her a washing machine at least!  Geez!  The way she handles that is beyond the dark ages!”

“True,” I agreed.  “We haven’t gotten that far though.  I just wanted to see if you had any objections to me giving them some money to work with.”

“Of course not.  How much?”

“Any suggestions?”

“A lot!”

“Okay.  I’ll think of something and let you know.”

“Fine.  And Pam….”

“Yes?”

“I’m thinking of driving up there next weekend to see her.  Do you think there’d be a problem with that?  I’d like Freaky to meet my kids, especially since they’re all close to her age.”

“Kathy,” I said.  “That might be a very nice idea.”

“Great!  See you then.”

I ended the call and went to find my husband.  “Les, I’m running out to the Jeskey farm.  I’m going to give those women a few dollars to work with.”

“Fine,” he said.  “Be careful!  We don’t know where Gary is.”

“True!” I agreed.  “See you later.”

I got into the car and made my first stop at the bank, then I continued on to the Jeskey farm.  When I got there I couldn’t help but notice the deputy that was not just parked there, but he was walking around in front of the house.  “Checking on the girls?” I asked him as I headed for the front porch.

“The sheriff decided that just driving by once in a while isn’t good enough,” he told me.  “We’re keeping a deputy here all the time now until we can find Gary.”

“Good idea!  Thanks,” I told him.

I continued on to the front door and knocked.  Shantel answered it.  “Miss Pam.  How are you?”

“I’m fine Shantel, how are you?”

“I’m great!  I got to church yesterday, and it was faaantastic!”

“Good,” I said.  “I’m glad.

“Hi Pam,” Lisa called from the table where she was sitting with Freaky.

I went over to see what they were doing.  “You’re writing!” I said.

“Yeah,” Freaky replied.  “And it’s hard.  Did you know that the word elemenopee isn’t a word?  It’s just a bunch of different letters.”

I looked at Lisa a bit confused.  “Elem…”

“From the alphabet song,” she told me.

I wasn’t sure I understood, but as long as they were working with Freaky I considered it a good thing.  “You all know that Natalie got shot, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Shantel said.  “One of the deputies told us.  That’s bad!”

“Real bad,” Lisa agreed.  “How is she?”

“Hurting, but getting better,” I told her.  “The real reason I’m here right now though is to bring you some money.”

“Oh happy day!” Shantel declared.

“It’s not much for now, but there’ll be more later.  We’re going to be setting you up with an allowance soon, but we’re not there yet.  Especially after they found more money.”

“The sooner the better,” Lisa told me.

I nodded.  “We’re trying,” I told her.  I opened my purse and pulled out the three hundred dollars I had gotten from the bank.  “There’s three hundred dollars here,” I told them.  “A hundred for each of you.  It’s not much, but it should get you through for the rest of the week…hopefully.  Let me know if you run into anything and need more.”

I started to set the money on the table when Lisa asked, “Is that all in twenties?”

I was confused.  “Yes.  Why?”

“Okay Freaky,” she said.  “Counting time.”

“No!” Freaky wailed.  “I hate counting.”

“Tough!”  Lisa took the stack of bills from me.  “Now count!” she said to Freaky.  She laid out one of the twenties.

“One,” Freaky said.  Lisa put another one with the first.  “Two,” Freaky counted.  Lisa went all the way to five, then she took that stack and pushed it toward Shantel.  Then she started again, having Freaky count to five.  Lisa took that stack of money and pulled it over closer to her, then she started with the remaining hundred dollars.  Again, Freaky counted to five.

“How many?” Lisa asked again.

“Five,” Freaky said.

Lisa pushed the money over right in front of Freaky and said, “This money is yours.  All yours and only you can spend it.  But Freaky, you’re going to have to learn to keep track of how much you spend, and how much you have left.”

“Why?” Freaky whined.  “Why can’t you do it?  Besides, that’s men’s business.”

“No it’s not, and you know it!  We discussed all that.  Now, you want more story books don’t you?”

“Yes,” Freaky said.

“Then you’re going to have to buy them yourself…with that money.”

I watched as Freaky looked at Lisa.

“It’s so hard!”

I watched as Lisa leaned over and hugged Freaky lightly.  “It will get easier,” Lisa told her.  “I promise.”

 

The Last Jeskey - Chapter 45

 

The Last Jeskey

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 45

(Day 11 – Saturday to Sunday)

 

Freaky

 

Writing is hard!  Lisa made me sit down at the table with her and she handed me a pencil and this weird thing that I was supposed to use to sharpen it.  She showed me how to do it then sat there and watched.  It wasn’t really hard, but all I could think about was how much easier it would be to just use a knife.

When I had the pencil ready, she showed me what the letter A is, and showed me how to make it.  Then she had me draw a whole line of them in a row.  Before we went any further, she opened that story book and started going through the words on the pages, pointing out every time there was a big letter A.  Before long, I was turning the pages and finding them myself.  Then it was back to drawing the letter again.

That was when the cop came in and said he was leaving.  Once he was gone, Lisa made me go back to writing the big letter A again.  It didn’t take long before I wanted to sharpen the pencils again, just to stop writing.

Big letter A.  Big letter B.  Big letter C.  That was all we did, but as far as I was concerned it was more than enough.

“Come on,” Shantel said.  “We got wheels, and since Miss Natalie isn’t going to take us to church tomorrow, I want to make sure we can find it ourselves.”

It would mean I would have to leave the farm again, but I figured that would be better than sitting there and learning how to write.  A few minutes later, I was alone in the huge back seat of the truck while Lisa drove, and Shantel was sitting next to her.  The scenery leaving the farm was beginning to look familiar.  Somehow, Lisa managed to drive straight to that church place where we had heard Shantel sing.

“I wish we had some money,” Lisa said.  “It would be nice to be able to go out to eat again…like normal people.”

“Sure would,” Shantel agreed.  “And we don’t even have any money for the collection plate at church tomorrow.”

“That’s right!” Lisa said.  She looked at Shantel.  “Do you still want to go?”

“Are you kiddin’?  Nothing’s gonna keep me away.  I’ll feel bad about it, but it’ll have to do…for now.”

With nothing else to do, we drove home.  Shantel and Lisa worked on clearing out all the guys’ stuff from their rooms, except Gary’s things.  Shantel decided to take the room that had belonged to Ben and Steve.  Lisa said that she would take Gary and Dave’s room, despite all of Gary’s things being still in there.  The surprise though came when they both told me that I had to take Bo’s bedroom.  The biggest room.  What did I need a bedroom for?  Or a bed for that matter?  I had been sleeping in there already, but I stayed on the floor.  What if Bo came home and caught me?

“Honey Pie, you is sleepin’ in a bed tonight, if’n I have to tie you to it!” Shantel told me.

I wasn’t sure if she was kidding or what, but when bedtime came, the arguments started again.  And once again Lisa laid another of her biggest arguments at me.  “Good girls sleep in beds!” Lisa told me.  “And so do you!”

That wasn’t what I had been told.  Did it count that there were five guys who told me that I was supposed to sleep on the floor, and only two women who said otherwise?

I started out the night sleeping in the bed, then moved down to the floor.  They were going to have to settle for being happy that I had at least slept in the bedroom instead of by the back door.  How do people sleep in those bed things?  They’re so uncomfortable!

The next day, Shantel got everyone up early.  She seemed awfully excited about going to that church place.  Once we were up, I was subjected to all of Lisa’s new rules once again.  Good girls clean themselves every day.  Good girls shave their legs.  Good girls brush their teeth every day.  Good girls comb or brush their hair every day.  Good girls try to always look pretty.  I was supposed to remember all that, and all those letter things that people used when they were writing?  Who did they think I was?

Before going out the door, Lisa brushed a bit of what she called blusher on my face.  The brush was nice and soft, but I had no idea what she had done it for.  Then we all got into the truck and Lisa drove us to church.

“We’re not the only pickup truck here,” Lisa noted as she stopped the truck next to another one in this big area filled with cars and trucks.

“There may be more trucks than cars,” Shantel agreed.

As we walked from the truck to the door, I noticed that most of the people going in had skin like Shantel.  That reverend guy was standing outside the door shaking hands and talking to the people as they went in.

“Shantel!  You came,” he said.

“You better believe it Reverend,” Shantel replied.  “I been wantin’ to get back to church for a long, long time.”

The reverend took a moment to hug her, then he turned to us.  And it’s Freaky and…uh…”

“Lisa,” Lisa told him.

“Right!  Sorry.  Welcome, both of you.”

We went inside.  I was surprised to see so many people there, most of them sitting in the chairs, but a few were moving around talking to other people.  A few people came over and said hello to Shantel.  Some of them nodded towards Lisa and me, but nobody said anything.  I figured that was good.

And then the reverend guy walked up in front of everybody and began yelling at us, but nobody seemed to mind.  He yelled and everybody seemed to agree with him and shouted back how right he was.  I couldn’t figure any of it out, but I noticed that Shantel seemed to be awfully happy about something.

And then this big group of women stood up together at the front and started singing.  I thought it was the most incredible thing I had ever heard.  A whole bunch of women, all singing together, and that reverend guy was playing that piano thing at the same time.  Everybody in the church was clapping and singing along with them, and some of them were standing and moving their bodies around to the music too.

And then the reverend guy left the piano and started yelling at everyone again.  And the people seemed to like it.  I was going to have to get Lisa and Shantel both to help me figure out what he was talking about, not to mention what was going on.

And then the reverend guy yelled something about wanting to do something a bit different, and something about putting someone on the spot.  And then he looked right at Shantel and waved his arms.  “Shantel honey, come on up here.  Let me introduce you to everybody here.”

Shantel got up and walked up front.  She looked embarrassed.  Why?

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the reverend guy said.  “This here is Shantel.  Shantel grew up in a church just like this one.  She grew up knowing the grace of God.  But she left that church and she left that grace behind to consort with sinners of the very worst sort.  Shantel rubbed elbows with the very devil himself!  But let me tell you, she knew the error of her ways and has fought and fought hard to get herself back into God’s good graces, and consequently, God has led this brave young woman right here to our church.  Give me an amen!” With that, I heard everyone in there shouting amen…whatever that meant.

“Now ladies and gentlemen,” the reverend continued.  “I want you to know that while Shantel here was living and consorting with the devil himself, God never abandoned this poor soul at all.  No!  You know how I know?  I know because when Shantel was born, God gave her a gift.  A wonderous gift.  A mighty gift.  And when I met Shantel a few days ago, I was taken completely by surprise by that gift.  So surprised that I want to put Shantel here on the spot, and ask her to share her gift with you.  Would you like that?  Would you all like to hear a bit of Shantel’s gift?  Give me an amen!”  The people had been shouting amen a few at a time, but once again everyone there shouted that word back.

And then the reverend said, “Would you all like to know what this wonderous gift is that God gave this poor woman?  Would you like to know?”

I heard a lot of people shouting yes.

“Let me tell you,” the reverend guy said.  And then he screwed his face up into the funniest face you could imagine and said.  “Shantel can siiiiinnng!”  While people were shouting different things, the reverend said.  “Shantel, will you share a bit of your gift with the people here today?  Let them hear that golden voice of yours that God himself gave you.  Will you sing for us?”

“You want me to sing?” Shantel asked as if she couldn’t believe it.

“Oh heavens yes,” the reverend said.  “Show us the glory of your voice.”

“Me,” Shantel said.  “Singin’ in church again.  O happy day!” she shouted.

The reverend stopped and stared at her.  “I was gonna have you sing what you sang for me the other day, but do you know Happy Day?”

“Reverend, what kind of gospel singer from a church choir doesn’t know Oh Happy Day.”

With that, the reverend made a mad dash for his piano and started playing, and a moment later, Shantel opened her mouth and began singing and clapping and moving around.  And then all the women from the choir got back up front and began singing with her.  And all the people were standing and clapping along with them and singing and moving around too.  The entire place was going crazy.  I had never had so much fun in my life!

When it was over, everyone shouted and clapped their hands.  Shantel came back to sit with us and I saw Lisa hug her.  Shantel looked so happy I couldn’t believe it.  And then that reverend guy started yelling at us again.  Why did he do that?

I was never going to figure this world out.

 

The Last Jeskey - Chapter 44

 

The Last Jeskey

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 44

 

(Day 10 – Saturday)

 

Sheriff Cobb

 

It seemed like I was never going to get a day off.  It was Saturday and I was home for once, and I had big plans to sit and vegetate in front of the TV all afternoon.  Then later I was heading next door to watch the game on TV with my neighbor.  A perfect Saturday!  Nat was off doing more freaky stuff for Freaky, and that was fine…as long as it didn’t involve me.  But when she called and said they had found another hiding spot on that farm, that threw my big afternoon plans right out the window.

A few phone calls later, I was rushing to get my uniform on and head out to the station.  Fifteen minutes after that, I led a squad of deputies out to the Jeskey farm.  When we got there, we found all the women inside eating lunch.

How was your visit with the relatives?” I asked after walking in the door to see them eating.

“Fine,” Nat told me.  “Just a bit shorter than I figured.  We didn’t get to go out for lunch like we planned.”

I didn’t really care about that.  I wanted to get down to business.  “Where’s this hiding place you told me about?”

“There’s an old pump out by one of the sheds,” Nat told me.  “Evidently it’s under that.”

I knew the place.  I had walked by it a number of times.  I just never knew there was any kind of hiding place there.  But then I guess that was the point to a hiding place.

While the ladies finished the last of their lunch, I led my deputies out to the old pump.  Yup, it sure looked broken.  There was a long-handled shovel lying on the platform.  I stepped up on that platform and played with what was left of the pump handle.  It moved, but with  difficulty.  Especially since there was only about three inches of handle left.  But Nat had said the hiding place was underneath.  I noticed all the ladies trooping out to muck up my crime scene.  I nodded toward one of my deputies.  “Don’t let them get too close.”

I turned to Russ.  “According to Nat, the hiding place is underneath.  I guess that’s why they left the shovel for us.”

Russ grabbed the shovel and the two of us started walking all around that old wooden platform.  “I don’t see any place where the ground’s been dug up for…about a century,” he noted.

“No.  Me neither,” I agreed.

“Okay then, here goes,” Rus said as he stuck the shovel in the dirt at the very bottom of the platform.  He stomped down on the shovel with his foot, trying to get under the thing and pry it up.

“No!” Freaky said.  “You’re doing it wrong.”

We all looked at her.  She pushed her way though.  “Use the shovel the other way.”

She had me confused.  “What other way?”

“Backwards.”

Russ turned the spade of the shovel backwards.  “Like this?” he asked, not believing she could mean it.

“No!” Freaky exclaimed.  She grabbed the shovel from him.  “Use this part.”

“The handle?” Russ asked.  “How?”

Freaky looked like she was completely exasperated with the questions.  “Right there!” she said as she walked around to another side of the square platform.  “See that hole?  Put the shovel in there.”

I watched as Russ walked around to the other side of the platform.  He knelt down and looked under the rim of the wood.  “Huh!  There’s a hole here.  He looked at the shovel handle.  “And it’s just about the right size.”  With that, he tried pushing the handle of the shovel into the hole.  It went in about two feet then stopped.  He pushed a bit harder and the handle went in another six inches, then it pushed back out again.  “It’s spring loaded,” Russ said.

I turned to Freaky.  “Now what?”

“Lift,” she told me.  “But I think it’s going to be heavy.  The only times I ever saw them open it, they had to work to get it up.”

Russ pushed the shovel in hard again, then put his back to the shovel and tried to lift.  The platform began to swing up.  Another of the deputies rushed in to give him a hand, and before long, the entire platform had swung up on some big hinges.  That pump on top wasn’t attached to anything but the top of the wooden platform!  With the top pried up, we saw a set of cement stairs leading down a good eight or ten feet.  One of the deputies pulled on a board attached to the platform and it swung down.  Another board on the other side swung down too.

“Let the thing down,” I told them.  A moment later, the entire heavy platform rested safely on those wooden legs.  At the bottom of the steps, I saw a door.  It looked like it was built to be waterproof, which only made sense.  The entire doorframe appeared to be cement like the steps.  The other thing I noticed about the door was the padlock.  “Somebody go find us some bolt cutters.”

A couple of deputies ran off, but that just gave the women a chance to move in, closer than I wanted.  Too close!

“Sheriff!” Lisa said.  “While you’re waiting, we’ve got some questions.”

“What?” I asked.

“The trucks,” she said.  “Can we use one so Natalie doesn’t always have to drive us everywhere?”

It sounded like a good idea to me.  But….  “You got a license?” I asked.

“Yes,” she told me.

“I got one too,” Shantel added.

I nodded.  “The trucks have all been searched and cleared,” I told them.  “Pick just one though and leave the rest for now.”

“How about the keys?” Lisa asked.

That was a bigger problem.  “Until I can get back to the station on Monday and check through the belongings for Bo and his boys, I guess you’re going to have to wait.”

“What if we find some in the house.  Like spare keys?” Shantel asked.

“That’s fine then,” I told her.  “Go for it.  But like I said, just one truck for now.”

That seemed to excite both women.  I could see my deputies hurrying back now.  One of them was carrying some bolt cutters.

“And how about all the clothes and stuff that belonged to Freaky’s uncle and his sons.”

“What about it?” I asked.

“When can we get rid of any of it?”

“It’s in our way,” Shantel added.

Considering that, I guessed it would be.  “Bag it up,” I told them.  “Then put it somewhere.  Maybe the barn if you want it out of the way.  Don’t throw it out yet.”

“Does that include Gary’s stuff too?” Shantel asked.  “He ain’t exactly dead yet.  So I hear.”

She had a good point.  Gary was still out there.  He was going to prison just as soon as I could find him though, but still.  “No,” I decided.  “For now, leave all of Gary’s things alone.”

Shantel didn’t exactly look happy.  “But I can still use that room?” she asked.  “There’s two beds in there and only one of them was Gary’s.”

“Yeah,” I told her.  “Go ahead and clear out anything that’s not Gary’s.  We’ll have to deal with his stuff later.”  She seemed a bit happier.

My deputy rushed in with the bolt cutter and carefully made is way down the steps.  A bit of labor later and the padlock was history.  Russ moved in and opened the heavy door.  All I saw from up above was darkness.

“Here!” one of the deputies said.  He tossed a flashlight down to Russ.

I watched as Russ shined that flashlight into the open space.  “Sheriff!  You better get down here,” he said.

Fearing dead bodies, I descended the steps and went in through the door.  A minute later I poked my head out again.  “We’re going to need more flashlights.  I left mine in my car if you need one.  I didn’t think I’d be needing it.”

Two minutes later, we had two more deputies in that underground room, and all four of us had flashlights.  I looked all around first, then shined my light over all the rifles, handguns, and ammunition that was stored in there.  As I did, I knew I was the only one looking at those things.

“Wow!” one of the deputies said.

I turned to look again at what they were all looking at.  Shelves.  A whole wall of shelves.  A whole wall of shelves stacked with money from floor to ceiling.

“How much do you think is here?” one of the deputies asked.

“A lot more than I make,” Russ replied.

“What do we do Sheriff?” one of the deputies asked.

I shook my head.  My first instinct was to close and lock the underground room and come back on Monday to deal with it all.  Unfortunately, I knew I couldn’t do that.  “Russ,” I said.  “Start organizing some way to get it all out of here.  Like it or not, we’ve got it get it all back to the station…tonight!  And when we get it there, we’ll put it in one of the cells.”

I climbed the steps up into the daylight and heat above.  As I climbed, I wondered if all that money was from that missing safe.  It certainly could be.  I had no way of knowing though.  The Jeskey’s had been running both drugs and guns  A lot of drugs and guns.  And that kind of business could generate a lot of cash.  Cash like what was down in that cement bunker.

“What’s down there?” Natalie asked.

“Money,” I told her.  “A lot of money.”

While the deputies were pulling everything out of the underground bunker and loading it into our cars under the scrutiny of more deputies, I noticed all the women had disappeared.  Long before we were done I noticed them all running excitedly around all the pickup trucks.  It looked like they had found a set of keys…more than one set of keys.

Natalie finally came back to see how we were doing.  “They decided to pick the green truck,” she said.  According to Freaky, it’s Ben’s and the newest of the bunch.  It certainly looks nice.”

“Good choice then,” I said as I continued to watch over the job being done.

“They decided that if I wanted, they would try to find that church by themselves tomorrow, so I don’t have to go.  You either.”

“Me?”

“I told you about it.  I was going to have to take them.”

I didn’t remember any such thing!  “Sounds like giving them that truck is going to work out just fine then.”

“If you don’t need me, I’m going to take off and go home,” she told me.

Lucky her.  “Okay.  Wait!  I need you to hang around a bit.  I’m using your protection detail right now and I still don’t want you going anywhere without him.”

“Still?  Will, it’s been days!”

“Yeah, that’s right.  Days.  Not weeks or months.  I don’t trust Gary Jeskey.  I don’t even trust the ones who are dead.”

She looked at me like she was perturbed with something, then said, “Me either.  How much money do you think is there?”

“A lot!”

Once the money and guns were all loaded and I had phoned the D.A. to give him the heads up on our find, Natalie got back into her car and the deputy I had assigned to her for the day followed her out of there.  It was a good thing he had been there.  As it turned out, we had needed the manpower.  Now we just had to get it all out of the cars and into the station.  Despite what the D.A. wanted, I was determined that nobody was going to touch that money to count it until Monday.  That money had waited where it was for a long time.  It could now wait long enough for me to enjoy what was left of the weekend.

I checked in with the three women just before I left.  I was surprised to see Freaky and Lisa sitting down at the table.  From what they told me, it was Freaky’s very first writing lesson.  I figured that was a good thing.  I’m not sure how Freaky felt about it though.  “We’re going now,” I told them.  “As usual, there’ll be a deputy driving by once in a while and they’ll leave another car here tonight…as usual too.”

“Bye Sheriff!” Shantel called happily as she was carrying an armload of things out of one of the bedrooms.  “And thanks.”

I tipped my hat to her and walked out.  How long before the three of them would be in that truck and driving all around?  Not long at all, I was certain.  But then I remembered that they didn’t have any money.  None.

Unless Nat gave them some.  Not my business!

As I was following the line of money-filled vehicles off the farm, I noticed a bear crossing the field not far away.  It looked like it was coming from the dirt road we were about to follow.  Those women better watch their step anytime they went outdoors.

We had just started unloading the money from the cars into one of the jail cells when my cellphone rang.  Since I was only supervising, I took the time to look at the caller ID.  My next-door neighbor.  I remembered we had talked about watching the game together on TV tonight.  I looked at all that money that needed to be moved.  I was going to have to  tell him that I was going to be a bit late.  I answered the call.  “Hey.  I’m still coming.”

“Will!” his urgent voice came back.  “Natalie and one of your deputies have just been shot!  The deputy I think is dead.  Natalie’s alive but she’s unconscious and bleeding like crazy.  I called the ambulance just before I called you.”

Natalie had been shot?  Oh hell!

The Last Jeskey - Chapter 43

 

The Last Jeskey

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 43

 

(Day 10 – Saturday)

 

Freaky

 

We all watched as Pamela’s car drove out of sight.  Lisa, Shantel, and Natalie though were more interested in watching that bear until it was out of sight too.

Since Natalie hadn’t left us yet, Shantel decided to bring up her biggest question.  “Miss Natalie, can I still go to church tomorrow?”

“Yes Shantel,” Natalie told her.

“How am I gonna get there?”

Natalie seemed to consider that for a moment.  “I guess I’m going to have to drive you.”

“You sure?” Shantel asked.

“Yes,” Natalie told her.  “Don’t worry, I’ll get you there.”

“Great, Miss Natalie,” Shantel replied happily.

But that was when Lisa decided to ask a few questions herself.  “Since we’ve been here,” Lisa said, I haven’t seen any cars around, just those big pickup trucks.  Are there any cars that maybe we can drive so we don’t have to rely on you all the time?  Not to mention, you said you wanted us to help Freaky here see the world.  This place is definitely not the world.  We need to get her out as much as possible I think to get her over some of those crazy ideas she has.”

“Yes,” Natalie agreed.  “That’s certainly true.  She looked to me.  “Did Bo or any of his boys have an actual car here somewhere?”

“They all just drove their trucks.  They liked their trucks,” I told her.

“That’s what I thought,” Natalie replied.  “Sorry Lisa.”

“Then what’s the chance of us driving one of those things instead.  They’re not being used, are they?”

“No, they’re not,” Natalie agreed.  “But before you drive any of them, let me check with my husband to make sure he’s got no issues with it.  I think he’s technically considering this entire farm to be one big crime scene after the murders.”

“That would be great!” Shantel said.  “Wheels!”

“Can you get us the keys for one of them then?” Lisa asked.

“I’ll ask him about it,” Natalie assured her.

“And I hate to ask this,” Lisa continued, “but if we can use the trucks, how about a little money so we can buy the things we need?”

Natalie seemed to sigh.  “I guess I’ll be checking on that too,” she said.

“Yeah,” Shantel said.  “One of the things we’ve got to get for Freaky here is a good pair of scissors so I can straighten out her hair.”

While the others were discussing things, including taking me to see that hairdresser lady, I had another problem going on, and where we were standing was right near where I needed to handle it.  While they were talking, I walked off to the old tool shed and my pee hole behind it.  As much as it smelled, it was like a breath of warm comfort to be able to get back to it again and use it like a good girl…which I did.  And yes, it would have been a whole lot easier without those stupid panties in my way.

When I walked back to the others, they were discussing getting rid of all of the guy’s clothes and things to get them out of the way.

“I’ll add that to my list for my husband,” Natalie told them.

Shantel turned to me as I walked up.  “Where the hell you been Baby Doll?”

“I needed to pee,” I told her.

“Pee?”  She looked around.  “Where?”

“My pee hole is right over there,” I told her.

Shantel seemed to get real angry, and Lisa looked pretty upset too.  “Oh no you don’t!  Not anymore,” Shantel exclaimed.  “I don’t care if you think good girls are supposed to use pee holes…”

“But they are!” I insisted.

“No they don’t!  Good girls use the bathrooms like everyone else in the entire damn world.  Now where is this place?”

I pointed toward the old shed.

“Let’s go Baby Doll.  Show me.”

I led the way toward my pee hole behind the shed and everybody followed me.  “See,” I said when we got back there.  “It’s perfect for girls.”

“No it’s not!” Lisa said angrily.

“We’s gonna get rid of that thing once and for all.  Right now!” Shantel declared.  “You got a shovel or something around here?”

“But we can’t!”  I argued.  “Bo said…”

“Honey Pie, Bo said nothin’!  You ain’t gonna use a pee hole ever again, in your life!  Now find me a shovel!”

She was yelling at me, and I didn’t like it.  And worse, she was going to destroy one of Bo’s biggest rules.  What if he came home and caught me not using it?  I remembered he was dead.  But Gary wasn’t.  Gary could still come home at any time.  What was I going to do then?

“A shovel little missy,” Shantel said angrily.

Fearful, I went around to the other side of the shed and opened the door.  The shovel was the only thing in there that I, or anyone else ever touched, and that was mostly so I could dig myself a new pee hole whenever Bo said I should.  I grabbed the shovel and pulled it out and handed it to Shantel

“Uh-uh Baby Doll.  You is gonna fill that hole in yourself.  Now get busy missy!”

“No!” I wailed, frightened.  “Gary could come home and catch me not…”

“If Gary comes home,” Shantel interrupted me, “he’s not gonna kill you for that, he’s gonna kill you just for livin!  Now get busy!”

Ready to cry, Shantel and the others followed me back around to my pee hole and stood there while I shoveled dirt into the hole, filling it up completely and erasing any trace of it.  I noticed that Natalie was still there, but she wasn’t sticking up for me at all.  But then, the pee hole issue was one of her biggest problems with me too.

While I was working, Lisa disappeared for a minute, then she came back.  As soon as I was done filling in the hole, she asked.  “What are all those tools in there?”

“I don’t know,” I told her.  “They’ve always been there.”

“It doesn’t look like anyone uses them.  They’re all full of rust.”

“The guys never used anything in there that I know of,” I told her.  ”Just this shovel.”

“To dig your pee holes,” Lisa said, sounding disgusted.

“No.  They make me do that?”

“Oh,” Lisa said.  “From what you said, it sounded like they use your shovel too.”

“They do.”

She looked around.  “For what?”

“They’ve got one of their hiding places here, and they use the shovel to get into it.”

Natalie suddenly became very interested.  “Another hiding place?  Where?”

I pointed at the old pump that didn’t work.

“Show me,” Natalie said.

So I walked over to the pump and said, “This is it.”

“Where?” Natalie asked.  “Here,” I said as I stepped up onto the wooden platform that held the pump.

“Under there?”

“Yeah.  That’s why they need the shovel.”

“What’s in that hiding place?” she asked.

“I don’t know.  I’ve never seen in it.  That’s men’s business.”

“But you know it’s right here,” Natalie said.

“Sure.  My pee hole is right there.”

Natalie was already pulling her cellphone out of that leather bag she carried everywhere.  A moment later she said, “Will, Freaky just showed us another hiding place.  She doesn’t know what’s in it, but even standing on top of it, I’d never know it was here.”  She listened for a moment.  “No, we haven’t even tried to open it.  Evidently you need a shovel to do it.”  She listened again, then said.  “Okay.  See you soon.”

“Will’s on his way,” Natalie told us.

“Oh good!” Lisa said.  “We can ask him about the trucks and getting rid of all that men’s junk in the rooms.”

 

The Last Jeskey - Chapter 42

 

The Last Jeskey

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 42

 

(Day 10 – Saturday)

 

Pamela

 

Stella and Jim Harper met me at my office.  The surprise however was that they weren’t alone.  They had their other daughter with them, Katherine.  Freaky’s mother’s sister.  We all managed to crowd ourselves into my car and I drove them out to the Jeskey place.

“It’s beautiful out here,” Stella remarked, long before we got there.

“That it is,” I agreed.  People often remarked that about our little slice of heaven.  Very few people moved in though because once people found out how poor the area was, they wanted no part of it.  That was fine with all the residents.  We didn’t want outsiders mucking up our land.

When we finally reached the farm, I noticed Natalie’s car was there, along with the inevitable deputy’s car as well.

“Why the police car?” Mr. Harper wondered.

“Security,” I told him.

“For what?” Mrs. Harper asked.

“Natalie,” I said.  “The sheriff’s wife.  She was shot a few days ago.  It wasn’t too bad.  The bullet just hit part of her arm.”  I was lucky I didn’t have to explain the security concerns any further.

By the time I stopped the car, I saw Natalie coming out through the front door.  I led the family up onto the front porch and introduced them all to her.

“Pamela here says you were shot,” Mr. Harper said.  “It looks like you’re just fine now.”

“Yes,” Natalie admitted.  “The bullet hit my arm and went right through.  I was stuck with my arm in a sling for a few days, but I gave up on it as soon as I could.  I’ve been wearing long-sleeves despite the weather ever since.”

I saw Mr. Harper nod his head at that.

“Come on in,” Natalie said to them.  “I know you want to meet Freaky.”

As we went inside, I noticed that Shantel was standing way back in the kitchen,  Lisa and Freaky though were standing not far from the door.  Lisa was holding Freaky’s hand.  I couldn’t help but notice the new dresses they both were wearing.  Freaky looked nicer than usual.  A lot nicer.  She also looked scared.  Lisa dropped Freaky’s hand and moved back a step, leaving Freaky to face them alone, but not too alone.

“Mr. and Mrs. Harper.  Katherine,” Natalie said.  “I’d like you to meet Freaky.”

Nat had made the introductions, but nobody was saying anything.

“You’re beautiful,” Mrs. Harper finally said.  “I hadn’t expected that.”

“Mom,” Katherine said, “She looks kind of like Hailey.”

“Yes,” Stella Harper replied.  “I can see that.  I didn’t expect that either.”

“Are you sure that’s Brian?” Jim Harper whispered to me.

“DNA tests confirmed it,” I whispered back.  He let out what sounded like a rather disappointed grunt.

“They say,” Freaky started, “that you’re my family.”

“Yes,” Mrs. Harper replied.  “And now, looking at you, I have no doubt about that at all.  You look…too much like your mother.”

“I don’t remember my mother.  Or my father,” Freaky told them.  “The only family I remember is Uncle Bo and the guys.  They’re all gone now though, except Uncle Gary.  I don’t know where he is.”

Stella turned to me.  “Uncle Gary?”

“Her cousin actually,” I explained.  “One of Bo’s four sons.”

“Where is he?”

“Most likely, out causing trouble somewhere,” I told her.

I watched as Stella turned back toward Freaky again.  “Can I hug you?” Stella asked.

I watched as Freaky smiled.  “I like hugs.  Until Bo died, I never had one before.  But they feel so…nice.”

“Never…” Kathy started to say as if she couldn’t believe it, then stopped as Stella took a step forward and wrapped her arms around Freaky.  Freaky just stood there as if she didn’t know what to do, then I saw her arms go around her grandmother and hug her back.  The two stayed like that for a few moments before Stella took a step back, but she kept her arms on Freaky’s arms.  “I know you don’t know us at all,” she said, looking into Freaky’s face.  “But my name is Stella Harper, and I’m your grandmother.”

I saw Freaky look quickly over at Lisa.  “Your mother’s mother,” Lisa said softly.

“I wish I could remember my mother,” Freaky said to Stella.

“I wish you could too,” Stella replied.  She turned to her husband who moved closer now.  “This is Jim, my husband.  Your grandfather.”

I noticed that Jim didn’t even try to touch Freaky, and all Freaky did was to nod at him.

After a moment, Stella turned toward Katherine.  “And this is your aunt, Katherine.”

I saw Freaky’s lack of understanding just before she looked over at Lisa again.  “An aunt is just like an uncle,” Lisa explained.  “But uncles are men, and aunts are women.  I’m guessing that she’s your mother’s sister?”

“That’s right,” Stella said.

“Mom,” Kathy said.  “Can I have a turn?”

“Oh!  Sorry,” Stella said as she let go of Freaky’s arms and moved away.

Katherine moved in and stood in front of Freaky.  “Call me Kathy, or Aunt Kathy, I don’t care which.  I’m just glad to meet you.  More so because you remind me so much of my little sister, who I still miss so much.”  With that, she hugged Freaky, and Freaky hugged her back.

“Coffee?” Lisa said softly as the two women let go of each other.  “Would you rather sit at the table, or in the living room?”

“The living room I think,” Stella decided.  No surprise, she seemed to be the one in charge here.

Stella held Freaky’s hand as she led her to the couch where the two of them sat next to each other.  As they were sitting, Lisa asked who wanted cream or sugar in their coffee, then disappeared back to the kitchen area.  Natalie and I stood, but out of the way and declined any coffee.

Stella sat half facing Freaky and held her hand.  “Pam has told me a lot about you,” she said.  “The more she told us, the less I believed.  Yet here you are, right in front of me.  I can’t even begin to imagine the life you’ve lived.”

“Uncle Bo and the guys took care of me,” Freaky replied.  “They gave me food to eat and a house to live in.”

“But everything else…” Stella said.  “It had to be horrible!”  She looked over at me.  “If it was true!”

“If what was true?” Freaky asked.

“The torture?”

I saw Freaky look around for Lisa, but she was at the kitchen counter.  “What’s torture?” she asked.

“So it’s not true!” Stella said pointedly.

“What?” Freaky asked.

“Being roasted over a fire.  Being…”

“Oh that,” Freaky said.  “They only did that to me once.  And they were all real drunk at the time.”

Stella looked shocked.  “You mean…they really did do that to you?  Burned you over a fire?”

“Just that once.  And like I said they were drunk.”

“And how about being buried up to your neck?”

Freaky shrugged.  “That’s what they usually did to me when I was bad.  But I try real hard to always be a good girl.  Especially after I got punished.  I don’t want to be a bad girl…ever!”

“They punish you like that whenever you’re a bad girl?”

I noticed that Freaky looked confused.  “Of course,” she said.  “How else would I learn?”

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Kathy mumbled.

“They didn’t do that to me the last time they punished me though,” Freaky said.  “They hung me upside down from a tree for a few days instead.  I think they were worried since there were so many bears around at the time.”

“Bears!” Jim exclaimed.

“Sure,” Freaky told him.  “We live next to the woods.  There’s bears and lions and tigers out there.  I could get eaten if I went into the woods.  The guys though always carried guns with them so they could protect themselves.”

“Tigers?  Here?” Jim asked.

“I’m guessing they were just trying to frighten her,” I told him.  “But we do have a lot of bears up here.”  I saw him shake his head.

Shantel came in and approached Jim.  She held out a glass wrapped in a paper towel.  “You said black,” Shantel said quietly to him.  “We don’t have no cups or anything like that, just these whisky glasses, so watch, it’s real hot.”

“No cups?” Stella asked.  “Not even any mugs?”

“Not yet, we’re working on it,” Shantel replied as she moved over and held out a paper towel wrapped glass to her.  “Cream and sugar both?” she asked.

“Yes,” Stella replied as she carefully took the offered coffee…glass.

I noticed Lisa bringing coffee to Katherine as well.

“You’ve got to be Shantel,” Stella said once she had her coffee in her hands.

“That’s me,” Shantel replied.  “Nice to meet you.”

“From what I’ve heard, you’re a pretty good singer.”

“I love to sing,” Shantel told her.

Stella looked over toward Lisa.  “And you’ve got to be Lisa then,” she said.  Lisa nodded.  “Our…perfect hostess.”

I was amused to see Lisa blush.  “I try,” she said.

“Thank you,” Stella told her.

“You’re welcome,” Lisa replied.

“And the three of you met at a…women’s shelter?”

“We all got our demons we’re runnin’ from,” Shantel told her.  “Freaky here too.  She just don’t realize yet how bad her demons are.  She’s learning though.  Slowly, but she’s learnin’.”

Stella nodded.  “I can only imagine.  Her…” she said, as if she was having trouble with the word, “mother and father were murdered.  We thought…she…was murdered too.  But it seems she wasn’t.  I’ll never know what possessed Clive to try and move that safe out of his father’s house.  They’d all be alive if he hadn’t.”

“Mom!” Kathy said, sounding surprised.  “You don’t know?”

“No.  Do you?”

“Sure.  Hailey told me.”

“What?”

“Clive was going to sell his father’s farm.  He was having too much trouble trying to manage both farms by himself since they were so far apart.  His farm was bigger, so he was selling his father’s.  He just wanted to get everything out of his father’s house before he put it all on the market.”

“Oh geez!” Jim exclaimed.  “That makes perfect sense.  Not to mention, how much money he would have gotten for that place.”

“Hailey always wanted to travel to Europe,” Kathy told him.  “They would have had the money to do it then.”

“They had the money already!” Stella said.  “Your sister married rich.  Clive was a millionaire like his father when she met him.  And heaven only knows how much he inherited when his father died.  I know it was more than just that farm.  He was rich to begin with, and his father’s death only made him richer.  He didn’t need the money.”

I couldn’t help myself.  I stepped forward.  “What happened to all that money?”

“I don’t know,” Stella confessed.  “But Clive had a small insurance policy that he had taken out on himself.  One on Hailey too.”  She looked over at her husband.  “How much was Clive’s?”

“A hundred thousand,” Jim told her.  “The one he had for Hailey was only for fifty.”

Stella shook her head.  “With all his money, you’d think he could have afforded more.”

“Maybe,” I said, “because of all his money, he didn’t feel like he needed more.”

She shrugged.  “Maybe.”

“What happened to it?” I asked.

“The money from Clive’s policy was earmarked for Hailey of course, but with her gone, it went to Brian.  Haily’s was just the opposite.  It went to Clive, and then to Brian.”

“And what happened to it all?”

“Brian is dead!” Jim said firmly.  “We wound up with both.”

I nodded, noting the way he had made that statement.  “How about all of Clive’s other money?” I asked.

Jim shrugged.  “Who knows.  I never heard.”  He looked over at his wife.

“Me either,” Stella admitted.  She looked to Kathy.  “Did you ever hear anything?”

“No,” Kathy said.  “I can tell you though that nobody ever offered any of it to us.”

“Us either,” Jim agreed.

Did I note a bit of contention there?  I wasn’t forgetting that they had wound up with a hundred and fifty thousand dollars that I would figure legally belonged to Freaky.  I was going to have to check on the legal issues there though.

“Freaky,” Stella said.  “Are you going to pick a new name for yourself?”  I got the impression that Stella was quicky trying to change the subject.

“Another name?” Freaky said.  “Why?”

“Well, Freaky is so…unusual.”

“It is?” Freaky said.  “I don’t know.  I guess, Freaky is just my name.  Although actually, I guess it’s just Freak.  But since Roxie started calling me Freaky instead, I kind of liked it.”

“But you don’t have any other name?”

“No.  Why would I?”

“You don’t remember having any other name?” she asked.

“No.  Just Freak.  That’s what they always called me.  That’s my name.  I just like Freaky better now.”

“Do you remember that your name was once Brian?” Jim asked rather pointedly.

“No,” Freaky replied.  “If I had another name, I would have remembered.  They always just called me Freak.”

I saw Stella patting Freaky’s hand reassuringly.  “Maybe we can discuss some nicer names for you another time.”

Freaky just shrugged.  “Freaky is good.  I like it.”

“We’ll see dear,” Stella replied.

Kathy suddenly stood up.  “Mom, would you mind if I take Freaky for a little walk around.  I’d like to see this place.  It’s old.  Maybe there’s more to it than just this room.”

Sella didn’t look happy, but her daughter had asked.  “Maybe it would be nice if Freaky showed all of us around.  I think I’d like to see it too.  And Pam said it was a farm.”  She stood up.  “Do you raise any crops here, or animals?”

Everyone got to their feet.  Freaky didn’t look like she knew how to answer the question.  “They didn’t raise anything,” I told her.  “They just bought this old farm and lived here.”

“We get chickens sometimes,” Freaky said as she started leading the way toward the back of the house.  “And pigs too.  I like the chickens, especially when they’re real little.  They’re so soft and nice to hold.  They’re fun when they get bigger too.  The pigs are nice when they’re real little too, but I don’t like them when they get big.”

She stopped by the table and pointed.  “That’s Dave and Gary’s room over there,” she said.  She pointed to another door.  “That one is Ben and Steve’s room.  Lisa and Shantel are sleeping in there now.  She pointed again.  “And that one is Bo’s room.”

“Is that where you sleep?” Stella asked.

“No.  I’m a good girl.  I sleep by the back door.”

“Not anymore!” I heard Shantel say softly.

“Is there a room there too?” Stella asked.

“Of course,” Freaky replied.  “Come on, I’ll show you.”

Freaky led the way toward the back door.  When they got there, she stopped.  “This is where I sleep.”

“Where?” Stella asked.

“Here,” Freaky replied.

“But there’s no bed.”

“No.  I’m a good girl.”

“What does….”

“Don’t ask!” Shantel said from behind the pack.  “She sleeps on the floor.  We’re having a running battle about that point right now.”

“Good girls sleep on the floor!” Freaky insisted.

“Sorry,” Shantel told everyone.  “She’s got a thousand crazy ideas about what good girls do and what they don’t do.”

I noticed that Stella didn’t look very happy.

Freaky led the way outside and we all walked around.  Stella had another fit when Freaky proudly showed them where she washed clothes and how she went about doing it.

“Will these barbaric ideas never cease?” Stella wondered.

We made it around the property without any more difficulty and wound up back at the cars.  I noticed the deputy that was waiting for Natalie was still there.  He glanced at us, then went back to looking out into the field again.  He raised his arm and pointed.  “Look what we have over there.”

We all looked and saw a bear crossing the open field.

“There really are bears up here,” Jim noted.

“Quite a few,” Natalie replied.  “And according to my husband, the sheriff, this area is known for having more than usual.”

“And they live here?  With so many bears around?”

“Mm-hm,” Natalie replied as if it was nothing.  But then bears were a fact of life in this neck of the woods.  The flatlanders wouldn’t be able to understand that.

“We may as well head home,” Jim decided.  “It’s a long drive.”

Stella didn’t look particularly happy about that, but she nodded.  “Yes.  Of course,” she replied.  She went over to Freaky and hugged her again.  “It was great to meet you,” she said.  “I look forward to coming for another visit.”

Kathy moved in and hugged her next.  “I wish we had more time to talk.  Your mother was the most special person in the world to me.  I’d love to tell you about her.”

“I’d love to hear about her,” Freaky told her.  “I don’t remember her at all.  My father either.”

Kathy nodded.  “Maybe we can talk, and it will jog your memory a bit.  And besides, I haven’t told you yet about my kids.  You’ve got cousins.”

“Cousins?” Freaky asked.

“Her children,” Lisa told her.  “I’ll try to explain it all later.”

We all stuffed ourselves back in my car again.  I realized as we did that Jim had never even tried to go near Freaky.  As I drove away from the house, I noticed that the bear had finally reached the other side of the field.  The dirt road we had to follow would come very close to where it was heading.  Maybe we’d see it again.  We didn’t though.

I heard Jim let out a rather nasty swear word.  Then he said, “Clive’s brother really did murder Brian.”

“It looks like he came close dear,” Stella agreed.

“No.  He murdered him!  Completely!” Jim insisted.  “And then he cut Brian up and used the parts to create…that!”

I no longer had any doubts about how Jim saw Freaky.  I just wasn’t too sure yet about the others.

It was a few minutes later when Stella made an observation.  “She washes her clothes in a tub.  Why isn’t there a washer in the house?”

“They don’t have any cups either,” Kathy added.

“What other things don’t they have?”

“Clothes,” I threw out.  Freaky has almost no clothes.  All the ones she had when we found her were confiscated by the sheriff.”

“Why in heaven would they do that?” Stella asked.

“Because every bit of it had bullet holes and blood stains.”

“What?”

“We’re pretty sure the only clothes Freaky has ever had in her life, are clothes that were taken from the women that Bo Jeskey and his boys murdered.”

Stella threw her hands in the air.  “The unbelievable stuff never stops!  Why can’t you get her some clothes?”

“We’re working on it,” I explained.  “That dress she was wearing today is one she just got.  It’s only been a few days since we discovered her.  We’re still trying to get things straight with the money situation.”

“Well work harder on it!” Stella said.  “If need be, I’ll buy her something myself!”

I didn’t hear Jim say anything to that, but glancing over at him sitting next to me showed me that his face didn’t look happy about his wife’s last statement.  All I could think though, was that if they got so much money from those insurance policies that should have legally gone to Freaky…or Brain, then spending a few dollars to help Freaky out seemed like the least they could do.