South River Incident (20 page)

Something spooky must be
going on. Billy had slipped back into his arcane speech pattern again. It
frightened me.

“I’m scared, Billy,” I
said, clinging to him. “You know something.” I stepped back. “What is it? I
want the truth.”

“The truth is, something
strange has been going on, and I’m going to find out what it is. People have
trespassed on our land. You stay put and keep everybody safe. Let me handle
this. The telephones are out, but the cell phones are working. Keep yours close
by.”

“Where are you going?” I
was in a panic.

“I’m going to try once more
to get the generator started, and then I’m going to search the property. I
won’t be far away. I just want to have a look around. Go ahead and go to bed. I
won’t be long.”

I heard Billy close the
utility room door as I lay back in the bed, pulling the covers up under my
neck. Why was I letting him go out into the night without me? We were a team. I
jumped out of bed, fumbled for the flashlight, then searched for my ski pants.
I would need something warm to wear if I was to go out in this cold. Once
dressed, I felt under the bed for my gun. It wasn’t there. I pointed the
flashlight under the bed to aid in my search, but it was to no avail. The gun
was gone. Hoping Billy had moved it to a safe place away from the kids, I tried
not to think about the possibility that someone might have stolen it. That
thought led me to the conclusion that there had been an intruder in our home.
It had to be Laura Westover! She broke into Mom’s house so why not mine? There
had to be a connection. She couldn’t find what she was looking for before she
was run off so she came here. What is it that she thinks one of us has? The
only thing I could think of was the picture Billy and I found at
Roy
’s house.
What did a photo have to do with anything unless there was something in the
photo that was incriminating? My curiosity piqued.

An oil lamp sat dimly
burning on the kitchen table as the glow from the fireplace cast dancing
shadows on the wall. I tiptoed into the living room to find my briefcase.

Claire and the kids were
comfortably snuggled together on the sofa. Athena and Thor were stretched out
on the bearskin rug. It was such a serene scene. Everything seemed peaceful.

Quietly, I opened the case,
and much to my delight, my other gun was still there. A sigh of relief rushed
from my lips.

With my courage back intact
and my gun in hand, I eased out the back door into the darkness of the night.
The snowstorm was in full swing. The wind howled through the trees as blinding
flakes pounded my face. The flashlight was of little use. I couldn’t see a
thing.

Where was Billy? He was
supposed to be working on the generator. I took a couple of steps forward and
realized I was wasting my time. Billy knew what he was doing, but I didn’t. I
would never survive in this weather. I turned and headed back to the door. I
had to get back inside. For just a second, I hesitated. I didn’t want to go
back inside while Billy was still out here alone, but I didn’t know what else
to do. The weather was so bad that I knew I shouldn’t venture any further. I
could easily get confused and wind up walking out into the woods. Then I would
really be up the creek. I finally decided to go back inside. I turned and took a
step forward.

A shot echoed through the
trees, freezing me in my tracks. I screamed out Billy’s name. With tears
streaming down my face, I groped for the door handle, forcing it open. Claire
met me as I stumbled inside.

“Was that a shot I heard?”
she asked, half-asleep. “What were you doing outside? Where’s Billy?”

I was hysterical by the
time I finished explaining everything to her. I feared that Billy had been
shot, and I had to do something to help him.

“I have to get to the cell
phone and call him.”

I ran to the bedroom. In my
rush to leave earlier, I’d left it on the box beside the bed, forgetting to
take it with me. I snatched up the phone and headed back to the kitchen.

“Hold the flashlight while
I call Billy.”

Claire took the light and
held it over my head while I flipped open the phone and pushed the keyed number
for Billy’s cell phone.

“God, please let him be all
right,” I prayed out loud as I waited for an answer. “Come on, Billy, answer
the phone.”

The line was clouded with
static, but at least it still worked. The line rang one more time and then went
dead.  My heart flew up into my throat.

“Oh, no!” I cried. “The
phone was ringing and then all of a sudden it died. It was as if someone had
shut it off on purpose. Something’s wrong, Claire. I think Billy has been shot.
There’s somebody else out there. I have to go back out and find Billy. He needs
me.”

“Wait a minute,” Claire
said. “We need to think this over.”

“What’s there to think
over? I have to go.”

Claire reached out and put
her hand on my shoulder. She squeezed it ever so lightly, just enough to get my
full attention.

“I can’t let you do that,
Jesse. I’m worried about Billy, too. But if I let you go out there, I would
never forgive myself if something happened. It’s awful outside. The wind was so
strong when I opened the door, it almost blew me down. I had to hold onto the
handle. Please listen to me. We have to come up with another solution.”

I brushed her hand off my
shoulder. Her words made me angry.

“You’re out of your mind if
you think I’m going to stand around and analyze our predicament. I’m going back
out.”

“You could be going into a
dangerous situation. Think about it for a minute, Jesse. My kids are here.”

“What would you have me
do?”

“Try calling Billy again.
Maybe the connection will be better this time.”

“I told you the line went
dead.”

“Well, we could stand here
and debate whether the phone is truly dead or you could just give it a try.”

“You know, right when I
think you and I are on the same wave length, you go and blow that idea out of
the water.”

“For heaven’s sake, Jesse,
just dial the number.”

I
tried to call Billy again, but it was useless
.
His line was dead. I panicked
over
what to do next. I couldn’t go looking for him in this storm, but I couldn’t
leave him out there by himself. He could be hurt or he could’ve been the victim
of the gunshot I heard in the distance. And unfortunately, my sister’s idea of
a rescue was to stay inside and wait. I had to think fast. What could I do?

“Why don’t you call around?
Maybe he’s at his folk’s house. Try his brothers,” Claire suggested.

“Claire, if our telephone
is out of order, don’t you think the rest will be, too? I’m going out to look
for him. I know he’s hurt.”

“Please try your neighbors
first. It’ll just take a minute.”

“All right, I’ll call
around. But if nothing pans out, I’m out of here.” I   went to the computer
table and searched my purse, looking for my address book. I scrambled to find
the list of phone numbers Billy had written in it for me. I punched in Daniel’s
number. The phone rang.

“I don’t understand. Why is
his phone working and mine isn’t? Hello
.
.. Daniel, this is Jesse. Is
Billy there?”

“Hi, Jesse,” he responded
casually.  “No, he’s not. Is something wrong?”

“I’m very upset,” I cried
into the phone. “Someone broke into our house.”  I gulped in sobs. “Our power
is out so Billy went out back to get the generator started, and then he was
going to search the property.  I went to help him, but when I got outside the
storm was so bad I couldn’t see a thing. Then I heard a gunshot. I screamed for
him, but he didn’t answer. I need your help.”

“Just calm down, Jesse.
We’ll find him,” Daniel assured me. “I’ll call the family and get out a search
party. You said your power is out?”

“Yes, and so is the house
phone. I’m calling on my cell phone.”

“That’s strange,” he said,
hesitantly. “I just talked to Jonathan and he didn’t mention anything about a
power failure. Can you get to your Jeep or Billy’s truck?”

“I could probably make it
to my Jeep. Why do you ask?”

“I think you ought to get
out of there. You can come over here.”

“I can’t do that. Claire’s
here with her two little kids. It wouldn’t be safe for us to try and go
anywhere in this weather.”

“Then lock all your doors
and close the curtains. Do you have a gun?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Get it, and make sure it’s
loaded. Has Claire got a gun?”

“I doubt it.” I looked at
Claire. “She has two kids.”

“What’s your cell number?”
he asked.

I rattled off the number,
praying my battery would hold up long enough to receive the call when it came.

“I don’t know how long my
battery will last. You know how these phones are. If could go dead any
minute.” 

“Don’t worry, if I can’t
reach you by phone, I’ll find a way to get to you.” He broke the connection.

“He said he would call back
as soon as he finds Billy,” I told Claire. “He said to make sure the doors were
locked and close the curtains.”

“Why do we need to close
the curtains?”

“To keep anyone from being
able to see inside the house, silly.” I tried to make light of the situation.
“Come on and help me.” 

We checked the doors and
closed all the curtains. Over the kitchen sink where there was only a
half-curtain, I draped a towel to cover the gap.  As Claire and I were about to
huddle by the fire, I thought I heard a snowmobile or some kind of engine
roaring out front. I jumped up, ran to the front door, and then pulled the
curtain back. The headlights from three snowmobiles glared in my eyes.  I flung
open the door and ran out on the porch. I stood shivering in the frigid night
air as a man dismounted the machine and fought his way up the steps. I was
relieved to see Daniel as he handed me a small leather satchel the size of a
book.

“It’s a bag phone and it’s
turned on. You won’t have to worry about the battery going dead on this thing.”

He turned and disappeared
into the night with the others.

I hurried back inside the
house, locking the door behind me.

“Who was that?” Claire
asked.

“It was Daniel. He brought
us this phone.” I showed it to her.

I placed the bag phone on
the computer table where it would be close at hand and walked over to the
fireplace.

“All we have to do now is
wait to hear something.”

I was scared and sick to my
stomach at the same time. Claire and I had been sitting by the fire for almost
thirty minutes according to her watch, and we still hadn’t heard a word from
Daniel.

 She looked at her wrist
again. “It’s been...”

“I know Claire, don’t
remind me.” I cut her off.

“I guess my idea was a good
one.”

“What idea?”

“Remember, I’m the one who
begged you to call for help in the first place. I told you not to go outside.”

I laughed out loud.

“Claire, you’re the
most...”

All of a sudden, the lights
in the house came on and startled both of us. The familiar hum of the computer
and printer resetting itself echoed throughout the house. The rooms had been
silent up until now. Everything came alive, including the dogs and the kids.

I jumped up, and Claire ran
over to the kids.

Someone pounded on the
utility room door.

“Jesse,” I heard Billy
yell. “Let me in. It’s freezing out here.”

I just about killed myself
getting to the door. I slipped on a throw rug in the living room, and then hit
my shoulder against the doorjamb as I made my way to the utility room. I jumped
on Billy, almost knocking him down, when he walked through the door.

“I’m so glad that you’re
all right!” I screamed.

“I’m fine. What’s the
matter with you?”

“I heard a gunshot and you
didn’t answer when I called you. I thought you were dead. I was sick with
fear.”

“I didn’t hear you,” he
explained. He walked to the living room and stood by the fireplace. “That
wasn’t a gunshot you heard. It was the backfire from the generator. It just
about busted my eardrums.”

He took off his coat and
rubbed his hands together against the warmth of the fire. He bent down and
started to pull off his boots.

“What’s wrong with you
two?” He glanced back and forth at us. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Talk about feeling like an
idiot!

“I think you need to call
Daniel,” I mumbled. “He’s out looking for you. I didn’t know what to do, so...”

“Ah, that was him I heard.
I didn’t think anything of it. He likes to ride that thing in the snow. He’s
crazy. Storm... be gone!” He finally caught my drift. “He’s out there looking
for me?”

“I called him after I heard
the shot. I was worried.”

“I’m hurt, `ge ya. Don’t
you have any confidence in me?”

“Of course, I do. It’s the
other people I don’t trust.”

“I’d better call Daniel,”
he said, walking over to where the bag phone was sitting on the computer table.
“Once he calms down, he’ll get a good laugh out of this one.”

“Won’t they all?” I stated,
embarrassed.

“Jesse, they all know
you’re a city girl,” he snickered. “They won’t think anything of it. They
realize it will take me a while to make a real mountain woman out of you.”

Ten minutes later, the kids
were tucked safely in my bed while Claire and I rustled up chips and beer for
Billy and his brothers. Before going home, they had stopped by to make sure we
were all right.

“You’d think nothing
happened,” Claire whispered in my ear. “Look at them. They get over a traumatic
situation like it was nothing. I’m still a nervous wreck. I was really scared.”

“Me, too,” I agreed. “I’m
still sick to my stomach about the whole incident. I had all kinds of things
going through my head.”

“What are you ladies
discussing?” Billy asked us.

I gave him one of my coy
looks and said, “Nothing, dear.”

Daniel got up from the
kitchen table and raised his beer.

“I’d like to propose a
toast to Billy and Jesse.”

His brothers stood to join
him.

“Best wishes and
congratulations. May your marriage last as long as the marriage of our father
and mother—Chief Standing Deer and Sarah. Lord knows, none of the rest of ours
has.”

The room fell silent as the
truth was told. Not one of the Blackhawk brothers had survived an everlasting
marriage.

“But Beth is still going
strong. She’s still married to the same guy,” Robert said. “Sometimes I wonder
about little Sarah. I think she might be headed for trouble with that one of
hers.”

“He’s a wild one for sure,”
Jonathan said.

“He’s got bad blood,” Daniel
jeered.

“All right, guys,” I butted
in. “It’s time to go home. You’ve had enough to drink. Better yet, why don’t
you all go upstairs and go to sleep. You don’t need to be driving.”

“Hey, we’re Blackhawk
boys!” Jonathan boasted. “We can handle anything. Besides, we’ve only had a
couple of beers.”

“I want each one of you to
call me the minute you get home or I’m coming to your house,” I demanded. “I’ve
had enough to worry about.”

They left with the promise
to call, and within twenty minutes, they all had kept their promise. Each one
was safely at home. I could go to bed.

Claire was snuggled in my
bed with her kids while Billy slept on the couch. I was wide-awake. I was
uptight and couldn’t unwind. I get like that sometimes. I’ll have to make a
mental note to tell Billy about my occasional bouts of insomnia.

I walked over and messed
with his hair until he woke up.

“Claire and the kids are
asleep in our bed. Do you want to go upstairs with me? You don’t want to sleep
here.”

He didn’t say a word. He
reached out, took my hand, and together we climbed the staircase in search of a
warm bed to share. 

I scooted up next to Billy.
His body was warm and masculine. I could feel his heartbeat next to mine as he
tenderly made love to me. Fireworks exploded as we reached ultimate
fulfillment. I slept peacefully in Billy’s arms.

It was still dark outside
when I heard the phone ring downstairs. Who was calling at this time of night?
I slid out from under the covers and the warmth of the arms that had held me,
to go answer the phone.

“Hello,” I hissed, rubbing
my eyes. “You better have a good reason for getting me out of bed in the middle
of the night!”

“Jesse, it’s me, your mom. 
It’s
six o’clock
. The sun’s out and we made it through the storm.”

I walked over to the
kitchen window and pulled back the towel. The beam of light glared down in my
face, warming my skin. Behind the glow of the sun, I saw dark, ominous clouds.
Was this an indication of the day to come? Were we still in for more bad
weather?

“It’s not over yet, Mom.”

“That’s nonsense!” she
scolded. “It’s over, and I want to come home. Dr. Bryant has released me.”

“It’s too early in the
morning. Doctors haven’t made their rounds yet. Mom, are you telling me a fib?
I can’t believe you got me out of bed.”

“You know me better than
that,” she said, without answering my question. “Either come get me or I’m
calling a cab.” She hung up the phone.

Good luck! I laughed to
myself. If Mom could find a cab in the city of
Charlottesville
, in the middle
of all this bad weather, she would be mighty lucky. She’d have to be a miracle
worker. Then I thought about the will of my mother. She could make anything
happen, no matter what. The word
no
was no longer in her vocabulary, not
since Dad had died. She was now a changed woman. Nothing could stop her.

I found the number for UVA
and had Dr. Bryant paged. Four minutes later, he returned my call.

“Mom said you released her.
Is that true?”

I tried not to sound too
hard-core, but I thought Mom had told a real lie. She could be stubborn at times.

“I did release her,” he
said. “I had to. She was determined to leave anyway and being officially
released meant she would have to wait for someone to pick her up. It was either
that or she was going to walk out.”

“I’ll come get her. Just
make sure she doesn’t leave until I get there.”

“Miss Watson, it’s
imperative that your mother take her medication every day once she leaves the
hospital, until I tell her to stop.”

“Thank you, Dr. Bryant.
I’ll talk to my sister. She’s the one who will oversee Mom’s care, since she
lives with her. I’ll be there shortly.”

 I hung up the phone and
realized I had been talking on the wall phone in the kitchen. “Ah, it’s working
again,” I said out loud.