Sweetness in the Dark (25 page)

“I guess we need to confess. It’s getting harder to hide each day. Julie and I have spent a little too much time in the old hot water tub out on the back pasture,” John said. Julie giggled at the reference to the tub in the open field.

“And what do you need to confess?” Amanda asked. Paul shot her a look for pressing but she just threw it back at him. This was woman news and she wouldn’t rest until it was out.

“Julie is pregnant. We’ve checked with old Doc Crosby and he confirmed it,” John said. Julie was beet red now. But the smile on her face said it all.

“I don’t know how it happened. Well, I do know how it happens, but with all that is going on, I’m not sure it’s the best time,” Julie said. A certain confusion showed through her happiness. Having a baby with all the trouble going on wasn’t the best timing.

“Well, I think it’s wonderful. You guys are married and all. It’s the natural thing to do next,” Amanda said. “Life is getting back to normal and we’ll need lots of new babies to populate the country.”

“Thanks, Amanda, I think it’s wonderful too,” John said.

“Sounds like we need to spend more time back in Bruneau at the old family hot tub,” Amanda said. She looked straight at Paul as she said it.

Paul knew he needed to change the subject. Things were getting too serious for such a beautiful day on the river. “Well, John and I know just the spot up ahead. Might be even better than the old family hot tub.”

Julie let go and the two brothers starting pulling on the oars downstream. They negotiated some small Class III rapids and came up upon a ledge drop. It was the hardest drop on this run and they had done it many times.

But the river was high and cold from the spring runoff. With only wetsuit vests on for safety, the brothers decided to take the easier way over the ledge. Even so, the reversal at the bottom threw water up over the bow and soaked everybody. Both women screamed as the cold water ran down the front of their wetsuits.

Now was the time for the reward
, Paul thought. He pulled on the oars towards the south bank. Rounding the turn he pulled hard for the beach that lay below the riffle. Steam rose from the hillside above the beach.

He and John hit the beach together and the women jumped out with lines to secure the rafts. Paul pulled his raft up onto the beach and motioned to Amanda to just throw the line up onto the sand. There were no rocks or trees handy to tie up to, so the boat would just sit on the beach.

Paul soon started stripping down out of his life jacket and wetsuit. He took off his paddle pants as John did the same. The two women were slowly removing their whitewater gear. Paul ran for the hot springs at the base of the hill.

Jumping into the small pool of hot water, his body soaked up the heat. John was right behind him. The two women seemed to be conversing as they walked back by the rafts. Then Amanda grabbed a bail bucket for removing excess water from the raft and walked over to the hot pool.

“Julie and I decided that a dip in a hot spring wouldn’t be good for her. Too much chance of a PID.” Amanda said. A pelvic inflammatory disease was a real risk from bacteria lingering in the hot water.

As Julie walked up to the hot pool, Amanda suddenly dumped a bucket full of hot water over her head. She screamed in surprise. Amanda dumped another load of hot water over Julie.

“That feels wonderful. I’ll go get a towel and lie here beside you guys. The sun feels wonderful,” Julie said.

Amanda climbed into the hot water and settled into a place between the brothers. She could play the male game with the best of them.

After a long soak, Amanda announced that she was famished. They walked back to the boats and pulled out the food she had prepared. They all sat down on the warm sand to enjoy their lunch.

They finished and put what was left back into the 48 quart ice cooler and strapped it back into the raft frame.

“I’ve been running rivers since I was six years old you know,” Amanda proceeded to announce, to no one in particular. She pulled on her wetsuit and lifejacket and pushed one of the rafts off the beach into the river.

“Are you trying to tell us something?” Paul asked.

“Yes, I think the girls need some alone time.” With that she indicated to Julie to climb in while she got behind the oars. Pulling hard on the two oars, Amanda got the raft out into the main current. The raft turned quickly downstream and disappeared around the next bend.

“Let’s go, Brother,” Paul said as he shoved the remaining raft into the river and jumped into the rower’s seat. John leaned onto the bow of the raft and shoved it further, before he jumped onto the cooler that acted as a seat. Rounding the bend, the men fell into a respectable distance behind the women, so each could have the private conversation they sought.

“Julie seems really excited about the baby. How are you feeling?” Paul started.

“Contentment. The last few months have been very stressful for me, not knowing what happened to Mary. And Isaac going off to fight,” John said.

The two brothers floated along lost in their thoughts. They checked the women occasionally and they appeared to have been talking the whole time.
Girl issues
, Paul thought. He wished he could dwell on the simple things in life sometimes like his brother had decided to do. And from the looks of things, the woman in his life enjoyed escaping for a short while, also.

Finally, the takeout and Paul’s Caprice loomed up on the left. Amanda pulled on her oars. Paul swung the stern of the boat toward the river bank and pulled hard to make the beach. He slid his raft in next to Amanda’s, bumping her boat a little.

“Hey, can’t you drive that thing any better than that?” she exclaimed.

“Looks like you two were busy the whole time. You didn’t happen to notice the Golden Eagle flying over, did you?” Paul queried.

“We were busy. We have to get Julie ready for her big day. Plans at the ranch need to be adjusted. These three will need more space to develop as a real family,” Amanda answered.

Poor John. Now he and my parents will have to deal with all the confusion
, Paul thought. Well, John had said that he was happy to be settled at the ranch.

Paul untied his waterproof ammo can and retrieved his car keys. John did the same and handed the old truck keys to his brother. Paul and Amanda would drive up to the put-in and retrieve their second vehicle. John and Julie could lie in the sun while the rafts and gear all dried. They would have it all packed up when the shuttle returned.

The ten mile river trip required a twenty mile drive up and back. The dusty gravel road was slow as it negotiated around the hills above the river. Paul took the sharp turns slowly and it was a good forty minutes to the truck. Another forty minute drive back was needed as Paul drove the old truck. His dust cloud kept Amanda covered as she followed him.

Swinging down the last curve, they crested the rimrock about two hundred feet above the bridge over the Boise River. The takeout beach lay just to the east of the bridge. Paul looked down and knew instantly that something was wrong.

John stood over what looked like two people lying in the sand. Julie was tight by John’s side trying to disappear into his armpit. Paul accelerated as best he could down the grade. Sliding to a stop in the gravel, he jumped out with his H&K 9 mm semi-automatic handgun in his hand.

Running over to John, he stopped short. There was no rush. What had happened was definitely over.

“Whoa Brother. What is going on?” Paul asked.

“Not much now, but it was pretty exciting about thirty minutes ago,” John answered. Julie looked up from her hold on John. She was crying.

Amanda pulled up behind the truck and jumped out. She ran to Julie and grabbed her. The two walked behind the Caprice so they didn’t have to look at the grisly scene.

John explained that about ten minutes after the two had left, he heard movement behind the bridge abutment in some bushes by the river. The hair on the back of his neck stood up at the noise, and instinctively he cracked open the ammo can for easy access.

His fears were confirmed when two very large filthy men came out from under the bridge. They were over six feet tall, and even with the hard times, they both still had fairly big guts. They approached John and Julie, sort of friendly like, asking if they might have some extra food.

“But from the leer they were giving Julie, it wasn’t food they were thinking of. And from the looks of their clothes, they had been out foraging for a long time,” John added. “I watched their hands but neither of them had a weapon. But I was suspicious of the loose shirts hanging out. It didn’t look like just fat stomachs.”

“What did you do?” Paul asked. They were both staring down at two large bodies lying on their backs. Each one had a huge hole just about dead center in their chests. Blood oozed out and was already drying on the shirts from the heat of the sun.

“I kept my hand very close to the ammo can. Then they asked if I had any spare money so they could go into town and buy some food, still acting nice and friendly like. But they continued to stare at Julie,” John answered. “Of course Julie was still in her swim suit, I’m sure that drove them crazy.”

John explained how he told them to stop right there and he would check for some spare money. But they kept on coming forward, never wavering in their stare at Julie.

“I said I needed to check my wallet and pointed at the ammo can. Instead I pulled out the .357 Magnum. Their stare quickly changed direction and intensity. I told them to stop. The one on the right then pulled up his shirt to reach for this,” John said as he lifted the man’s shirt. Still in his waistband was a black revolver.

“Looks like he didn’t get far,” Paul offered.

“I shot them both where they stood.”

“And good shooting, too. Couldn’t have hit center mass much better myself. Good job,” Paul said.

“What? That’s all you’re going to say? There are two dead men in front of you and you’re discussing shooting abilities. What kind of country am I stuck in?” Julie yelled as she stormed around the Caprice to confront the two brothers. Amanda was right behind her but didn’t show similar disdain. Paul noticed that.
Good. A keeper
, he thought.

“The kind of country where people know how to survive, that’s where,” John answered, a strain of anger in his voice. “You have no idea what was about to happen. Without this weapon, I would be dead right now, you’d be tied up for future things you don’t want to know about. And they would be waiting for my brother and Amanda to return so they could dispose of them the same way.”

Julie shrank at the outburst. The past months had been terrible, but she hadn’t been personally involved in any of the bad things. She had been safely down on the ranch away from the chaos. Now, chaos was in her face, and she didn’t know what to do.

“We need to make things real clear here. You were raised with the liberal East Coast way of life. Well, that life is gone. Those people are all dead. Killed by their own vanity that the world wasn’t a dangerous place. That they could ‘just get along’ with everybody.” Paul stood off to the side. John was cranked up now. “Well, this is the West, and we were raised to take care of ourselves and those around us. And that there are dangerous people all around and only a thin veneer of civility keeps them from turning into monsters.”

Amanda stepped in and took the now hysterical Julie in her arms. She gave John ‘the look’ to inform him that was enough.

“Come on, Brother, let’s load up.” Paul broke John’s stare. A stare that wasn’t really at anyone in particular. John refocused and bent to the task of folding up the rafts.

When all the raft gear was packed in the pickup truck, the two brothers stopped and stared at the two bodies. “What are we going to do with them?” John asked.

“We’ll load them up and take them to the sheriff in Mountain Home. He can depose of the trash.”

At over two hundred pounds apiece, the brothers, with a great deal of effort, loaded the two bodies. By the time they were done, both were sweating profusely. The legs of the dead men were hanging over the open truck tailgate.

“I’ll take the lead with the two women in the Caprice so they don’t have to look at our load,” Paul said.

Pulling into the County Courthouse, John backed the truck up to the door to the sheriff’s office. Paul came over and the two of them muscled the dead men out of the pickup. As they did, a crowd gathered.

The door swung open and out walked ‘Big Bob’ Caldwell, Elmore County sheriff. He had been sheriff for what seemed forever, and knew the two brothers well.

“What do we have here?” ‘Big Bob’ bent down and rolled the bodies face up. The crowd gasped at the two large holes in their chests, but also at who they saw. “Well, I’ll be. Herman and Harvey have finally met their fate.”

Paul and John looked quizzically at the sheriff. “Herman and Harvey? You know these two?” Paul asked.

“Know them? I’ve been trying to track them down ever since they showed up after P-Day. They got out of Boise, where they were already infamous, and thought the hunting would be better down here.”

“What have they been hunting?” John asked.

“Women, food and alcohol. Maybe not in that particular order, mind you. So who did in the Pointkowski twins?” ‘Big Bob’ asked.

“They’re brothers?” John asked.

“Identical twins. You can’t tell? Look at them.”

John and Paul finally studied the faces and realized they were identical. “Well, I wasn’t watching their faces much. I was holding on their chests I’m afraid,” John answered.

“And good work, too. Almost dead center. If you want to change careers John, let me know. I have deputies that would have emptied an entire clip and still would have missed.”

“Is everyone totally callous? Two men are dead. They were human beings, too, and loved by a mother somewhere. What kind of people are you?” Julie demanded.

“Who’s this?” ‘Big Bob’ asked. “Whoever you are, lady, I can take you to the graves of twelve people that can refute that there was any humanity left in these two. And if you want, I can show you the black and white pictures upstairs of the condition we found the women in. The men were lucky, they died quick. Oh, did I mention the three children that ran into these two. Their pictures will definitely reinforce that belief you seem to have in the goodness of all people.”