Chapter 6 - Trouble Continues

While the family finds themselves confined to their home, the fight continues for Caleb.

          As soon as the sun came up Caleb and Mr. Meyers were at work repairing the storm damage to the house and barn.  As they finished repairing the barn door, Elizabeth appeared announcing lunch was ready in the house.  Caleb turned and looked at her as she approached.  Her eyes gleamed with excitement, revealing there was a surprise in store for them.  Mr. Meyers was too busy to notice.  “Go clean up, Caleb.  I’ll be there in a moment,” he instructed fiddling with the door latch.

          Caleb went across the yard to the house with Elizabeth happily skipping ahead of him, her golden curls bouncing up and down.

          When Caleb stepped inside the house he discovered what Elizabeth’s surprise.  A picnic had been prepared and Mrs. Meyers and the children were seated in the sitting room dressed for the occasion.  Mr. Meyers entered the house a few minutes later.  He stopped in the sitting room doorway and looked at his family ready for an outing.  “What is this?” He asked showing no expression.

          Mrs. Meyers sprang up and cheerfully explained, “It is such a beautiful day, I thought we could all go to the river and have a picnic.”

          Mr. Meyer’s expression turned very serious and he replied, “I don’t think so.”

          “Well, why not?”  Mrs. Meyers demanded playfully.  “It is a beautiful day and…”

          “I just don’t think so,” he interrupted.  “And I don’t think you should leave the property for a while, at all.”

          “Why not?” Mrs. Meyers demanded.  “You could not expect us to stay cooped up here forever.  What will we do here all day long?  What if we need something in town?”

          “There is plenty to do here.  If you need something in town I will send for it.  It is simply not safe to leave the property at this time.”

          The excitement that had filled the children’s eyes a few minutes before was now gone and a tear ran down Elizabeth’s cheek.

          “Why would it not be safe?”  Mrs. Meyers objected.

          “Do not argue with me Anna,” Mr. Meyers bellowed.  “It is for the safety of you and the children.  We will discuss this later.”  He then turned and stormed angrily out the house.

          Mrs. Meyers sank slowly back into her seat.  Everyone was silent for a moment.  Then Elizabeth looked helplessly at her mother.  “Mother,” she pled.

         Mrs. Meyers, seeing the disappointment in her daughter’s eyes sprang to her feet smiling.  “Well your father can not keep us closed up in here.  I will not allow it.”  She looked at all of her children smiling happily.  “We will have our picnic with or without him.”  At this announcement Elizabeth’s eyes began to sparkle again.  “Would you join us Caleb?”  Mrs. Meyers inquired.

          “But Mr. Meyers said we couldn’t.”

          “Mr. Meyers said we couldn’t leave the property.”  She grinned and her eyes twinkled mischievously.  Mrs. Meyers and the children gathered up the baskets and a blanket and Caleb followed them through the house and out the back door.  As they crossed the yard, Caleb knew he was trapped.  He would be in trouble no matter which side he chose to take.  The family settled down under a great oak tree near the edge of the yard and had their picnic.

          To Caleb’s surprise Mr. Meyers did not scold him for taking Mrs. Meyers’ side and joining the picnic.  He was instructed, however, to not allow Mrs. Meyers or any of the children to leave the property and if they did to report it to him immediately.

 

          Several weeks passed and not much had happened on or around the Meyers land.  Everything remained quiet.  Mr. Meyers, however, still refused to lift the restraints on the family, insisting it was for their safety. 

          One morning Mrs. Meyers went to her husband insisting that she and the children needed to go to town for a quick shopping trip.  Mr. Meyers, however, would not let up and he called Caleb to go to town for the needed items.  Mrs. Meyers made a detailed list of the items she needed.  Knowing Caleb could not read, she instructed him to take it to Mr. Johnston, the merchant she regularly did business with, and he would take care of everything.  After receiving Mrs. Meyers’ instructions Caleb, with the list in his pocket, and a gun in his belt, hitched the team to the wagon.  As he was about to climb onto the wagon, Elizabeth came out of the house and ran across the yard to him.  She grabbed his hand and placed a nickle in it.  She stood on her toes and whispered in his ear.  “Would you please bring me and Samuel back some licorice?”  She smiled, her eyes twinkled and sparkled as though a tiny flame was lit and dancing behind them.  He watched her as she ran back into the house.  Then he climbed into the wagon seat and headed down the road toward town.

          Caleb went straight to the General Mercantile, when he got into town.  He gave Mr. Johnston the list, who went to work filling the order.  Sticking his hand in his pocket, Caleb found the nickle Elizabeth had slipped him and asked the merchant to give him as many licorice sticks as the coin would buy.  He filled a brown paper bag which Caleb slipped inside his overcoat.  “I’ll fill the order and place it in the wagon for you if you’d like.  You don’t need to wait around here for me to finish,” Mr. Johnston explained politely. 

          Upon reassurance that the merchandise would be safe until he returned, Caleb stepped out of the store and strolled down the street.  Before he had gotten more than a block from the store, two men stepped out of a saloon in front of him. 

The men recognized him instantly.  “You’re the boy who killed my brother,” one of the men exclaimed.  He was of medium build with light brown hair that hung to his shoulders and piercing blue eyes.  He smelled of Whiskey and staggered a little as he walked closer to Caleb. 

          Caleb took a step back.  The man drew his gun and before Caleb knew what had happened he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder like he had been jabbed with a hot poker. 

He staggered back drawing his own gun from his belt.  Still in shock over the shot to his shoulder, he fired his weapon several times, unaware of whether he had actually hit anyone. 

He turned and ran back to the wagon.  As he climbed onto the seat he heard another shot and a moment later felt a stinging pain in his leg below the knee.  Leaving what he had come to town for, he quickly drove the wagon out of town and up the road toward the house.  

          When he arrived back at the house, Elizabeth sat on the porch with Dianna.  Caleb climbed carefully down from the seat and stumbled to the porch.  Elizabeth looked at him and, seeing his shirt and pant leg soaked in blood, grabbed Dianna and ran into the house.  “Mother!  Mother!  Caleb’s hurt!”  She screamed. 

          Mrs. Meyers ran out the front door onto the porch.  “Elizabeth, go get your father,” she called and Elizabeth raced across the yard to the barn to retrieve Mr. Meyers. 

         

After dinner, Caleb and Mr. Meyers sat alone on the porch.  “Who gave you trouble in town?”  Mr. Meyers asked.  “Was it Butler and his boys again?”

Caleb assumed Butler was the tall well-dressed man he and Mr. Meyers had run into in town a few weeks before.  He tried to recall if he had seen either of the two men, but neither, he thought, looked familiar.  “No,” he answered somewhat unsure of himself.  “The one who shot me claimed I was responsible for his brother’s death.”  As he said this he remembered the man who he had shot in the face when he and Mr. Meyers had gone to town several weeks before. 

Mr. Meyers sat listening and thinking silently to himself a moment.  “I believe it would be a good idea if we all stayed away from town for a while.  Until everything blows over,” he said as he thought to himself.  “I will go into town in the morning to pick up the things Mrs. Meyers sent for.  I would appreciate it if you would stay here and keep an eye on everything while I’m gone.  I should be back by noon.  If I am not home by dinner,” he paused a moment as he thought of what to tell Caleb, then continued, “if I am not home by dinner, I have a brother in New York,” he paused and stared across the yard into the darkness.  “Take Mrs. Meyers and the children there.”

“How do we get there, if we need to?”

“Mrs. Meyers knows the way,” he answered quietly.  He then stood slowly.  “It should not come to that, but if it does…” Mr. Meyers trailed off.  He turned and went back into the house.  Caleb could hear him slowly climbing the stairs then drudging down the long hall on the second floor.  A door closed and then the house was silent. 

Caleb sat in the darkness and silence thinking about Mr. Meyers’ request.  If he did not return, how would Caleb take the whole family all the way to New York?  He knew Mr. Meyers must have been highly confident in him to entrust him with such a task.  He felt honored that Mr. Meyers thought he could handle this, but afraid, if Mr. Meyers did not come home, he would be unable.  He also wondered to himself what kind of trouble Mr. Meyers must be in to have to worry so much about the fate of his family.  Who would be a threat to Mrs. Meyers and the children and why would they want to hurt them? 

Caleb was suddenly shaken from his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder.  He jumped and turned around to see Elizabeth standing behind his chair.  She smiled, “Did I startle you?” 

“Just a little,” he replied smiling back.  He settled back into the chair.

“Did you get it?” she asked softly.

He sat bewildered by her question for a moment and then he remembered her request from that morning.  He had stuck the bag in his coat, but when he got out of town he had taken it out and laid it beside him on the wagon seat so as not to get it bloody.  Remembering this he sprang from his seat and stepped off the porch.  “Where are you going?” Elizabeth asked.

“Stay here.  I will be right back.” 

He limped, on his wounded leg, across the yard and disappeared into the nearly pitch black barn.  He stood inside the door a moment and when his eyes had adjusted to the darkness he was able to find his way to the wagon.  He climbed onto the wagon carefully and searched the seat for the brown bag containing the licorice.  It was no where to be found.  He searched the wagon as best he could in the darkness, but came up empty-handed.  I must have lost it on the ride from town, he thought.  He returned to the house, where Elizabeth waited patently on the porch.

“It wasn’t there,” he informed her.  “I thought I left it on the wagon, but it wasn’t there.  I must have dropped it somewhere.”

A look of disappointment spread across her face, but she smiled at him sweetly.  “That is alright.”  They went back into the house and upstairs to their bedrooms. 

Even though Elizabeth had not been upset about his failure to bring her licorice he knew she was still a little disappointed and he felt bad.  He decided he would make it up to her.  Maybe in a few days or a week he would get an opportunity to sneak away and get back to town to buy her more.  This time he would be more careful not to find himself in more trouble.