Horrible Harvest

When the afternoon rolled around, Gladys and Felix left by wagon for Jackson. I set nervous at Douglas’s bedside. Virginia had grown restless, so I sent her outside to explore the property, reminding her that the knife I give her was for when she felt threatened by anything or anyone. I’d spent hours upon hours teaching her how to defend herself, and she was a damn good student. I didn’t worry about her safety as much as the temperament she may’ve caught from me in the training.

Douglas stirred an hour into my post. With one eye open and the other squinted shut, he asked. “Where’s Gladys?”

“She’s gone into town.”

“Town? New Orleans?”

“Jackson – Mississippi.”

He fluttered the other eye open. “Jackson, Mississippi? How the – Why are we in Jackson, Mississippi?”

“Because New Orleans ain’t exactly the most hospitable place.”

With great effort, he set up and leaned against the cast iron headboard. “Right – I recollect as much – How’d we get out of there – With our heads intact?”

“Let’s just say we worked it out.”

“I s’pose I should thank you.”

“No need to go there.”

“Gladys – Is she hurt?”

“I don’t know her well, but I’m guessing it would take more than a field full of crackers dressed like diseased rodents to do her harm.”

He chuckled and then groaned from the pain. “I reckon you’re right about that.” He leaned back. “It’s good to see you, Augustus – I never thought I’d ever say or think such a thing, but it is. I pray for you – ”

“Yeah, I’ve had that conversation already – With your wife. That’s another there we don’t need to go.”

“Then where shall we go, brother?”

I give pause before saying, “Do you really think Mr. Miller – Charles – Do you really think they’s in the Dakotas?”

He stared at me for a long while before answering. “I don’t think about them at all, and neither should you.”

I give a smile. “You’re lying. You think about them. Maybe as much as me.”

He rubbed his sore ribs. “I spend some thoughts on them – Yes, but I know what you got in mind for them. It ain’t in your best interest to know where they are. I struggle every day not to take out after them.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Are you saying you know where they are?”

He stared at me. “Mr. Miller – He’s got 200 men – Some say – Maybe more – Maybe less. He’s got his own army. You gonna take them all on?”

“I spent four years of the Civil War taking on a bigger army.”

“But you was part of an army – An army that lost, by the by. And you’ll be all by your lonesome on this one.”

“Good. Fewer moving parts. One mind. One gun. Makes things simple.”

“There’s nothing simpler than a fool winding up dead because he’s outgunned and out manned.”

“Are they in the Dakotas?”

“The Dakotas – That’s a lot of territory.”

“Mr. Miller has a way of standing out. If that’s where he is, folks around there will point me in the right direction.”

“How long I been here?”

“Can’t say. We was on the trail a week – Are they in the Dakotas?”

“I’ll tell you in three days’ time – I’ll give you an exact location. I’ll show you the stoop where you can plant your feet and knock on Mr. Miller’s door.”

“Tell me now.”

“In three days.”

“Why three days? What difference will it make?”

“I figure I’ll be fit enough to travel with you in three days.”

I give him along silent stare.

“You think you’re the only one owed a pound of flesh? They locked me in a stable for weeks on end. They tinkered on my soul until it curdled. They – Mr. Miller –

“I was near dead in the middle of nowhere in Tennessee, and this little colored girl – Gladys – She found me. Saved me – In more ways than one – I come to learn sometime later that she was once in Mr. Miller’s possession. Her kin, too. Daddy, brother – Right before the war – She must’ve been no more than 12 or so – I mean there’s no telling how many slaves he traded – thousands upon thousands – ” He looked to me, tears building. “The things done to her – To a child – He was making me into the same kind of man – Same kind of monster. He almost had me, Augustus. I would’ve been the same as him. He’s making more just like him – Right now – As we speak. God’ll forgive me if I cut the Devil’s heart out.”

I leaned back. “Three days. If you ain’t well enough to travel, you’ll give me the location of that stoop, and I go alone.”

“Fair enough.” He winced in pain as he squirmed to find comfort. “Now, I need that brain of yours.”

“For what?”

“To help me figure out a way of avoiding Gladys’s wrath once I tell her I’m going to the Dakotas with you. She gets mad, she gets scary.”

“I ain’t that smart,” I said.