Horrible Harvest

A fella is hauled from the church by Peck. He is of good stock, strong, full of piss and vinegar, which put him at dead-stupid, too. “Who are you? What hell do you dare bring on the Lord’s house?”

Mr. Stockton moved his mount forward. “I bring not hell, sir. I bring righteous scorn to those who attack our ways. Are you the Reverend Jacob T. Woolsey?”

The fella give pause. “I am.”

The woman turnt frantic. “He is not. He lies to protect Pastor Woolsey. He is my husband. Daniel.”

Mr. Stockton leant forward. “Is this woman telling the truth? Did you lie to me?”

“She is only trying to protect me, sir. I am telling you the truth. I am the Reverend.”

“Then you lied, did you, ma’am?”

A huff come from the woman. “You have no business treating us this way.”

“Did you lie, ma’am?”

“I did not. He is my husband Daniel Waters. These are our children. We are here in worship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You have defiled our sacred service.”

“Then you are Elizabeth Waters?”

She was thrown a little on the loopy-side hearing her name come out Mr. Stockton’s mouth. “I. I. How do you know my name?”

“Because I am told that the Reverend, a widower, traveled here with his daughter, Elizabeth Waters, and her family some weeks ago to take over the operation of this church left vacant by its last holy occupants. And this man who claims to be Pastor Woolsey is truly your husband?”

She worked like the devil to calm herself. “He is, yes.”

“Then I was told a lie?”

She turnt as stupid as her husband and borrowed some of his piss and vinegar. “You’ll forgive Daniel if he tempers the truth in the presence of a man unwilling to show his face.”

In a motion so quick and smooth, a body couldn’t help but marvel at its grace and beauty, Mr. Stockton unholstered his revolver and shot Daniel Waters ‘tween the eyes.

The blast of the gun near shook the Earth entire. It startled all, but Charles. He didn’t so much as twitch a stitch. He just looked on with a stone-hard stare. 

Douglas give out a heart-jumping yelp. “Goddamn.”

I turnt to Kenneth and seen him teeter, about to fall out his saddle, so I took hold of his shoulder and give him a gentle shake. He turnt to me, not a speck of color in his face.

I worked up a small smile and give him a nod.

The fresh-kilt fella’s family was too stunned to cry out. They stood in cold silence. Each with a catch of breath in their lungs that they couldn’t find a way to push out.

“I wear the hood, madam, so the witness we leave cannot describe me. I should think that would be apparent to an educated Northerner such as yourself.”

The gunshot inched Caleb and Peck towards sobriety. Their half-cocked jubilation turnt to concern. I reckon they both come to the realization they weren’t wearing no masks.

The young-un’s fell to the ground, screeching, sobbing, tearing at the grass. Mrs. Waters and the teenage girl wrapped’em up in a hug. The girl begun to recite the Lord’s prayer.

Percy exited the church with his right hand holding tight to the upper arm of a black woman. In his left hand was a book. “Ain’t no one else inside, boss. Found this one hiding under a pew holding on tight to this book.” He handed the book to Mr. Stockton.

The advance man read the title. “What’s a colored doing with a book? And with this book at that, woman?”

The black woman cast her eyes to the ground.

“Woman, look at me.”

She slowly lifted her chin and shifted her gaze to Mr. Stockton. She weren’t scared nor angry. She was calm as can be. She know’d what was in store for her, and she didn’t give a hot goddamn.

“Can you read?”

“Mr. mask man, sir, these eyes have read books so thick they’d reach the moon and back if you stacked them atop one another.”

He give a fake laugh. “Would this book be one of those books in your stack?”

She give a nod. “Read it so many times I got it memorized.”

He give a nod back. “Well, seeing how this type of book is illegal in this state, I hereby sentence you to die at the end of a rope.”

“I command you stop this madness!” The voice of a fella come out the darkness.

A man with silver hair and a beard to his chest crawled out from underneath the steps to the front door. While he didn’t wear no preacher’s clothes, it was plain to all it was Reverend Jacob T. Woolsey.

“In the name of God on high, this must stop!”

“Well, you must be the good reverend.”

“I am, and I hand myself and my fate over to you willingly. In exchange, I ask that you let the others go. I have made my peace with the Father, and He has directed me to give my life in sacrifice, so He may have my soul serving His kingdom on this night.”

“My, my, my, you do have the gift of Biblical oration, preacher man. You do that.”

“It is not a gift. It is a devotion to my Lord. To your Lord, sir, and He has passed judgment on you this day. ‘Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.’”

“Never met a preacher yet that doesn’t reach for scripture in the first five minutes of a conversation.” Mr. Stockton laughed before shooting the black woman in the chest.

“Agatha!” The reverend run to the woman’s side as she collapsed.

Kenneth hunched over and bit his lower lip so hard, blood run down his chin.

Percy, caught off guard from the gunshot while he still had holt of the woman, yelped like a rabid hyena. “What the hell, boss!” He give out a wheezy breath and worked to calm himself. “I was standing right there! I had hold of her arm.”

“Relax. You came out of it all right.”

“You said she was to hang at the end of a rope.”

“Changed my mind. Preacher man, you like scripture so much, let me share one with you. ‘Slaves, in reverent fear of God, submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.’” He give a smile. “You wanna guess which kind I am?”

A tearful Reverend Woolsey give a growl. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

“And this is where we go back and forth with our Bible verses to prove one side is more virtuous than the other. I’m just going to save us the tit for tat. I’ve already told your daughter what will transpire this night. One of you will be a witness to the retribution the South applies towards those who would treat our values with such blatant disregard. The others will suffer untold horrors for such unabashed effrontery.” He held out the book. “You bring this abolitionist trash down here and you hold weekly meetings in your house of worship with the purpose of spreading the filth contained on these pages to my fellow Southerners. For that, you must pay.”

The reverend wept. “I have done nothing but share the Truth of our Lord. That freedom be his gift to all. To all, sir.”

“Behold, the day of the Lord has come, reverend. For I bring y’all freedom from this earthly realm. Most of you, anyway.”