As long as Master had something to keep his mind occupied, he seemed lively, full of energy. But only moments later, he would think about his wife, and all the color fled from his body. He stared at the floor, and then without a word, went into his bedroom.
I may not have been very experienced in the mysteries of adult love, but I understood what he was going through. His wife had meant the world to him. I could only imagine how I’d be if I ever lost Katie.
We both stared down the hallway at the closed bedroom door. Katie leaned down and rubbed her nose against my shoulder. “I’m worried about him.”
***
It was early in the afternoon, earlier than I usually finished up. But we’d had a very productive day, and it was hot out, so I sent the hired hands home early as a little reward for everybody.
I already pictured Katie’s smiling face as she poured me a glass of lemonade. If Master was already taking a nap, then maybe she’d be up for a roll in the hay. So with an extra bounce in my step, I hopped onto the porch and strode into the kitchen.
It was empty; Katie must’ve been somewhere else in the house. So I moved over to the refrigerator. I had just gotten the door open, the pitcher of lemonade within reach when I heard the scream.
Instantly, I whipped my head around, finding myself alone in the kitchen. Then the scream came again.
Without a moment’s hesitation I ran down the hallway, to Master’s room where the scream had come from. Twisting the knob, I burst into the room and then stopped dead in my tracks, complete shock washing over me.
Katie was flat on her belly with her face smashed into a pillow. Master had her pinned down to the bed, trying to move her dress out of the way and open his fly at the same time.
This time I knew exactly what was going on. And when Katie managed to free herself just enough to slap Master across the face, I fully realized that this was NOT a good thing.
So I ran in and tackled Master, carrying him across the bed and onto the floor. Things were different than when I first came to the farm. Now I was the bigger, stronger, faster one.
For a minute, Master fought back, flailing his arms and trying to hit me while I did my best to just pin him down and prevent him from hitting me too hard. Like it or not, he was the closest thing to a father I had, and I didn’t want to seriously hurt him.
“Katie! Run away! Run to Miss Rachel’s house! Wait there for me!”
I turned to see her, hair all messed up and a panicked expression on her face. But she heard and she obeyed, turning and fleeing out the door as fast as her feet could carry her.
Once she was gone, Master gave up the fight. He laid back, his head lolling about on the wood floor, and he began to cry. I had never seen Master cry before, not once.
I got up off of him, and backed away, silent.
He started pounding the floor, bawling like a baby. I couldn’t understand what was going on, and just backed off, giving him as much room as he needed.
“I’m sorry, Johnny. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to.” And then he was crying again. “I miss her. I miss my wife.”
And then suddenly the tears stopped, and he started to get back up.
“Now, Master. Just take it easy.”
“Johnny, I’m going to go see my wife again.”
I didn’t understand. But then he reached into the bedside table, and came out with the black revolver I knew he had there. Before I realized it, the gun was cocked and he had it pointed right at me from just six feet away.
I stepped back, hitting the wall behind me, astonished at what was going on. Automatically, I held up my hands in the air, like I’d seen on TV.
“Get out of here, Johnny.”
“I don’t understand, Master.”
“Get out of here! I want you to go out the door, and you go find Katie. You don’t ever let her go. You keep her safe. Understand?”
I didn’t quite understand, but I still replied, “I understand, Master.”
“Now go!”
With my hands still held up, I sidled out the door, my eyes on the gun. Master kept it trained right at my head as I moved, right up until I was out of sight.
“Go!” was the last thing I heard him yell.
I turned, flew out the door and then I started running. I had just hit the main road and started towards Miss Rachel’s house when I heard the gunshot ring out.
I stopped for only a moment, to turn and wonder at what had just happened. Then I kept on running to Katie.
We stayed with Bill and Miss Rachel for the next hour. They had called the police, then Katie and I just huddled together on the couch, two freaked out children, not quite ready for the harsh realities of the outside world.
From Bill and Miss Rachel’s place, we saw the police arrive and go into our house. They were in there for a few hours, stringing up yellow police tape and taking photographs.
While they were there, a couple of officers came over to us, sat us down, and started asking questions. Bill and Miss Rachel were always nearby. We told them the truth, as best we could. I repeated everything Master told me just before he sent me away.
I was relieved to find that this was the first time Master had ever tried to force himself on Katie. But this relief was soon swallowed up by a great sense of loss. I didn’t know how we would move on.
Hours after the police left, and they’d taken Master’s body to the morgue, Katie and I were not ready to go back. Bill and Miss Rachel left us alone to go to sleep after a while, and we just stayed curled up on the couch until the dead of night.
The next morning, we were fed, and then Katie and I set off to go back. We walked into Master’s room, and found it completely empty. It was only when we went outside that we found where it had all happened. There was a big tree at the north end of the yard. We had buried Ma’am there, and right next to her gravestone was a pool of day-old blood.
The next week crawled by. I threw myself into the farm work, and Katie got everything cleaned up. Our lives had to go on. I moved into Katie’s room with her, and those first two nights I just held her as she cried herself to sleep.
The third night, we made love — slowly, tenderly. She was all I had in this world. And I remembered Master’s orders to take care of her.
At the end of the week, some government lawyers came by to tell us that after Ma’am had died, Master had rewritten his will to leave everything to Katie and me. Since we were both past eighteen, we were legally adults and did not need any additional supervision. The farm was ours, and we were on our own.
Tragedy comes, then it goes. Sadness, too. I could only hope that happiness and joy would be coming next. And I took solace in the love I’d found with Katie.
Our future was just beginning.
***
NEXT CHAPTER 2
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