Ruled By Fear (11 page)

    
The rest of the day dragged on slowly as Aaron’s mind continued to worry over Tom’s disappearance. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he’d had his suspicions about Tom. The fact that the man was now missing seemed to prove his innocence. He wondered what was happening to him right now, if he was even still alive.
     When it was finally time to go inside for the night, Aaron and Keith hung back, waiting for Philip and finally spotted him at the rear of the line. The boy’s drooping shoulders and dragging feet let Aaron know he wasn’t in very good shape. When they reached him, Aaron laid a hand on his shoulder, turned the boy to face him, and noted his swollen eyes and tear-stained cheeks.  He’d almost forgotten how young Philip was, not quite twelve-years-old yet.
     “Hey,” he said, hoping his voice sounded reassuring.  “It’s gonna be okay.”
     He watched, helpless as Philip fell to his knees in front of him and broke down, agonizing sobs causing his thin body to convulse as he rocked back and forth. Not knowing what else to do, Aaron picked the boy up and carried him back to the house.

     After they had been seated and the Gardener passed out plates of steaming mushy grits that were leftover from breakfast, Philip finally wiped at his eyes and looked gratefully at Aaron.
     “Thanks,” he said.  “You must think I’m a real baby cryin’ like that.”
     “No, I don’t think that,” Aaron said, giving Philip a reassuring smile.
     “He . . . he’s gonna be all right. I know he is,” Philip continued.  “I . . . I just wish I knew what was happening to him.”
     “Now, don’t you go borrowing trouble, “Aaron said, repeating a phrase his father often used.  “Your brother wouldn’t want you worrying about him all night when you need your rest.”
     Philip nodded and loudly swallowed the lump in his throat. Aaron was surprised when Emily reached across the table and laid her small hand gently over Philip’s, and he watched as the young boy looked up and met her eyes. Philip seemed to take comfort in something he saw there, and managed to make it through the rest of the meal with no more tears.
     Aaron kept close to Philip as they made their way up the stairs, hoping the boy could at least draw some strength from his presence. Before they parted for their separate rooms he turned to Keith.
     “Why don’t you tell Philip about some of our adventures tonight?” he whispered.  “You know, to keep his mind busy. Maybe, tell him about the lake back home.”
     Keith smiled and nodded his approval of the idea, then took his brother’s place at his roommate’s side.   Aaron turned toward his room, feeling more exhausted than he ever remembered feeling before. But when he entered his room, all hope of a good night’s rest fled, like the rush of air that escaped his lungs. His bed was gone. Aaron stared blankly in the dark at the empty space that was left where his bed should have been. He stood in confusion for a long time before flashes of memory from the night before entered his mind.
     Lighting the candle under the bed to read the book, the shuffling sound, someone’s breathing.  He now knew for sure, that he’d been being watched.
     As he sank slowly to the floor, his body worn and his mind weary, he cursed the darkness around him.
     “You want to punish me?” he cried.  “Fine! I don’t care! I don’t care. I don’t care . . .”

C
 

hapter 10

An hour later, Aaron still sat on the cold hard floor.  He had scooted over to a corner and every ten minutes or so, would bring his knees up to rest his head forward then, ten minutes later, straighten them out again, letting his head fall back against the wall.  He was angry and his anger had always led to stubbornness.  He was refusing to allow them-really himself-the satisfaction of lying down and going to sleep.  He couldn’t count the number of times he’d been in a similar position.  Angry with his father, a teacher, or life in general.  Injustice was something he had always felt keenly and he had never learned to accept it gracefully.

    
A persistent voice in the back of his mind kept trying to make itself heard, and he knew if he listened carefully enough he would recognize it as belonging to his father.  Up until now, he had been trying hard to ignore it, not wanting to hear any words of wisdom from the past.  But he was bone tired, and his defenses were beginning to crumble.

    
“Most other fathers would probably tell you,” the familiar voice began, “that your being stubborn is only hurting you.  But that wouldn’t be true.  Separating yourself from the rest of your family and refusing to cooperate hurts all of us.”

    
Aaron tried to shake off his father’s words, but he couldn’t help remembering another time when he’d been huddled like this, but that time his back had been up against a tree.  He’d been angry at the world and what it had done to him, what it had taken from him.  He couldn’t control the circumstances around him, but he could at least control what he would and would not do, and he had decided that night he would not go to sleep.

His father had sat with him for a long time, saying nothing more until Aaron had begun to wonder if he had fallen asleep.  He’d been startled when his Pa had given a soft sigh.

     “You need to get some rest, son,” he’d said.  “You need your strength for tomorrow.”

    
“I don’t want to get any rest,” Aaron had replied.  “I don’t want to have any strength tomorrow.”  He’d drawn his knees in even closer and folded his arms around his legs.  Hot, angry tears came to his eyes but he’d refused to let them fall.

    
The soft sounds of his baby brother’s snoring had floated over to his ears from inside their covered wagon.  They’d been traveling for such a long time.

    
“Your brother will be lonely,” his father had said.  “Your little brother needs you to be strong for him.”

    
“I don’t care,” he’d answered stubbornly.  “Mama should be here to take care of Keith.  I hate that old wagon and I don’t care if we ever get to California.  I don’t care, I don’t care . . .”

    
Aaron’s angry words had been cut off when his father reached out and took his arm, forcing him up.  He’d thought for sure he was about to be punished and had gritted his teeth, determined not to cry.  Instead, his father had taken him in his arms and held him close.  His grip had been strong and comforting, and the flood of tears Aaron had so diligently been trying to hold inside had finally broken free.  Eventually, his father’s soothing voice had made its way through his sobs and he’d quieted listening to the gentle rhythm of his words.

    
“It’s all right, son, go to sleep.  Just go to sleep.”

    
Here, in this dark, menacing prison, Aaron once again clung to those words and allowed himself to stretch out his body and close his eyes.  The childish voice from his past seemed to blend now with the voice of a weary man as he whispered.

    
“I really do care, Pa.”

     The next morning, Aaron woke to the sounds of more rain, beating against the roof and sides of the house.  As he sat up, he winced with pain.  His night on the floor not having helped to loosen any of his tight, over-worked muscles.  After he finished off the water in his pitcher, he made his way to the door and reached for the handle, then almost jumped out of his skin when the door burst open.

    
“Sorry,” Keith said.  “I did it again, didn’t I?”

    
“Keith,” Aaron said, clutching his chest, “it really isn’t necessary for you to test the condition of my heart every morning.”

    
“Ah, it’s good for you, older brother,” Keith said teasingly, as he gave a playful punch to Aaron’s shoulder.

    
“Yes, well, it’s not going to be good for you, if you keep it up,” Aaron answered.  “Where is Philip?”

    
“He went downstairs already.  That’s why I came to get you.  If Tom is . . . well, if he’s . . . I thought we should be there.”

    
Aaron nodded and made his way toward the door, but stopped as he noticed his brother’s puzzled expression.

    
“What happened to your bed?” Keith asked.

    
Aaron shrugged and answered casually.  “It was gone when I came in last night.  I must have broken some rule of theirs.

    
Keith made a sound of disgust as he turned back toward his brother and opened his mouth to speak but Aaron cut him off.

    
“Don’t worry about it.  I’ve slept on the ground plenty of times and at least in here I’m sheltered from the weather.”

    
Keith looked as if he wanted to say more but kept silent as they made their way down the stairs.  A quick scan of the dining room let Aaron know that Philip was nowhere to be found.  He was about to go question Grant, when he saw Emily motioning for him.

    
“Where’s Philip?” he asked, as he and Keith approached the table.

    
“He’s alive,” Emily answered, though her eyes didn’t seem to reveal any true relief.  “Look.”

    
Aaron turned to see where she was pointing and noticed immediately that only nineteen names were written on the assignment board.

    
“I thought you said he was alive,” Aaron questioned.

    
“He is,” she answered.  “Look at Philip’s assignment.  He’s number twelve.”

    
Aaron was puzzled as he read. “Tend to eleven.”

    
“Tom is number eleven,” Emily explained.  “ Whenever someone is punished, they always assign your partner to look after you the next day.”

    
“Is it that bad?” Aaron asked, turning to face her.

    
Emily dropped her head and nodded.

    
“It’s terrible, watching them suffer,” she said.  “In a way it really punishes both of you.”

    
“Where are they?” Aaron asked.

    
“There’s a room on the second floor where they let you stay to recover,” she answered.  “After that, you have to go back to work.”

    
The rest of the meal was silent as Aaron processed this information.  There seemed to be a strange sort of give and take mentality to this place.  The work was hard but it was rotated enough to keep them from collapsing.  They were exposed to harsh weather conditions all day but afterwards, there would be a hot meal waiting, however meager.  A person would be punished severely, but then someone would be assigned to care for them.

    
It’s almost as if there are two forces at work.

    
That thought stuck with him as he began another long day in the fields.

     The continuous slapping of raindrops against his already soaked hair was driving Aaron crazy.  It had been raining all morning-not a drenching downpour, thankfully, but enough to make him and the other prisoners miserable.  He shivered involuntarily and wished again that he had a hat.  He decided that as soon as he got home again, that would be the first thing he would buy—that and at least two new pairs of boots.  His feet were almost raw from walking around the rocky fields.  Trying to get his mind off his aching feet, he glanced up, once again, to check on his brother.  Keith hadn’t had to persuade Annie to go off on their own that morning.  As soon as they had arrived, she had taken Keith’s arm and pulled him across the field.  Meri had stayed with Aaron only long enough to explain several long and technical mining techniques which had nothing to do with anything, and then, seeming to sense that it was Aaron’s turn to talk, had sauntered off to join Keith and his sister.  Aaron paused for a moment to watch them, pleased to see that the trio seemed to be happily engaged in conversation.  He stretched his arms wearily above his head and then glanced back toward the house.  He was hoping Emily would come with their buckets while he was alone, so he could ask her a few questions.  Almost as if she could read his thoughts, Emily appeared behind him, seemingly out of nowhere.

    
“I didn’t see you there,” Aaron said, trying to convince himself that she hadn’t really been sneaking up on him.

    
“I have your lunch,” she said.  “It’s not much . . . I was going to try and get you more, but . . . I was too afraid.”

    
The young girl’s teeth were chattering from the chill in the air and her lips were blue.

    
“It’s okay, Emily,” he assured her.  “I’m sure whatever you brought will be fine.”

    
She smiled and turned to leave, but Aaron quickly reached out to stop her.

    
“I wanted to ask you a couple of questions,” he said.

    
Emily drew back slightly, her eyes wide and questioning.

    
“Do you know what time the delivery is coming in?”

    
Emily stared at him quietly and he could see the fear in her eyes, and for just a moment, a flash of something else.

    
“Why do you want to know?” she asked.

    
He was surprised by her question and decided to answer cautiously.

    
“I’m going to see if I can get a message to my father.”  He took a step back watching her, waiting for an answer.

    
“Tonight, after everyone is asleep,” she whispered after just a moment of hesitation.

    
Aaron knew that was as much information as he was going to get for now, so he nodded his head in thanks. She turned quickly then and made her way toward the mine.

    
Keith arrived a moment later, and the two went off together to eat their food.  There was nothing that day except for two hard biscuits apiece, which made Aaron doubly glad that the delivery would be tonight.  He might be able to spare a few pounds but his younger brother, along with most of the prisoners, could not.

    
“Aaron,” Keith said after a while, “I’ve been thinking about this, and I think one of us should try and get away when the delivery comes.”

    
Aaron immediately held up his hands to stop him from talking, but Keith pushed them aside and continued.

     
“We have to do something, Aaron,” he said, his voice becoming progressively louder.  “I can’t just sit around anymore.”

    
Aaron reached out and took Keith’s arm roughly pulling him closer.

    
“Keep your voice down,” he said.  “We’re not just going to sit around, but we’re going to do this right and we’re going to do this smart.”

    
Keith pulled his arm from his brother’s grasp and rubbed it gingerly.  His breathing was fast and hard but he remained quiet.

    
“Emily told me the delivery is coming in tonight,” Aaron continued.  “We don’t know anything about the man bringing it, other than he’s from the town.  He may be in on this whole thing for all we know.”

    
Keith nodded his head meekly, and Aaron relaxed seeing that his brother was starting to become more reasonable.

    
“We don’t have anything to offer the man, but I’m going to see if I can get him to deliver a message to Pa with the promise to pay him later.”

    
Aaron paused for a moment, watching his little brother for any signs of disagreement.

    
“Now, listen, Keith, just in case the man making the delivery does turn out to be all right, I want you to be ready to go with him.”

    
“I’m not going anywhere without you.”

    
“Keith, these people need help,” Aaron said, making a sweeping gesture with his hand.  “Everyone is so terrified of the repercussions that they’re allowing that fear to hold them hostage.  Somebody has to be willing to make a sacrifice or nothing will change.”

    
Keith tossed his head stubbornly and stepped closer to his brother.

    
“Fine,” he said.  “Then let me be the sacrifice and you go.”

    
“Keith . . .”  Aaron sighed.

     
“It’s not so easy when the shoe is on the other foot, is it?” Keith snapped, his eyes flashing.

    
Aaron chuckled at his brother’s stubbornness, and decided to let the matter drop as he and Keith went back to their work.  At the rate they were going, it would take at least one more week just to finish this first field.  Aaron sent up a silent prayer that they would be long gone by then.