Judgment Hill

of them speaking. They were speaking low and didn’t know I was there. The man called the reverend, “captain.” They’re coming to kill you,” she said. “There’s just one thing. I want you to take me with you.”

  “Ma’am? It’s a dangerous life in the mountains. Are you sure of what you’re asking?”

  “I am. I have had no life here. I have interests that make me...unpopular in New Sinai. I want to go to the mountains with you.”

  I wasn’t one to argue with a lady, especially one who was trying to save my life. Besides, she was mighty pretty.

  “Alright,” I said. “But you’ll have to hurry here.”

  The widow turned out to pretty handy with those tools. Inside of five minutes, I was free.

  I climbed down, rubbing the circulation back into my wrists. She had two horses, saddled and ready.

  “They’re mine, left to me by my husband,” she said. “He left me this too.”

  It was an old Brown Bess musket. She had powder and balls for about a dozen shots. It wasn’t my Deckard, but it was better than nothing.

  The way I saw it, I had two choices—run or fight. The first was no choice at all. Myers would answer for his crimes, not only piracy but those against me personally. He had tried to have me killed and I wasn’t feeling forgiving.

  A few drops of rain began to fall. The lightning would not be far behind. Time to get off of the hill. Even in the dark, the main trail was easy to mark, but it wasn’t an option.

  “We need to get down the hill and find you a place to hide. I need to head back to New Sinai,” I said.

  Hannah didn’t argue. She just said, “I know of a place.”

  She led, taking the horses down the eastern slope then staying in the woods until we arrived by a creek. A little ways down, we came to an overhang. It was big enough for her and the horse and should be dry enough provided the creek didn’t flood.

  “Stay here until I come back,” I told her.

  When I was about half a mile from New Sinai, I tied my horse to a tree and went on foot. I had the satchel of tools that Hannah had brought. It was raining steadily by then and the thunder sounded every few minutes. I charged the musket, trying to keep my powder dry and crept to the edge of the tree line.

  Myers had laid out a pretty defensible site. Most of the buildings were behind a solid, wooden palisade and all of the trees within about two hundred yards of the wall had been cut down to eliminate cover. It was a good thought, but he had failed to remove a number of stumps, large boulders, and there were still shallow dips and low rises that offered plenty of cover to a patient man.

  It was obvious that Myers had never fought an Indian. And while I wasn’t an Indian, I could move like one.

  I assumed that someone was keeping watch. The rain cut down on visibility and that worked in my favor. As soon as there was a lightning flash, I moved forward about twenty feet, crouched behind a large boulder, and froze. It would take the sentry’s eyes a second or two to adjust after each bolt. And even when they had adjusted he wouldn’t be able to pick me out, provided I stayed still.

  It took me about forty-five minutes to get within fifty yards of the wall. There was another lightning flash and I was just about to run for the next cover when two riders came galloping out of the woods. I prayed that the next lightning would hold off for a minute—from their angle they might spot me if one came before the riders got past me. Luck was not with me. There was a flash and I was momentarily illuminated.

  They didn’t see me though. They wore hoods and were hunkered down against the rain. I sighed and watched as they got to the gate. They rapped on the gate and it took only a minute for someone to open it and pass them through.

  Now Myers would know that I had escaped.

  I fought back the urge to rush and waited for the next lightning. It took me fifteen minutes to cross the last fifty yards. In the meantime, the rain increased to a downpour. I couldn’t see or hear anything that might be going on inside of New Sinai.

  The top of the palisade was about fifteen feet above me. The rain had made the logs slick and they were fitted together tight. From my satchel, I drew out a hammer and a handful of nails.

  I counted on the sound of the rain to cover my work. I hammered in the first nail and another a few feet to the left and about two feet higher. They made precarious foot holds, but I made do. Only five more and the top of the wall was within reach. Grabbing the top, I hoisted myself up and peered over.

  From the time that I had spent in New Sinai, I knew that there was a narrow walkway that went around the top of the wall for sentries and defenders to use. No one appeared to be on the wall at the moment. I shook my head. When the Cherokee came, these folks wouldn’t stand a chance. I slipped over the wall onto the walkway. There was a light on in the church and I assumed that someone was by the gate, but I could not see anyone from where I was.

  I lowered myself to the ground and went building to building, until I came to the rear of the church. I could hear voices, but I couldn’t understand what was being said until I was right under the back window.

  “Hugh and Cox went scouting for him, but in this weather it’s going to be hard to find any sign.”

  “It doesn’t matter, he has to be found,” said a voice I knew was Myers’. “Now that we’ve finally found the mine, he could ruin everything.”

  “Captain—“

  “Don’t call me that!”

  “Sorry—Reverend. It was hard to see, but it looked like there were some fresh horse tracks going up the hill. Do you think Sturgis has got some friends?”

  “Could be,” said Myers. “Leave Chambers at the gate. I want you two to get up on the walls with Tom in case he tries to come back.”

  “Tom was down at the gate when we came in, staying out of the rain.”

  “Damn him, Tom’s a sailor and he’s hiding from the rain? Tell them to get their eyes open. Sturgis will be back, if not now then later with help. I’ll be in my room. I want to know when Cox and Hugh get back. And if the rain stops, I want all of you out looking for sign.”

  I risked a peek over the window frame. Myers went off through a door to the right. The other two exited the church, presumably heading for the wall.

  I made my way to the front of the church and slipped inside. I stopped outside of the door that Myers had gone through and listened. It was quiet. There was no light coming from under the door.

  A lamp was lit. I thought about dousing it, but decided that it might draw attention. Because of the rain I changed the load of my musket.

  Then I knocked on the door, being careful to stay to the side.

  “Reverend? Hugh and Cox just came in,” I said.

  There was a pause.

  “Come in; the door is unlocked,” said Myers from inside.

  I knew that if I stood in the doorway, I’d be backlit. I depressed the latch and threw the door open. I burst in as fast as I could, hooking to the side as soon as I cleared the entry. There was loud boom and a muzzle flashed in the center of the room. Part of the door frame exploded and splinters struck me in the back of the head.

  The lamplight from the church was sufficient for me to make out Myers holding my rifle. He was reaching for a flintlock at his waist.

  “Don’t move! Even with this old Bessie, I can’t miss you at this range,” I said. “Where are my things?”

  “Your things? All of your things are here,” Myers said.

  I took the pistols from his belt and took back my rifle. I kept the musket on him though as the Deckard wasn’t loaded.

  “My sword?”

  “It’s on my dresser,” he said, nodding to his left. “That shot will have alerted my men. They’ll be here in seconds.”

  “Maybe, but with the rain and the thunder tonight, maybe not,” I said.

  But as soon as I had said it, I heard the church door open.

  “Reverend, are you alri
ght? We thought we heard a shot.”

  “Sturgis is here,” Myers said.

  “Shut up,” I told him. To his men I said, “I’ve got your captain here. Anyone comes through that door and the first shot is going through his heart. Understand?”

  “Don’t listen to him! Get in here and kill him dead,” Myers yelled.

  “Shut up! Sit in that chair,” I ordered.

  He hesitated like he might refuse, but then he sat down on the wooden chair I had pointed to.

  “Looks like we have a bit of a stand-off,” he said to me. “I have a solution.”

  “What’s that?” I said.

  “A fair fight, my sword against yours.”

  “A fair fight? Against a pirate?”

  “Here I’m a man of God. You don’t want to be here in the morning when the people of New Sinai wake up and find you holding their precious reverend hostage.”

  “They would feel differently if they knew who you were,” I said.

  “And you think they’ll believe you over me? Do you want to take that chance, Sturgis? I’ll order my men out of the church and you can take care of me fair, if you can.”

  I didn’t like it and I didn’t trust him. But the night was getting on and I wanted to be done with this.

  “Order them out,” I said.

  “You men out there, this is Turner. Back on out of the church.”

  “Captain?” It was Cham.

  “You heard me. I’m going to take care of this myself. Get out and wait for me,” Myers said.

  I heard footsteps and then the door opened and shut.

  At his direction, I located Myers’ cutlass in a foot locker and handed it