Chapter 10
Things soon starting to unravel for Cooper and Dalton. When Jed didn't show up for work for three days in a row his boss came to his house looking for him. When he got there, he honked his horn outside the property until Cooper and Dalton couldn't ignore him any longer. Before they went out to talk to him they made up a lie they were going to tell him about what happened to their dad. He was frustrated and angry when they first approached his vehicle. Before they had a chance to say anything he blurted out, "Where the hell is that father of yours? He hasn't shown up for work in three days and I need him desperately right now. He didn't even call me to tell me he wasn't coming in and he left me in a bad position with my clients."
That's when Dalton spoke up, "I'm sorry Mr. Florio, he won't be coming in, dad died on Tuesday night." Mr. Florio's attitude all of a sudden changed and he instantly became very apologetic to the boys. "Oh man I'm sorry boys. I had no idea that had happened. I really liked your dad." Dalton said, "Don't worry about it Mr. Florio, he liked you too and liked working for you." He then asked them, "What happened to your dad, how did he die?" Dalton said, "We think it was a heart attack or a drug overdose. We don't know for sure because he died in his sleep." Mr. Florio seemed shaken when Dalton told him that. He apologized again before he left and went back to Ridgecrest.
They had never had a visit from their Uncle Tucker since they had moved into the place, but the next day they also got a visit from him. It was on a Sunday and his weekend off of work. He drove up to their front gate and honked his horn until they went out and talked to him. When they got there, the first thing he asked them was where was Jed. They tried to give him the same story they had told Mr. Florio, but he didn't believe a word of what they were saying. He'd already heard the story about Jacob shooting one of the thieves that tried to break into his house. He also heard the story about how someone had killed the Smallwoods. When they were through telling him their lie he told them what he'd heard from the people in town. "Okay boys, you can tell that story to someone else, I'm not buying it. I just wanted to come by here and let you know that the word around town is that a local guy and his wife were killed by someone who had a couple of large dogs. It all seems to fit in with you boys and your dad.
The night he died the local guy told the Sheriff Deputies that he shot a guy that was trying to break into his house earlier that night. After the deputies left he and his wife were tortured and killed in the middle of the night. It sounds to me like someone was angry and getting revenge against Jacob Smallwood for shooting him or someone he knew." He looked them both in the eyes and said, "Are you still sure you don't know anything about what I'm saying to you? You boys are the only ones around here that have huge dogs that are big enough and strong enough to do what they say the animal did to those people." Cooper frowned, "No Uncle Tucker, we don't know anything about that."
Tucker ignored what Cooper said and continued to talk and tried to warn them, "The people here in Red Mountain know you boys have those big dogs and they are starting to think the two murders have something to do with you and your dogs. Some of the old timers that knew what happened here years ago with Joshua think it's very similar to what happened to him back then. If you boys had anything to do with killing those people, you better think about getting out of town as quickly as possible. The talk around town is that they have formed a vigilante group and they're coming after you. I don't know for sure, but it might already be too late to get your things together and get out of here. I would leave now if I were you. I hear they're pretty upset and angry about the killings." Cooper continued lying, "Thanks for warning us Uncle Tucker, but we didn't have anything to do with killing those people." Tucker replied, "Okay, well I just wanted you to know what's going on before they come here and kill you. I don't want to see anything happen to you boys, you're the only family I have left." Dalton gave Tucker a hug and thanked him for trying to help them.
As soon as he had left Dalton had a worried looked on his face as he looked Cooper in the eyes, "Okay Cooper, we better listen to what he's saying and get some of our things and our dogs loaded up and get out of here before it's too late. Sounds like that group of guys are pretty stirred up right now." Cooper agreed, but told Dalton he wasn't really sure where they were going to go. By then Dalton was getting a little scared, "It doesn't matter where we go at this point, we just have to get out of here before those guys come here and kill us. They won't even listen to anything we try to tell them. You won't be able to talk our way out of this one. You know they'll kill us just like they did Justin and Joshua."
Cooper knew Dalton was right so they grabbed what was left of the emergency money, loaded everything in the pick-up, covered it with a tarp and tied it down. They were ready to leave, but before they left they took a five gallon can of gasoline and poured it throughout the house. They were going to set it on fire and let it burn to the ground as they left.
Just before they were ready to leave Cooper said, "If we're leaving then were digging dad up and taking him with us. We can't just leave him here." Dalton replied, "Look Cooper, we may not have time to do that, they could be here any minute according to Uncle Tucker." Cooper said forcefully, "I don't care; I'm not leaving here without him." Dalton didn't like the idea of leaving his dad's body behind any more than Cooper did, but he was trying to be the voice of reason, "Let's just leave him for now and we can come back after dark sometime and dig him up." While they were standing there talking about it they heard a few vehicles pulling up out in front of their house. They ran over to the fence to check it out. When they peeked through the holes in the fence they saw three cars that had pulled up and five guys with guns getting out of them.
When they saw the men get out with guns they knew they were in trouble so Cooper quickly ran back into the house and lit it on fire. In an instant, the house was totally engulfed in flames. Dalton had the two dogs get in the cab of the truck. Cooper ran back to the truck and started up the engine while Dalton ran to the gate and quickly opened it. Once he swung it open, he turned and started to run back to get in the truck. As he was running back several shots rang out from the other side of the dirt road.
Dalton was hit twice in the back and instantly went down to the ground. One of the bullets went clear through his body as blood spurted out from his chest. The other bullet had just grazed the side of his head. He was able to fight his way back up to his feet and stumble over to the open window of the truck. His eyes were starting to roll back into his head as he told Cooper to get out of there. He yelled out with his last few breaths, "They've killed me Cooper, so get out of here now. Take care of my dog." That was the last words he was able to utter as he stumbled toward the house. Cooper yelled back at him, "No, I can't leave you here Dalton!" Cooper started to get out of the truck and go around to help Dalton, but he had already staggered over to the door of the house. The flames were shooting out from the door by then, but Dalton managed to throw himself through the door and into the flames. Cooper screamed out, "Dalton!" as he watched Dalton burn. Knowing there was nothing he could do for him, he jumped back in the truck. He knew he had to do what Dalton said and get out of there as quickly as possible or they would kill him too.
Instead of risking backing out into the dirt road and getting shot himself, Cooper floored the gas pedal and headed around to the back side of the house. He ran through the fence at full throttle, throwing pieces of it in the air as he made it back onto the dirt road and on his way out of Red Mountain. The vigilantes were shooting at his truck as he left. A couple of them had already headed for their cars to chase after him by the time he was on the main road.
Cooper was in a rage. He was hitting the stirring wheel with his fists and sobbing as he raced away at a high rate of speed. He was heading north on highway 395 and didn't know where he was going; he was just trying to get out of there before those guys caught up with him. He didn't want t
hem to catch up with him and kill him and the dogs too. He went about three miles, when he remembered the ravine where he'd hidden Charley Staples pick-up. He turned off the main road and headed down to the secluded ravine where he could hide out from everyone.
Once he was there he got out of the pick-up and knelt down on his knees and sobbed for several minutes. He stayed in that position for a long time yelling out Dalton's name before Skeeter made a whining sound. When he did it suddenly snapped Cooper back to reality of what had happened. He was furious at what the vigilantes had done to Dalton. As he sat there kneeled on the ground, he yelled out to the sky, "I'll get you guys for this if it's the last thing I ever do. I promise you that. I'll kill every last one of you!" He went over to Charley's pick-up and beat on the hood with his fists a few times. He had never felt that type of anger and rage in his life and it was almost more than he could stand.
It took several hours for Cooper to finally calm himself down. He just hung out near Charley's pick-up as he cried and thought about how much he was going to miss Dalton. He always felt like Dalton was the only person he could really count on in his life. He loved Jed because he was his dad, but he had a very special bond with Dalton. It was almost like they were one. Now that Dalton was gone Cooper knew he was completely alone. The only thing he had left were the dogs. It was the emptiest feeling he'd ever experienced in his life.
When it started getting dark Cooper was looking at Charley's truck and he started to wonder what ever happened to the old shack where Charley had kept Ashley Stevens captive. The more he thought about it he believed that if there wasn't anyone living there, it would make a perfect place for him to hide out from everyone. He waited until it got dark and then headed toward Ridgecrest. Once he was close to town he was able to find the little dirt road that led to the old shack. He got on it and drove until he was about to give up before he spotted the shack.
He put the lights of the pick-up on high beam and shined them on the shack. The front door and windows had been boarded up by the Sheriff department. Cooper figured they probably did it to keep people from ever using it again. It didn't look like anyone had lived in it since he killed Charley. The little old shack had never had paint on it and the wood was weathered and brown from years of the hot sun beating down on it. There were weeds grown up around the place.
He got out of the truck, grabbed a flashlight, and had the dogs get out with him. He sent the dogs around to the back of the shack to see if they could get a scent of anyone that might be hanging out around the place. Not seeing or hearing anything or anyone, he went to the front door and ripped the boards off. He then sent the dogs in and they didn't see or hear anyone so he slowly stepped inside. He thought the place was a little creepy when he first went in. The stain from Charley's blood was still on the floor where he bled out. As he looked around, he told himself that being there still had to be better than sleeping out on the ground somewhere. He also figured it would be a long time before the Sheriff department would come out again just to check on the old place.
For the next few days Cooper seemed to be in a daze. He was just in a survival mode as he tried to keep his mind off of Dalton. He tried to clean things up inside the old dirty shack as he went through every cubby hole. During his cleaning he found a secret hiding place where Charley had hidden some cash in a Mason jar. When he saw it, he quickly reached in and pulled the jar out. He unscrewed the lid and poured the money on the kitchen counter. As he counted it out he found there was five hundred and twenty five dollars stashed in it. He was very excited about his new find as he jumped in the air. He still had some money left from the emergency money his dad had stashed away but he knew this would also help. He figured with the amount of money he had, it would keep him stocked with food and gas for the truck without having to worry about things for a while. He'd brought enough food with him that it should last him a few weeks.
He dug a large hole in the back and buried all the old bedding and things that belonged to Charley. He was lucky that the well had one of those old hand pumps where he could get enough water for himself and the dogs that he needed. He spent an entire day and dug a hole and built a make shift outhouse out back to use as a bathroom. He spent another day and cut out a square place in the back of the shack that he was going to use as a door. He then put the boards back on the front door and that way if the police came snooping around they would think it was still empty. He parked the truck around back so he could make a quick get-a-way if he had to.
On the fourth day of being there, he was lying on the old beat up couch next to the dogs. He was just relaxing and trying to get his mind off of Dalton, his dad and everything that had happened. Suddenly a nine foot Western diamondback rattlesnake came slithering through the hole in the shack he had cut for a door. It was about fourteen inches in diameter at its girth and it had about twelve rattles and a button at the end of its tail. The dogs started growling and sit up when it first came in. When the snake detected the dogs and Cooper it curled up in a striking mode by the back door. It raised its upper body about two and half feet off the floor and was looking right at Cooper. Its head was about the size of a small football and when it opened its mouth up wide it showed its long sharp fangs. They were about two and half inches long and he thought they resembled a couple of hypodermic needles. For that brief moment the thought of getting bitten by them sent a cold shiver up the back of Cooper's spine. He figured a bite from that snake could easily kill him or one of the dogs. As he stared at the snake he wondered why it was seeking refuge from the heat of the day in the shack, instead of hiding out in some cool dark den with other snakes.
He had the dogs stay real still as he waited to see if the snake might just turn around and go back out the same way it had came in, or if it was going to make a mad rush toward them. Cooper knew a snake that length would have a long striking distance and he didn't have anything in the shack that was long enough to keep it away from him and the dogs.
He waited for several minutes to see what it was going to do, but nothing was happening as it just sat there curled up. Every once and a while when Cooper or the dogs would make a move it would raise its head and rattled its tail. It had a very distinct sound when it shook its rattles and there was no mistaken it was a huge rattlesnake. The sound resonated throughout the shack as if it was echoing off the walls. He finally decided he had to do something; it didn't look like the monster was going to leave its new found home.
He got up real slow and went to the front door and opened it up. He kicked the boards off the front door as he continued to look back at the snake. Once he opened the door and knocked the boards off he and the dogs were able to get out without having to go out the back way and past the snake. He looked around the outside of the shack and was able to find a long metal pipe about ten feet long that was lying out next to the well. He also grabbed the six foot shovel that he had been using around the place to clear all the weeds and brush. He went back into the house and began to push and prod the snake with the end of the pipe just trying to get it to go back the way it came in. Once he had it all the way outside the door it turned away from him and started to slither away. He took the shovel and quickly ran over and straddled the snake as it tried to escape. With both hands on the shovel, he raised it high in the air and chopped down on its head. It took two forceful blows before he was able to sever its head. As it squirmed around dying, Cooper noticed there was some movement inside the snake's body. He then realized why the snake had come into the shack while it was so hot; she was going to give live birth to her offspring in the shack. Cooper smiled and said, "Man, it's a good thing I killed you. I would've had rattlesnakes all over this place."
He used a few of the boards that he had boarded up the front door with as a temporary cover for the back door hole until he could make a door for it. He didn't want any other snakes coming in and especially in the middle of the night when they were
sleeping. The next time he and the dogs may not be as lucky in getting away from a snake that size.
For the next few days Cooper checked the area around the house for snakes and cleaned up the weeds. The entire time he was working on it, his rage for the vigilantes was building. He couldn't keep his mind off of them and what they had done to Dalton. He had to fight the urge to go back to Red Mountain and kill every single person in the town.
He was able to calm himself down just enough to try and come up with a plan. Since he had nothing but time on his hands, he began to plan out every detail of how he was going to use the dogs once he found out who the vigilante guys were. He would get them alone and torture them with the dogs before he killed them. He just had to find out the names of the men so he could find out where they lived. Once he had that information he could go after them.
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