Out of the Ashes

Ben slowly nodded his head. “Yes ... yes, that's true. But one would have to know the Bull, what made him tick. He would not have assumed power for any length of time. What Bull wanted was a return to law and order and morals and discipline. He wasn't a Castro or some two-bit dictator; just a man who believed very strongly in a government of the people, for the people, and more importantly, by the people.”

“I don't believe we've had that type of government in a long time, Ben. Do you?”

“No,” he said quickly and flatly. “Government got too big—too powerful. Agencies like the IRS had entirely too much power. Same with most government agencies. Well, it's all moot, now.”

“But ... what's that line, Ben, about ashes?”

“Tabb. ‘Out of the dead, cold ashes, life again.'”

“Snap judgment time, Ben Raines.” She looked at him, her gaze serious. “I think you're a pretty good man—decent guy. I think you'll probably link up with those Rebels.”

“No way, Jerre.”

“Yeah, I think you will, Ben. You'll have to get your shit together first. But after that ... yeah, you will. I've read some of your stuff. You're a dreamer and a romanticist and you'd like to go back about a hundred years—have those kinds of laws. Hell, Ben, maybe you're right. Maybe that's what the country needs. No harm in trying, is there?” She winked at him. “General.”

“You're a nut.” He smiled at her.

“But I'm pretty.”

“Yeah,” he said softly. “Yeah, you sure are.”

“Gonna be dark soon, Ben.”

“Yes.” He looked at her ankle. Some of the swelling was gone. “We'll find a place to sleep down the road. You'll be all right—safe.”

“I know it.” She spoke the words as though she trusted him. “But the dark scares me,” she admitted. “It didn't used to scare me until...” She let her sentence trail off to an awkward end. She sat staring into the rushing waters.

“Your parents?”

“It ... it was dark when I got back home. Back to Cumberland. I found them in the back yard. All swelled up and gross-looking. I just sat in the den and bawled and hollered. I never felt so alone in my life. Then the guy who lived next door—he made it through, never got sick, or anything—he came over. He lost his whole family and it didn't seem, at first, to bother him. He said he was going to take care of me, just like I was his daughter. I believed him, so I went with him.” She kicked dirt into the creek.

“He tried to get me drunk later on that night; said it would make me feel better. Then I knew what he was all about. Guys think they're so smooth, but given a little time, most girls can see through them. If the girl's got any sense. So I knew what was coming.

“Later on—I thought he'd gone to bed—I tried to slip out of his house, but he was watching for me. We had quite a tussle there on the floor; I marked him pretty good.” She put those startlingly Prussian blue eyes on Ben. Honest eyes. “I'm not a virgin, Ben Raines, but I don't give it away wholesale, either. And that bastard really pissed me off. I think, had he played it right, I probably would have gone to bed with him. He was a handsome man, and I'd always thought him a nice person. Not that I cared anything about him, but ... it would have been ... well, someone to hold you—you know. I mean, everything was all screwed up. I don't know how to explain it.”

Ben knew, but he remained silent, letting Jerre tell it all, her way.

“Finally, he hit me. Boy, did he pop me! When I came out of it, he was ripping my panties off me and talking really wild stuff. Said I was gonna be his private pussy. All kinds of stuff. I got really scared then. Not only because he was trying to rape me, but because I knew then he was really bonkers.

“We were by the fireplace, on the carpet, and when he stood up to take off his pants, I rolled away and grabbed a poker.” Again, she gazed at him. “I think I killed him, Ben. Something popped when I hit him. I don't think he was breathing. But I wasn't about to stick around to do any nursing; I'll tell you that for a fact! I just took off. Got in my dad's car and left.

“And do you know where I went? Where the damned car quit on me? Smart me! To Wheeling. Talk about a case of the dumb-ass. There was a mob of thugs roaming around. And you know they spotted me. You ever seen one little blond-headed girl trying to break the four-minute mile while being chased by fifty guys, all with their peckers out?”

Despite the gut-wrenching fear Ben knew she must have experienced, the panic within her at the time, he had to laugh at the way she told her story.

“And one of those guys was huge, man! What is it with men, Ben Raines? I mean, sex is good—terrific, when everything is right—but I don't go around thinking about it all the time. Men do, though, don't they? Sure they do.”