[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
her little girl. They were just such sweet, quiet little
people. Never knew a baby who made as little fuss.
Cavalry Man: Powder Keg 263
So I went out there right away and I see her in this
rocking chair and I see the baby in her lap and I see
that she s got the baby all covered up. I spoke to
Wendy a couple of times. But her expression didn t
change. She just sat in the chair and rocked back and
forth. And stared. I wondered what she was seeing.
In her mind, I mean. Something had obviously hap-
pened that she couldn t face up to.
So I leaned over and turned the cover back and
there was the baby and I knew right away she was
dead. I remembered how sharp my breath was in the
house when I realized that she was sitting there rock-
ing a dead baby.
But Wendy was so far gone, she didn t even seem
to know what I was doing when I took the baby from
her. I carried her over to their table and turned up the
lamp and examined her right there.
Didn t take a genius to figure out what had hap-
pened. The left side of the baby s head was stove in.
The wound was deep and raw, I could see bone there
under the blood. Then I happened to notice some
kind of smear on the wall behind where Wendy sat in
the rocking chair.
I picked up the lamp and went over there and got
a close look. You could see where somebody had
smashed her head against the wall. There was blood
and hair and flecks of bone in this smear I was look-
ing at. And I didn t have to think real hard about
who d done it. It sure hadn t been Wendy. Not the
way she loved that little girl.
I wrapped the baby up and went looking for
some whiskey. Wendy didn t want any of it at first
but I made her take it. And it was funny, after about
264 Ed Gorman
three belts and she hadn t said a single word the
whole time she just sat there staring straight ahead
and started shuddering. Never saw a person thrash
around that way. She was like some contraption that
was going to fly apart in bits and pieces.
I right away dug in my bag and got her a sedative
and I gave it to her. I sat right next to her on a foot-
stool, holding her hand until the shuddering stopped
when the sedative took hold of her.
And that was when she told me everything. How
Nordberg would beat her from their wedding night
on. That he always called her a whore, even though
she d really been a virgin at that time. Not even
Mike Chaney had slept with her at that point,
though she d gone out with him for three years be-
fore Nordberg even came to town. She wanted a
baby. That was all she thought about. Having a
baby. She d never been a real social girl so she fig-
ured she d finally get a true friend who she could
take care of. A baby.
But Nordberg wouldn t touch her after the first
six months of their marriage. He d go into these
rages and accuse her of giving him some kind of dis-
ease. She knew he was sneaking off and seeing girls
at the bawdyhouse. But his own wife he wouldn t
have anything to do with.
Then he started raping her. That s what she called
it. He d come home drunk and throw her against the
wall and rape her. And then he d beat her afterward.
She told her folks this but they re religious people
and they told her that the Bible said a woman should
answer only to her husband, not carry tales of him to
others. A man needed his dignity and she was giving
Cavalry Man: Powder Keg 265
him a bad name. Besides, these things always worked
out. That was the sign of a good marriage. Having
things work out.
Then one night when he was gone, she went out
for a walk as she did a lot on spring nights. And ran
into Mike Chaney. That s how he explained it, any-
way. Completely coincidental. He just happened to
be walking down the same grassy lane she was. She
had the sense that he d followed her but she didn t re-
ally care.
That night she slept with him. She still had feel-
ings for him. Not love, she told me. She d grown up
enough to see that he was a showboat as much as
anything. That he wasn t robbing Flannery s banks to
help people around here he was doing it to humili-
ate Flannery and to make a name for himself.
She got pregnant. There was no doubt it was
Mike s child. When Nordberg accused her of sleeping
with somebody else, she told him that he wasn t re-
membering the night when he d thrown her on the
bed and taken her from behind. She told him he d
never been up that far inside of her before, that s how
she d gotten pregnant. She said he believed her for a
while.
But he couldn t let go of the notion that Mike was
the baby s father. He got to the point where he didn t
want to even look at the child, let alone hold it or
even touch it.
And then one night he came home drunk and
wild and took the baby by her ankles and smashed
her head against the wall. That was when I got in-
volved in it all. And I m not proud I didn t speak up.
I m too old to move anywhere else. And I didn t have
266 Ed Gorman
any proof that Nordberg did it. It could have been
Wendy herself, though I knew better.
Nordberg wasn t anybody I could go up against.
He has too many friends in this town. I rode out
there the next morning to see how Wendy was. She
came to the door holding those blankets all wrapped
up and pretending her baby was inside. Her baby
dying and all she lost her mind. She sat in the rock-
ing chair with all those blankets bundled together
and talked about her baby as if she was still alive. I
think Nordberg buried the real baby somewhere and
the fact that Wendy was carrying those bundled-up
blankets all over town was fine with him. People
thought the real baby was still alive.
I imagine with what happened this morning the
way you described her on the ice I imagine she s
even worse off mentally than she was before. You
brought her over here but while we were in here talk-
ing, Ford, she left. The Lord alone knows where s she
gone now.
Chapter 40
B'
he ride out to Nordberg s place was cold. The
wind was up, doing its best to ruin the sunny day.
TI was still trying to sort it all out. It was beginning
to come clear. Nordberg didn t just want Mike
Chaney dead, he wanted him discredited. The town
thought Mike Chaney was a hero until he started
killing people. Or until Nordberg made it look as if
Chaney was killing people. But it was Nordberg
who d killed them all.
His only problem was when he rode out and killed
Chaney and Pepper and Connelly. He set it up to
make it look as if Flannery had murdered them. And
who wouldn t believe it? Everybody knew how much
Flannery hated Chaney. And he d have to kill the
agents with Chaney because they might be able to
identify him.
On the way out to Nordberg s that morning, I d
stopped by Mrs. Ralston s place. She finally admitted
that her husband had told her it was Nordberg [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl exclamation.htw.pl
her little girl. They were just such sweet, quiet little
people. Never knew a baby who made as little fuss.
Cavalry Man: Powder Keg 263
So I went out there right away and I see her in this
rocking chair and I see the baby in her lap and I see
that she s got the baby all covered up. I spoke to
Wendy a couple of times. But her expression didn t
change. She just sat in the chair and rocked back and
forth. And stared. I wondered what she was seeing.
In her mind, I mean. Something had obviously hap-
pened that she couldn t face up to.
So I leaned over and turned the cover back and
there was the baby and I knew right away she was
dead. I remembered how sharp my breath was in the
house when I realized that she was sitting there rock-
ing a dead baby.
But Wendy was so far gone, she didn t even seem
to know what I was doing when I took the baby from
her. I carried her over to their table and turned up the
lamp and examined her right there.
Didn t take a genius to figure out what had hap-
pened. The left side of the baby s head was stove in.
The wound was deep and raw, I could see bone there
under the blood. Then I happened to notice some
kind of smear on the wall behind where Wendy sat in
the rocking chair.
I picked up the lamp and went over there and got
a close look. You could see where somebody had
smashed her head against the wall. There was blood
and hair and flecks of bone in this smear I was look-
ing at. And I didn t have to think real hard about
who d done it. It sure hadn t been Wendy. Not the
way she loved that little girl.
I wrapped the baby up and went looking for
some whiskey. Wendy didn t want any of it at first
but I made her take it. And it was funny, after about
264 Ed Gorman
three belts and she hadn t said a single word the
whole time she just sat there staring straight ahead
and started shuddering. Never saw a person thrash
around that way. She was like some contraption that
was going to fly apart in bits and pieces.
I right away dug in my bag and got her a sedative
and I gave it to her. I sat right next to her on a foot-
stool, holding her hand until the shuddering stopped
when the sedative took hold of her.
And that was when she told me everything. How
Nordberg would beat her from their wedding night
on. That he always called her a whore, even though
she d really been a virgin at that time. Not even
Mike Chaney had slept with her at that point,
though she d gone out with him for three years be-
fore Nordberg even came to town. She wanted a
baby. That was all she thought about. Having a
baby. She d never been a real social girl so she fig-
ured she d finally get a true friend who she could
take care of. A baby.
But Nordberg wouldn t touch her after the first
six months of their marriage. He d go into these
rages and accuse her of giving him some kind of dis-
ease. She knew he was sneaking off and seeing girls
at the bawdyhouse. But his own wife he wouldn t
have anything to do with.
Then he started raping her. That s what she called
it. He d come home drunk and throw her against the
wall and rape her. And then he d beat her afterward.
She told her folks this but they re religious people
and they told her that the Bible said a woman should
answer only to her husband, not carry tales of him to
others. A man needed his dignity and she was giving
Cavalry Man: Powder Keg 265
him a bad name. Besides, these things always worked
out. That was the sign of a good marriage. Having
things work out.
Then one night when he was gone, she went out
for a walk as she did a lot on spring nights. And ran
into Mike Chaney. That s how he explained it, any-
way. Completely coincidental. He just happened to
be walking down the same grassy lane she was. She
had the sense that he d followed her but she didn t re-
ally care.
That night she slept with him. She still had feel-
ings for him. Not love, she told me. She d grown up
enough to see that he was a showboat as much as
anything. That he wasn t robbing Flannery s banks to
help people around here he was doing it to humili-
ate Flannery and to make a name for himself.
She got pregnant. There was no doubt it was
Mike s child. When Nordberg accused her of sleeping
with somebody else, she told him that he wasn t re-
membering the night when he d thrown her on the
bed and taken her from behind. She told him he d
never been up that far inside of her before, that s how
she d gotten pregnant. She said he believed her for a
while.
But he couldn t let go of the notion that Mike was
the baby s father. He got to the point where he didn t
want to even look at the child, let alone hold it or
even touch it.
And then one night he came home drunk and
wild and took the baby by her ankles and smashed
her head against the wall. That was when I got in-
volved in it all. And I m not proud I didn t speak up.
I m too old to move anywhere else. And I didn t have
266 Ed Gorman
any proof that Nordberg did it. It could have been
Wendy herself, though I knew better.
Nordberg wasn t anybody I could go up against.
He has too many friends in this town. I rode out
there the next morning to see how Wendy was. She
came to the door holding those blankets all wrapped
up and pretending her baby was inside. Her baby
dying and all she lost her mind. She sat in the rock-
ing chair with all those blankets bundled together
and talked about her baby as if she was still alive. I
think Nordberg buried the real baby somewhere and
the fact that Wendy was carrying those bundled-up
blankets all over town was fine with him. People
thought the real baby was still alive.
I imagine with what happened this morning the
way you described her on the ice I imagine she s
even worse off mentally than she was before. You
brought her over here but while we were in here talk-
ing, Ford, she left. The Lord alone knows where s she
gone now.
Chapter 40
B'
he ride out to Nordberg s place was cold. The
wind was up, doing its best to ruin the sunny day.
TI was still trying to sort it all out. It was beginning
to come clear. Nordberg didn t just want Mike
Chaney dead, he wanted him discredited. The town
thought Mike Chaney was a hero until he started
killing people. Or until Nordberg made it look as if
Chaney was killing people. But it was Nordberg
who d killed them all.
His only problem was when he rode out and killed
Chaney and Pepper and Connelly. He set it up to
make it look as if Flannery had murdered them. And
who wouldn t believe it? Everybody knew how much
Flannery hated Chaney. And he d have to kill the
agents with Chaney because they might be able to
identify him.
On the way out to Nordberg s that morning, I d
stopped by Mrs. Ralston s place. She finally admitted
that her husband had told her it was Nordberg [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]