they did it. I stepped down off the porch and picked up the shotgun and broke it open. Once I’d extracted the two shells, I dropped it and picked up the rifle. Amy came around to my side as I dropped the magazine and pulled the charging handle to clear the round from the chamber. With their weapons empty, I pulled the handcuffs from my pocket and threw them on the ground between Dell and Tad.
“Cuff yourself to him, right hand to right hand.” Amy handed me the other set of cuffs, and I tossed them next to Penny. “You do the same, left hand to left hand with your husband.”
“You better think real hard about what you do to us,” Del said. “Because once I get loose, you’re gonna regret it.” Beside him, Tad was red faced and shaking, whether from fear or anger I couldn’t tell. I pretended to think for a moment before I answered.
“I recall someone thinking I should be grateful that they didn’t just shoot me,” I said. “So I was thinking about that.” Tad let out a moan.
“I wasn’t part of any of that, I swear!” he blubbered. “They made me go along with it!”
“Relax, kid, I’m not gonna shoot you. But I meant what I said about the Golden Rule. See, I have some rules of my own. Rule Twenty Three goes something like this: Don’t walk away if someone needs help. So, what am I going to do with you? I’m still not sure. But I think I know where to look for some ideas,” I said as I held up the book.
Chapter 3
Karma
~ At his best, man is the noblest of animals; separated from law and justice, he is the worst. ~
Aristotle
“You can’t do this to me!” Penny screamed from the other side of the basement door. I sighed as I closed it and made my way through the kitchen, picking up two bowls of oatmeal as I went. In the dining room, three children now sat at the table, each one studiously not looking at anything but the bowl in front of them. I went past as quietly as I could, but halfway down the hallway I heard the clinking of silverware on plates stop. Amy’s voice came from the dining room, soft and reassuring. The sound of eating still didn’t resume until I was halfway up the stairs. The door to the little boy’s room opened easily under my hand, and Del looked up at me from the same spot his younger son had been chained yesterday afternoon. Like his son, he only wore a pair of jeans. The red marks from the beatings I had given him stood out on his back and shoulders, and he shivered from the cold. I set the bowl down at the edge of his reach and stepped back.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” I asked as he reached for it.
“You got no right to do this to me, and if I get loose, I’m gonna beat the shit outta you,” he growled. I nudged the bowl out of his reach with my foot.
“For treating you like you treat your own children,” I said. He glared at me. “Everything you told me I couldn’t do to you, you did to them. The way I see it, this right here, the last eighteen hours or so… that’s what you have a right to for the rest of your life.” I nudged the bowl back toward him.
“No one tells me how to raise my kids,” he said around the first spoonful of plain oatmeal. I turned and walked to the door.
“You let Bethlehem’s book do that for you already,” I said from the doorway. “Funny how his methods are okay to use on your kids, but it pisses you off when I use them on you.” I pulled the door shut and went to the next one. Tad was curled up in a sniffling ball in the corner. His head came up when the door opened. I set the bowl down in easy reach of him and stepped back. Unlike his parents, he’d been spared the beatings, the dousing with water and had been fed at the same time as the other kids.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” I repeated.
“I didn’t do anything,” he said as he grabbed the bowl. “It was all Mom and Dad, they locked my brother and sisters up. There wasn’t anything I could do about it.” I shook my
“Cuff yourself to him, right hand to right hand.” Amy handed me the other set of cuffs, and I tossed them next to Penny. “You do the same, left hand to left hand with your husband.”
“You better think real hard about what you do to us,” Del said. “Because once I get loose, you’re gonna regret it.” Beside him, Tad was red faced and shaking, whether from fear or anger I couldn’t tell. I pretended to think for a moment before I answered.
“I recall someone thinking I should be grateful that they didn’t just shoot me,” I said. “So I was thinking about that.” Tad let out a moan.
“I wasn’t part of any of that, I swear!” he blubbered. “They made me go along with it!”
“Relax, kid, I’m not gonna shoot you. But I meant what I said about the Golden Rule. See, I have some rules of my own. Rule Twenty Three goes something like this: Don’t walk away if someone needs help. So, what am I going to do with you? I’m still not sure. But I think I know where to look for some ideas,” I said as I held up the book.
Chapter 3
Karma
~ At his best, man is the noblest of animals; separated from law and justice, he is the worst. ~
Aristotle
“You can’t do this to me!” Penny screamed from the other side of the basement door. I sighed as I closed it and made my way through the kitchen, picking up two bowls of oatmeal as I went. In the dining room, three children now sat at the table, each one studiously not looking at anything but the bowl in front of them. I went past as quietly as I could, but halfway down the hallway I heard the clinking of silverware on plates stop. Amy’s voice came from the dining room, soft and reassuring. The sound of eating still didn’t resume until I was halfway up the stairs. The door to the little boy’s room opened easily under my hand, and Del looked up at me from the same spot his younger son had been chained yesterday afternoon. Like his son, he only wore a pair of jeans. The red marks from the beatings I had given him stood out on his back and shoulders, and he shivered from the cold. I set the bowl down at the edge of his reach and stepped back.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” I asked as he reached for it.
“You got no right to do this to me, and if I get loose, I’m gonna beat the shit outta you,” he growled. I nudged the bowl out of his reach with my foot.
“For treating you like you treat your own children,” I said. He glared at me. “Everything you told me I couldn’t do to you, you did to them. The way I see it, this right here, the last eighteen hours or so… that’s what you have a right to for the rest of your life.” I nudged the bowl back toward him.
“No one tells me how to raise my kids,” he said around the first spoonful of plain oatmeal. I turned and walked to the door.
“You let Bethlehem’s book do that for you already,” I said from the doorway. “Funny how his methods are okay to use on your kids, but it pisses you off when I use them on you.” I pulled the door shut and went to the next one. Tad was curled up in a sniffling ball in the corner. His head came up when the door opened. I set the bowl down in easy reach of him and stepped back. Unlike his parents, he’d been spared the beatings, the dousing with water and had been fed at the same time as the other kids.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” I repeated.
“I didn’t do anything,” he said as he grabbed the bowl. “It was all Mom and Dad, they locked my brother and sisters up. There wasn’t anything I could do about it.” I shook my
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