The Child Thief

the show now. He realized his whole body was shivering, but not from any chill.

A weak moan escaped Redbone. Nick leaned over to him and said, “Hang in there, man.”

One of Redbone’s eyes flitted open. He managed a weak smile, a shadow of his former ferocious grin. Then his eyes fell shut. Nick would’ve thought him dead except for the faint rise and fall of his chest.

“What’re they gonna do?” Leroy asked, his voice high and strained. It seemed less a question and more just words coming from a scared boy. Nick wanted to pretend he didn’t know, but he did. The Reverend had said they would drown them. From there, it wasn’t too hard to figure out. He tried not to think what it would be like to be trapped in this basket beneath the dark water of that scummy pond. Did it hurt to drown?

The Reverend Senior walked over to the basket. He held a tattered Bible in one hand and his staff in the other. He faced the crowd. “Let us pray,” he pronounced, and the crowd fell silent. “Lord, we are grateful for the faith you have placed in our hands. Give us strength that we may do your bidding. And bless these children and make them strong for the trials ahead. Amen.”

“Amen,” the crowd murmured.

The Reverend laid the Bible on the cage and closed his good eye. The crowd fell silent. “Demon,” the Reverend called in a low, stern voice. “Hear me for I call you out in the name of the Lord Almighty. Leave these children. Return to the pits of Hell from whence you came.” Slowly, he raised his head, his eye opened, and he glared at the boys. “DEMON!” he shrieked, his voice filled with wrath. “LEAVE THESE CHILDREN!” Spittle flew from his lips. “I demand it in the name of the Heavenly Father!” To Nick, it seemed that the Reverend was the one possessed. The Reverend slapped the side of the cage with his staff and locked his wide, fanatical eye on Nick. “I see you, demon! I see you very well. Leave now, or face the pain of drowning!”

The Reverend leaned in close. “Boys,” he whispered, his voice suddenly gentle, kind. “If you can hear me call on the Lord to give you strength. Let Him hear your voice.” The Reverend looked deep into Nick’s eyes, searching. Nick saw a different person then, a soul overcome with compassion and pity. Why, the man was near tears. The Reverend reached through the bars, grasped Nick by the shoulder. “Please boy, please hear me.” And at that moment Nick saw that this man truly believed he was helping them, and somehow knowing this made the situation even more horrifying. “Children,” the Reverend called. “For the love of God, find the strength, break free. Defeat these demons. Lift up your voices. Let Him hear you!”

This was followed by many in the crowd, shouts of “Let Him hear you!” and “Call to the Lord!”

The Reverend stepped away, watching, waiting.

Lift up my voice? Nick thought. And say what? What was he supposed to say? Nick tried to find some words, but all that came out was, “God help me.”

The Reverend slowly shook his head, then nodded toward the two men at the ballast and they swung the cage out over the pond. Leroy let out a weak cry. Many among the crowd jockeyed for the best spots along the bank, their faces eager, like a crowd’s before a prize fight. Nick stared into the dark water.

“Children,” the Reverend called. “Raise your voices to God!”

“OH GOD!” Leroy screamed. “Jesus, God, Lord, help us for Christ’s sake! Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, help us!” Nick didn’t think that was what they were looking for, but he joined in just the same. “Jesus, please help us.”

Then a strange laugh cut the air, causing all of them to fall silent. It was Redbone, his laugh hearty and piercing.

The Reverend’s good eye squinted down to a mere slit. The crowd took a step back.

“TELL YOUR ANGELS TO GO FUCK THEMSELVES!” Redbone cried, then laughed again, and for a brief moment, it was the old Redbone, his wild, crazy grin in place. “You can all go fuck yourselves,” he yowled, followed again by that mad laugh, then he choked, and coughed. Nick saw several specks of blood spray from his mouth and land on his chest.

The Reverend’s face clouded; he pursed his lips as he waved to the men beside the ballast. The cage began to drop.

Nick searched the crowd, found hate and fear, faces eager to see him drown, but he also found many that appeared mortified, their faces full of pain and sorrow—pity. Many who held their hands clasped tightly together in prayer. These Nick reached out to. “Stop,” he begged them. “Please make them stop.” But none stepped forward, their eyes fell away from his, down to their feet or to the heavens above.

The water was warm, slimy, and smelled like a clogged sink drain. It was to his waist, then his chest, then his neck. Redbone’s head sank below the surface. Nick saw the boy’s eyes flash open, scared and confused. Nick splashed over and lifted him in his arms, trying to get Redbone’s head above the water, but it was too late—for all of them. Nick took in a deep lungful of air. He heard Leroy scream, “Oh God!”—then they sank below the water.

Stay calm, Nick thought; he knew there was no way out of the cage. If he could remain absolutely still and calm, he might survive. But a darker thought came to him: survive for what? Wouldn’t it be better to drown now than to have to go through the torments ahead? What had the Reverend said: breaking bones, branding, burning? He felt Redbone’s body convulse once, then go limp. Nick thought the boy must have finally died, actually hoped so, hoped Redbone at least was free from this nightmare.

As the pressure mounted in Nick’s lungs, he watched the surface light filtered down through the murky green water, a world of air so close but impossible to reach. The pain increased and soon began to overwhelm him. He’d heard stories that drowning was almost peaceful. If that were so, then why was he in such agony? Why did his chest feel like it was about to burst? His pulse thundered in his ears. White spots began to bloom then explode across his vision until a bright spectral light filled his head. The last of the air escaped his lungs in a convulsive burst of bubbles. He tried to inhale, but when the water entered his mouth, his throat closed up, choking him, gagging him, causing him to swallow several mouthfuls of the stringy brackish water. He grasped the bamboo cage, squeezing so hard he felt the strips cutting into his hand. Then his head broke the surface, and he was trying to suck in air. He got one lungful, then the contents of his stomach came pouring out of his mouth and nose in a painful, convulsive wretch. He fought to suck in air between heaves, only to choke and gag. He heard a distant, watery wail, like a baby’s first cry, and realized it was him. Finally, he began to breathe again, huge lungfuls of air —sweet, sweet air.

Nick wiped the slimy water from his eyes and found Redbone lying in the bottom of the basket, his eyes open, his face pale and peaceful. The wild boy was dead. Nick turned away and spat to clear his mouth of the taste of his own bile. He heard someone else gagging and saw Leroy clinging to the side of the cage, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to suck in breath. And despite all that he’d gone through, Nick found he still had room to wish Leroy had drowned.

“Lord, deliver them from their demons,” the Reverend called. “Speak, children. Call out His name. Now is the time to disavow your demons.” And on and on the Reverend went. Demons, and angels, and God, and the Holy who-gives-a-fuck, Nick thought. Nick now understood what Redbone must have realized: that they were screwed, that the only demons were these men in their long, black capes, that there was nothing they could say or do that was going to keep these twisted, sadistic men from torturing them to death.

Someone grasped Nick’s hand. It startled him. Leroy had moved over and was staring at him with wide, terrified eyes.

“N-n-nick,” Leroy stuttered. “Dude, I…gotta tell you something.”

Nick yanked his hand away.

“Hey Nick…please don’t be like that,” Leroy begged, his voice rising and breaking. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m such a fuck. But I need you to listen…please. It’s about my dad. Something that happened. I gotta tell someone. Nick, please you got to listen.”

No I don’t, Nick thought, because he had no intention of spending what might be his last moments alive hearing anything Leroy had to say. He turned away.

“Nick,” Leroy sobbed. “Don’t do this. Okay, okay, I lied. I lied about everything. There, now will you listen to me? Please?”

Nick said nothing.

“I know I’m always fucking up. Just like back home. Just like with my dad.” Leroy was quiet a moment. “But that business with Sekeu though…that was different. Everything’s just so weird here. Y’know?” Then low, barely a