Cory understood where this was heading but decided to push the envelope and gauge the response.
“Yes, it was fully executed by your men,” he replied. “I’m talking about your guy last night who tried to abduct my boy from a room upstairs. Surely you knew about that?”
“Of course,” replied Cory, feeling his advantage slowly slipping away. He wanted to get right down to it and give Ralph the ultimatum but decided to give it just a little more time.
“What would it look like to you, Ralph, to have your son back down the mountain with his mother and friends and your group moving along up the mountains, maybe to the National Park? There is a lot of game up there, and you’re about out of food here.”
“We’ve got plenty left, I’m sure,” replied Ralph.
“The MacDonalds, the folks who own this property, told me they had a few months’ worth for just them, and they track every bite. You’ve got about 50 people here, I’m guessing?”
“Give or take, yes. What’s your point?”
“My point is, who’s in charge of the food, Ralph?” he said in a loud booming voice, getting a jump out of the injured man.
“Well, I don’t really know,” he stammered, “but I’m sure they are taking care to preserve it.”
Cory walked to the far wall without a word and quickly swung the door open so Ralph could see the carnage. His eyes were wide open now, and his face grew red. Every man, woman and child he could see had their mouths full of food, with more in their hands waiting to be shoved in.
This is it, thought Cory—the point where he concedes or all hell breaks loose.
“Close the door,” said Ralph. “Close the damn door!” he screamed.
Cory did as he was asked, but only because the tables were turning back in his favor.
Taking deep breaths, Ralph calmed down. Holding his stomach, he winced and sat up on the bed.
“What do you want, Chief?”
“I want Joshua back today and a plan for your group to head farther into the mountains. What do you want, Ralph?”
He paused, seeming to think it over in his head.
“I want my wife back, as I have said several times, but I’m starting to think that may not happen. I’m willing to let the boy go if Patty will talk to me face-to-face and hear me out.”
“Okay, I think we can do that,” replied Cory, picking up on the subtly of Ralph calling his son “the boy.”
“I’ll take Joshua back today, and you have my word I’ll be back with her tomorrow.”
“You will give me your word on that, will you?”
“Yes, I will,” said Cory.
Ralph laughed, coughing halfway through. “From what I’ve heard, you are a fair man, but things are different now all over, and we ain’t friends. So that would be a no. You have her here tomorrow morning to talk. If she decides to leave after that, she can take the boy. He’s a crybaby anyway.”
Cory listened to the man and felt sorry for Joshua. What man would ever speak that way about his son? he thought.
“After she decides, your men remove the body of that old bag out there and dump it in the woods somewhere. Can’t have everybody here getting sick over it. We can talk about the leaving this property part later.”
“Okay. Agreed,” said Cory, “but I want to see Joshua before I leave and have five minutes alone to talk with him. You will keep him upstairs and away from anyone else until I return. Is that understood?”
“I think we can do that. It’s not like I’m going to tuck him in tonight, anyway,” he said with a laugh that made Cory’s hands ball into fists.
He saw the large pillow out of the corner of his eye, and so did Ralph. “You want to tuck me in permanently, don’t you?” asked Ralph, pointing a pistol at Cory.
Without answering the question, Cory said, “I will move Joshua to a different room, with an intact door.”
Cory made his way through the ankle-deep trash all across the main rooms of the house. In the far corner lay a figure covered loosely in a blanket. He thought it must be the deceased woman they spoke about. He could hear the flies buzzing around her as he climbed the stairs.
Cory looked into the open room and said, “Joshua, it’s Chief Lerner from the Ranch. I know Samuel and your mother. Come on. We’re moving you to another room.”
“Are you going to hurt me, mister?”
“No, Joshua. I’m here to help.”
The new room was nearly void of trash and spoiled food. The window was open, and the breeze masked the smell in the main house almost completely.
Cory shut the door behind them. He walked to the window and surveyed the outside.
“Has anyone hurt you, Joshua?”
“Well, no, I guess not,” he replied.
“I’ll see that you have food and water and a place to go to the bathroom,” said Cory.
“Okay. Let me tell you what’s going to happen. Your mother will return with me tomorrow to talk with your father. I’m sorry I can’t take you right now. If she decides to stay, you will both live with this group of people. If she decides to go back to the West, then you will go with her. Do you understand?”
“Yes, mister, I do, and there is no way my mom is going to stay here with him, unless he makes her too scared to leave.”
Cory continued: “I’ll be right there the whole time and make sure that doesn’t happen. I want you to stay in this room and lock that door when I leave. Don’t let anyone in, no matter what. Okay?”
“Uh…well, okay.”
“I’ll see you in the morning. And Joshua, I’m proud
