Estafay didn’t drop the gun; she kept it pointed at Ruth Ann.
“Drop the gun, Estafay! Drop it! I said drop it right now!”
Estafay shook her head. “No, Sheriff. Ruth Ann and I are checking out together. Same departure time, different destinations.”
“Aw hell!” Sheriff Bledsoe said.
“Shoot her, Sheriff!” Eric yelled. “Shoot her! What you waiting on?”
Estafay grinned at her. “When you get there, look through the flames and see who’s burning with you. It won’t be me,” and cocked the pistol with the palm of her left hand.
Ruth Ann closed her eyes.
Thulink!
Ida screamed.
Estafay looked surprised, eyes and mouth agape, blood filling in both.
The gun slipped from Estafay’s fingers. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, arms went limp… torso started jerking as if she were belly dancing.
Ida screamed again.
Estafay leaned forward… and collapsed into Ruth Ann’s arms.
“Who’s there?” Sheriff Bledsoe said, shining the light at the side of the cabin. “Who’s there?”
“What happened? What happened?” Ruth Ann shouted, holding Estafay up by her armpits. “What happened? What happened?”
“Let her go!” Shirley said. “Ruth Ann, let her go!”
“What happened?”
“Dammit, I said let her go!”
“What happ—” Claaap! Something slammed into the left side of her face, almost knocking her down… Estafay hit the dirt. She thought she’d been whacked with a two-by-four.
Shirley shook her. “Snap out of it!” Ruth Ann ran her tongue across the roof of her mouth, worried she’d lost the ability to taste. “Are you okay?”
She rubbed her face. Numb. “Shirley, was that absolutely necessary?”
Shirley answered by taking her hand and leading her to where Eric lay on the ground. Shirley knelt beside him and removed the underwear wrapped around his wrists and used it as a tourniquet on his leg.
“Is it over, Shirley?” Ruth Ann said. “Is it really over?”
“It’s over. Try not to think about it just yet.”
Sheriff Bledsoe came over and played the light on Eric. “Is he all right?”
“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Shirley said. “We need to get him to a hospital. He’s going to be all right.”
“Did anyone see who shot the arrow?”
Ruth Ann started to speak but Shirley cut her off. “No. No, we didn’t. We saw the same thing you saw, Sheriff, which was nothing. Right, Ruth Ann?”
“I’m not sure what I saw.”
“I saw it, Sheriff,” Eric piped in. “An angel, swear to God! An angel! I saw it with my own eyes.” He grimaced in pain as he propped up on an elbow and pointed at the cabin. “Standing over there, right side the cabin, I saw it. I was right here looking dead at it.”
Shirley patted his head. “He’s delirious. He’s lost a lot of blood.”
“I’m not delirious! I saw it! A black angel! I couldn’t believe it myself. A black angel right before my eyes! I prayed to God, Shirley, and He sent us an angel. It’s an epiphany—no, no! It’s a miracle! A miracle!”
Shirley wiped his face with the hem of her sweat shirt. “Eric, baby, relax. If you say you saw an angel I believe you. Now you know if God sends you an angel, He expects you to walk true the rest of your life. No tipping, slipping, tripping, sliding—walk straight and true, you know what I’m saying?”
Eric nodded. “I know what you saying, Shirley. I know exactly what you saying.”
“What did this angel look like?” Sheriff Bledsoe asked.
“It was black. I guess God sends black angels to black folks and white angels to white folks.”
“Yeah, yeah. What was he wearing?”
“It was naked. Naked than a jaybird. How I knew it was an angel. It had a bow and arrow, too.”
Sheriff Bledsoe grunted. “Angels, black or white, don’t shoot people with arrows.”
“Let it go, Sheriff,” Shirley said. “It’s over, let it go.”
Sheriff Bledsoe ignored her and turned his attention to Ruth Ann. “Where’s your son? I was told your son was up here. Where is he?”
She started to speak and again Shirley cut her off. “Ruth Ann, go check on Momma and Leonard. Go see how they’re doing. Turn around and walk straight ahead. Go on now. Go check on em.”
Leaving, Ruth Ann heard Shirley say, “Ennis Bledsoe, why you digging up bones when you should be helping me get my future husband to a hospital? No one asked why you come up here without a gun, did they? The mayor hasn’t asked about the polygraph machine you rigged up, has he? Some bones are best left in the ground. You don’t dig up mine, I won’t dig up yours. You dig what I’m saying, Sheriff Ennis Lee Bledsoe?”
“I think I do,” Sheriff Bledsoe said dryly.
Ida and Leonard stood in front of the damaged cabin, Ida crying on his shoulder.
“How’s Momma doing?” Ruth Ann asked.
“She’ll be all right in a bit,” Leonard said. “How’s Eric?”
“Shirley said he’s going to be all right.”
“Good. I’m taking Mother down the hill. Tonight we’re staying at the Holiday Inn in Greensville. Tell Shirley to come by tomorrow before we leave town. You come by, too.”
“We? Where are you going?”
“Mother and I are going to Chicago to stay. Are you ready to go, Mother?” Ida nodded. They started toward the trail, Leonard pointing the penlight in front of them.
Ruth Ann thought to go hug her mother before they left, but she didn’t. She watched them disappear into the darkness.
Wekeeee! Wekeeee!
The sound came from behind the cabin.
“Shane! Shane! Shane!”
“Ruth Ann,” Shirley called, “we need your help to carry Eric down.”
“Shane!” Ruth Ann crossed to the side of the cabin. “Shane!” Shirley came up behind her. “Shane, come back! Come back, Shane!”
Shirley put a hand on Ruth Ann’s shoulder. “C’mon. He’s all right. He knows his way around out here.”
“Are you sure? He’s out there all by himself, after all has happened. I know I couldn’t handle it. Are you sure, Shirley?”
“Trust me.” In a quavering voice she added, “Would your little sister lie to you?”
Ruth Ann knew she was supposed to say, “No, she wouldn’t,” but her throat constricted and she couldn’t get the words out. She swallowed, closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, cleared her throat and again tried to push the words out. Nothing.
So she wrapped her arms around her little sister’s broad shoulders and hugged her tightly, and through her sobs she finally blurted, “I love you, Shirley!”
Epilogue
Eric slowly made his way up the aisle on crutches, dressed in a diamond-white double-breasted Giorgio
