Now Playing: The Silent Child
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Episode Ten concluded with:
He slipped out of bed
and into the pants which were lying on a nearby chair. As Enoch picked up the
Henry that was propped in the corner behind the chair, he turned and saw his
wife sitting up. Her eyes were questioning and alert.
He placed a finger to his lips, then pointed toward the store area. Kate nodded
her head, quietly left the bed and rushed over to the pile of blankets where
Pixie was sleeping. She gently awoke the child and then pulled back part of the
rug, revealing a trap door. She lifted the door, wrapped Pixie in a blanket and
carried her into the basement.
Enoch knew his wife wouldn’t be down there long. She would make sure Pixie was
comfortable and then come back up. He needed to act fast. Enoch entered the
store area where an intruder awaited him.
Episode Eleven
Most
of the kerosene lamps along Main Street were now out. There was only a small
cut of moon in the sky, leaving the store in almost total darkness.
Enoch spotted a bulge in the
darkness. The figure was several yards away from him and seemed to be looking
under the counter, but for what?
The store owner lifted his Henry as
he spoke. “Stand still and put your hands up or I’ll kill you.”
Enoch’s words seemed to shock the
intruder. He froze for a moment, then put his hands up.
Enoch slowly stepped toward the dark
figure. He didn’t want to trip over anything. “Okay friend, you and I are going
to take a walk to the sheriff’s office. You’re going to have to answer a few
questions.”
“You’re the one that should be
answerin’ questions!” The figure stepped around the counter. “You’re the one
that kept company with Judy Thompson!”
The store owner was shocked by the
accusation but more worried that the intruder now had his arms down. “Get your
hands back up and freeze. I mean it, I’ll shoot!”
A frantic voice shouted back, “I
ain’t takin’ orders from you!”
The figure’s right hand seemed to
move toward his hip. Thoughts of his wife and the child flashed through Enoch’s
mind. He fired the rifle.
There was a loud cry of pain. The
figure jerked backwards and fell.
“Enoch!” The door to the living
quarters flung open. Pixie’s screams sounded from far away like cries from
perdition.
“I’m okay, Kate. I shot the thief.”
“Is he dead?”
Encoh’s voice was almost a sob.
“Don’t know. Please, look after the kid.”
Kate returned to the child. Enoch
made his way to the edge of the counter where there was a kerosene lamp and a
box of matchsticks. He struck one of the matches against the counter, then
lifted the chimney and placed the flame against the lamp’s wick. He blew out
the match and returned the chimney.
Enoch told himself that he had not
lied to his wife. He didn’t know for certain if the man he had shot was alive
or dead. Still, he thought there was little chance the intruder had any life
left in him. The body lay still on the floor. There were no painful moans.
Pixie’s screams sounded closer. Lamp
in one hand and the rifle cradled in his arm, Enoch approached the body on the
floor.
“What?!”
One glance convinced Enoch that he had been right. The man was dead. Still, the
store owner placed the lamp down and picked up the wrist of the corpse, feeling
for a pulse that wasn’t there.
“Enoch…”
The
store owner looked back at his wife, who stood a few feet behind him holding
the child. Pixie’s face was pressed into her chest. “Dear God, Kate, I just
killed a deputy sheriff.”
Tomorrow:
Episode Twelve of The Silent Child
