Friday, November 2, 2012

Now Playing: The Silent Child
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The Silent Child 1 & 2

Episode Twenty of The Silent Child

Episode Nineteen concluded with:

Rupert laughed. “You don’t sound very convinced, Enoch. Sure we’ll get away with it. That picture of Mrs. Thompson in your saddle bags sure has tongues wagging. The way we see it, people will think you killed Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, then went plum crazy: set fire to the store, killed your wife and the kid and, for an encore, killed yourself.”
Clarence smiled contentedly. “The town will be talkin’ about it for years. A lot of that talk will take place over the cracker barrel at Bushrod Brothers’ General Store.”
“We ain’t got a cracker barrel!”
“Remind me to order one.” 


Episode Twenty

A voice sounded from above. “Rupert, Clarence, gotta talk to you. It’s Laszlo.”
“Uh oh,” Rupert said. “There’s the weakest link in the chain.”
“What is it?!” Clarence shouted.
“Mr. Runyon at the train station tole me somethin’ you need to know.”
Clarence, the lantern still in his left hand, motioned with his gun hand at the Harpers and Pixie. “All of you move back and keep silent. Rupert, talk to the town fool, and find out what’s on his mind, which probably isn’t much. Keep your gun pointed low. In the darkness Laszlo probably won’t spot it.
The Harpers moved backward into the darkness as directed. Pixie was still clinging to Kate. Clarence stood beside Enoch, holding the lantern in one hand and pressing the barrel of a gun into Enoch’s side with the other.
“Lift the trap door and come down, Laszlo,” Rupert shouted.
The door opened. Rupert noted that there wasn’t much light from above but he wanted keep his gun out of Laszlo’s sight. “Be sure and close the door behind you.”
Laszlo stumbled in the darkness coming down the steps. “Hurt ankle!” He said as reached the ground floor.
The swamper began to stagger around the basement, whining like a child. He suddenly slammed into Clarence, grabbing the gun from him as Clarence fell to the floor.
“Hold him down, Enoch! Drop the gun, Rupert!”
Rupert recognized the voice as coming from Rance Dehner. The lantern was now lying on the floor, spewing a gush of light upwards. Rupert fired at what he thought was a moving shadow, then immediately realized that he had made a mistake. The orange-red blossom from his gun gave away his location.
In a panic, Rupert turned and ran. His foot collided with the first step of the stairway. He began to scramble up the wooden planks. He heard a few quick steps behind him and then his neck was trapped in an iron vise.  A tight grip wrapped around his gun hand.
“Give it up, Rupert!” Dehner ordered.
Rupert Bushrod was breathing in puffs. “Okay, okay, you got me. Guess Shakespeare was right. The race is to the swift.”
Clarence’s voice thundered from the floor of the basement. “That’s “The race is NOT to the swift.” And it’s from the Bible, not Shakespeare.”
Rupert sighed. Maybe my brother shoulda spent less time readin’ and more time tendin’ the store.”

Monday: Episode Twenty-One of The Silent Child