Ray Gorham - Daunting Days of Winter

“You don’t have to give that up, you know,” Jennifer said when Grace brought the quilt out for Emma. “That’s supposed to be for your granddaughter.”

Emma pressed the quilt against her chest, giving her mother a pleading look.

“I want to give it to Emma,” Grace said. “I’ll just make another one for Tabitha. It’s not like I don’t have lots of time.”

Emma’s squeal of delight was cut off by a knock at the door.

Carol answered the door, finding Sean and Gabe on the porch, and invited them in. “You missed all the cake,” she said as they surveyed the scene, “but you can help us sing Happy Birthday again. It’s Emma’s birthday today.”

“That’s great,” Gabe said. “I didn’t know it was your birthday, young lady. How old are you?”

“I’m eleven,” Emma answered in a sing-songy voice. “Look at my new quilt.”

Sean let out a low whistle. “That’s really nice. Who’d you get that from?”

Emma pointed across the room. “Grace gave it to me. She was making it for her granddaughter, but she decided I could have it.”

“That was really nice of her,” Gabe said. “How about we sing, then Sean and I need to talk to your mother. We have some good news.”

Jennifer’s ears perked up, and Sean gave her a reassuring smile.

The group sang a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday”, then Jennifer grabbed a jacket and went out on the front step with the men, her curiosity barely contained.

“What’s up?”

Gabe looked at Sean and motioned for him to be the spokesperson. “We know Kyle isn’t guilty of the rape, or the murder, or anything.”

“That’s it? It took you this long to realize that? I’ve known that since the day you took him into custody. Now he’s who knows where, and you come tell me this?”

Gabe reached out for Jennifer’s arm and squeezed it softly. “Jennifer. I’m sorry for what has happened to you. I really am. What you don’t know is that we know who did it. We have a witness. Kyle can come home.”

Jennifer placed a hand on her chest, taking a step back. “You’re saying that he…” She struggled to find the right words.

Sean stepped forward. “We’re saying that if he was in jail, we’d be unlocking his cell right now. We’ll let the people in Clinton know in the morning, but he’s absolutely, one hundred percent innocent. He didn’t do anything wrong.”

“How’d this happen?”

Sean sighed, pursing his lips. “It’s a long story.”

Jennifer looked closely at him. “Is that blood on your neck?”

Sean rubbed his neck and nodded. “I thought I’d cleaned it off, but it’s not mine. Our friend Ty Lewis saved my life, like he did you and Kyle on the mountain.”

Jennifer hands began to shake. “What happened?”

“That’s not important right now. We’re here about Kyle.” Sean paused to gather his thoughts. “That whole thing never sat right with me, you know. Kyle just didn’t seem like the kind person to do what he was accused of, but everything, and I mean everything, pointed to him. After Rose vouched for his character, I went back over to Dale’s to talk to him again. He was the last one to see the girl alive, but he wouldn’t hardly talk to me, just kept to the same story, and wouldn’t let me talk to his mother, Lois, either. Got real nervous when I asked to see her.”

“Lois hasn’t been around at all lately. I’m not sure if you knew that,” Gabe said. “We all thought she was sick.”

Jennifer shook her head. “I didn’t know. When this all happened to Kyle, I quit working at the school, and that was the only place I ever saw her.”

Sean nodded. “When I went back home, my sister-in-law told me Lois had only been to school one day since the murder. After that, Dale would come by every few days and make an excuse for her, which made me suspicious.”

“Dale did it, didn’t he?” Jennifer’s lips were trembling.

Sean nodded. “Yeah, it was him. I went back over to Dale’s house with Craig and Ty. When Dale wouldn’t open the door, we took matters into our own hands. We probably violated the Constitution, but we found his mother. She was locked up in a room in the basement. Dale was keeping her prisoner and slowly starving her to death, because she knew what had happened and was going to tell us.”

“I thought she told you she’d seen the girl leave.”

Sean nodded. “She did. I interviewed her myself, and she was pretty adamant about it. Assured me the girl was fine when she left. Turns out that Dale had threatened to kill her, and himself, and whoever else he could hurt if she told me anything. He assured her that no one would get blamed for it. Apparently he didn’t know that the house he put her in was yours. He just knew it was empty. The rest was just a bad coincidence for Kyle. When Dale found out, with the bad blood between them, he just went along with it.”

Jennifer shook her head. “I can’t believe Kyle was almost executed, and that I almost died, because of this. When is Dale’s trial going to start? I want to see him humiliated like Kyle was.”

“There isn’t going to be a trial, Jennifer.”

Jennifer glared as Sean, the starlight sufficient for both men to read her thoughts. “You’ll drag Kyle through the mud, but not him?” she shouted, unable to contain her rage. “I can’t believe this. I hate this town.”

Sean held up his hands. “Jennifer, stop,” he interrupted. “Dale’s dead. There can’t be a trial. It’s taken care of.”

Jennifer paused, and she looked to Gabe, who nodded. She felt herself get dizzy and reached for the railing.

Gabe shifted nervously from foot to foot. “I’m so sorry, Jennifer. I feel responsible for this. We tried to do our best, we really did, but we obviously failed pretty tragically.”

Jennifer rubbed the sides of her head in an effort to ward off a headache, then dropped onto the frozen steps. She sat in silence, with neither Sean nor Gabe knowing what to say. Finally Jennifer spoke. “It’s okay, Gabe. I went a week or so trying to hate all of you, but I wasn’t very good at it. Leah’s dad’s face kept coming back to me, and I think I would have been just as demanding as he was. I just hate the situation we’re in, not being able to know.” She looked at Sean. “Why did he lock Lois up if she went along with him?”

“She said she came home from school and confronted him. Told him how someone else had been arrested. He panicked and hit her. When she woke up she was secured in her little prison. She said he was trying to make her death look natural, so we wouldn’t figure it out. Thought if he could get rid of her, then he was safe as long as he didn’t out and out kill her. Another week or so and he might have gotten away with it.”

“Now,” Gabe said. “The big problem we have is letting your husband know he can come home. Do you know where he went?”

“He went to his parents place in Idaho. It’s three hundred miles from here.”

“How can we get word to him, any ideas?”

Jennifer shook her head. “He promised to come get us in April and take us up there if the situation is good. I don’t know any way to get ahold of him sooner.”

“I do.”

The three adults swung around to see David standing in the snow by the corner of the house, a huge grin on his face.

“Dad told me where to find a guy with a radio.”

Saturday, March 3 rd

Moyie Springs, ID

“Come in. Come in, my friend.” Roman’s grin lit up his face as he ushered Kyle into the front room of his modest home. “You are late, but congratulations are for you, you know.”

“Did you get ahold of Frank?” Kyle sensed something in his new friend’s mood and was hopeful that Roman had gotten news from Deer Creek that would be helpful.