Dennis Yates - Red Mountain

“Oh I don’t mind. This truck has served me well. Rarely gives me any trouble. It’s helped my popularity too. I’ve lost count of how many folks I’ve helped put out brush fires over the years.”

“I’m sure you have.” Peggy glanced down at the floor and realized her feet had been resting on some envelopes. “Oh my god,” she said, reaching down and scooping them up with one hand while balancing Connor on her knee. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even see your mail down there.”

Wilbur stuck out his hand and his eyes narrowed.

“Give them to me.”

There was dirt on them from the soles of her shoes, and she tried to dust them off. “Just a second… At least give me a chance to clean off the mess I’ve made.”

“Put them in my goddamn hand. Do it now!”

Wilbur’s tone was scaring her. Connor instinctively scrunched himself close to the passenger door.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t see your mail down there when we got in.” She finished brushing the envelopes and began to hand them over, until she scanned the address of the one on top.

It was a phone bill. A cell phone bill.

Wilbur snatched the envelopes from her hand and the truck swerved. He was breathing rapidly, filling the cab with the sour smell of his rotted teeth.

“Wait a minute!” Peggy shouted. “You never said anything about having a cell phone.”

Wilbur glared at her. “Maybe that’s none of your goddamn business.”

Peggy turned to face him while her hand snaked around Connor and felt for the door handle.

“You could have called the police the minute we showed up. Why didn’t you, Wilbur? Why did you lie to me?”

Wilbur shoved the envelopes behind the seat and scowled at her. “You’ve got some nerve, Peggy. Or is Peggy even your real name?”

“What are you talking about?”

Wilbur wiped his forehead with his sleeve. He was sweating like a pig. That combined with his stinking teeth was starting to choke her.

“My neighbor Walker Marsh called me before you showed up at my place. He told me an interesting story. Said he’d felt sorry for you because you’d run away from some men in Portland who were looking for you. Thought he trusted you too, gave you a place to stay while things cooled off. Then yesterday he discovers his bank account has been cleaned out and while he’s gone you try and steal his truck so you can skip town.”

Peggy stared at Wilbur’s hooded eyes in disbelief. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, she was overcome by a wave of furious anger. She turned sideways so that her body shielded her son.

“That’s bullshit. Jan and I never met until last night. Do you really believe we’re the kind of people who’d do something like that? And bring our children into it?”

“I’ve heard of worse on the news,” Wilbur said. “Every day you hear about some folks doing something bad. But to tell you the truth, we never saw anything on the television about you and the children missing. At the time Bet and thought it would be best to play along until Marsh arrived. We didn’t want you to get suspicious.”

Peggy gasped. She kicked herself for falling into his trap. She’d felt the warning signs and had talked herself out of taking them seriously. Now she understood why the bedroom light was on before they’d arrived. Marsh had been on the phone with him.

Wilbur pulled the truck over to the side of the road. Peggy turned back to Connor and mouthed at him to be ready to run. She’d take his hand and they would run all the way back to the house if they had to…

And then do what?

Suddenly her attention was drawn toward a pickup truck moving up the road in the opposite direction.

Walker’s pickup…

As it drew closer she recognized the driver with the black cowboy hat. A fat wet cigar hung from his yellowed teeth.

****

Peggy tried to open the door but Wilbur grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her back.

“And where the hell do you think you’re going?”

“Let go of me!”

She struggled to free herself from Wilbur’s large hand. His skin felt like the belly of a dead fish. He grinned at her and yanked her closer. She slapped him hard across the face and it left a bright red mark.

The blow appeared to have stung the big man. Peggy looked down and saw that Connor was huddled below the dashboard. His eyes were shut tight and his lips were trembling. He looked like he was retreating back to the place he’d been earlier.

“Stay with me, baby…”

Still in a daze, Wilbur reached up and touched his face with his palm. Then his hand curled into a fist and before Peggy could move out of the way it connected with her jaw. The impact sent her flying into the window behind her. She’d heard glass crack against her head. Or was it her skull?

The cab swirled around her while she fought back the urge to vomit. She dropped her arm and grabbed Connor’s shoulder, hoping he hadn’t seen what had happened. Her jaw was numb and she tasted blood. She tried to ignore the searing headache creeping up from the bottom of her skull, knew that it was only a matter of time before the pain took control.

She watched Marsh’s blurry form emerge from his truck. At his side she saw something long and shiny and blue-black. A rifle…

“Please Wilbur, listen to me. Marsh is lying. He’s a lunatic and he has others following his orders. I think there is some kind of cult ritual involved. People have been murdered…”

“That’s a tall tale if I ever heard one before,” Wilbur spat. “You mean to tell me that man out there is into some kind of devil worship?”

Marsh was leaning against his truck and fanning his face with his hat. He didn’t appear to be in any particular hurry.

“I don’t know exactly. He wouldn’t talk much about it. All he said was there’s no way to stop what’s happening, that this all comes from something way back in the past. You’ve got to believe me. I think there’s this poor guy named Stick who might be in danger. I’m sure he knows about the innocent people Marsh has killed.”

Wilbur’s eyes probed her face for lies. “Did you say Stick?”

“Yeah. Frail looking guy. Marsh had him making food for us. They treated him as if he were a stray dog. Like they could just shoot him at any time...”

Wilbur’s eyes never left Peggy’s face. “Stick is my cousin. Been called that since he was a kid. Something to do with his bones the doctors said. He works for us from time to time, when he’s not out wandering. How in the hell did he wind up over there? We haven’t heard from him for over three months...”

Peggy looked out and saw Marsh standing in the hot sun. When he moved his hat away from his face she saw the blisters and angry red flesh. It finally dawned on her what was wrong.

Marsh was always the one who opened the trailer. But if Marsh is alive then there’s a good possibility Stick was the one who got blown to bits. You stupid bitch… If Marsh tells him you killed his cousin then you might as well kiss your ass goodbye.

“I should really talk to him first before making up my mind,” Wilbur said. “I don’t know who to believe anymore.”

“That’s not a good idea Wilbur. He’s not stable. He could decide to kill us.”

Wilbur scratched his head and thought about it. Marsh looked at him as if to ask what was wrong.

“Oh hell with it. I might regret this, but I’m going to take you and the boy to Wrath Butte. I’ll leave the sheriff to sort this all out.”

Peggy sat up, amazed. “You’re taking us?”

“Yes… Come to think of it, I probably know you better now than I do him. To be honest, I don’t know why I agreed to get involved. He never was much of a neighbor.”

Wilbur started the truck and Marsh stepped toward them, confused by what was happening. He pounded on the driver’s window and ordered Wilbur to stop. Wilbur stomped the gas and they moved past him like a lumbering elephant. Marsh screamed obscenities and began to fire at them with his rifle.