Posted by AlOmega on March 16, 2001 at 15:29:58:
As sorta suggested by Maxwell under a post to Ripper....
He woke at the base of an old hickory tree. Must have been the roots driving him awake, he thought. And he wondered once more where he was. Then he remembered
and with the remembering, gave a familiar call.
“Hey, Blue, where yo at? We gotta get home or the Woman’ll have my butt. Shoulda been home hours ago.”
The patter of big feet plowing through the swamp water sang in his ears. He loved that old dog – near as much as he did is wife, though he would never admit as much. They had a mutual unsung love that both knew but neither acknowledged. Both liked it that way. She would spice his tea or he would carve a new soapstone figure. Neither acknowledged the gift of love but both knew and that was enough.
She preferred home and hearth and a chat with the neighbors now and then. He preferred the fields, a pull on a jug once in a while, and hunting with his dog, Blue. But though neither would admit it, they preferred one another’s company to anything else.
So when he said “She’ll have my butt”, it was an endearment and nothing less.
Scratching behind Blue’s ears and roughing his head, Jacques head on back home. Nowhere in the swamps could he get lost – not with Blue marking the paths. Soon he entered a familiar meadow. Two men were digging in the ground – his ground and that riled him enough. But on second thought, they weren’t digging so much as filling in a hole.
“Hey, you two. Whatcha doin’ on my land. I don’t take kindly to diggin’ here. I’ve kept this place…”.
He paused when he noticed the two weren’t paying him no heed. Again he called out but they didn’t respond. As he neared, he heard them talking.
“Best they ever was, he was. Fittin’ he should be here. “
“Yep, Ol’ Jacques won’t mind. He’da left had ‘im here afore he was put somewheres else.”
Both men knelt and remained silent. And they were so reverent that Jacques couldn’t bear saying another word even though the questions rattled in his brain like buckshot. Then he remembered how it all had begun. He had been finished with plowing the
“Back Fence” – what he called his thirty acres beyond the corpse of trees defining his backyard….
"Hey, Blue,” he shouted over the clattering of the serviceable tractor. Looking back over his fields, he figured it had been a real fine day. Ground plowed plenty and seeds strewn in the right amounts that would generate a good harvest. Sun was still shining
and he had a couple of hours before the Woman would have his supper ready.
Shouting once more, he was rewarded with scrunching paws on freshly turned earth. Yep, Ol Blue was a-raring to go. One could see it in the eyes and eagerness that Blue greeted the old farmer. He stopped by the back door to get his gun and tell Sarah
where he was heading. She knew him well enough to know that he’d be tired and wanting his supper. And she’d have it ready and waiting. She smiled at the back of her old man and his dog. Better than a painting she figured and no photog guy would have
gotten it right even using one of their fancy lenses.
Jacques stopped by an old hickory tree that he knew and put his jug down after giving it one long pull. Off Blue ran eager to find rabbit, coon, or ‘possum. For a short distance, Jacque followed. But he came back to the tree for another pull or two from the jug
before following after.
Maybe half an hour later, he heard Blue’s song change to a whine. It took him a few minutes to track where Blue was. Swamps can be mighty tricky sometimes….
Jacques watched as the two men disappeared into the dense woods to the south. Shrugging his shoulders, he called for Blue and headed back home. As he neared his
house, he saw the two men enter.
What’er them guys wantin’ at my place? He thought. He heard faint sobs from within. It was Sarah.
“Sorry I’s a bit late but…”. She didn’t respond. This puzzled Jacques. Then he saw the two men with two others carrying a long box…..
Damn! He thought. Blue’s got hisself in trouble now. He could see the muddy tracks on the other side plain enough. Raccoon and a large one at that, he figured. Blue was caught in some brush. Couldn’t swim outta that. So Jacques stepped from a stump to a rock and onto a log which contained the submerged branches that Blue was caught in.
Mighty slippery, he thought but with his belt, he figured he could pull Blue free and….
Then he slipped….
Jacques looked at the box and then knew. Knew why no one could hear him. Knew why the men had been digging and what the hole was for. Hi knew that the box
contained a body – his most likely since Sarah was crying. He must have drowned rescuing Blue. Slipped on that log probably and Blue drowned with him. He must have been the one that the two had buried. Well nothing more to do here. Kinda funny being dead, he thought, but not much different than being alive. So it wasn’t too long before Jacques and Ol’ Blue were going back to the swamp. But this time it was different. He finally noticed that a new trail had
been cut into the path he always took to that old hickory tree. He looked back but the trail vanished into the low fog that generally permeated the swamps. Well no matter.
But there was something ahead – someone actually. And he saw real clear that though the trail went further, a path led through a single-bar gate. As he neared, Jacques noticed that the ‘someone’ was a man about his own age but wearing brown slacks, boots, and a yellow/green/brown plaid shirt.
Fancy, he thought. After all, jeans, scruffy old shoes, and a patched blue shirt was all he wore in the
swamps. If he wore that stuff, he’da been worried about messin’ ‘em up. Anyway, wouldn’t do to be impolite.
“Hi, young feller.” Well, the guy was younger, clean shaven. Not sporting a scruffy beard with gray sprouting in clumps like he did. The guy must shave every day. And a neat haircut, too. Sarah would cut his hair maybe once a month and that was enough for
him.
“Hi, Jacques. And welcome. Kinda figured you’d be comin’ by soon enough”, the guy said with a smile and extending his hand. “Name’s, Sam.”
Jacques would have taken his hand but Blue let out a low growl - not a bark of warning or a growl of hatred but a growl of dislike. Well Jacques had known Blue much longer than he knew this guy. Still it wouldn’t do to be unfriendly now, would it.
“So what’re you doin’ here?” Jacques quarried. Even if Blue didn’t like him right off, that might change.
“You might say I was waiting for you. Figured you’d be here soon enough. We’ve got a place for you just inside.” Sam opened the gate wide and gestured Jacques through.
“Whatdoya mean?"
"Why this here's Heaven, don’tja know. I’m the Gatekeeper. There’s a nice mansion just inside that’s waiting for you to enjoy. Everything you heard about is true. Paths of gold and all that is just inside. “ And once more he gestured.
Jacques started to go through the gate when Blue grabbed his jeans and pulled a bit. Then he let go.
“Come on, Blue. Time to get.”
“Uh, sorry. But we don’t allow dogs in here. There’s a place just down the path a bit that lets dogs in. They have a special place.“
Again Blue nipped at his leg.
“Ya mean ya caint do no huntin’ inside? Why not?”
“Just don’t work like that, Jacques. We have rules even Here.”
“Well, I don’t like them rules. ‘Taint right that I go in and Blue stays here. We’ve been together ever since Blue was a pup.”
“Blue will be taken care of just now the trail a bit. Just go in and I’ll personally take him there.”
“Nope. Not right, I says. Not right at all. I’ll take Ol’ Blue. Me n he are special to each other. Only Sarah’d have either of us, I figure so I’ll just wonder around a bit and see what comes up.”
“Have it your own way. But you’ll be back. Aint no place for you except here. I mean we’ve got a big mansion for you and you can wait for Sarah and she’ll be here soon enough because time flows different here. You’ll see.”
“Guess not, Sam. Don’t get riled or nothin’ but I’m just an old farmer and Blue’s been with me too long for me to just up and leave him to some else like that. If I don’t find that dog place, I’ll wait outside for Sarah. Aint wantin’ no place without her and Blue anyhow.”
And without another word, Jacques and Blue continued down the trail. Soon Sam was left behind as the fogs rolled in once more. Blue was jumping about like a pup when Jacques saw another guy beside another path. He approached gingerly this time wondering what he’d find. The guy looked sort of like Sam but sported a day-old growth and wore bib overalls.
“Welcome, Jacques.”
“Hi, young feller.”
Kneeling down, the new guy scratched behind Blue’s ears.
“Nice dog,” he said standing. “Wondered how long it would be ‘til you got here.”
“What’s ‘here’?”
The guy gave a chuckle.
“Thought you’da figured it out by now. This here is Heaven.“
“Hey, I just left a place some guy named Sam called ‘Heaven’. Looked nice for the outside but wouldn’t let Blue in.”
“Oh that place,” he laughed. “Always trying Sam is. Anyway, Blue can come inside. Figured you’d want him with you anyways. Lots of huntin’ and things that both of you would enjoy. This here’s Heaven so you can do most anything.”
“What about that Sam feller?”
“Well, I’ll tell ya. Its his last time at getting’ people to change their minds. And many fall prey to his mansion stuff. Looks good I’ll grant him that. But hey, let Blue tell ya right.”
“I just wonderin’ though. He said somethin’ ‘ bout Sarah…”
“Don’t worry. Time is different here. She’ll be along soon. And she’s pure enough that she’ll probably never see Sam. But if she does, she’ll make the right decision.”
“Probably right. Figure she goes to church enough that she’ll know. By the way, how’s the huntin’?”
The man laughed once more, “The best. You and Blue will enjoy it I’m sure.”
“Oh and what’reya called?”
As the trio disappeared, the younger man answered. “I’m the man called Peter.”
AlOmega