Swing Low: Chapter 25

Chapter 25If you're new to this, start atThe Beginning. And thanks for sharing my stories with all your friends.
Installment #26 of:Sing Low: The Hangman of the WoodsBy B.C. Crow (Chapter 25Likewise, there are worst things than being a prisoner of a jail. I was held against my will, but I was free. You are free, but are being led gently to a prison from which there may be no escape. That Evil One whom the witches worship, he will bind you tighter than any rope. He will trap you more surely than any steel door. But he starts with the subtlest of snares. Both powers of good and evil have gentle leashes. It’s not always easy to see the final destination beyond the moment.The moon was full when we finally exited the woods. Morning wouldn't be far off. Even with the brutal men prodding us faster with their machetes and clubs, a hundred and fifty children or more are hard pressed to make a speedy march. We didn’t go directly to the New Tum police station. At least not all of us. They couldn’t have housed so many people. They did lock the hangman in a cell, but the rest of us were herded to a nearby lot where two massive and drab looking army tents had been hastily erected and stood waiting. Their faded tan canvas effectively sucked hope from anyone near them.Small family units were broken up as the boys were separated from the girls. Huddled and squatting inside the boy’s army tent, I found the once confident Chirp-chirp. He was crowded in a mass of other boys including Grub.I’d nearly forgotten that he’d taken on the role of father figure for one of the newer babies. Grub, not even ten years old, was cradling his own little boy. His limp arms never dropped the babe despite his complete exhaustion. How he held onto the sleeping child was beyond me. He looked ready to roll his own eyes into the back of his head and collapse.All these children were beyond terrified. Beyond that, the long hike to this unfamiliar place had left them drained. Tears that had been shed freely on the trail now dried up. Exhaustion and sleep took the younger ones. Shock, curiosity, or something else kept the older ones awake. Like trapped feral cats, their eyes stared wearily from one end of the tent to the other.For so many children, most of whom couldn’t remember ever living behind a wall, this tent must have felt extremely confining. I could see the horror in their faces, and I knew that it was more intense than my own. In a way it comforted me. I wasn’t the worst one here. At least I had a better hope of release. My lack of fear turned into a form of confidence that the others noticed. While I might have been responsible for leading the mob to these children, they didn’t look at me as a betrayer. They looked to me for hope and possibly leadership. Now I really couldn’t look scared, for their sakes.Morning came. I was suddenly aware of the tent being brighter and much hotter. A faint odor of ammonia clung to the increasingly humid air. The urine was quickly overpowered by the more pungent odor of human feces. There was no bathroom in here. Even if there was, it would be as foreign to these kids as a car. Little babies without any control of their bodily functions were the least of the problem. The older kids turned one corner of the tent into a steaming pile of refuse.Suddenly I realized how quickly the living conditions of this tent would deteriorate. Over six thousand kids die each day from diarrhea. If these kids didn’t get a more sanitary environment, they could easily get sick and start dying. I had no doubt in my mind. I walked over to the tent opening. Two drowsy guards were standing watch.“I need to help these children in here. Who can I talk to about their needs?”One of the guards ignored me. The other turned only halfway to face me. Indifference shaded his expression. “We’re just the night watch. We should be replaced any minute by someone else. You’ll have to talk to them.”“But these kids need—”The guard just raised his hand and turned away. Nothing I could say would make him care in the least.As if on cue, they both looked up as two fresh guards came over to relieve them. My eyes nearly bulged when I saw who one of the guards was.“Thing One!”He looked at me as if expecting to see me. “Hey Iddo.” Then, as if it was the most normal thing to do, he took one peek inside, then planted himself in the former guard’s position.I wrinkled my brow. “What’s going on? What are you doing here? You need to help us.”Thing One sighed. “Listen, Iddo, I know things look bad right now. In fact, things might get a little worse before they get better. But trust me, everything will work out fine in time. You might need to just steel yourself for a couple of really rough days.”“What are you talking about? Since when were you part of this mob? You’ve got to do something to help!”“I’m not part of the mob, Iddo, I’m just doing my job. The kids will all be handled by committees tasked to this. I’m on those committees. I know they’re not the best, but they will do what’s best for the children in time.”“What’s best for the children is to give them back Daddy Smiling, and to let them go back to the woods. Do you seriously think the courts will let that happen?”“I can’t say, Iddo. And there’s little I can do to help you right this moment. But trust me when I say, you’ll soon be out of here, and these children will be taken care of. By the way, I do have a bit of bad news. I’m sorry, I opened the letter and read it. You’re not going to like it.”Thing One reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded envelope. The top seal was ripped, and he handed it to me. His hand shook a little as he passed it to me. I looked up into his eyes and for the first time noticed that they were bloodshot. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who’d had a long night. “It’s from your uncle. I’m really sorry, Iddo.”My stomach dropped suddenly to my feet, leaving a hollow pit just under my chest. I pulled the envelope from his grasp. He had a hard time letting it go. Fear gripped my heart. There was only one thing it could say. Believing what I thought it to be, made the task all that more difficult.Dear Iddo,Please forgive me for not coming to tell you this in person. I would have called, but didn’t know how to reach you. By the time you get this, we will most likely have conducted the funeral for your mother. Her only wish was that you finish your schooling, to become that man she knew you to be at heart. She believed in you more than anything else in this world, which is why we think she was able to go on as long as she did . . .I found myself sitting on the floor. Folding the letter, I let the impact of it sink in. I would finish reading it soon. For now, I didn’t really care what the rest of it said. My eyes were too blurry and wet to finish.“Why you sad? They not let us go?”I rubbed my eyes and looked up to see Chirp-chirp. Fear still rimmed the edges of his face, a face that looked gaunter than I remembered. Despite his own fears, concern for his brothers and me were evident. Raising Grub had helped mature this young man well beyond his age.“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I know one of the guards, but all he could say was that things would work out well enough for everyone here.”“This is good, yes? So why you crybaby?”I snorted and smiled. It was a genuine smile, though I don’t know how I managed to pull it off. “It’s nothing for you to worry about. I just got sad news from home.”Chirp-chirp nodded. “All home is sad news now.”That was true. I had my problems, which I could do nothing about. But these children all had a problem too. Instead of wallowing in my own grief, I could help them. I felt guilty for pushing my mourning aside. Doing this would probably make it all that more difficult to bear later on, but I had to pull myself together. Now was not the time to shut down. These children needed help and I couldn’t do much for them unless I got out of here.“I need to find a way out if I’m going to help you,” I told Chirp-chirp.“We will seek, we will find—yes we will,” he replied.The tent didn’t have a canvas floor, so sneaking under the wall might work. He walked halfway up one side of the tent. Every meter of the sturdy fabric was staked down and tied securely. I’m sure we could have worked at loosening a stake, digging under, or just tearing the wall to escape, but I wanted to survey the remainder of the walls for an easier weakness. Before I could continue, every head swiveled toward the front of the tent.I turned my gaze to find the focus of everyone’s attention. A medium-built man with a slick comb-over had just entered the tent. He was dressed nicely in a button-up maroon shirt and dark formal wool slacks.“May I have your attention, please,” he said slowly in a deep, slightly British accent. He paused, then lifted a cloth to his nose. I’m sure it did little to dampen the fecal stench attacking his senses. It just gave him an air of arrogance. Lowering the cloth to speak, he went on, “I know you are all scared. I also know that you have a deep love for the hangman. He has, however, committed crimes and he must be punished for them.“None of you have done anything wrong. You are all considered orphans. The youngest of you will be taken to homes, where new families will care for you. Those of you who are older will be taken far from here where there is a school for orphans. They have been advised of your coming and are preparing to help you integrate into normal society.“Please don’t be afraid. You’ve been hidden from the world for too long, but we will help you return to it. It will be new and different, but it will be good for you. In just a minute, food will be brought in for you. We will not let you starve. We are your friends. I would expect that you need only wait here for one day, two at the most, before we help you find your new homes.”The man looked around, maybe trying to judge whether or not he’d been understood. Then, as if he was suddenly assaulted by another whiff of the horrible smell that clung to the air like a mist of aerosol poo, he snapped his dark-patterned handkerchief to his nose and held it there like a gas mask. Without further discourse, he shook his head in what could have either been pity or disgust, then turned and left.I needed to get out of here. But even my own roommate and friend, the one I knew to be smart and wise, wouldn’t let me leave. I’m sure he was just doing his job, and that if he could turn the other way, he might. Surely these people wouldn’t send me off to some reform school to reintegrate into society, would they?It’s not like I was a—my mind suddenly took another turn for the gloomy—I was technically an orphan now. I tried to imagine the complication this might create in getting myself free. I had to consciously force the thoughts away. It was as difficult as telling gravity not to pull on the Earth.I was relieved from my prison of worry when Chirp-chirp grabbed my arm again. “We seek more. You find way out now.”“Yes,” I replied. “We find way out.”We continued to survey the tent walls. For such a thin material, the tent could have been made of steel and not been more secure. The once or twice that Chirp-chirp or I leaned into the wall, we were met by a heavy blunt cudgel from the other side. I didn’t know how many men they had watching the tent, but it had to be a lot if they could keep such a close eye on every square meter of canvas.With a newly bruised shoulder, and a wrist that was almost cracked, I walked back to the center of the tent with Midnight’s former parental partner. “I think we’re both stuck here,” I said.“Iddo,” a hard voice boomed.I looked at Chirp-chirp, confused, then turned to face the opening of the tent. A tall, healthy built man in a police uniform was standing with his billy club in hand. “Iddo, you’re coming with me!”Chirp-chirp took a step to follow, but the officer’s club raised in warning. “No, not you! Just Iddo.”Chirp-chirp paused; I could see a flame of rebellion in his eyes. I’d never seen any of Daddy Smiling’s children display anger before, but my friend looked ready to take up the hangman’s cause. I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll do everything I can to help you all.”“Be careful, buddy. You are good boy, yes you are.” Chirp-chirp’s anger was replaced by concern. Concern for me, I realized, not himself. Chirp-chirp was as selfless as anyone I’d ever met. I knew right then that he’d place me or any of these other children before himself. As young as he was, he was already a man’s man. I shouldn’t be surprised every time I glimpsed the advanced maturity of these kids. Daddy Smiling may have had little choice in how he raised them, but they sure proved themselves adults ahead of their time. Still, I got the impression that they didn’t sacrifice too much of their childlike wonder and fun for this premature state of mind. At least they didn’t used to.The officer motioned for me to walk in front of him. “Follow the sidewalk to the court building just over there.” He pointed a finger.I did as instructed, aware of the heavy steel rod still clutched firmly in his hands. When I looked back, I saw the outside of the tent. I expected to see guards everywhere, but there were only a few. However, under a small awning, there was a man in front of a computer screen. They had a camera inside the tent. How had I not noticed it before? They didn’t have to surround the tents with a hundred guards. Two or three would be adequate. They would know every time one of us went near the sidewall, and just direct one of the guards to that area. I was stupid for being so ignorant.My momentary distraction earned me a shove from the officer. Thankfully he didn’t pound me with that steel club. I already had enough cuts and bruises to last a month. The court was air conditioned, but had a stale and depressing echo to it. A small peppermint aroma clung to the air around one of the clerk’s desks. The smell reminded me of a sweet older lady, and I had the feeling that if any place might find a just and compassionate resolution to this whole mess, this place might. Only there was no nice lady behind that desk to greet us. The whole building was empty.I was confused, then realization dawned on me. I’d completely lost track of the days. This was Sunday. Nobody would be working today. So why was I being dragged in here? We walked past the reception area and entered the actual courtroom. Apparently Biahn hadn’t lied about everything. Any thoughts of mercy evaporated immediately.The comforting smell of peppermint was replaced by the pungent odor of sweat mixed with tobacco and alcohol. The judge was sitting in his black robes. Chubby and regal, except for a perpetually oily face, he fingered a gavel near his right hand. “Is this the boy?” he called out.“It is,” someone confirmed. I didn’t see who. There weren’t many people in the room, but I didn’t dare look away from the judge. I knew that if I let my attention wander, I would find that I’d walked into a den of conspiratorial mobsters. For some reason that scared me more than keeping eye contact with the judge. Maybe I could convince him. He was the law here, even if he’d put himself in league with these ruffians. If anyone could see reason, it would have to be him.“Is it true; boy; that you wanted to warn the hangman about our coming?”He referred to himself as we. I was in trouble now. I could see it. This wasn’t a legal meeting. It was intimidation in a legal room, opened by a criminal with a key to the courthouse.“Look at me, not the floor!” the judge yelled, spittle spraying from his lips.My head snapped back up. I couldn’t look him in the eyes, not anymore, but I gave a resigned nod.“Pathetic.” He paused, then asked, “Why would you care so much for this monster and murderer?”What do you hate more, that he looks like a monster, or that he protects the innocent children from monsters like you? That’s what I should have said. What came out was, “He saved me once.” Even this feeble attempt to speak well of the hangman came out as barely a squeak.The courtroom filled with laughter—drunken, vile laughter. “Get him out of here,” the judge said, “before someone misses him. He’s no threat.”Strong hands grabbed me and pulled me toward the door. I tried to squirm and turn. “No wait! You have to listen. Those kids, Daddy Smiling, he—”Nobody listened. I was thrown onto the street. “Get going, boy,” one of the men said. “If it weren’t for the fact that you led us straight to these guys, we might not let you go at all. But you watch yourself. Don’t go stirring up trouble, understand?”I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. I scrambled to my feet and ran. I didn’t stop until I was well out of sight. That next twenty minutes might have been the longest foot dragging walk to my apartment that I’d ever taken.Click here to read Chapter 26Copyright 2017: While I encourage you to share this link with your friends and family, please keep in mind that this is copyrighted material. Under no circumstances do you have the right to re-publish any or part of this content without specific written permission from BC Crow and Blue House Publishing.