Justice Ch. 04: Old Scores

"Sorry, I don't smell anything," I said.

"He's been here," Grandpa said. Just then, my phone buzzed. I looked and saw it was Danni's "911" code. I quickly pulled up the phone finder app and saw her phone was at a remote location outside town.

"Yeah, and Danni's in trouble," I said.

"She's out at the old homestead," Grandpa said. "Call that Sheriff Ryan and have him get out there." I hit the speed dial and got Sheriff Caldwell.

"Caldwell," he said when he answered.

"Sheriff, this is Amos Jones, Danni Jones' husband," I said. "She's been abducted and is at the old homestead. We'll meet you out there."

"On my way," he said before ending the call. I put my phone away and looked at Grandpa.

"Let's go," I said. He nodded his head and the next thing I knew, we were at the old Jones place. I saw a man wearing a fairly new Stetson, holding Danni with one arm around her waist. She was struggling to get away from him, but he was too strong.

"Eli!" the man yelled. "I tol' ya I'd be back. This place shoulda been mine. Yer pa shoulda sold out to me when he could. But no, he had to be stubborn."

"Let the woman go, Jack," Grandpa ordered. "This is between you and me. You don't have any quarrel with these kids."

"I don't think so," the man yelled back. "You know, I think this one's a bit more feisty than yer wife. I think she'll do jes' fine. Maybe I'll take her back with me. I think the boys'll get a real kick outta her. What do ya think?"

"I think I'm going to fucking kill you if you don't let her go," I said as I started to shoulder the Winchester. Grandpa saw me raise the rifle and put his hand up to stop me.

"You won't be able to take him, son," he said.

"I gotta do something, Grandpa," I said. "I can't let him take her."

"I know," he said. "I said YOU can't take him. But I know someone who can."

"Who, Grandpa?" I asked.

"That would be me," said a woman's voice next to me. Startled, I turned to see my Grandma Lizzy. She wore an old-style dress and her body was bathed in a bright aura. She reached out one hand. "May I?" she asked with a smile.

"You want my rifle?" I asked. She nodded her head. "But Grandpa said it probably would work against him."

"But I've got the magic bullet right here," she said, lifting a bullet from her purse. The sun's reflection off the bullet nearly blinded me. I handed the rifle to her and watched as she loaded the bullet. Cocking the rifle, she turned to Danni and the man holding her.

"You're not the only one with an old score to settle, Jack," she said. She nodded her head and Danni stomped on the man's foot as hard as she could. He let go of her as he screamed in pain. She saw her chance and ran away from him as fast as she could, ending up in my arms.

"It's time for you to go back to the Hell from whence you came, Jack Abercrombie, never to return again," Grandma Lizzy said, shouldering the rifle. She took careful aim and fired one shot. His head exploded as the bullet struck him between the eyes.

As we watched, his body seemed to melt like the evil witch in the old Wizard of Oz movie. Soon, he was nothing more than a black blob slithering toward the spot where the old well was located. When he got there, he seemed to disappear into the ground in a way that reminded me of something being flushed down the toilet.

"Remember, Amos, always use the right tool for the job," Grandma said as she handed the rifle back to me. "Are you alright, Danni?" she asked.

"I am now," she said. "Thank you." Lizzy smiled and wrapped her arms around Danni.

"You're welcome, my dear," she said. "We Jones women have to look out for one another, you know."

"How did you know I was here?" Danni asked. Lizzy looked down at Danni's left hand. "The ring?" Danni asked. Lizzy smiled and nodded her head.

"Of course," she said. "You and I have a connection very few can understand." She looked around at the old homestead. "This place sure has changed a lot since the last time I saw it."

"Yes, it has," Grandpa said.

"The state is thinking about turning this into a historical site," Danni said. Lizzy nodded her head in approval. "Are you okay with that?"

"Of course, dear," she said. "It's sat empty for far too long. I admit, it was a hard life, but there was a lot of love here."

"But what about the old well?" Danni asked.

"I don't think that'll be a problem," Grandpa said. We looked and saw the image of an old Native American medicine man next to the well site. We could hear him chanting as he spread something over the ground. He turned to look at us, nodded his head and raised a hand in greeting. Grandpa nodded his head and raised a hand in return and the medicine man disappeared from sight. Just then, we heard a siren coming up the road.

"I should probably get back," Lizzy said. Grandpa gave her a kiss.

"I'll see you soon, dear," he said. She smiled and disappeared from sight. By then, Ryan's truck had made it to the clearing. He stopped and got out of the vehicle.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Is everyone okay?"

"We're fine, Sheriff," Danni said.

"The word I got is that you were abducted," Ryan said.

"I was, but everything's been taken care of," Danni told him. Ryan looked from Danni to me to Grandpa.

"I hope you have an explanation for this," he said.

"We do, but I don't think you really want to write it up the way it actually happened," Grandpa said. "Suffice it to say, Abercrombie has been dealt with for good. You won't be seeing him ever again."

"By the way, how's Deputy Winthrop?" Danni asked.

"He was found unconscious in the library men's room," Ryan said. "He's okay, though. Said he was hit on the head as soon as he walked in. Never saw who did it, though. You realize I'm going to be buried in paperwork over this little incident?"

"That's the way it goes, Sheriff," Grandpa said. "Listen, would you mind giving Danni a lift back to the library? I need to get Ryan home, and then I'll be by to get my horse."

"Okay," Ryan said with a heavy sigh. "C'mon, Mrs. Jones, let me give you a lift back. And I'll expect a full statement from you."

"Whatever you say, Sheriff," she said. She turned to me and gave me a deep kiss. "I love you, sweetheart," she said. "Call me when you get home, okay?"

"I will," I told her.

...

Epilogue:

Danni gave Sheriff Caldwell a full statement of what happened that day. He had a very hard time believing her, but wrote a carefully-crafted report anyway, calling it an "unresolved" case since the perpetrator, namely Jackson Abercrombie, was never found. Ryan was never able to explain the disappearance of Irwin Johnson. The case remains open.

A few weeks later, Stephanie Carmichael discovered she was pregnant. Her husband, George, was ecstatic at first, until he realized that she had gotten pregnant while he was on one of his frequent business trips. He filed for divorce and left the house. A week later, he returned to get some of his things and got the shock of his life when he went into what used to be his master bedroom.

After he finished throwing up, he called 911. Stephanie's body looked like something had chewed its way out of her abdomen. Following a trail of bloody prints, they found a tiny disfigured creature with jagged teeth chewing on a gas line. When they smelled gas, they quickly left the house and called the fire department. Before firemen could arrive, however, the house exploded and burned to the ground. No one was able to explain the charred burned remains that were recovered.

The state eventually accepted Danni's report and turned the old homestead into a historic landmark. The road was fixed, the site cleaned up and a replica of the old barn was put up. The house itself was restored and made safe for tourists. Pictures of the Jones family were featured in the house along with snippets of Lizzy's journal. Displays showing how the original settlers lived were also installed.

Ryan was impressed with what had been done to the place. He looked around the displays, read the journal entries, but got a shock when he looked at the photograph of a younger Elijah Jones in his Union Army uniform. No, he thought. There's no way. As he looked closer, he thought for a moment he saw the man in the photo smile and wink.

"I've been out in the sun too long," he thought to himself.

April and Jessica continued their paranormal work, traveling around the country investigating historic sites. They had seen a lot in their work, but nothing compared to what they experienced in Hard Rock. They eventually married, wrote a series of books and retired off the royalties.

As for us, well, life went on. The kids continue to grow and Grandpa comes by whenever he can get away to spend time with them. Lately, though, we've been seeing more of Grandma Lizzy and she spends a lot of her time with Danni. All-in-all, life in the Jones house is good.