Beneath the Tombstone (The Tombstone Series) (18 page)

He
found a dinner of water, nuts and jerky sitting on the porch but grabbed only
the water before heading off down the trail. He was too tired to eat. It was
almost dark by the time he finished his next lap and, to his surprise, he found
Tyler up close to the shack building a small campfire next to the trail. He
simply looked up and handed Jason as bottle of water as he passed by. It was
getting cold out.

“I’m
going to grab my coat,” Jason said as he rubbed his cold arms.

“You
don’t need it,” Tyler spoke calmly.

Jason
couldn’t believe his ears. No coat? “Are you serious?” he asked in dismay.

Tyler
didn’t acknowledge the question. He just continued building his fire as a
coatless Jason stumbled off down the trail again.

“You’re
falling behind on your time, Jason,” Tyler’s voice called out from behind. “If
you can’t do any better than that, you may as well quit.” But Jason kept going.

When
he finished his next lap, Tyler, wrapped in a blanket and sitting by the fire,
looked at a pocket watch that he held dangling by its chain. “Come on, Jason.
You’re slowing down,” he said with a sigh. “You’re failing. That last lap took
you an hour and forty five minutes.”

That
was easy to say when you’re warm and sitting rested by the fire, not actually
out there facing time and the elements. The words that the horseman spoke
burned down in Jason’s soul. He was failing. He always failed. Why should this
time be any different? He knew the answer to that question. It was obvious –
Because of Misty.

Jason
shoved all negative thoughts aside. He couldn’t afford them. One leg in front
of the other. Stay upright. Keep fighting forward. And so he kept going and
made another lap through complete darkness.

When
he got back to his shed, there was Tyler still sitting warmly by the fire, but
this time something had changed. Another warm blanket sat beside him, a bowl of
soup sat warming over the fire and two empty soup cups were placed nearby.
Jason could feel the warmth and rest that the things placed before him would
bring.

Instead
of asking if those things were for him, he just stumbled over to the bottle of
water that waited for him on the porch, grabbed it and crashed into the ground
as he fumbled with the lid. A seemingly heartless Tyler didn’t appear to notice
his troubles but just kept staring blankly into the fire.

Jason
downed the entire bottle with several pulls… Then realized he shouldn’t have
done that on an exhausted and empty stomach. He rolled over in desperation and
rose up on all fours before bowing his back as he puked the water back out onto
the ground.

Sitting
up, Jason wiped his mouth and asked, “Is that good enough?”

“Yes,”
Tyler replied quietly, “that’s good enough.”

Jason
heaved a sigh of relief and started crawling towards the fire, the blanket and
the warm bowl of soup seemed to be reaching out to him.

“We’re
you going?” Tyler’s steely voice froze him.

“Um,
to the fire… to rest?” Jason more asked than stated.

“But
you’re not finished,” Tyler replied, still staring into the fire.

“I
thought you said that was good enough,” Jason pleaded.

“Well,
good enough
ain’t
good enough,” Tyler said solemnly.
“
What’cha
goanna do – get half way up the Tombstone
and decide that’s good enough? Doing something ‘good enough’ is just another
term for quitting.” He was silent for a moment. “If you’re satisfied with being
good enough then go be it at home. If not then get going,” he said, pointing a
lazily raised finger off down the trail.

Jason
was so tired that it took a little while for what was being said to register.
When it did, the let down and disappointment were almost too much to bear. But
with no other option than to quit, he pushed to his feet. As he did so, he lost
horizontal bearing and stumbled forward. It didn’t really feel like he fell; it
was more like the earth rose up and slapped him. One way or another, they
collided.

Jason
lay there trying to remember which way was up. “If you were smart, you would
just stay down,” the horseman commented coldly. “A little boy like you could
never survive this… You know,” he added as an afterthought, “even a real man
might not could. So why don’t you say those two little words that will put an
end to all your suffering? I quit,” he spoke, laying the words out just in case
Jason had forget them. “Just tap out. Submit. It’s really your only option ‘
cuz
boy, you’re beat.”  He paused as Jason seemed to
contemplate it.

The
tall cowboy went on trying to sell his idea. “You could just come over here…
sit by the fire and try to regain your strength. I can take care of everything.
I’ll get you some soup. You can stay the night. Rest. Go home in the morning
to… what do you have waiting at home?”

“A
dog,” Jason muttered, still lying on the ground.

“Yes,”
Tyler seemed to taunt. “Go home to your dog.”

Jason
struggled to his feet, his decision shinning clear in his eyes. The pathway he
had chosen became obvious as he turned back towards the trail. If Tyler was
disappointed, he hid it well. Then again, he seemed pretty good at hiding his
emotions.

As
Jason reached the bottom of the grade, where the small cliffs jutted up on each
side, he paused for a moment. He was trying to remember the number of times
he’d been around that same trek in the last however many hours. Too many –
that’s how many times.

“Jason!”
Tyler yelled abruptly, sending a shock through Jason’s body. “Get back up here!”

Knowing
the precious amount of energy he was wasting by doing so, Jason obeyed. The
trail back up to the shed wasn’t all that steep, but he barely made it. As he
came struggling from the woods, Tyler broke his gaze away from the fire and
looked right at Jason. Uh-oh. The big cowboy looked mad.

“I
don’t know ‘bout where you come from, but around here, we clean up our own
messes,” Tyler spat venomously.

Jason
was dumbfounded. He just stared blankly at the enraged man. What on earth was
he talking about?

“Come
‘ere,” Tyler ordered as he rose to his feet.

Bewildered,
Jason followed him into the shack. The lantern was already lit and it brought
to light Tyler’s source of frustration. Jason’s little room was a complete
mess. His covers were on the floor along with his pillow… and the mattress!
What had happened? When given enough time, Jason always made his bed, and this
morning had been no exception. He specifically remembered.

Jason’s
clothes were scattered all over the floor. Really, the only thing that was
still where Jason had left it was the picture of himself and Misty as
newlyweds. It still sat in its place on the table.

“What,
what happened?” Jason managed to stammer as he sagged against the wall.

“That’s
what I’d like to know,” Tyler answered as he glared around the room. “Our deal
was that you keep this place clean.” He made a broad sweeping motion of the
room as he asked, “Do you call this clean?”

“I
didn’t do this,” Jason spoke numbly.

Tyler
laughed dryly and shook his head. “Who did then?” he asked gruffly.

A
theory popped into Jason’s mind. “It could have been the kidnappers.”

“I’ve
been here at the ranch all day,” Tyler stated as he glared at Jason. “It’s time
you stopped passing the blame.” He waved his hand around the room. “This is
your mess, so you pick it up… now!” he ordered. “I’m
gettin
’
sick and tired of your laziness!”

Walking
off, the horseman muttered something about spoilt rich kids. This wasn’t right
or fair, not even close. The full weight of being done wrong had stacked its
entire load on Jason’s shoulders. Maybe he should give in. Maybe Tyler was
right. Maybe he should quit. He shook the notion from his head and looked
around the room. It wasn’t going to clean itself. He stumbled over to his bed,
put the mattress back on the box spring then the sheet; the pillow and the
covers followed. None of this made sense. If Tyler was so sure that the
kidnappers didn’t mess up his room then who did? Jason froze in mid-task. There
was only one way that the tall cowboy could know, beyond the shadow of any
doubt, that the kidnappers had not ransacked the shed.

“Quit
stalling,” Tyler stuck his head in the door and yelled at Jason, who seemed to
be frozen in thought.

“You
did this, didn’t you?” Jason asked while pointing around the room at the mess.
“You want me to quit so bad that you’d do this?”

“How
dare you blame your mess on me,” Tyler snapped, his voice filled with anger.
“Clean this place,” he ordered as he turned back towards the door. Without
looking back, he added, “You’ve only got about forty five minutes left to make
the next lap.” He sighed. “You’ll never make it.”

Jason
didn’t answer a word but quietly began fumbling his stuff around, trying to get
it back into its place. Several minutes later, he approached the cowboy who sat
by the fire. “I got it clean,” Jason spoke quietly. “You want to come check?”

“No,”
Tyler responded without looking up. “I want to go to bed.” Once again, he
seemed to be transfixed by the dancing flames. “If you got it clean then get
going. I’m tired of waiting on you to finish.”

“I
don’t even know when I’ll finish,” a frustrated Jason exclaimed. “When, when
will I finish?” he demanded.

“When
I say you’re finished.”

“So
you’re waiting on me for you to say I’m finished?” Jason demanded. “That makes
no sense… Just tell me what I
gotta
do to finish;
I’ll do it.”

“Run,”
Tyler responded without even glancing up. “Just run.”

Jason
tried. He made a hearty attempt to run but it really was nothing more than a
staggering, stumbling fast walk.
Just keep going. Just keep going.
Jason
encouraged himself as he made his way into the darkness, down to the bottom of
the trail where the small cliffs surrounded him.

Jason
had tried hard to stay strong throughout the building stress of the day, but as
he trudged through what felt like the valley of death, all strength seemed to
leave him. Dropping down to his knees, in the middle of the pit, he bowed his
head and stared at the ground like a fallen warrior awaiting the death blow.

Thoughts
began to swirl in his mind. The past crossed paths with the present and soon
the two were intermingled with one another.
“Jason,”
he heard Misty’s
pleas again.
“I can’t leave you, Jason. I can’t leave you.”
The small
cliffs all around him. He could feel her body against his as she clung to him.
It was just the two of them… then just Jason. The cold enveloped him. The pain
embraced him. No comfort. No warmth. No love. No cheer. Just Jason… alone.

“I
love you Misty,” he whispered as he tried desperately to cling to the image of
her in his mind. If he could just have one brief moment to tell her how sorry
he was and how wrong he’d been, he’d take all of the pain and suffering that
the world could through his way as a worthy trade. She didn’t even have to see
him as a hero. He just wanted her. He didn’t need glory and honor, respect and
self-esteem. He just needed her.

And
then a promise he had made to himself many years ago was broken. He had
promised himself he’d never cry again, but a tear ran from one eye, trickled
down his cheek and dropped to the ground. Many more were to follow. Soon sobs
began to shake him. He had been pushed to his limit… and then beyond it. He
just wanted to see Misty again.

Having
been robbed of all dignity, Jason felt his life being stripped away and only
the things that really mattered remained; things like life, love, and family.
Misty had been all of those things to him. She brought life into his heart. She
brought love into that life, and she was the only person left he called family.

“Jason!”
Tyler’s yell sent Jason’s thoughts shattering. “Get yourself back up here.”

A
baby is born into a harsh and cold world. They thrash and cry at being robbed
of their warm protection. Jason could now understand that anger. He had been
nestled down snugly in the warmth of things past and self-pity. The brutality
with which he was flung back into the cruel present brought furry into his heart
like he’d never known.

Fueled
by a strength and determination he had not realized was within, Jason stormed
the hill and tore like a mad man into camp. Before Tyler ever had a chance to
inflict whatever kind of mental torture he had intended, Jason let him have it.

“I
ain’t
gonna
quit,” he yelled at
the top of his lungs. “I may be slow! I may be stupid! I may be a lot of
things, but I
ain’t
no quitter!” Jason was up in
Tyler’s face now. “I have endured the torment you’ve put me through up to this
point, and I will continue to do so! So if you
ain’t
gonna
tell me what I have to do to finish then get out of
my way and leave me alone until I do!” With that Jason spun around and stormed
back down the trail.