The Madness of Mercury (35 page)

He glanced back at the driver of the truck and chuckled. His breath misted in the cold night air. “Who’s gonna stop me? The old lady here is deaf as a post. We know she don’t have no guests at all.”

I stood my ground, the heavy steel weapon at my side. I hoped I could swing fast enough if he came any closer.

“Turn around and get the hell out of here. The sheriff is on his way.”

That seemed to anger him. All humor left his face. He moved quickly toward me, his arm outstretched as if to grab me by the throat. I swung the heavy club down, striking his arm with a solid thunk. He cried out and fell back, clutching his forearm. He lunged at me again. I jumped back and heard the unmistakable ratchet of a shotgun.

A fiery blast roared from the direction of the motel office. The rear windshield of the truck exploded.

“Hey,” the man yelled, turning with a surprised look on his face.

“Deaf as a post, am I? I’ll show you.” Gladys stepped around the truck. A flowered nightie hung under her pink velour bathrobe. Her head was covered in pink squeegee curlers. She ratcheted the shotgun once more and blasted the front windshield of the truck.

“That was birdshot, you losers. The next one is a live round. Now get the hell off my property.”

The man ran back to the truck and jumped in the passenger side as the driver revved the engine. The truck reversed, tires screeching as it backed out of the motel courtyard.

“Are you all right?” Gladys called out.

“Yes.” Hysterical laughter bubbled up in my chest. “Never better. Thank you.”

“Those two,” she sneered. “Old man Braddon and his mean-ass son. Figures they’d be doin’ dirty work for those so-called Christians. I’ve known both of them their whole life, and I always knew they’d never amount to anything.”

“Gladys!” I heard a voice call from the street, and the frizzled gray-haired man from the firehouse rushed into the courtyard. “What happened?”

“Oh, come on inside and I’ll tell you all about it.” Gladys waved her shotgun like a welcoming banner. “You missed all the action, you old fool.”

F
ORTY-
F
OUR

I
NSIDE
G
LADYS’S PARLOR BEHIND
the motel office, we sank into a pink sofa covered with overstuffed embroidered pillows. Framed autographed photos of soap opera stars stood on a side table. Gladys had draped a crocheted throw around Eunice’s shoulders and slipped her feet into fuzzy slippers. She cranked up the volume on the space heater in the corner of the tiny room. The interior temperature had to be eighty-five degrees, but at least Eunice had stopped shivering. I held a cup of warm tea to Eunice’s lips, the warm fluid bringing her to life.

“I feel so foolish causing all this trouble. I was just so angry at my sister and I thought, I’ll show her. I can do something on my own. Now I see Gudrun planned all this.” Eunice shook her head. “I was so very gullible.”

“Do you remember being drugged?”

“I must have been. They gave me something to drink and then I fell asleep. They kept me in that horrid room, and then Gudrun came in with someone else, some man—they wanted me to sign lots of papers. They said it was for their liability and I had to sign everything if I wanted to stay.”

“Did you?”

“No, I didn’t. Lord knows what they would have done to me if you hadn’t found me, Julia. I didn’t know anything was wrong right away. They told me the beehives were at the rear of their property. But when I asked if they had a smoker or queen excluders—I’ve been keeping up on this, you see—I could tell they had no idea what I was talking about. That’s when I became frightened.”

Gladys cocked her head at a sound I couldn’t hear. I noticed the small plastic hearing aid in her right ear. She rose and opened the door to the outer office. Sheriff Leo filled the doorway like a large and friendly bear. I’d never been so happy to see law enforcement in my life. He listened grimly to our tale, then stepped out of the room to make a phone call. When he returned a few minutes later, he said, “I put calls in to the Santa Rosa sheriff and the FBI. The CHP is on the way now. I’m heading over to the compound to meet them. If half of what you’ve told me is true, we’ll be making arrests tonight.”

I stood. “I’m going with you.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea. It might get dangerous. I’ll come back as soon as I can. We need to take the little lady there over to the hospital and have her checked out.”

I ignored his warning. “You forget, I know the layout of the place. I need to be there. Besides, I can identify the men who locked us up.”

“Ha!” Gladys said. “I can tell you that. If they’re not there, I’ll give you their damn address.”

The sheriff sighed. “All right. If you’re coming, let’s make it fast.”

“Oh, Julia,” Eunice said. “Don’t go back there.”

“I’ll be careful.” I squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry. You just rest and we’ll be back as soon as we can.”

“I’ll take good care of her,” Gladys said to the sheriff. “You two get a move on. Don’t let those people get away.” She turned to Eunice as we headed out the door. “Do you like old movies, dear?”

I didn’t hear Eunice’s response as Sherrif Leo shut the motel door behind us and hurried to his car. I ran to catch up and climbed into the passenger seat. I belted up as he sped down the road, back toward Prophet’s Paradise.

Before we reached the entrance to the compound, he pulled over. Three state cruisers were already parked at the end of the drive, blocking it. Sheriff Leo climbed out as an officer exited from the first car, and they conferred for a moment. I saw the sheriff nodding his head. He hurried back.

“We’re going in. Ambulances are on the way in case we need them. You stay right here,” he admonished. “You’ll be safe. I’ll come back for you if I need you.”

I nodded and unstrapped my seat belt. The first cruiser drove up the dirt drive, its lights flashing and siren screaming, cutting through the still night. I heard an announcement and a warning through a bull horn. The other two cruisers followed, with only lights flashing. Then the sound decreased slightly.

I couldn’t hear very much over the siren. I fidgeted. Impatient, I finally climbed out and followed the path up the drive. As I started to walk down the road past the gate, I could see that the cop cars had taken up positions along the main road. A few residents huddled in the doorways of the small cabins, thin blankets around their shoulders. They looked confused and frightened. Then I heard shouts and dogs barking. I wondered if Reverend Roy had arrived and if, right now, Gudrun was trying to explain what went wrong with our escape. I certainly hoped he was there—I wouldn’t be happy until I could see him taken away in handcuffs. Not to mention Gudrun.

Then I heard a shotgun blast. Some of the cops took cover behind their vehicles. I couldn’t tell where the sound had come from—farther away, maybe the large meeting hall. It struck me that they must have already discovered the hole in the chain-link fence I’d cut earlier. They would have wondered how Eunice and I had initially reached the road. Anyone curious enough would have seen the wheelbarrow on the far side of the field, leading straight to our path of escape. Surely the man in the truck would have told them where he had found us.

I raced back to the sheriff’s cruiser and climbed in the driver’s side. He’d been in a hurry—had he left the keys? He had. I’d just borrow it for a bit. I was sure he would understand. Just as I started the engine, I saw Sheriff Leo running back down the drive.

“Hey!” he shouted.

I shouted back, “Get in!”

He looked confused for a moment, but pulled the door open and jumped into the passenger seat. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“The hole in the fence. They must know about it by now.” I revved the engine. It was so powerful, the car leaped ahead. I had to hit the brakes not to fly off the road. “We have to stop them.” I turned right, driving as fast as I dared until we reached the rear of the property. I slowed and stopped the car just before we arrived at where I thought the break in the chain-link fence was. I held my breath and listened. “Hear that?” I turned to the sheriff.

He nodded. There was more crashing and movement behind the fence. A pale face showed itself in the dark.

“They’re trying to escape. Hold on.” I hit the gas and drove off the shoulder of the road, ramming the side of the vehicle into the fence, trapping whoever was trying to exit.

The sheriff pulled his weapon and hit a button on the dash. He aimed a spotlight at the movement in the bushes. Gudrun and the Reverend stood stock still, staring at us through the fence, like deer caught in the headlights.

“Police. Hands up. Now!” Sheriff Leo shouted. The searchlight was trained on Gudrun’s face and I caught the hateful look she shot in my direction.

Then I heard the Prophet speak in his mellifluous tones. “Sir, I’m sure there’s some misunderstanding. I can explain everything.”

“You’ll have lots of time to explain everything very soon,” the sheriff replied. We heard more movement in the bushes behind the duo and two other officers arrived. They cuffed Gudrun and the Reverend and led them back into the compound.

Sheriff Leo breathed a sigh of relief. He holstered his gun and climbed back into the cruiser. He glared at me.

“I had a feeling they’d try to run,” I offered by way of an apology.

“Just drive back around, will you? Jeez,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Don’t ever do that again. You coulda been shot for Chrissakes.”

I did as ordered and drove back to our original spot to let the sheriff out. I watched as Gudrun, the Reverend, and four men and one woman were locked into the back of the Highway Patrol cruisers. Three ambulances and two vans arrived, and the residents of the Prophet’s Paradise were led to the vehicles. The whole operation took no more than an hour and a half.

Finally the sheriff returned. “Let’s get your friend over to Cloverville and have her checked out.” He opened the driver’s door. “And I’m driving.”

I breathed a sigh of relief that it was finally over.

When we arrived back at the Bide-A-Wee motel, Gladys and Eunice were ensconced on the pink sofa watching a Thin Man movie. Eunice was smiling. She looked up at us. “Back so soon? My, that was quick.”

“Thanks to Julia, the Reverend and his accomplice didn’t manage to escape.” He patted me on the back. “Good work. But don’t ever steal my car again.” He sat on the sofa next to Eunice. “Now I’m taking you to the ER at Cloverville. It’s not far from here. You need to have someone take a look at you.”

“I’m fine,” Eunice replied. “Really. I just want to go home.”

I’d noticed some dark bruises on her arms. I didn’t know if they’d been caused by our escape attempts or administered by the caring staff of the Prophet’s Paradise. “I think the sheriff’s right, Eunice. Let’s get you checked out.”

“You’re coming with me, dear, aren’t you?”

I nodded. “I’ll follow in my car. I’ll be right behind you.”

Eunice squeezed my hand and whispered, “Thank you.”

Gladys turned to Sheriff Leo. “I gave her some warm slippers. Make sure you keep that afghan wrapped around her. She isn’t wearing anything but a thin cotton thing and a sweater. You can return that stuff to me later.” The motel owner followed us out to the patrol car, making sure Eunice was bundled up and strapped in with the seat belt, and then she walked me to my car.

“You sure you can drive that thing all right?”

“I think so. It’s only the back window. It’s got to get me back to San Francisco.” I glanced over at the patrol car. The interior light was on, and the sheriff was leaning close to Eunice as if to hear what she had to say. I saw him smile and nod in agreement. The interior light went off and the flashing lights on the roof of the patrol car lit up.

I thanked Gladys profusely and hugged her. She had saved us.

“That’s quite all right, dear. I’m happy to know I’m a better shot than I realized. You’re welcome back any time. We haven’t had this much excitement here since one of the junior high kids stole a tractor and drove it into an open septic tank.”

“Ah,” was my response. My mind boggled at the vision. I hopped in the Geo, revved the engine, and turned the dashboard air on full blast. The exhaust would be sucked back into the car through the hole from the shotgun blast and I didn’t want to collapse from carbon monoxide poisoning. I said a prayer for the state of my tires and, waving one last time to Gladys, followed the sheriff’s car out of the courtyard of the Bide-a-Wee and onto the highway.