Life in Three Rivers

by Delia Keller

It all started this summer. My brother, Tommy and me spent the day doin’ yard work for old Mrs. Johnson, just down the road. See, we live tucked up in the hills, in the smallest town you ever been to, Three Rivers. On the north side of town, you got some mighty steep mountains, looking down over the whole city. Temperatures drop about 20 degrees when you get out of town, up into the forests, which is a nice break from the over 100 degree days our valley endures. The south side of town is where all the farmers live. There’s miles and miles of orchards, full of every kind of fruit you can think of. And our little home sits right in between the two.

I didn’t feel much like it that day, but Tommy said that if we worked enough hours, we could pool our money together and buy a cheap bb gun to go squirrel huntin’ with.

It must’ve been the hottest day of the whole summer ‘cause boy, we were drowning in sweat. It took twice as long to mow the lawn and rake up all the fallen maple leaves. Nice old Mrs. J. even came out to offer us some lemonade, on account of the hot weather. Man, that was the sweetest lemonade I ever tasted. I tell ya’ it was so good; me and Tommy took a break from work to try and get another glass.

We creaked open the screen door and hollered for Mrs. Johnson.

“Hey Mrs. J. That lemonade was awful good, think we could help ourselves to some more?” Tommy bravely asked. See, Tommy was always the one speakin’ up. If he needed something, he asked for it, and didn’t hesitate. I was on the other side. I never wanted to make trouble for anybody, even if it meant fainting from dehydration before asking for some seconds on lemonade.

There was no answer. Tommy stepped further into the tiny house. I reluctantly followed. I could smell that god-awful rose perfume Mrs. Johnson carelessly poured over herself and I cringed. We proceeded into the living room, in search of the icy pitcher of refreshment. Mrs. J. was asleep in her rocking chair, dangerously balancing her glass of lemonade on the armrest.

We tiptoed across the musty room, searching. There were glass cabinets lining the den full of old dusty things and fancy dinnerware. Some black and whites of Mr. and Mrs. J. shielded by cracked frames. On one shelf, she kept old, dirty coins, displayed in separate boxes. Tommy got pretty excited thinking he might try to convince some of the boys from class they were some gold coins, and maybe make some money off them. He eyed each box before reaching for the case holding the biggest coin.

“Put it back Tommy. You know that ain’t right,” I scolded.

“I was just looking,” he lied and pulled back his hand.

Even inside that house it was hot as hell, and I was getting anxious for my drink.

“I’m gonna check the kitchen real quick,” I said.

I came back to see Tommy bending over to reach a low down shelf. He lifted the dark, heavy weight of metal from its resting place and smiled.

“BAM! BAM!” Tommy pretended, holding the gun pointed at a creepy, stuffed deer head hanging above the fireplace.

“Shhhh! What are you tryin’ to do? Wake her up? Put it back, Tom, before Mrs. J. sees you,” I said.

“Why? That old lady ain’t got much need for it,” he said, and shoved his new weapon down tight in his waistband.

Tommy ran outside before I could say another word and I followed.

“Come on, Jack. Don’t be such a wuss,” Tom said. “Mrs. J. won’t even notice it’s missin’.”

It was about mid day, when Mrs. Johnson came outside to give us our pay.
“Here you go boys,” she handed us each a crisp ten dollar bill. “Don’t spend it all at once.”

            “Don’t worry, we won’t!” I shouted back, already on my way to the picket fence surrounding her property.

             When I reached the road, I shot after Tommy’s cloud of dust. He hadn’t wasted a second, all he was thinkin’ about was shooting that gun.
             “Hold on a minute, Tom,” I panted, trying to catch my breath. “My legs can’t run that fast. Where are we goin’ to anyways?”

“Up old North Fork Drive, into the pine forests. That’s where there’s the most squirrels. Now, let’s hurry, ‘fore all the sunlight’s gone.” Tommy walked a few steps and then looked back to be sure I was following. I paused for a minute before choosing squirrels over setting the table for supper.

“Good then, let’s get goin’ then Jack. Come on, I’ll race you to the edge of the forest.”

And with that we dashed down the road, side by side, crushing and crackling the leave beneath our feet. After a little while, we took a sharp turn up a shaded winding trail. The trees thickened and the sun was slowly disappearing. I watched Tommy dodge and bound over the increasingly rocky path, stealthily avoiding branches and jagged rocks.

“Beat you! I’m first!” Tommy hooted as he proudly waited on top of the hill, looking down on me as I scurried up the last few feet. Tommy always won, but I didn’t mind, it was just more important to him. He waited for me and we climbed over the log fence into the silence of the forest together.

The dark colors of the forest soothed my tired eyes, but somethin’ was different today about the towering sequoias. The chocolate browns and feathery evergreens were disturbed by sheets of ghost white papers, sloppily pasted on surrounding trunks.

Covering over half the paper was the angered face of mass murderer, Harvey Crowe. His crooked, smug smile made me uncomfortable, and the yellow of his teeth made him even more sickening. His hair and heart alike were as black as the crow’s

feathers.

“Those posters say someone’s out here- ‘armed and dangerous’ it says,” I studdered. “A murderer, Tommy.”

“Ain’t no danger in Three Rivers, Jack. Nothin’ ever happens here.”

“It says he was last seen ‘round here Tommy. In these here woods.”

“Quit it Jack, no one’s out here. Now, I’m gonna get me a squirrel or raccoon or somethin’ to make me a hat just like Davey Crockett’s.

An hour later, we had already chased half a dozen squirrels and two rabbits, Tommy had shot five bullets and still had nothing to show for it.

“Lemme try once Tommy, I haven’t got to.”

Looking bothered, he slowly handed me his prized weapon.

“Be careful,” he said doubtedly.

At that split second, a plump squirrel flitted across a large gathering of boulders.

“This one won’t get away!” I shouted, and off I ran, climbing up the side of the boulders towards him. Tommy watched from below as I neared my target, until the squirrel led me around to the other side. I followed.

“Haha! You show that squirrel who’s boss Jack,” he encouraged.

“Aw, shoot! He’s coming down towards you again Tom, get him with a rock or something!”

The forest grew suddenly quiet.

“Tom? You still there?” I called. “Tommy? Come on now Tom, this ain’t funny.”

I shoved the gun safely in my pocket and inched carefully back around the rough boulders. I slowly lowered myself off the ledge, back onto the soft soil. Neither Tommy or the squirrel were anywhere in site.

I heard some rustling around the side of the boulders.

“Tommy?” I hoped while stepping sideways around the formation.

Suddenly, I found myself face to face with the mass murderer, the man worth $50,000. In his arms, wrapped tightly, with a knife against his throat, stood Tommy, more scared than I had ever seen him. Harvey Crowe looked up and a yellow grin spread across his face.

“Well kid,” he spat. “Looks like you got two choices right about now. Either you run those little legs into town and get enough money for me to get across the country or you and your pal here will be sleepin’ with the fishes down at the bottom of the lake.”

“I-I’ll get you your money s-sir.”

“Good. Now make sure you’re back before midnight or I’ll have to leave your friend here as a little present for the bears. Oh, and don’t even think about bringing any company or he’ll be dead before you know it.”

I turned and sped off at top speed down towards home. The crunching maple leaves were louder than ever and I could feel my heart beat faster as the anticipation rose. I rounded the final corner, turning onto the path leading back to town, and descended the hill way too quickly.

It was almost sunset, so I hurried to the closest place I could think of.

Mrs. Johnson was snoring deeply in her rocking chair. The house was dark, except for the changing light of the T.V. I crept over to the cabinets where I knew I could find enough money.

I pulled open the glass doors trying to find the shelf that held the gold coins, taking extra care not to wake Mrs. J. up. It was hard to maneuver in the dark and I nearly tripped over an awkwardly placed foot stool.

Finally. The case with the coins, but I reached in too quickly and sent a ceramic plate crashing to the ground. The pieces shattered everywhere and Mrs. Johnson snorted loudly and mumbled.

“Who’s that?” she straightened up.

“It’s just me, Jack. I, um, was wondering if I could borrow your coins,” I pathetically answered as she looked at me with utter confusion. I decided I had to explain, “see, Harvey Crowe captured Tommy up in the forest while we was squirrel huntin’. He just needs a bit of money and he’ll let Tommy go. I could work to pay you back ma’am.”

“Darlin’ you shouldn’t make up such stories. What would Harvey Crowe be doin’ in Three Rivers?”

“No! I swear Mrs. J., we saw him on a wanted poster and he was hidin’ out in the forest, and he’s got Tommy!”

“You swear boy?”

“Yes’m, I swear.”

“Well, then I’m coming with you boy, I can’t let you go off by your lonesome, it’s almost dark.”

“No, but he said- I’m not supposed to bring no one. He’ll kill Tommy, Mrs. J.”

“Harvey Crowe murdered my husband. Now, I need to go with you Jack, I have to.”

The walk back up was sluggish. The sun was almost gone making it difficult to see the path and Mrs. Johnson couldn’t go much faster anyway.

When we neared the boulder site, I paused and shouted over, “I brought your money, please don’t hurt Tommy.”

“I thought we had a deal kid, no other people,” he said coldly. The sun had disappeared now and I could only make out the immense silhouette of Harvey Crowe.

“I know, but she’s the one with the money, I couldn’t get it any other way! Please, just let him go and we’ll give you what you want.”

“The money first, boy.”

“B-But, how do I know you’re really gonna-” I was cut off by a loud yell and Harvey Crowe rushed towards Mrs. Johnson, arms extended towards the boxes of coins. “Get off her!” I cried.

Before I knew it, I was pushed far from them to the ground. I landed on my side on what felt like a large rock and I picked it up.

Immediately, I slid the gun towards the now free, Tommy.

“Shoot him!” I yelled in desperation.

I watched from my laying position, as Tommy aimed the gun towards Harvey

Crowe’s dark shape.

CRRRRRRACK!

The next moment, I heard a pained yell, followed by, “Oh, god, Jack. It hurts.”

I sat up on the ground and looked in wonder at what had happened. The wrestle between Mrs. Johnson and the murderer had paused momentarily. I ran over to Tommy.

He was bleeding badly on his chest and didn’t appear to be able to move, the bullet had ricocheted off the boulder back towards him.

I sat next to him, stunned and numb. When he attempted to raise the gun again, his arm fell sadly with the weight of the gun.

I reached down and lightly lifted his limp arm. I aimed it towards the huge mass of Harvey Crowe’s head.

“Shoot.” I whispered.

Another CRRRRRRACK resonated, this time followed by a messy thud as Harvey Crowe fell to the ground.

Mrs. Johnson stepped over towards Tommy and me. She knelt down to try to tend to his wound, but only shook her head upon further investigation.

“Think of it this way Tom, you got to heaven first. You won.” Tommy smiled bravely, closed his eyes, and the world was quiet again.