THE DARE

 

 

            In a different reality, and in her haste to flee the fighters, Twink had slipped and fallen to her death. Oliver grieved separately, and Lem grieved separately.

            A few months later, as Christmas approached, Penny tried to feel out the Forresters in regard to Oliver's safety outside of his home. The blond's grief and his fear of the Forresters had both kept him secluded, but he couldn't hide away from the world forever.

            "Uh, fellers," Penny began, "since the reason for your quarrel with Oliver is...um...gone, is he safe iffen he comes up on you-all someplace? He'll not act quarrelsome."

            They grinned.

            Buck asked, "So? He ain't feelin' so biggety now, eh?"

            Mill-wheel took it up, "Not so ready to take us on no more, uh?"

            "Well, no. And iffen you think on it, ain't no point no more, neither."

            Lem was certainly enjoying this. "Let me guess: he wants to be able to go to the Christmas doin's in Volusia, without gittin' hell beat outen him?"

            "Um, yes, and his ma really wants him to go, too. But she also wants him to be safe. She wants her son to escort her to Christmas, and she wants a way to cheer him up from his...uh...loss."

            Lem turned instantly grim. "My loss, too."

            "I know that," Penny acknowledged sincerely. "Look, she jest wants he should dance with her, and visit with a few folks they like. She's lookin' for ways to git him outen the house for a change, so's he'll stop mopin'. They'll steer clear o' you-all best they kin, iffen you're there, and they'll sure leave you be."

            "So," Arch analyzed shrewdly, "they wonder iffen we'll even be there, and iffen we are, whether we'll clobber Oliver or leave him be."

            "That's the way of it." Penny waited uncomfortably.

            Pack relished saying, "We ain't even decided ourselves yit iffen we're goin', or what we'll do 'bout Oliver, and even iffen we had, why should we tell you, and leave you reassure him?"

            Lem challenged, "You tell Oliver we dare him to show up, and then see iffen we're there, and then find out how we'll react to him, and whether he'll face another beatin' from us."

            Penny said, "That's mighty unkind, fellers."

            Lem retorted, "We got no reason to make it easy on him! I blame him for her death, jest as I'm sure he blames me."

            "What about his ma? She's innocent in all this, and she wants him there with her."

            Lem's grin returned, marked with sadism. "Good. Leave her talk him into goin'. And then leave him fret whether we'll be there, and whether or not we'll hurt him, iffen we are there. Or whether we'll settle for jest scarin' him and tormentin' him. Or whether we'll jest ignore him."

            "Somethin' tells me you'll not jest ignore him."

            "Good guess!" Lem laughed.

 

            Penny shrugged helplessly. "I cain't be sure, Oliver. Didn't sound like serious threats. I 'spect they was jest messin' with you. And pesterin' me, too; don't forgit, I riled 'em, too."

            Now, Oliver looked helpless. "I sure don't wanta tangle with 'em agin! But I cain't stay home forever."

            "Well, ...seems to me, iffen they wanted you bad 'nough, they'd jest come after you, right here. Ain't like they don't know where you live."

            Oliver gulped, and did not appear reassured at that.

            Penny sought ways to comfort his friend. "Me and Jody could go in and see iffen they're in there, and come out and tell you, meet you outside the doin's, see? But I admit, that don't tell us how they'd treat you, was you to go in."

            "No. And don't do no good anyways, for us to refuse to go in iffen they're there. That'd not solve nothin', and jest postpone my fate, whatever 'tis. 'Sides, it'd git them ruffians riled at you Baxters agin, too, was you to come out and tell us, and that don't he'p nothin', neither."

 

            Mrs. Hutto and Oliver slithered surreptitiously through the church door, and remained there along the wall, barely inside of the church. The doin's were in full swing. As always, the Forresters were easy to locate: to the left of the Huttos' position, and two-thirds of the way up the length of the church toward the far wall of the building. All six of the large, burly men were there, and they noticed the two new arrivals instantly, nudging each other and grinning. They sauntered toward the two, luxuriating in the alarm that they were inspiring.

            With Oliver's back solidly against the wall, Mrs. Hutto shifted to stand directly in front of her son as the rough men arrived in their vicinity. She and Oliver had previously, privately, discussed the futility of trying to escape back out of the door in this eventuality, judging it safer to have the townsfolk as witnesses, than to be pursued and caught alone and helpless outside of the church. The townsfolk would do nothing to help, most likely, just like before, during the fight in the spring, but at least they were witnesses in case of atrocities: almost useless, but at least not entirely.

            Lem stood directly in front of the mother and son, and told the former, "Well, Shorty, I kin hit Oliver right over your head, easy, jest like I done hit him over Penny's head in the fight last May."

            While he spoke, Buck and Mill-wheel swaggered in from both sides, such that Oliver was surrounded in a most horrifying repetition of the positions of the fight.

            Mrs. Hutto subtly nudged backward with her elbow into Oliver's ribs, to give him the agreed-upon signal that they had discussed. On cue, he slid down the wall to sit on the floor behind her, removing himself as an easy target. They had known that she would be next to useless in providing him cover, if the Forresters were determined to strike.

            Arch, Pack, and Gabby had now arrived as well, hovering just beyond the initial three.

            Oliver now sat with his back against the wall, leaning his head forward between his raised knees, and wrapping his arms protectively around the sides of his face.

            The Forresters chuckled at the sight of the thoroughly intimidated pair.

            Meanwhile, Penny and Jody had materialized nearby, slightly beyond Buck. "Fellers, please!" Penny implored. "Don't do this!"

            Lem glared at him. "You gonna git into this agin?!"

            "No," Penny admitted. "Ain't no use. I cain't fight you-all. I ain't big enough to make no diff'rence, and we all know it. But I'm beggin' you to let him go!"

            Lem turned on Jody."What about you, Skeeter? You want some more o' this?!"

            "No, Lem, I cain't, neither! But please don't hurt Oliver!" Then the boy surprised everyone; he turned to the nearby Buck, slipped his arms around him, and cried into the big man's beard.

            "Oh here now!" Buck was discomfited at the timing of the poignant gesture. He had held this crying child before, most notably after the death of Fodder-wing, but in privacy during an emotional moment, not in public during a time of anger and conflict. He gently moved the child aside and out of the way.

            Then, Mill-wheel suggested, "Well, fellers, you figger we've scared 'em enough?"

            The Forresters held their menacing positions for a moment more, and then broke up laughing and scattered. They gradually migrated more toward their far corner, glancing back randomly and jeering at their thoroughly-cowed former victims.

            Very slowly, Oliver picked himself up off the floor. Rattled, but wishing to stop showing it quite so obviously, he took his mother into his arms and began to slowly dance with her. As they gradually turned in their dancing, Oliver and Mrs. Hutto took turns keeping an eye on the dangerous Forresters, so that they were never oblivious to the bearded men's locations and attitudes, not risking being sneaked-up-on and caught unawares.

            Multiple times during the evening, throughout the hours, Oliver found himself inevitably dancing close to one or another of the Forresters, who paired themselves with a wide variety and constantly-varying array of women. Each Forrester sneered, smirked, or snickered at him, but none made any further threatening moves.

            Penny found their initial blustery, bluffing, menacing display disgusting, but Oliver figured that he got off lightly.