Do Not Forsake Me(107)

“Ben.”

“How old are you?”

“Eight.”

Jake struggled against ugly memories as Jeff arrived with the canteen. “Pour water over those welts—gently,” Jake ordered Jeff. “Let it trickle over so you don’t use up the whole canteen all at once.”

Jeff obeyed. Ben jerked and started crying again when the water touched the stinging welts.

“Lloyd, get some laudanum,” Jake ordered. He looked at Ben. “I’m a United States Marshal, Ben. There is no law that says I have a right to take you away from that man over there, or that even gives me permission to stop him from beating you. I need to know—do you want to stay with him? If not, I’ll take you with me, even if it means losing my job.”

The boy closed his eyes against the stinging pain. “He’ll…come after me.”

“I know he will. When I was about your age, I tried running away from my father too, Ben. But I didn’t have a United States Marshal helping me. I’m telling you that if you want to come with us, you can, and I’ll make sure that sonofabitch over there never touches you again. You can trust me on that.”

The boy glanced at his father again. The man still lay curled up. He looked back at Jake. “Where…would you take me?”

Lloyd walked closer, bringing laudanum for the boy and whiskey to cleanse Jake’s wound.

“I’d take you to Guthrie, and I’d find a good family to raise you, Ben. And I am promising you right now that if I can’t find decent people for you to live with, I’ll damn well raise you myself. I just need to know if you want to leave that man over there. I know he’s your father, and I know part of you loves him, but if you stay with him, he’ll come close to killing you with that belt. You don’t owe him a damn thing, Ben. Where’s your mother?”

The boy sniffed and wiped at a runny nose with the back of his hand. “She died havin’ a baby. Pa buried her farther back. He said…he shouldn’t have to raise me…by himself.” The boy’s thick, blond hair stuck out every which way, and his blue eyes showed cautious fear when he glanced at his father again. “He gets mad real easy and…gets mean…when he drinks. I think I…want to go with you.”

“Then you will.”

Ben’s eyes widened then, and he stepped back when his father managed to get to a sitting position. The man glowered at Ben and Jake.

“Get the hell away from my son!” he told Jake.

Jake turned his gaze to the man, and Jeff noticed Ben’s father’s threatening countenance change. The look in Jake’s eyes told him he’d better tread lightly. The man grimaced as he tried to get up. “Who the hell…are you?” he asked Jake, and he fell back down.

Lloyd stepped closer to the man, standing over him defensively. “That’s Jake Harkner, federal marshal. I’m Deputy Marshal Lloyd Harkner. And you are going to pack up and leave, mister—now! You have no idea how lucky you are to be alive.”

The man bent over in pain. “Ain’t no law…against a man…disciplinin’ his son.”

“Maybe not. But that was way more than discipline, mister, and there is a law against attempted murder. That’s what we could arrest you for, and for the most part, a marshal’s words are sacred out here. Something tells me you’d rather give up your son than go to prison. That’s the choice we’re giving you, mister.”

“But…you can’t—”

“We can. Out here in Oklahoma Territory we’re the law—period!”

“He’s my kid! I’ve got first rights! How would you feel if somebody came to take your kid from you?”

“I have a kid close to the same age as yours, and I don’t beat him near to death with a fucking belt! Right now I’m tempted to pick up where my father left off and finish you off, you sonofabitch!” Lloyd walked over to pick up the belt.

“Wait!” the man objected. “You can have him!”

Lloyd turned to the man, and for the first time Jeff saw a dark look very close to what he’d sometimes seen in Jake…this time in Lloyd’s eyes.

“What’s that?”

“You can have the worthless little bastard!”

Ben covered his face and started crying. Jake got to a kneeling position and put a hand to the side of Ben’s face. “Don’t listen to him, Ben.” He pulled Ben’s hands away from his face. “Don’t ever listen if somebody calls you worthless, understand?”

“But he’s…my pa. He’s…s’posed to love me.”