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CHAPTER FOURTEEN
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Blackwater Val “THEY POISON THE HEART”
“THEY POISON THE HEART”by Michelle Brooke Deadmond(an excerpt)Those that bled out and died quickly were among the lucky, they who never knew what hit them. All up and down the Mississippi near the mouth of Bad Axe River their frantic drums sounded. No one came, though, no allies rose to the call—promises of British assistance were not kept. Even when a second white flag of surrender was hoisted in desperation, the slaughter continued unabated, insatiably. Thus had begun the~~ Fugue ~~History tells us there were numerous other skirmishes leading up to this, before the end came for them at the Battle of Bad Axe that summer. In May of 1832, appointed war chief Black Hawk and his dwindling band of followers scored a surprise victory over drunken, attacking, and then abruptly fleeing soldiers at Old Man’s Creek, in what would shamefully come to be known later as Stillman’s Run.This spark ignited the fire, and the Black Hawk War was on.It’s said that a green, 23-year-old captai
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Blackwater Val CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN1“WHAT’S THE STORY, boys?” said Chief Priewe. “Everything all right?”“Everything’s great,” Tommy answered, emptying his bin into the recycling dumpster. “No stories here. Might want to try the library there, Chip.”Priewe went a light shade of red, standing next to his cruiser. Rich and Tom had decided to run the bottles and cans down to the drop-off lot, near the exit road across from Aubel Farms. They took Richard’s Blazer, and no sooner than they’d pulled into the lot—wouldn’t you know it—reliable old Chief of Police Prick-we had steered right in behind them and gotten out, adjusting his mirrored sunglasses. Just like a bad penny, Tommy had time to think.“That your bin, Tom?”Truitt shook the items out and dropped the blue plastic bin to the ground, slamming the dumpster lid closed. “No,” he said, irritated, “my friend came all the way from Maine so he could dump his recyclables—you got us.” He laughed. “Whose do you think it is?”“Easy, Thomas. Don’t get e
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Blackwater Val CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN1NAIN TRINITY LUTHERAN’S chapel was filled and Glee Deadmond had them in the palm of her hand. Studio lights on tripods illuminated her, while a camera operator kept her in frame, directed by a second man in a white short-sleeve shirt and tie. There was a hanging backdrop of crushed muslin with the words THE GLEE CLUB—WE ARE UNANIMOUS IN THIS! emblazoned in gold, and Glee wore a wireless mic clipped to her lapel so she could move about unencumbered before it.To one side of this was the brightly lit oratory, the church’s choir at attention within. They had opened services with a hymn: “All the Earth Will Sing for Joy”, and Richard recognized the leggy young girl with the yellow ten-speed from yesterday as one of the satin-robed singers.Glee spoke with a natural ease, addressing the congregation as if accustomed to doing so her entire life. She had started off haltingly, gaining steam as she engaged them on the necessity of healthcare for seniors, and local job gro
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Blackwater Val CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN1THEY WHEELED THE dead baby out at exactly 6:41 PM; Richard knew this because he was glancing at his watch when he heard the sound of the serving cart, and looked up.Wheeled him out on a metal serving cart, he would later think, appalled. My sweet God . . .Before this happened the Reverend had stood silent for a time, eyes closed in meditation, his palms pressed together, fingers pointing like little church steeples. The rest of the assemblage shuffled their feet and fidgeted impatiently, some of them coughing into fists. When he opened his eyes and began to speak, Richard jumped.“Welcome, everyone. We’ve all been acquainted—at one time or another—with the expression ‘culling the herd’, have we not?” A few nods came, some muttered affirmations. “But what does this mean, precisely: an eradication of the sick? Does it mean reducing the parasitic overpopulation? Getting rid of those too frail and weak among us, perhaps, as your forebears once did right here in B
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Blackwater Val CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN1“WELL?” ASKED RICHARD from where he crouched in Deadmond’s front yard.“Don’t know,” said Tommy honestly. “Never seen anything like that in my life, man. Maybe I need to hit church more often.”Richard had resigned to staying the night at George and Glee’s, so here they were. Otherwise, Katie and he would be out at the motel now, for sure. “Something wasn’t right about it. Not right.” He chewed the tender inside lining of his cheek, staring at a gruesome Latex lawn zombie which sprouted from the neighbor’s darkened yard across the street.“Nope,” Tommy agreed, hands stuffed into his pants pockets against the chill.They had been outside the Deadmond home for half-an-hour or so, hashing over what had happened, the resurrection they’d witnessed. Richard couldn’t shake the feeling it was no miracle, but instead, that—like the rubber zombie rising up across the street—what they had seen in the church was more than just unnatural. Unclean, was a word that leapt to m
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Blackwater Val CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN1THE FOLLOWING DAY The Rock River Guardian carried a story about the newest plague pit found near town, and how the grisly remains of twenty-four hapless souls had been pulled from the mass grave so far. There was no mention of Henry Putnam’s inexplicable rebirth last night, of course, just a short paragraph regarding the family’s tragic carbon monoxide deaths.Tommy called Franklin’s cell phone and they agreed to get together out at Blessing Acres orchard, after he wrapped up his schedule early for the day. Richard and Katie stopped off at the Nightlight Inn to shower and grab a change of clothes first. Richard hadn’t wanted to do it at Deadmond’s, hadn’t wanted to hang around there for anything other than breakfast and morning coffee with George. So, after pulling on some oversized sweatshirts and clean blue jeans, they reclined on the neatly made beds and watched cartoons awhile, eating microwave popcorn from the motel’s vending machine lounge.He paid the room
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Blackwater Val CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY1“WHAT THE HELL are you doing here?” came a voice from behind them, just as Tom was hiking his work boots on. They all turned together, and when Richard saw Chip Priewe standing at the mouth of the Anasazi Bridge by the metal A-frame sign, it felt as though ice-cold river water had suddenly seeped into his stomach, filling it.“Answer me,” said the police chief, smacking on Clorets gum. “This bridge is closed to the public. What are you doing here?”“Why’s that?” Tommy asked, shaking droplets from his hair. “Why is it closed?”Priewe studied them. “Safety reasons. How did you get yourself all wet there, Thomas?” He chewed briskly, hand rested on the butt of his holstered service revolver at his hip.“We saw the fish,” Richard said, trying to think of a way out of this. “From the roadway. Dead fish, floating in the river. We’re wondering what caused it. Any ideas?”The uniformed chief peered over the side, taking in the spectacle. “Not a clue. But you people need
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Blackwater Val CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE1SIMON JULIAN RECLINED naked in the arms of Jesus, surveying his chapel’s sanctuary for the last time.He had shed his clothes and folded them neatly, applied some eyedrops, and had ascended into the welcoming outstretched arms above him. The Reverend sprawled corpselike in the large Christ statue’s embrace, blinking until his eyes cleared. His gaze fell upon the stained glass windows over the alcove.Where next? he wondered, feet and hands dangling, head craned to one side. Hop ship for a life abroad, another continent—or remain close by? Explore this doleful heartland a bit longer.Kansas, say: to the small town called Codell perhaps—ravaged by a tornado on May 20th of the year 1916 . . . and then again one year later on the same date: May 20th, 1917 . . . and again precisely one year after that: on May 20th of 1918—all three storms coming on like enraged beasts in the early evening hour.So many places full of hopelessness and human grief. Places of maddeni
Last Updated : 2024-10-29
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Blackwater Val EPILOGUE
EPILOGUETHE COLD HANGS on, and on. Sinks in deeper. Lost within it, forsaken, the duped and the defiled wander the streets of the Val in a haze. Wondering what’s happened.One of them, Syd Cholke, enters her Regan Street apartment and drops onto the sofa. Slumps alone in the dark. Much later she hears the front door open and close, hears footsteps enter sheepishly. Then delicate, auburn-haired Alice Granberg sits down. No words are spoken between them. After a time Sydney goes to her and kneels and places her ear against the small hill of Alice’s belly, feels the baby roll lazily there. Soon both are dozing in this position, an empty birdcage on the end table nearby.Mrs. Wintermute shrieks inside her narrow prison below ground, breath hitching in and out. She begs and she wails . . . screaming, screaming . . . and eventually becomes quiet at long last. Meg Bilobran sits propped in her theater balcony seat, draped in sheet plastic, eyes flung wide and staring, as if waiting for the
Blackwater Val CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT1“YOU NEED TO say goodbye,” Katie said, and Richard pulled off the road. Cornfields surrounded them on both sides here at the outskirts of town. The first snow of the season was melting, drifts of white caught between the rows.Reports were breaking over the radio about the previous night’s horrors. A spate of deaths in and around Blackwater Valley, and missing townspeople. Structures burnt to the ground. Palm Clemency had had a lot of questions, but Richard never faltered.Now it was time to leave.After they’d showered and eaten a little, recovered somewhat, Richard had gone to the Deadmond place first thing, found the door unlocked. Found George under the drop cloth in the basement where he and Tom had left him.Moving fast, Richard gathered up Blondie’s things: some toys, bowls, her memory-foam bed, loose cans of pet food and a large bag of dry nuggets, pills prescribed by the veterinarian for her arthritis pain—although he suspected she wouldn’t be need
Blackwater Val CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN1SALT BRACED HIMSELF, centered his weight, and began to clamber to his feet. Slowly. First one, then the other. He looked toward the treeline as he did, saw the front end of the Chevy Blazer glinting there like silvery, lupine fangs, its chrome-plated steel grille guard catching light. A shudder wrenched through him. Still he rose, forcing himself erect, the war ax in his left hand.The others were drawing closer.Glee snatched at Katie fearfully, nestled her to her side. Croom glared into their faces. He bent, retrieved something near Dr. Mint’s fingers: the hypodermic syringe. He held it before him, flicked the plastic tube like he was testing it. “Gyaa . . . ?” his disfigured mouth emitted, a bad-natured grin forming. He thumbed the needle’s plunger, had placed one foot on the shovel handle. They wavered in uncertainty.Julian had gone quiet, head back, maimed arms and legs dangling as he levitated higher. Eyeballs rolled to white. He appeared to be in a t
Blackwater Val CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX1THEY SWUNG TO witness Chip Priewe’s demented features, to see him pointing with the pistol and backing away. Soon everyone was looking, gazes upturned. The high wind which buffeted the trees and tore across the shadowed ground had caught Michelle’s cremains up, and up, keeping them aloft. Lifting and throwing them around with leaves and other bits of debris. Denying them respite—Out of this blizzard of swirled grit and ash, uncannily, shapes were forming.“The trees!” Priewe screamed, spittle flying from his mouth. His lunatic eyes shone moon-bright. “Oh, Christ. Hanging . . . in the trees. Can’t you fucking see them?”They did: apparitions in the night-dark limbs of the cottonwood. Something glimmering in the sleety rain. Thunder crashed and everyone jumped, lightning skittering throughout the clouds. The police chief howled.Shadows were coming to life in the tree branches, undulating with an inner light. Changing particle and position, reconfiguring. But
Blackwater Val CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE1THEY PARKED IN the cover of the trees and made their way across Jasper Park, out over its baseball diamond, through the foreboding shadows on the other side. There was scant light here, a few lampposts lining the bike path, some safety lights on at the red-brick shelters. Dark of the new moon, no illumination visible through the cloud cover in the sky, no pulse of stars.On edge, Tommy and Richard milled about. The wooden bat hovered in Franklin’s two-handed grip.Tree frogs were croaking in the river birches overhanging the water—the exfoliating bark on the trees looked like peeling skin at this distance. Besides frogs, a chorus of crickets could be heard chirring in the dewy grass, their evensong waning, getting weaker with the cold. That sound alone was heartbreaking to Richard, signified the inescapable death of summer, an oncoming winter.Tommy noticed the way his friend throttled the bat, the way he stared to the left, the right.“Come on,” Rich murmur
Blackwater Val “THEY POISON THE HEART”
“THEY POISON THE HEART”by Michelle Brooke Deadmond(an excerpt)Soon they tracked the hunted Sauk warrior northward to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, where finally he surrendered and was taken prisoner at Fort Crawford, thus becoming government property and a ‘trophy’ of war to be put on display.Exhausted, and sick at heart, the 65-year-old Indian chief spoke in chains at the Prairie du Chien fort, standing shackled upon the original ceded lands of his great Sauk ancestors, his long resistance at an end now. The speech he gave that day told of lies and betrayal, of the deliberate, systematic extermination of his people. It would become Black Sparrow Hawk’s~~ Coda ~~“I fought hard,” he professed before his captors. “But your guns were well aimed. The bullets flew like birds in the air . . . my warriors fell around me.” His discourse shifted to admonishment. “You know the cause of our making war. It is known to all white men. They ought to be ashamed of it.” He went on to tell of
Blackwater Val CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR1LISTEN, MY PRETTY-WITTY. Listen to me now.Katie heard the voice enter her head, plain as day. Felt it reaching from far off to connect with her mind somehow. She stiffened involuntarily, her arms tightening around the cremation urn. Was this a trick?Your father will find you, it continued, invading her thoughts, but first you must trust me and listen, eh? Close your eyes, cover them so that you cannot see. They are coming. And your father will find you.There was a brief pause, a scanning of her trepidations. Who is this? the young girl wondered, eyes shifting.Your mother paid a kindness to me once. I am repaying it to you. Do what I say, and do not look. No matter what you hear, what you feel, do not look. Do not see . . .I’m afraid, thought Katie, and the voice reached into her head in response.Do not be afraid. You have your mother’s gift. Let it flow through you. Take hold of it, child. The power lies within you . . . it is yours. It always has be
Blackwater Val CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE1“SAY YOUR NAME for me,” the old woman said. “Speak it now.”Hesitation: “Richard Franklin.”She repeated his words, pronouncing them slowly—“Richard” came out as Ricard.“Now say mine.” Her tongue darted over shriveled lips that were barely there. “Say it.”A small red fox with half its tail gone was circling around his shins, he’d noticed, brushing against them. “Witch Beulah. But I’m not sure . . . ” Richard swallowed. “Beulah the Witch.”The puckered mouth curved. “Why have you come this night? What would your pleasure be, eh? And why should I help you?”“His little girl—” Truitt began.“Let him speak it himself, Thomas.” Her eyes glinted obsidian-black in the firelight. “Well?”Richard spoke, going over it all again, telling her about Katie and raking fingers through his hair, telling her that he had nowhere else to go. She listened, allowing him to finish before beckoning them both.They followed her through the dark, followed the swish of her ski
Blackwater Val CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO1THERE ARE PARTS of Illinois known for their inspiration, places of important historical significance and remarkable beauty. Places to give one pause, just knowing they could exist in a flat, windswept floodplain state such as this. On the flipside of that coin, the dark side of it, there are also areas of desolation and blight-ridden anguish. Stark places where menace walked, natural and unnatural, where even nightbirds chose to hide and take to roost rather than sing their evening songs.The Island was of the latter.Angell Island was named after Clarissa St. Angell, first woman from the township of Blackwater Valley ever to graduate college and actually earn a degree. She had been born into poverty out on the remote island in the year 1860, and the poverty of the place had only increased since then. Along with the decay and disrepair.A hodgepodge of shabby little houses and trailers, the 33-acre tract of land sat floating off shore in swampy muck out on the
