All Men Fear Me (20 page)

Chapter Fifty

“Germany has filled our unsuspecting communities with vicious spies and conspirators and sought to corrupt the opinion of our people in their own behalf.”

—Woodrow Wilson, Flag Day Speech, 1917

Trenton Calder generally arrived at the jailhouse at five or six in the morning, unless there was a prisoner. In that case he slept on a cot in the office, or sometimes in the other cell. Truth be told, he slept at the jailhouse more often than there were evil-doers in jail, just to get out of his too-quiet room in the American Hotel.

He had just risen and was tucking in his shirttail when he looked out the front window and saw Kurt and Mary Lukenbach's wagon pull up.

Even before they dismounted, he could tell that something was very wrong. He sat down behind his desk, unlocked the top drawer, and put his hand on his gun belt while he waited for them to come in. He had no good reason to do so, but it made him feel better to be ready for anything.

***

Trent could hardly believe his ears when he heard what had happened. This was the first vicious act of vandalism against somebody he knew well.

Mary was pale and shaky when she told the story. Chase stood next to her chair, silent and white-faced. Judy was in Mary's lap, quiet, sensing the mood. Kurt had plenty to say as well, but he was so spitting mad that Trent figured he had forgotten how to speak English, for he couldn't understand a word.

Trent telephoned Scott, who walked over from home in less than five minutes. Scott made them repeat the whole tale.

When Scott finally spoke, his voice was quiet, which usually meant somebody was in for trouble. “Is there anybody out to your farm right now, Kurt?”

Mary answered for him. “Carlon Welsh was supposed to be there any minute when we left. I put a note on the back door for him so he'd know what happened and where we'd gone. I told him not to clean anything up until we got back.”

Scott nodded. “That's good. I want y'all to go home, now, and stay there. Trent, you go with them. Take a look at the scene and make sure there's no other damage to the property. I'm paying a visit to Billy Claude.”

Trent stood up and strapped on his gun belt.

“What should we do?” Mary asked.

Scott directed his answer to Kurt. “I think y'all should post some guards at the house for a while. Talk to Carlon. Him and his brother could probably use the extra money. Talk it over with Shaw, too. I don't want y'all coming back into town until I give you the all-clear…”

Kurt started to protest, but Scott cut him off. “I know you've got your business to tend to. Send Carlon to do your deliveries. Streeter and Martha are right here in town to take your orders, or the Kelleys. You've got plenty of family who'll be happy to help you out. ”

“I am not going to hide,” Kurt said. “I am sending out a load of hogs on the train in a few days.” He made himself very well understood that time.

Scott shook his head. “I want you to do what I say, now. It ain't fair, but you're German-born and folks are all stirred up. Send me a message when your stock is ready to ship. Until then, you stay out of town until I tell you otherwise. You get some men to keep a good lookout.” He turned to Mary. “And as for you, honey, try not to worry. I'm going to do my very best to try and find out who did it and clap them in jail.”

Chapter Fifty-one

“Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance. But if he is heartily and singly loyal to this Republic, then no matter where he was born, he is just as good an American as anyone else.”

—Theodore Roosevelt, October 12, 1915

Trent rode behind the Lukenbachs' wagon on his big standard bay, Brownie. Brownie was a tall, fumble-footed thing and riding him was like riding a bicycle over a washboard, but Trent had never owned a sweeter-natured horse.

As they neared the Lukenbach farm, Trent could see people milling around in the front yard. Word spread fast, even if it seemed there was no one to spread it. Mary's parents were there, along with Gee Dub, who was leaning against a tree, his cowboy hat pushed back on his head. Kurt's sometime hand, Carlon Welsh was there with his wife, Georgie, and Carlon's brother, Coleman. Rob Gunn was not there.

People started walking toward them as they came up the drive, and by the time Kurt pulled up in front, the wagon was surrounded and everyone was talking at once. Mary stepped down and flung herself and Judy into her mother's arms.

The Welsh brothers were pressing Kurt to tell them what happened, and Alafair and Shaw were concerned with Mary and the children. Gee Dub walked up to Trent.

“How'd y'all know to come?” Trent asked Gee Dub, after he stepped out of the saddle.

“Carlon came up to the house and told us what happened. He showed us Mary's note. We've been here a spell.”

Trent figured he'd better take hold of the situation. “Everybody calm down!” he hollered, and much to his surprise, they did. “Scott asked me to have a look at the situation. Did y'all leave everything like you found it?”

“We did, son,” Shaw said. “Coleman has a good fist with a pencil and drew you a picture to take away.”

Trent nodded, wishing he had thought of that. “Well, I guess I'd better give the scene the once-over my own self.” He wasn't eager to do it. He could see the piglet skewered to the front door from where he stood. The knife was stuck right through its body, and blood had run down the door in a broad streak that was already dried to a blackish red color. He walked up the steps to get a better look at the writing smeared on the wall—DIE HEINE, and TRATORS GIT HUNG. Trent wasn't sure what a ‘heine' was, but he did know that whoever wrote it didn't mean it as a compliment.

He pushed his hat back. “Knites of Liberty. Too bad they didn't sign their names…”

Gee Dub was standing at the bottom of the steps and heard him, even though Trent was more or less talking to myself. “Everybody knows who they are, Trent.”

Trent twisted around. Shaw and Kurt were standing behind Gee Dub, and the way they were looking up at Trent gave him a bad feeling. “Now, let's nobody go off half-cocked. We may think we know, but we need proof that'll stand up in court. Scott said the best thing Kurt can do right now is to post a lookout for a while and stay home until he says otherwise.”

It was Shaw who answered. “Don't worry, Trent. We'll look after our kin.”

Kurt asked Carlon Welsh if he knew of anyone in the colored community who was looking to pick up some extra money doing guard duty. Carlon said he reckoned he could come up with some men. Between the Tuckers and the Welshes, Kurt and Mary would have an Army guarding their place. Trent didn't know if that made him feel better or worse.

***

While the men inspected the damage to her house and her peace of mind, Mary sat on the open tailgate of the buckboard with her legs dangling over the edge. Judy was toddling around the yard after a barn kitten, unconcerned with the excitement going on around her. Mary watched the baby's innocent play and wished she could regain her equilibrium so easily. Chase was huddled in a corner of the buckboard, behind her. He had no desire to look at the ghastly sight again. He'll probably have nightmares for a month, Mary thought. Her mother sat close on one side of her, and Georgie Welsh sat on the other, their very presence a comfort.

“Kurt and me were talking all the way back home.” Mary was staring at her lap as she spoke. “He's fit to be tied, and I can't get him calmed down. I've never seen him like this.”

“Well, it ain't no wonder,” Georgie said.

Mary glanced at her and shook her head. “Y'all know how he is. Folks tease him all the time, and he just takes it with a smile. But this affects his family. I'm afraid he's going to haul off and knock somebody rear-end over teakettle one of these days, and end up run out of town, or worse. I wish he would just lay low, like Scott told him to, but he won't do it. He says it took him ten years to work his way all the way here to Oklahoma from Germany, and he'll be jiggered if he's going let a bunch of yahoos scare him any.”

She took Alafair's hand. “Oh, Ma, even folks who have known Kurt for years are looking funny at him. And some who I thought were my friends have said things to me that made we want to pin their ears back.” Her blue eyes suddenly filled with tears. “On the way into town, Kurt told me he wants to join up, Ma. Says he'd make a perfect spy for the United States, or at least he could translate German newspapers and captured documents or interrogate prisoners. I'm afraid he'll try to enlist and get thrown in prison just for being born in Germany. What can I do? What if he goes to war? What will I do?”

Alafair threw her arms around Mary, but said nothing. All she could feel was a burning fury at the idiots who had done this.

Georgie was patting Mary on the back. “I know just how you feel, Miz Lukenbach. Men just don't listen to reason! My Carlon is already gone and enlisted up in the Army.”

Alafair squeezed Mary's head to her shoulder, as if she didn't want Mary to hear such shocking news. “Oh, Georgie, I had no idea! When did this happen?”

Georgie's mouth bent up in a bitter little smile. “He signed up last week. Said to me, ‘Girl, they'll be needed ever man they can get for this fracas and I expect they'll be as happy to take a colored man as a white one.' Fool thinks that if he volunteers to get shot that white folks will…” She suddenly remembered who she was talking to and changed the subject in the middle of her sentence. “He said he'll send home his Army pay, but I don't know what he thinks me and the babies are going to do without him.”

Alafair tried to think of something to say, but every comment that occurred to her seemed pitifully inadequate.

Mary extricated herself from her mother's grasp and impatiently wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Well, Georgie, looks like you and me may be in the same boat.”

“I think that after all this, y'all better come spend tonight at home,” Alafair said to Mary.

“Oh, Mama, don't be fussing. Kurt and I don't need to be moving home to the folks' at the first sign of trouble.”

“I don't mean that. Just for tonight. Y'all have had a shock. Let the menfolks make their plans to set a guard. We'll come back tomorrow and scrub the place up from top to bottom.”

“Me and my kin Marva and Sugar would be proud to scrub floors with you,” Georgie said.

Mary was touched in spite of herself at all the concern directed toward her. She turned her head to look at Kurt. The other men were still at the bottom of the steps with their heads together, hashing out their plan of action. But Kurt had gone up onto the porch. He was standing with his hands balled into fists, staring at the crucified piglet. Mary was glad she couldn't see his face. His stiff posture was alarming enough.

Mary started when he reached out and jerked the knife out of the door in one violent motion, catching the pig carcass before it hit the floor. Absorbed in conversation, none of the men noticed when Kurt lay the little body on the porch, wiped the bloody knife on his trouser leg, and disappeared with it into the house.

Alafair was watching, too, and the evidence of Kurt's rage disturbed her as much as it did Mary. She resolved to have a word about Kurt with Shaw later. Shaw had a way about him when it came to calming animals, and people, too.

Trent came toward the wagon and removed his hat. His redhead's complexion was flushed and blotchy.

“Mary,” he opened, “your daddy has suggested that you and Kurt and the children stay over to your folks' place for a few days, but Kurt don't want to. He says you and the younguns ought, though. I think it's a good idea.”

Mary shook her head. “No, thanks, Trent. I aim to stay with my husband. I imagine Chase will want to, though. And I'll let Mama take Judy for the night.”

Trent nodded. “Betwixt the Welshes and all your kinfolks, you'll have a watch outside your door every night from now until doomsday if you want. So I expect y'all will be safe enough until we can catch these goobers. Carlon told me he'll be gone after next week…” Trent glanced at Georgie and his face flushed even redder. “…but Coleman is game to help, and Carlon is going to talk to their kinfolks about seeing who else might take a turn at guard duty.”

“Thank you, Trent,” Mary said.

Alafair seized Trent's sleeve and gave his arm a shake. “I'm going home to make dinner. You want something to eat, son?”

“No, thank you, ma'am. I got my rounds to do.”

Mary looked ill. “I couldn't eat a thing, Mama!”

“You can help me in the kitchen, then. Kurt'll be hungry. Nothing bothers a working man's appetite. Trent, are you sure?”

He looked thoughtful, but shook his head. “I better not stay, Miz Tucker. Scott will be wanting a report.”

Alafair slid down off the tailgate and straightened her skirt. “Well, all right then. By the way, you needn't tell the girls in town about this until tomorrow. There's not a thing they can do.”

Chapter Fifty-two

“College Boys…Don't Read American History. Make It!”

—U.S. Navy recruiting poster, 1917

Shaw and the boys spent much of the day at Kurt's farm, helping with the cleanup and making plans for a twenty-four-hour guard on the property. The shadows were long when they finally got home, and the comforting smells of supper greeted them as they approached the house. When they reached the back porch, Charlie bounded up the steps and disappeared into the kitchen. Before Shaw could follow, Gee Dub put a hand on his arm.

“I want to talk to you for a minute, Dad.”

“All right, son. Let's go inside and wash up.”

Gee Dub's voice dropped. “What I got to say, I'd rather not bring up in front of Mama just yet.”

A jolt took Shaw in the chest like one of his mules had kicked him. He had been expecting this moment for weeks.

Gee Dub's dark eyes examined Shaw's face for a silent moment. His expression was almost curious, as though he was expecting to find some sign of how his father was going to take this. Shaw didn't press. There was always plenty of time for bad news.

Gee Dub's gaze skittered off toward the children playing in the yard before he began. “Did y'all know that since the war was declared, all us boys up at A&M who are over eighteen were required to join the National Guard?”

Shaw swallowed. “We hadn't heard that.”

“The government is requiring National Guard service of all college boys now. I was training a couple times a week and on weekends before the term was over. I've already had a physical for the Army and passed.”

“What does that mean, Gee? Will you have to go into the Army when you graduate?”

Gee Dub was silent for an uncomfortable moment. “I won't be going back to A&M in the fall. My unit has been activated, Daddy. I have to report over to Muskogee in the middle of September. After I've turned twenty-one. I'll probably go to Fort Riley, Kansas, for training. Most of the fellows in my class are gone already. I just wanted to come home for the summer, spend some time with y'all before I go.” He hesitated. “I didn't want to ask for y'all to sign a permission paper so I could join up before I came of age. Maybe make it a little easier on Mama.”

Gee Dub couldn't see his father's face well in the gathering darkness, but he was well aware of Shaw's stoic way of receiving unwelcome news.

When he did speak, Shaw's voice was full of forced good humor. “Your mama will as soon dig out her own liver with a spoon than hear this, but you know that she'll stand behind you, son, just like I do.”

“I know it, Daddy. I hate for her to be scared for me, is all.” He sighed audibly. “Soon as I turn twenty-one they'd draft me anyway. But I'll be danged if I'm going to wait for them to come and get me. Besides, after what happened to Kurt and Mary, I'm going to do whatever I can to get this war over and done with.” His gaze slid across his shoulder to look at his father. “Tell you the truth, I'm scared, too, Dad.”

“I'm scared for you, son.”

“No, well, I'm not so much scared of getting killed. I'm afraid I might not be able to do it.”

“Kill someone?”

“No. I expect that if somebody tries to gut me with a bayonet, I won't be too delicate to blow his brains out. It's just that…” He paused, unable to articulate what was on his mind.

Shaw didn't have to be told. “You wonder if you'll be able to do your duty like a man.”

Gee Dub grimaced. “Yes. I'm afraid that when that first bullet whizzes by my ear, I'll run clean to the Atlantic Ocean before I even realize what I've done. Or end up groveling around in the mud trying to hunt myself up a backbone.”

What a remarkable feeling, Shaw thought. I don't know whether to laugh or bawl. But he said, “Gee Dub, every man wonders the same thing when he knows he's going into a scrape. There's nothing shameful about being scared. Even if you wet your drawers when the bombs start to fall, you won't be the only one.”

Gee Dub cocked an eyebrow. “I'll think of it as something me and my pals can do together.”

Now Shaw did laugh. “Son, I mean only a fool wouldn't be scared in the middle of a war. You're no fool. And you're no coward, either. I know you. You've got a heart like a lodestone. It never fails to find the right direction. You'll do what needs to be done. Do you believe me?”

Gee Dub shrugged. “I believe you believe it, Dad, and I'm glad. I hope you're right. I hope I know how to die standing up.”

The look on Shaw's face caused Gee Dub to regret that he had put it that way. He grasped his father's shoulder. “Don't worry, Daddy. I don't aim to die any which way.”

***

Alafair said nothing at all when Gee Dub told her the news. Charlie and Sophronia cheered and clapped their brother on the back, and Grace and Judy danced around, caught up in the general merriment. Blanche looked worried. Mary murmured something encouraging, but she shot her mother a look of concern. When the family discussed Gee Dub's plans over supper, Alafair didn't contribute to the conversation. Shaw didn't press her.

He didn't say anything to her until later in the night, when they were lying together in bed. “You know there wasn't hardly anything else the boy could do.”

He heard her sniff. “If it was up to me, he'd run and hide.” She sounded bitter. “But it ain't, so I'll make the best of it. I won't be making it any harder on him than it already is. At least he's not like most of these knothead boys around here, all bloodthirsty and bragging that they'll bring home the Kaiser's head in a sack. I hope he has enough sense to keep his head down.”

“You know Gee Dub. It's hard to tell how he really feels about it. I think his blood is up more than he's letting on, but he don't want us to know he's excited.”

“You think he's afraid?”

“He wouldn't have much sense if he wasn't. Of course, he's twenty. I don't know how much sense he can have.”

“Well, I'm afraid enough for both of us, Shaw.”

“I know, honey.”

“I fear for all the children. For Charlie and Ruth. For poor Mary. I fear for you, and for Robin. The world has gone mad, Shaw, and there isn't anything I can do about it.”