Coal Black (Book 5)

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

A Chance at a New Life

Jonas stood in the farmer's limestone barn and saw the pile of shackles. He grabbed a bucket and started loading the irons. He lifted the bucket and set it down by the door.

"Do you have a shovel I can use? Don't let these shackles be evidence of our presence."

Ethan Taylor handed him a shovel and then he gathered up the rest of the irons in his arms and followed the man as he limped out the barn door.

"Where's a safe place to dig?"

"Let's put them in plain sight in the cattle yard. We can cover it with manure, so it doesn't look freshly dug," said the farmer.

"I like the way you think."

Jonas hobbled toward the middle of the feedlot, set the bucket down and tried to dig, using his leg to shove the tool into the ground. He struggled to jab at the dirt at first, but Jonas stayed at it.

"Mister, I don't mean to pry, but you ought to have that leg looked at. Shouldn't you be resting it until it heals, not running through the night?"

"I know that. It is a wonder I have kept it this long. Doc in Redwood wanted to cut it off, but I wouldn't let him. The infection will probably kill me."

"What are running from?"

"Twenty years at Stillwater prison."

"What for?"

"Murder."

"Did you, do it?"

Yes, but it happened accidentally. I pistol-whipped a guy and broke his neck. I didn't mean to kill him, just knock him unconscious."

Ethan fell silent at the revelation, yet he understood. He waited for the man to continue.

"We were robbing a bank and got caught. After the trial, we left on the train for St. Paul. The jailer's wagon crashed on the river road while we were heading to Stillwater. We ran all night to get here."

In the growing daylight, the two of them continued to talk while they finished pitching manure on top of the buried chains. The farmer nudged the escaped prisoner and pointed.

"Look to the west. See that outcropping in the distance? If you can make it there, you'll find a nice-sized cave to hideout in for now."

Jonas looked in the distance across the valley to the ridge tops of the mountain. Caves were excellent hideouts and provided shelter when the weather turned sour. But how would he survive with his leg?

"Then what?"

"You could let your leg heal."

Jonas turned his back on the outcropping and looked at the farm. A herd of cattle grazed in the lower pasture next to the river. He saw an enormous garden and a henhouse. Jonas heard pigs rutting and an occasional rooster crow.

What happens if I cannot travel that far?"

"Come back here. I'll help take care of that leg. It's the least I can do for what you did for me. I don't think I could have delivered the calf by myself. I lost one last year in a difficult birth and I need every calf I can get."

"This is one beautiful farm, and the valley is breathtaking. How in the hell did you ever find this place?"

"I had some trouble in my hometown. A man attacked my wife, and when I saw him trying to rape her, I went berserk, and I killed him with my bare fists. They took me to trial, and the judge dismissed the case on self-defense of my wife. After the trial, we didn't feel comfortable in town, so we left at the end of March during our first year of marriage. We traveled on our own until we reached Wisconsin, and then we fell in with some trappers headed to the Big Woods in Minnesota. They guided us through Wisconsin and helped us cross the Mississippi River. We kept heading west until the trappers came upon this valley, and we camped down by the river. By morning, my wife and I decided this valley was where we wanted to homestead. That was nine years ago, and our oldest boy is eight."