by: Marty Chrisman
Cyrus stood eyeing Luke with a critical eye. The duke boy had lost consciousness again after another vicious beating with the belt, reopening the previous wounds on his back and tearing the flesh to pieces. His breathing was labored and Cyrus knew he’d had about as much abuse as he could take. It wouldn’t take much more to kill him.
“We gonna finish him off, Paw?” Tommy asked in an excited voice. He had never liked Luke and he wanted to be the one to kill him. He’d already made sure he got his turn beating him and he’d gotten a thrill from hurting Luke. Now he wanted to experience the ultimate thrill. He wanted to look into Luke’s eyes one last time as he took his life.
“He’s already as good as gone…” Cyrus said. “All we have to do is cut him down and let the animals finish him off.”
“But Paw…”
“Don’t but Paw me! Or I’ll take the belt to you!” Cyrus snapped “We’ve been here long enough! Jesse and his kin are gonna be looking for him and the longer we dilly dally around here, the more likely we’re gonna get caught!” He glared at his oldest son “Now help your brother break up camp so we can git out of here!”
Tommy scowled at having the chance to finish Luke himself thwarted but he knew better than to argue with his father. Sulking, he started helping his brother like his Paw had told him to. Cyrus walked over to Luke’s unconscious body and pulled a knife from the pouch on his belt. Reaching up, he cut the rope that was slung over the branch above Luke’s head. Luke fell heavily to the ground and lay there motionless. His hands were still tied together and so were his feet, so even if he did happen to regain consciousness, he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere. Later that night the animals of the night would finish him off if he was still alive, and if he wasn’t, they would dispose of the body.
It didn’t take long to take down the tent and kill the fire. Looking around to make sure they hadn’t left any thing important behind, the three Carson men started to make their way out of the swamp. They had only gone a short distance when Tommy suddenly said, “Damn, I forgot my knife.”
“You dang fool!” Cyrus growled “Hurry up and go back and get it, then you can catch up.” Tommy smiled to himself as his father and younger brother kept moving on down the path. Tommy watched until they were out of sight, then he quickly hurried back to where Luke was lying on the ground.
Kneeling beside the body, Tommy pulled his hunting knife from beneath his jacket and hissed “This is for my sister, you bastard….” With those words, he plunged the knife into Luke’s stomach, twisting the blade viciously. Luke moaned but did not regain consciousness. Smiling triumphantly, he wiped Luke’s blood off of the blade with the edge of Luke’s torn shirt and stuffed the knife back under his jacket. Standing up, he hurried to catch up with his father and younger brother.