Chapter 3

Chapter

Three

Nico raced to the front door while Suzette loudly cautioned him, “Stay in the house, Nicolo, and let Jeb handle it! You do not want to be caught in the middle of a gun fight.”

Understanding the gravity of his mother’s warning, Nico merely opened the door a crack and peeked out to see Jeb looking thunderous out in the pouring rain. He was shouting at someone, “I told you to get the hell away from this house now!”

Matty’s father stood outside the gate. Nico held his breath as Mr. Remington shouted repulsive curses at Jeb and then turned to stomp away hollering that it was against the law to kidnap his “precious son,” and he would see to it that they would all pay for this.

With the danger gone, Nico had to laugh at the man’s parting words. “Precious,” eh? That was a good one. Never ever had that man shown any care toward Matty. The only thing Mr. Remington liked about Matty was that he made a good target for his punches, and Matty willingly ran errands for the awful man. At least he was leaving the premises. For now.

“Are you alright, Jeb?” Nico called through the rain.

Jeb turned and saw Nico and stomped toward the door. “Stay inside, boy. That man has lost his senses, and he’s drunk. There’s no telling what he’ll do. I didn’t shoot to harm him. I just fired into the air… this time. I only meant to scare him off, but he kept coming toward me. I hope next time he doesn’t plan to come back with a gun.”

“Yessir, Mr. Hawkins. Would you like some hot coffee to warm up?”

“No, thank you, son. I don’t want to leave the house unguarded or have my attention diverted. Now get back in and tell that poor friend of yours to concentrate on getting better and not fret about that fool of a father of his. If Remington ends up getting himself arrested or killed, the world might be better off. For now, we’ll just keep him off his son.”

A rattling sound turned their attention to the gate. Walter was using a key to get in. He and Isaac had grim expressions on their faces. Walter carefully relocked the gate as soon as they entered.

“We saw Mr. Remington leaving the place,” Isaac said. “He wandered into some deep mud just up the street and seemed too drunk to get out of it again. Needless to say, we weren’t neighborly enough to help the man after hearing a gunshot from the direction of our house. I think the man actually passed out after cursing at us. Everyone here is unharmed, right Jeb? You both look calm enough.”

“Everyone is fine. If that scoundrel is actually unconscious, maybe I will take a few minutes to come in and get dry. The offer of a steaming cup of hot coffee does sound good after all.”

“Is Matty awake, Nico?” Isaac asked.

“Yessir. I left him with some soup, and Maman was with him in my bedroom. He should still be awake.”

“Tell him we’ll change into dry clothes and come speak with him shortly then.”

Matty hadn’t touched much of the soup when Nico found him. He looked pale and worried and asked immediately, “Was anyone shot?”

“Nah. Don’t worry. I guess your father was causing a commotion and threatening Jeb Hawkins, so Jeb fired the gun to let him know he meant business when he told your pa to get lost. My fathers saw your pa a few minutes later up the street where he’d stumbled into a mud bog and passed out.” Matty nodded at Nico, looking serious. “My fathers said to tell you they needed dry clothes, but they’ll be in to talk to you in a few minutes about the police.”

“Nico, please eat some lunch while you are waiting for your fathers. And Matty, please eat some more. Both of you need to stop fretting so much. This will all work itself out. You’ll see,” Suzette told them in a soothing voice.

“Yes, Maman.” Nico understood that she was trying to be optimistic and not worry Matty overmuch, but he also knew his mother was only smoothing over a nearly impossible situation. He tucked into his soup to make her happy and hopefully to inspire Matty to do the same.

His plan worked a little. Matty had a bit more soup and ate a few bites of cake before Isaac and Walter showed up. They looked serious, causing Nico’s optimism to bottom out.

Walter cleared his throat and said, “It’s good to see you awake, Matty. I must say, you had us all in quite a panic for you last night.”

Matty grimaced and answered, “Thank you, Mr. Walter.”

“Yes, well.” Walter sighed. “You know that Isaac and I went out earlier today to speak to the police. We stopped by and asked Doc Louis to accompany us in case we needed a witness to the… uh… goings on with you. He happily obliged us.” Walter looked around and then scooted a chair up to the bed so he could speak directly to Matty—eye to eye. “Your father had already been to the police office to report that you tried to beat him up last night and fled after leaving him for dead. He wanted them to arrest you and suggested they look for you here.”

Matty gasped and then cried out and grabbed his ribs, screwing up his face in agony .

Nico cried, “No! That isn’t what happened at all! Mr. Remington is the one who should be arrested!”

Isaac reached for Nico and put his arm around him. “We understand, son. Relax and listen to what Walter has to say.”

Walter continued, “Doc Louis looked at that policeman dead in the eye and asked him, ‘Did you see any marks or bruising on Mr. Remington that would indicate he’d been beaten nearly to death… or at all ? Because I treated his son, and that boy was nearly killed by Remington’s fists and boots.’ He told the officer you had a smashed nose he had to reset and at least two broken ribs where that savage kicked you repeatedly. He told them you were nearly dead when Isaac found you. The policeman said Remington had a small scratch on his cheek, but that was all he could see. He also conceded that the man reeked of alcohol but seemed to be walking around fairly well—certainly not as if favoring any part of his body. We pointed out that if he’d scraped his face, it was likely due to falling down while drunk.”

“He did fall down,” Matty said in a small voice. “That was how I was able finally to get away from him.”

“Yes, son. And we’re exceptionally proud of you for getting out of that house and coming here so we can help you. However, there is a wrinkle in the situation. The policeman told us we have no right to keep you here away from your father.”

Suzette gasped, and Nico looked furious. Matty’s eyes went wide with terror .

“Don’t worry. Doc Louis came to your rescue, again. Bless the man. He explained that too much moving around might cause your broken ribs to puncture a lung, and that could kill you. He told the police you have to stay put for at least a month. He also suggested that you might want to press charges against your father for battery, and they could arrest him . Having said that, the policeman explained though that your father would probably not have to stay in jail until a trial happened, so having him arrested would not do much to save you from the man. He also pointed out that minors have very little chance of winning against abusive parents, especially those with deep pockets.”

Walter paused as everyone in the room looked deflated, especially Matty. Then Isaac spoke up and said, “I think I have an idea.”