18
Clarence Adams was shaking his head. From his vantage point, lying in the tall grass about twenty yards in the distance, he could hear speech from a man directed at his horse. Clarence patiently waited as the man walking his horse approached him. He could tell the man was unaware of his presence. Still speaking to the horse, the man just about jumped out of his skin when Clarence, now a mere twelve feet away, spoke.
“I thought I was the only crazy one around here.”
William almost rushed to mount his horse, but as he took a good look at the man sitting on the grass ahead of him, he could see this stranger seemed friendly and, more importantly, unarmed.
“Are you lost, my friend?” Clarence wanted to set a friendly tone. Clarence was not at all concerned encountering this total stranger. Visibly, William conveyed the appearance of a lost, injured child.
“Actually, sir, I am more lost than I can ever explain.”
“Well, I have been known to be a good listener. I could offer some food and rest for you and your horse, you look like you need some.”
William looked at Clarence and smiled. “You must have heard me talking to my horse, you must think I am crazy, and you are still prepared to be hospitable! The people of your time are something else. They are either extremely pleasant or extremely violent!”
Clarence stood on his feet and walked toward William. Both men met each other’s handshake. “My name is Clarence Adams, and I can assure you violence is not in my nature.”
William looked at Clarence square in his eyes. “Clarence, my name is William Monterey. I can honestly say that I am very happy to meet you.”
Clarence led his new friend down a rolling hill to his cabin. As they approached the picturesque setting, a large dog ran up to meet them. The barking of the dog startled William’s horse. William pulled on the bridle of the horse and rubbed the horse’s neck. “Easy, Bullet, it’s only a dog.”
Clarence placed two fingers to his lips and let out a loud whistle.
“Sergeant, come here, Sergeant.” The dog quickly changed his course of direction, lowered his head and walked slowly toward Clarence, wagging his tail. “William, this is Sergeant, my loyal companion.”
Sergeant was a yellow Labrador, just like the one William had when he was a boy. William knew that this breed of dog was very friendly.
“Hey, Sergeant, nice to make your acquaintance!” William bent down to play with the dog, just like he remembered doing with his dog when he was a kid. Sergeant took an immediate liking to William.
“William, you passed my test for making sure that you are a good guy!”
William looked up at Clarence a little confused. “Oh, and what test is that?”
Clarence let out a small laugh. “William, if Sergeant likes you, then you must be a good guy. You see Sergeant hates my brother-in-law Matthew; he is a bad guy!”
William was a bit startled. “You don’t mean Matthew Bulow, do you?”
“How is that you know my brother-in-law?”
“You see this wound?” William was pushing his shirt away from his injury to allow Clarence a close inspection.
“Well, I was going to ask if the blood stain on your shoulder was a serious wound. Did Matthew do this? Well it does not surprise me. It looks like you and I have something in common! You see this bruising on my cheek? This is also a compliment of that son-of-a-bitch. You don’t have to worry, William, there is no love lost between Matthew and me! Now tell me, why did he do this to you?”
“It sounds like I do not need to tell you that your brother-in-law must be out of his mind.”
William was not sure if it was safe to go on. Clarence sensed William’s apprehension.
“Listen, William, I tried so hard to convince my sister Sarah not to marry him, the man is a walking storm. She deserves better than him. He is a real asshole. You don’t have to worry about me. If I can help you, I promise to.” William felt a little reassured.
“Clarence, why don’t you tell me the reason why Matthew assaulted you?”
Clarence smiled.
“You know, don’t ask how, but I have a feeling it has something to do with why you were shot. Did Matthew shoot at you near the Natural Bridge? Did he blame you for the disappearance of my nephew? I know for certain you had nothing to do with it.”
Now William was even more perplexed. “How do you know for certain that I had nothing to do with the child’s disappearance? I mean to say, I know for certain I had nothing to do with it, but it seems everybody else seems to feel I was involved. What makes you different?”
“For the last two days I have been walking around in a daze. I was the closest human being to Daniel when he disappeared. As a matter of fact I was closer to him than you are to me now. I was this close.” Clarence extended his arm outward, slightly bent, indicating he was less than an arm’s length away. We were under the Natural Bridge, the others were forty feet or so away.”
“The others?” William interjected with great interest and anticipation.
“Matthew, Sarah and another couple. I was feeling a bit out of place, and my sister begged me to join them earlier in the day. I should have stayed here with Sergeant. After we ate, I strolled over under the bridge and lay down in the grass. The others were talking, mostly about married life and various antics of each other’s spouse. Sarah brought the bassinet carrying Daniel over to me and asked me to keep an eye on the baby. I was mesmerized by the falling water droplets from the underside of the rock of the bridge above. Some of the droplets were hitting the baby. All of a sudden Daniel lets out a cry. But something was strange about this cry. It abruptly stopped in unison with splashing from the bassinet. It was as if the baby turned to water. I was shocked. When the others came over in concern for the baby it was gone. Needless to say Sarah was devastated. I had no time to think about what had happened, her husband was all over me. I actually blacked out. I still do not know if it was from the shock of what happened to the baby or from the blows inflicted by Matthew.”
By now William was dumbfounded. He was not sure if he could make sense of what he just heard.
“You mean to tell me the baby just vanished?”
Clarence seemed to have momentarily allowed his mind to take him back to the Natural Bridge and was not responding.
“Clarence?”
William nudged him.
“I do not know what to say!”
Clarence was back; he looked at William puzzled. “I am just wondering how you fit into all of this, William. Can you help me understand what happened out there?”
William looked at Clarence and then looked away; he let out a sigh.
“Maybe I can.”
Clarence was surprised by this reply.
“You can? How?”