Darkness had covered the land, and the residents of Adams lay sleeping in their beds. Suddenly the bell of the church began to toll, and sentries went running every which way but up to rouse the men of the town.
“To arms! We are invaded! Arm yourselves; we must defend our fair city!”In no time at all an army of night-shirted minutemen came pouring out of their homes and into the streets. The call to arms was hardly unanticipated, and just about every male resident of Adams had taken to keeping loaded firearms in their bedchambers. They were too late, however, as their city was already in flames.
The raiding party from Jefferson had ridden far out to the west, and then they circled back and came at the abolitionist stronghold from the north in an attempt to confuse them. They succeeded; most of the sentries were facing south, and by the time they had spotted the flickering torches coming their way it was already too late. Those torches were tossed on the aid society building, the printing press, the bank, and other offending structures. Then they turned west and tossed torches on the stables, the barn, and the granary. All remaining torches were tossed into the partially harvested wheat fields.
Only after the raiders had set off into the black of night could a defense of Adams be raised. Hasty shots were wildly fired at the distant and disappearing targets. After the first volley most men of Adams had nothing with which to oppose their invaders but harsh language. Peter cursed as he stood in the flaming fields of wheat, and then he turned to address the men.
86 “Saddle horses! After them! They’re not getting away with this!” Peter turned and ran to organize a pursuit, but before he took his first step Jacob grabbed his shirt and pulled his face to within inches of his own.
“Have you gone raving mad? How are you going to saddle horses, the stables are on fire!” Jacob turned to address the men.“Form bucket brigades! Everyone, we must form bucket brigades, we gotta get these fires out!” As the men ran to replace rifles with buckets, Jacob turned to speak with his secretarial shadow.
“Pass the word to the sentries; we need every warm body out here to fight these fires. Women, children, everyone who can walk needs to get out here before the whole city burns down. Run!” Once again the church bell rang out its emergency summons, and once again the sentries ran through the residential sector with a frenzied cry.
“Fire! The city is burning! We must put out the fire! We need every man, every woman, every child, every bucket”As fast as they could, the people formed lines between the stream and the burning buildings. Every vessel that could hold water was passed between them. They needed no lanterns to see with, as the city had become their torch. Throwing buckets of water on the flames felt like spitting in hell. Despite their best efforts, the people of Adams feared they were beholding the funeral pyre of their dreams.
Finally, as the first light of morning broke across the horizon, the last fire was extinguished. Some buildings had been saved, but others were little more than blackened ruins. As the wearied people marched back to their beds, those that still had beds at least, Jacob could see sadness, loss, and devastation written in every eye. But he knew that would not last for long. Soon would come the rage, and it would burn every bit as hot as the fire that had just been fought with mixed success. Soon it would threaten to consume their souls just as the physical flames had threatened to consume their city. For some, it had already begun. As Jacob stood in the streets and bore witness to the results of the attempted act of policide, Two Rivers walked up to his side.
“We have to retaliate, tonight. If we don’t teach that damn Jones a lesson now then it will only encourage more raids.” Jacob shook his head, wondering how things had ever gotten this bad.
“No, there will be no retribution tonight. We have our lives, and we should be grateful for that much at least. We will rebuild. That will show Jones that he cannot burn us out.” Two Rivers remained unconvinced.
“An eye for an eye, is that not what your scriptures say? He burned our city, we should burn his.” Jacob stared out at the ruined buildings and felt like a man diminished.
“An eye for an eye will only leave the whole world blind. If I have learned anything from my time here, it is that violence only leads to more violence. We will turn the other cheek. There has been enough destruction, now it is time to build.”
Jacob walked off to his church. Two Rivers turned his eyes towards the rising sun. The skies were red that morning; as red as the blood many were eager to shed. Smoke continued to rise from the city like a sacrifice on the altar of hate. Some fires had been extinguished, but others were just beginning to smolder.