December 3, 1859
A cold wind whipped through the town square of Jefferson. It cut like a knife. People used to warmer climates were bundled up against the chill, and they bustled about on their daily business. They had no idea of the threat they were under, or the power of the coming storm. The Jones family mansion lay on the south side of the town square, and opposite that lay the courthouse. To the west was city hall, and to the east lay the First Baptist Church of Jefferson. Master Jones stood on his wide porch leaning against a column as he watched the ants go marching to turn the wheels of his creation.
Suddenly a trio of uninvited guests made their way past the courthouse. Jacob walked in front with Ruth to his left and Peter to his right. Jacob called out his nemesis.
“Jones! Your brother lies dead in the field, and his blood cries out for vengeance!”Jones walked up to his adversary with a glib smile on his face and a pair of hired goons flanking him. Unbeknownst to him, the people of Adams were taking position on the north and east sides of town.
“Reverend Channing, such a pleasure to see you again sir. I trust you received the present I sent you?” Jacob’s blood boiled.102 “This is the last straw Jones. I am shutting you down once and for good.” Jones’ eyes narrowed.
“Do you demand satisfaction, sir? If so then we can settle this right now, man to man.”
“Not good enough Jones. This is bigger than you and me. I am here to deliver your eviction notice. You can either walk away from Kansas right now or I will send you and all of your wretched kind home in a pine box.” Jones’ eyes grew narrower still.
“Make your move.”Jacob was only too happy to accept the invitation. He whipped out his pistol and fired a in a fraction of a second, but his target was no longer there. Jones had gone running back to his mansion. His thugs raised their weapons, but they were distracted before they could shoot. Two Rivers rode in without warning. He let out a loud war cry and blasted one of the mercenaries into the next life. Peter made short work of the other one. A contingent of Adams men rode in behind Two Rivers on horses liberated from their enemy. They jumped off and took up firing positions by the church. A group of sharpshooters opened fire from the roof of the courthouse. The rest of the Adams militia moved in behind them. Jacob and his comrades fired at every armed man they saw in front of them, but they could not stay long. There were just too many of them.
The sounds of battle were everywhere. Women and children ran away screaming, and the sound of the gunshots was loud enough to make ones’ ears bleed. Overseers and other gunslinging yahoos seemed to be coming out of the woodwork to repel the invasion. Jacob, Peter, and Ruth ran back to the relative safety of the courthouse. Outnumbered and outgunned, the men of Adams pressed forward as best as they could even as they were being mowed down like blades of grass.
Meanwhile, to the northeast of town, overseers were running from their charges to join the battle. They turned a corner and found an army of women lying in wait for them. It was about the last thing they expected, and it was the last thing they ever saw. Once the overseers had been cleared out, the women of Adams turned towards the surprised slaves.
“You are free now. Run, we will cover your escape.”
They didn’t have to be told twice. The slaves of Jefferson scattered into the four winds as those who have known only the discipline of the lash will do once there is no longer anything keeping them. The women began to make their way into town from the east.
Back in the town square the battle was not going well for Jacob and his comrades. While they had the element of surprise, now that their opponents were alerted to their presence they found numbers were against them. All around them a lead rain cascaded down in sheets. The thunder of battle was terrible. It sounded as if everyone in Kansas had dropped what they were doing to start shooting at one another. Perhaps they had. Jacob reloaded and frowned. He did not want to cede the initiative to the slave drivers. He looked over at his best friend.
“For the cause, Peter?” Peter finished his own reloading and nodded.“For the cause, Jacob.”
They ran out towards the Jones mansion and fired at every puff of smoke and flash of sparks they saw through the fog of war. Ruth ran out beside Jacob with an upraised rifle, but she did not get very far. Before she could pull the trigger, a bullet caught her square in the chest. Horrified, Jacob stopped and picked her up. Peter covered their withdrawal. Jacob put her down and cradled her in his arms. He looked her in the eyes as the life passed out of her. Only at the end of Ruth’s life did Jacob find the courage to speak the words she longed to hear.
“I love you.” Ruth stirred and craned her neck upwards to meet the gaze of the man she loved one last time.“I know.”
Ruth cast her eyes to the Heavens that were her destination, and then she gave up her ghost.
Jacob wept.
Before long his grief gave way to madness, and Jacob let out a loud and terrible cry.
“NOOOO!!!”
Without a thought or a care he ran out into the town square firing wildly. Peter ran up behind him, but he was quickly knocked down by the wall of bullets that was thrown up in their path. Jacob was so traumatized that he barely even noticed. Two Rivers saw disaster waiting to happen. He ran from the church to the town square and knocked him down in an attempt to talk some sense into him.
“Listen to me. This is not a good day to die. Those people behind you need a leader. Without you they will fall apart.” Jacob gave a look of anguish to his only friend in the world.
“They’re dead. They are all dead.” Two Rivers gave him strength to go on.“If you honor what they fought for, then you will not seek to join them. Any fool can die for a cause. It is living for a cause that is hard.”
Jacob was talked off the precipice, and the two friends crawled back to the courthouse. By this time the women had fought their way to the church and were taking position along the east end of the city center. The defenders of Jefferson saw their fellows being cut down in growing number. The town square had become a kill box from which there were only two options, retreat or death. Outflanked and outmaneuvered, many of them broke and ran as hired men do when they are not willing to die for their supper. Jacob watched the carnage continuing around him as the bodies piled up higher and higher. He had had enough. He decided to put a stop to it.
“Hold your fire! Everybody, hold your fire!” The word was passed and the people of Adams stopped shooting. Slowly the remaining defenders of Jefferson realized that nobody was shooting back and held their fire as well. Jacob stepped out into the town square.
“Jones! Show yourself, I wish to parley!”Jones, now the master of nothing and no one, stepped from his hiding place and met with Jacob in the center of the town square. Jacob began their truce negotiations. “Have you had enough Jones, or has your thirst for blood not yet been quenched?”
“You started this bloodbath Channing. And now you have ruined me. You once offered me truce. I am ready to accept it now.” A look of iron determination came over Jacob’s face.
“I am setting the terms now, so listen carefully. Either you and all of your slave driving kind can pack up and go back to whatever hole you crawled out of, or we can go back to shooting at each other. Those are the only options available to you. Make your choice.” A thundercloud passed over Jones’ face.
“Have it your way then, I will leave. But I warn you, honor has not been satisfied. The next time I see you, I will kill you.” Jacob met him blow for blow.“If I ever see you again, then I swear by everything holy that I will shoot you down like the mad dog you are.” The two mortal enemies stared at one another, and then they walked away.
After the pounding they had taken, Jones’ former fellows wasted no time in clearing out. Jefferson became a ghost town. To the north of town the survivors of Adams dug a fresh cemetery. A forest of small wooden crosses marked the final resting place of those who had given their lives for the freedom of people they had never even met. Jacob and Two Rivers carried the bodies of their friends with them when they left, as now only they remained to bury the dead. They had won, but the price they paid was too high. Spartacus, who was born again only to die so quickly and so horribly. Peter, who had come bringing hope at a time when it seemed there was no hope left in the world to be had. Ruth, whose love for Jacob gentle and mild had proven itself to be stronger than the grave. They were buried behind Jacob’s church. In truth, no one made it out alive. Even those who walked away would ever carry with them the weight of what happened on that terrible day in Bloody Kansas.