In Wilderness Found

Chapter 20: This Kind of Thing Doesn't Happen Around Here

The Williams homestead is empty. That much is obvious as Ellis looks in their windows, behind the house, and in Daniel’s blacksmithing shack. No trace of Daniel, Sarah, or their daughter, Gracie, anywhere. 

His heart begins an erratic thump. Could Abner really have done something to them? All of them? He rides back to town in the direction of the sheriff’s station as quick as Guilford can carry him.

Sheriff Smith leans against the wooden building that houses the jail and justice department. The gray hair underneath his hat matches his handlebar mustache, and he looks as if he doesn’t hold a care in the world as he smokes a cigar.

“Sheriff,” Ellis tips his hat as he jumps off of the horse in front of the building.

“Ellis! How have ya been?”

“Fine, but I really need to talk to you. I’m afraid it may be urgent.” Ellis ties up the horse on a post by the street.

Sheriff Smith narrows his eyes, doubtful that whatever Ellis is about to say is all that urgent. “What is it, son?”

“Have you heard from Daniel Williams lately? I think he’s missing, and Sarah and their girl aren’t at home either. I might know someone who knows something.”

The sheriff’s lips form a narrow line. He strums his fingers against his leg for a moment before pulling himself off the side of the building. “Come into the station.”

Ellis doesn’t know if the sheriff is taking him seriously or not, but he follows him inside the wooden building. Sheriff Smith leads him through the double doors, and Ellis’ heart rate skyrockets.

A dark haired little girl is perched on a dusty chair in the corner, fiddling with a paper doll. She pays the men no mind as she walks the doll across her lap.

“You’re a little late on the draw, Ellis. We collected Miss Gracie here from the Williams’ house this morning.”

Ellis just looks at the sheriff blankly, until he continues his explanation. “Sarah came in a few days ago to report Daniel missing. We rode out this morning to check in with her and found the girl all alone. Said her mama hasn’t been home for a couple days.”

Ellis’ mind is racing. He tries to form coherent thoughts, but the sheriff interrupts them. “You think you know something?”

He nods. “The new blacksmith, Abner Wright, I... I have reason to believe he may have something to do with it.”

“How do you figure that?”

There’s no other way around it, so Ellis just tells the sheriff, “Madison, his wife, has been staying with me. Abner is cruel to her, and she thinks he’d be capable of harming them. He’s been getting an unusual amount of business since Daniel’s been gone, and we all know it’s unlike Daniel to up and disappear like this.”

“His wife has been staying with you?” Ellis hears the judgement clear as day in the sheriff’s question. It’s almost as if he didn’t even hear everything else he just said.

“My dog found her in the woods behind my property, after she got lost running from the husband who hits her.” Ellis puts an aggravated emphasis on his last words and continues, “Have you looked into what happened to Daniel and Sarah at all?”

“To be honest, when Sarah came in the other day to report him missing we just figured the old fella needed a break from her. She’s a sweet woman, but a little overbearing. Ya know it?”

Ellis almost can’t believe what he’s hearing. The nonchalance on the sheriff’s face makes him want to smack him. “And what about now? Now that she’s missing?”

“Well, we didn’t have any leads until you came in. Sarah had mentioned something about Daniel delivering to a new customer, but I don’t remember the address she gave.”

Ellis lets out a frustrated sigh. “Alright, well now that you have a lead, are you going to take a look? I can take you right to the man’s house.”

The sheriff gives a casual nod and looks over at Gracie in the corner. “I pray we find them both well and good, or that little girl will have a tough life.”

Suddenly, she looks up from her paper doll and her eyes meet Ellis’. He coughs uncomfortably, a sick feeling rising in his stomach. He moves for the door in a rush.

He and the sheriff take off to Abner’s house, with a couple deputies following behind. 

The property is eerily silent when they arrive. Maybe it’s the fact that Ellis now knows exactly who it is that lives here, but the land seems cursed almost. He notices right away that Abner’s horse is not by the barn when they arrive.

With a sigh he says, “Sheriff, I… escorted… Mr. Wright from my property last night. He’s surely had time to make it home though…”

The sheriff eyes Ellis for a moment before he chuckles. “Escorted, huh?”

“Yes.” Ellis leaves it at that and frowns as he thinks of where Abner could be. He doesn’t believe he’d go back to the cabin, not after the way he was escorted off last night. Plus, Madison is highly capable of taking care of herself. He tries not to cringe at that thought. Just because she can, that doesn’t mean she should need to. 

The old house doesn’t look any more occupied as they step up on the decrepit porch. The two deputies, both scrappy young fellows that just look excited to have something to do, join Ellis and Sheriff Smith on the porch. It creaks loudly under their collective weight.

Thick dust coats the outside of the windows, and the sheriff peeks in. “Doesn’t look like he’s home yet, Ellis.”

“Want me to check out back, Sheriff?” The taller of the two young deputies asks. His brown hair is a little too long on the sides and his beard is haphazardly scraggly, making him appear less than professional for his job description. 

“Sure, Hampton. Go ‘head.”

“I better go too,” the other one says. He doesn’t wait for a go-ahead as he follows his taller counterpart, his hat nearly falling off his blonde hair as he scrambles off the steps.

Ellis can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t right. His stomach is in knots as he takes a second look in the dirty windows and around the old porch. 

“Sheriff Smith!” A frantic yell comes from the back yard only a moment later.

Ellis and the sheriff share a look before following the voice off the porch and around the house.

“Come here quick!”

“What is it, Collins?” The sheriff asks gruffly as he and Ellis round the corner.

But the boy doesn’t need to answer, because the answer is obvious. Two fresh patches of turned over soil stand out clearly against the weedy backyard. Both patches are just wide and long enough to hold exactly what they’re all assuming is underneath the soil. 

Hampton gags as the sheriff begins to dig up the first shallow grave using a nearby shovel. He quickly digs up the second one once he finds what’s in the first. 

“Hell,” the sheriff curses.

They all stare at Mr. and Mrs. Williams’ pale, dirt-covered bodies for a sickening moment, all of them afraid to speak. An overwhelming nausea coats the air as they come into the realization of what they’ve found. These are two people they knew, two loved members of their community. This kind of thing just doesn’t happen around here. 

“I have to go.” Ellis forces the queasy feeling from his insides as he sprints to the front of the house to get on Guilford. He sends a frantic prayer up to God that wherever Abner is, he’s nowhere near Madison.