The Silent Stutterer
by Charlotte Fox
A horse came galloping through the main street of the town of Seattle...a street muddy with the spring rains. The exhausted animal, soaked with sweat from its mad dash, slowed at the sight of a tall, fair-haired young man. Joshua Bolt quickly grabbed the reins which, just moments before, were flying on either side of the horse.
"Whoa there," Josh said gently. His clear blue eyes scanned the animal from mane to tail, then he turned his attention to the saddle. The initials "J.Bolt" were clearly burnt into the leather. Josh scratched his head, puzzled that one of the Bolt horses would be saddled and loose. Both of his brothers, Jason and Jeremy, were inside the local saloon, waiting on Josh.
"C'mon, boy," Josh said, clicking his tongue. He led the horse up to the front of Lottie's Saloon and tied the reins on the post. He patted the now-calm animal's neck and went inside the building.
"Josh, what kept you?" Jason Bolt asked. He walked from the bar towards his brother. Jason could only be described as tall, dark and handsome with deep blue eyes that were a hallmark of the Bolt clan.
"Just finished up the payroll," Josh replied with a sigh.
"Where's Jeremy?"
"Thought he'd be coming in with you."
"Well, his horse is outside."
"His horse?"
"Yep. It came racing into town, all alone."
"Candy said that she and Jeremy were going riding today," Lottie Hatfield said as she came over to the brothers.
"When was this, Lottie?" Jason asked.
"Earlier this afternoon. I got the impression that Jeremy was taking the rest of the day off."
"You're right, you're right," Jason said and sighed. "I forgot about him needing time off. We've been so busy lately. He and Candy haven't been able to spend much time together."
"Jason, something must've happened then," Josh said, frowning. "His horse looks like it had a long way to run."
"Let's go check over at the dormitory first," Jason said.
"Jason?" Lottie began, a worried look in her eyes. She looked upon Candy and the other Brides, as the men called the eligible young ladies, as if they were her daughters. The Bolt brothers had been her friends for many years but she had a soft spot for Jeremy...he'd been so young when his mother died, and Lottie had grown very fond of the shy, young man. Although she was old enough to be his mother, she was really more like a maternal friend.
"We'll find them, Lottie," Jason assured her. "I'm sure they're all right.
Candy was riding too, right?" Lottie nodded. "Only Jeremy's horse came back; they're probably riding double.
Jeremy's horse can get pretty spirited at times!" Jason chuckled at that but worry lines still creased his brow.
***
Candy lay still but was conscious; her head throbbed. She slowly sat up and raised a hand to the back of her head. Gingerly, she touched the raised spot and winced. As her eyes focused better, she looked around for Jeremy. She slowly stood up and saw her horse first, then Jeremy. He was laying face down on the road, maybe fifty feet from her.
"Jeremy!" Candy called and went as quickly as she could to his side. She rolled him over and took in a sudden breath. A deep gash ran about halfway across his forehead but was no longer bleeding. Candy immediately went to her horse and retrieved the water canteen. She sat next to Jeremy, who had not uttered a sound yet, and tore off a strip of her petticoat. After wetting it with water, she gently cleaned Jeremy's forehead. "Thank God," she whispered and heaved a relieved sigh. The cut was not nearly as deep as it had appeared to be but it did extend beyond his hairline. "Jeremy," Candy called to him, trying to wake him up.
***
Jason and Joshua saddled their horses in haste. They'd found that none of the other Brides had seen Candy since early that afternoon. She'd packed a picnic for her ride with Jeremy; Jeremy had come for her and no one had seen either of them since.
"Biddie, you know where they go," Josh said.
"They have so many places they go, I don't know which ones to tell you," Biddie Cloom stated, her eyes wide. She ws Candy's best friend and confidant; even she didn't know where to tell the Bolt brothers to start looking. But she was genuinely scared.
"Did Candy say anything...anything at all that would help?" Jason asked even as he lifted himself onto his horse.
"Well," Biddie began, "she packed a whole fried chicken."
"Yes?" Josh asked impatiently.
"Well, that means that wherever they were going, they were planning to be gone a long time," Biddie stated, shaking her head.
"And Candy did take her cape...it's warmer than her shawls."
"Thank you, Biddie," Jason said. "They were going up into the mountain then."
"The cabin?" Joshua asked.
"Possibly."
"Yeah, that makes sense, Jason. Jeremy's horse came from the north road into town." Josh swung himself into the saddle, and he and Jason lost no time heading out.
***
Jeremy slowly opened his eyes and as soon as he saw Candy, he sighed heavily. he started to sit up but his vision blurred, and his head felt like it was trying to separate from his body.
Taking slow, deep breaths, he closed his eyes only for a moment and when he opened them again, he stared into Candy's worried, blue eyes.
"Jeremy?" she asked quietly. She held out her hand to him and with her help, Jeremy managed to sit up. "I'll be right back," she said and went back to where she'd unpacked their dinner. When she returned to Jeremy's side, she had the water canteen and the torn piece of petticoat. She wet the cloth and gently pressed it to the cut on Jeremy's head. A large purple knot had formed but the wound had not bled any more. "Better?" she asked.
Jeremy only nodded and held the cloth to his forehead.
"My horse stayed close to us after the accident, but I'm afraid yours ran away. Probably went back to Seattle," Candy said. "Jeremy?"
Jeremy looked up at her and nodded again. He opened his mouth to speak but found he could not.
"Here, drink some water," Candy said, offering the canteen. As Jeremy drank, she went on, "You've been out for quite a while."
"Candy," Jeremy mouthed her name but still no sound issued forth. He looked into Candy's eyes and saw her fear. He put a hand to this throat and felt around, but found no cuts, no lumps...he had no pain anywhere except his head.
"Jeremy," Candy began.
Jeremy just shook his head and hunched his shoulders. He took Candy's hands in his and nodded, trying to reassure his future bride.
"Do you think you can stand?" she asked.
He slowly stood up in answer and nodded. Candy held onto him but he let go of her hands and followed her towards the little camp she'd made.
"Hungry?" she asked. "We still have some chicken." When Jeremy nodded in answer, she quickly prepared a plate for him.
"Thank you," he mouthed and even grinned. He really wasn't hungry but he needed to do something "normal" to alleviate Candy's fears. Not being able to talk didn't really scare him, but it was worrisome. Perhaps the hard blow on the head had something to do with it.
"Maybe we should make camp here tonight," Candy suggested. "It's already getting dark and it's still quite a ride back to Seattle."
Jeremy shook his head and put his plate down. Using his finger, he drew a crude picture in the dirt...a cabin. He looked up at Candy who nodded when she came to his side.
"Are we close enough?"
He stood up and surveyed their surroundings, then nodded.
"You up to going? That hill..."
Heaving a deep sigh, Jeremy nodded once in answer. It would not be easy going in his present condition, but his parents' old cabin seemed the best place for them to spend the night. In addition to being much closer than Seattle, the cabin offered better protection than just setting up a camp.
The air smelled of rain and Jeremy knew it wouldn't be long before a light drizzle would start, then turn into much more. They had to get to the cabin before that or making the climb up the steep hill to the structure would be next to impossible.
"Jeremy, why don't you ride part of the way?" Candy said as she quickly packed up their belongings. She turned around to face him, and bumped into him.
He grinned at her, shook his head and motioned for her to get on the horse. When she made to protest, he took her arm and started to help her into the saddle. His hand came into contact with the back of her head and she couldn't help wincing. He got her situated atop the horse and faced her...a worried frown had replaced the grin.
"I'm all right," she assured him. "Just a little bump on the head from where I fell." She put her hand to the back of her head,
then showed him her palm. "See, no blood. Just a little bump. All right?"
Jeremy wasn't sure but nodded anyway. Now he felt guilty for having suggested they go riding. Candy hadn't gotten used to riding horses yet; she preferred buggies and wagons. Jeremy cursed his own stupid, male pride. Don't worry, Candy, I'll teach you. You'll love it after you get used to it, he'd said to her. He'd shown her all right...right into a logging site. He'd taken the wrong road and an explosion from somewhere near to where they were riding had spooked his horse. It had been a helluva ride for Jeremy as his horse bucked and reared and whirled, catching Jeremy completely off guard. Despite his best efforts, Jeremy had not been able to control the horse or stay in the saddle. He seemed to remember seeing Candy's horse start spinning as well, but he'd been powerless to help Candy.
Stupid, he chided himself now. He remembered flying through the air and hitting a low-lying tree branch, then nothing until he woke up. When he'd seen Candy, and she looked like she was all right, he thought she'd managed to get her horse calmed down. Obviously, she'd been thrown as well.
"Jeremy," Candy said softly as she gently touched his face, "get that guilty look off your face." She looked deeply into his troubled blue eyes...eyes she'd know any where...and smiled. "I'm really all right. The fall didn't even knock me out...just stunned me for a moment." Her hand still rested on his cheek. "Come on, let's get going before the rain comes."
Jeremy nodded, agreeing with her. Then he grinned again; he never won the arguments anyway! He led the horse toward the bottom of the hill that would take them up to his childhood home.
***
By the time the rain really started coming down, Jeremy and Candy were warm and dry in the Bolt cabin, but not Jason and Joshua. They'd only managed to find their way to the old mountain road when the rain began.
"That hill's gonna be treacherous, Jason," Joshua said as he stretched his lanky frame in the saddle.
"I don't wanna spend the night on the ground either," Jason said, nodding. "If we go around to the well path, it shouldn't be quite as steep or muddy."
"Sounds good to me."
***
"How's the head?" Candy asked as she tried to get Jeremy to lay down on the bed.
He motioned for her to take the bed, and he would lay next to the fire. He'd already spread a blanket on the floor. When he saw that Candy wasn't gong to comply, he sighed and sat on the bed.
"That's better," Candy said. "Now, lay back and let me take another look at that cut." She smiled as he obeyed. She gently felt around the top of head and was relieved to find that the cut only went into his hairline, and no further. It wouldn't need stitching up but she knew it had to hurt. Jeremy had hit the tree branch very hard and had landed face down on the road. When he'd remained unconscious for so long, Candy had been afraid he might die without ever waking up.
Jeremy sighed heavily and closed his eyes. The bed felt good and his head did not. His whole body ached now that he was completely at rest. He had to let Candy take care of him...she wouldn't let him protest. Sighing again, he felt drowsy.
"Jeremy?" Candy whispered but received no answer. She caressed his face, then leaned over and brushed his cheek with her lips.
Suddenly, the door of the cabin flew open and Candy jumped up, scared. When she saw the other two Bolt brothers standing in the doorway, drenched to the bone, she had to laugh.
"You two look like drowned rats!" she exclaimed.
"Feel like it, too!" Joshua quipped.
"Well, get in here," she said and quickly closed the door behind them. "I don't want to get wet."
Both brothers looked past her to where Jeremy lay on the bed.
"Is Jeremy--" Jason began.
"He's all right, I think," Candy said, interrupting. "You get as much of your wet clothes off as you can, and stand by the fire. I have some tea made. That should warm you up. Then I'll tell you what happened."
***
Jeremy opened his eyes and had to blink several times to clear his vision. His head still spun but that feeling soon went away, and he sat up. No one was around but the fire was still going. He cleared his throat and tried to call out, but his voice remained still.
He slowly stood up and started for the door. As his head injury began to throb again, his vision blurred once more. He opened the door but leaned against it until his senses cleared. It was daylight but rain still came down. Jeremy squinted as he looked around; surely Candy was nearby.
Jeremy made his way around to one side of the cabin. Where is she? he wondered, puzzled. Then confusion gave way to fear...what if something had happened while he slept? Oh God, please... he prayed. How long have I been out anyway? he asked himself. His heart pounding, he looked all around the cabin. No Candy. No horse. Nothing.
Soaked through now and still barefoot, Jeremy started to go back inside the cabin. He would put on his boots and jacket, and head down the hill. "Where the hell is she?" he tried to ask aloud but only mouthed the words. Frustrated now, he yelled "Candy!" over and over even though he could make no real sound.
Someone grabbed him from behind, startling him. Candy, he though with relief. He turned around to stare into two very dark, piercing eyes though, not Candy's cool blue ones. Jeremy didn't have time to react as his sense completely left him.
***
Jeremy awoke with a start. His clothing was still wet, but from sweat, not rain. He was laying down in the bed in his parents' cabin again. How did I get...who, he wondered, then saw Jason.
"You," Jeremy squeaked out, surprised there was sound at all.
"Well, good morning to you, too," Jason said, grinning. He sat next to Jeremy. "You took quite a blow on that hard head of yours, I hear."
"I...I guess so," Jeremy said, clearing his throat. "How long you been here?" His voice was hoarse but defintely audible.
"Josh and I got here last night. Candy told us what happened. You've been unconscious for several hours. Candy said you were out for quite a while after you hit the tree, too."
"Good th-thing I do have a hard head, huh?" Jeremy asked, grinning. When he started to sit up though, Jason wouldn't let him.
"I think you've got a concussion," he said.
"Jason, I walked all the way up the hill," Jeremy said in protest.
"Yeah, and as soon as Candy got you to bed, you passed out," Jason replied. "Besides, it's still raining out and I, for one, am not going back to town in it."
"All right," Jeremy sighed but did sit up. "Where's C-Candy?"
"Sleeping in the other room. Good thing Josh and I brought our bedrolls along. If we hadn't thought to look for you here, I don't think Candy would have slept at all."
"My f-fault," Jeremy whispered, feeling guilty all over again.
"Why?"
"I...I pushed at her to go riding. Sh-She wanted to take Lottie's buggy," Jeremy paused and looked at his eldest brother and sighed again. "Lottie offered it but--"
"But as pigheaded as you are, we went riding," Candy said, interrupting. She laughed as Jason got off the bed, allowing her to sit beside Jeremy.
"Yes," he agreed, looking down.
"I suppose I'll just have to get used to that," Candy said.
Jeremy did not look up or say anything. "I think I almost prefer the quiet," she said with a loud sigh.
"What?" Jeremy asked as he finally looked up at her.
"Well, the way you were carrying on early this morning," Joshua said, laughing, "I bet you woke the dead, brother!"
"I don't--" Jeremy began.
"You were yelling my name," Candy said, cutting him off. "Over and over."
"And over," Jason said with a melodramatic wave of his hand.
"Oh," Jeremy mouthed and grinned at his brother. Only Jason would stoop to theatrics to make a point! "I guess I didn't really leave the c-cabin, huh?"
"Nope," Josh said.
"You were so still that for a while, we kept checking to make sure you were alive," Jason said.
"I'd say your yelling this morning made up for all the silence!" Candy said with a light laugh.
"How's the head?" Jason asked.
"Aches a little, not much," Jeremy said. He licked his lips then asked, "Is anyone hungry?"
"Starving!" Josh said.
"I think we still have something in our packs," Candy said.
"Josh and I brought coffee and--"
"And beans," Jeremy said, interrupting.
"And beans," Jason repeated, grinning. "You are right, little brother!"
"Well, it'll have to do," Candy said and started to get up.
"Let them fix it, Candy," Jeremy said softly. "If I was as loud as you all s-say I was, you must not have gotten m-much sleep."
"Not much," Candy admitted.
"Then you lay here," Jeremy said and got out of the bed.
"Jeremy," Candy began.
"No, you lay here," he said firmly. "If I f-feel like I need to lay down, I'll go in the other room."
"All right," she said, conceding. She was very tired after all.
"Good," Jeremy whispered and leaned over her, smiling. His lips lightly caressed hers and in no time, Candy fell asleep.
"Well, beans and coffee will have to do," Jason stated.
"I'm hungry enought to eat th-that," Jeremy said and joined his brothers at the table. As they ate, Jeremy told them about his dream.
"Well, you were quiet for a little while!" Josh said, laughing.
"Yeah," Jeremy said. "F-Funny..." he paused.
"What?" Jason asked.
"I even st-stuttered to myself."
Jason and Joshua were now the ones to be quiet. Jeremy spoke very little about his stuttering, even to them. But nothing really needed to be said; Jeremy just needed to say it.
"Silent stuttering, huh?" Jason said at last and grinned. He looked over at Josh and winked. "Guess you've proven again that you have all the talent in this family!"
"Huh?" Jeremy asked, puzzled, then grinned at his brother's joking. "I'd gladly g-give you this one, Jason."
"I think I'd take it," Jason replied.
"Yeah, it might help you get a woman!" Josh said with a laugh.
"I don't see you with one yet, brother!" Jason stated.
"Shhh," Jeremy whispered. "You'll wake Candy."
"Sorry," both Jason and Joshua chorused. Jeremy grinned again at his brothers but sighed. They were good to have around whenever he started feeling sorry for himself!
The End
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