Beneath the Tombstone (The Tombstone Series) (17 page)

Soon,
Jason’s frustration began to escalate. It seemed as though Tyler was just using
him as a work horse. The question was ever present in his mind – when was Tyler
going to begin teaching him how to climb?

Jason
could feel the fingers of the night digging its claws into his back as he fought
his way through fog and darkness so thick it threatened to choke him. Not a
leaf stirred. There seemed to be something very strange about the forest around
him, for no other life-form could be detected in it. If he could hear a bird
chirp or see a rabbit hop across his path then, at least, he would know that he
wasn’t completely alone. But no, those were creatures of the day. Maybe he
would see a raccoon, or a baby fox – or something that was a creature of the
night… but still not scary.

Then
through the fog, standing right in front of him, Jason saw a lamb of pure
white. It turned and joined him on his journey, walking along by his side. Off
in the distance, a lone wolf gave a spine-chilling cry. Shortly, two others
joined in its choirs of mournful song. In a langue unknown to mortal man, they
howled their eerily beautiful, ghost-like melodies. The lamb stopped and turned
towards the haunting sound. He stood as still as a statue for a moment then
slowly headed off in that direction. Jason didn’t want to be left alone in the
foggy darkness, so he had no choice but to follow.

They
traveled far together, Jason and the lamb. High and low they searched, looking
for the answer to a question that would end their quest. Their trail narrowed
before opening up into a clearing. There the lamb stopped with its ears pointed
forward, focused on the other side of the small meadow where the trail began
again. From there, walking in rank, like the ghosts of fallen soldiers, shapes
began to emerge from the fog.

A low
pitched, quite howl sounded as across the clearing the wolves came… one on the
right, one on the left, and one leading the way, out front and in between. The
two in the back led a human, female captive. Bound by a rope on each wrist and
a wolf pulling on either side, her arms were slightly spread apart as they
pulled her along. The woman’s face was lowered towards the ground. Stray locks
of her long dark hair covered her face, keeping her identity hidden. Judging by
the features he could make out, Jason could see she was young and beautiful…
and so helpless.

As
the wolves approached, the lamb did not run, nor did it show any sign of fear.
When the lead wolf drew near, it bowed down at the feet of the lamb. The other
two, clutching the ropes of captivity in their mouths, followed suit by drawing
up one paw, arching their backs and lowering their heads to the ground. The
young and beautiful woman, ensnared by ropes and sharp white teeth, dropped to
her knees exhausted with her head still lowered towards the ground.

Seeming
to no longer be aware of Jason’s presence, the lamb stood with his back to him
while looking down at the wolves. It lifted its head high, arrogance and
self-importance showing in its stance. It took a proud step forward, and a
gentle breeze began to blow, softly toying with its wool. Dread filled Jason’s
heart. He could feel terror in the wind. The woman captive lifted her head and
looked right a Jason, her eyes full of sorrow and fear.

Jason
had only one thing in his life that he would rather die for than live without…
and there she knelt before him. “Misty!” he tried to call out, but for some
reason, he was unable form the words.

She
couldn’t speak but seemed to be trying to tell him something as she pulled his
gaze with hers down to the lamb. The wind shifted in the forest, and it seemed
as though some slumbering evil had been awakened. It came from behind Jason,
tugging harder and harder on the lamb’s wool, blowing the hair back from
Misty’s face. She looked from the lamb back up to Jason, and her eyes begged
him to understand, but he couldn’t. The truth would have to wait to be revealed.

Jason
tore his gaze from Misty back down to the lamb. As the wind blew harder and
harder, its wool coat seemed to be coming lose. Pieces of hide began to flap until,
finally, the lambs entire coat was lifted, blowing away with the fog. Now,
Jason knew what Misty had been trying to tell him. With sharp teeth and the
eyes of a predator, the companion who had traveled the long and lonely road
with him, the innocent lamb, was, in truth, another wolf.

“Misty!
Misty!” Jason tried to call out again and again… but no sound came from his
lips. Some supernatural force seemed to be holding his words captive.

Jason
felt himself being shaken back and forth. All the images seemed to be spinning
and blurring together. He lashed out wildly and felt his fist make contact with
what he hopped was one of the wolves. It seemed to give out a grunt that
sounded very human… then began calling out his name?

“Jason!
Jason!” the voice echoed inside his head. What was that awful squeaking sound?

Jason
set straight up in the spring bed and screamed, “Misty!” in a long, drawn out,
lonesome cry.

“Easy,
Jason! Easy now!” a bug-eyed Tyler spoke excitedly from a distance as he
clutched his side. Jason shuffled back against the bed’s headboard, like a
scared horse backing into a corner. “Man, are you okay?” Tyler asked as he got
a chair from the table and warily pulled it over to the bedside – though he did
not come within striking distance.

Jason
didn’t reply or look at the horseman. His whole body was trembling with such
intensity that the springs in the bed were responding in a squeaky, quivering
sound. It was like he’d lost her all over again.

“Misty,”
Tyler spoke quietly. “Is that your wife’s name?” Jason just nodded without
looking up. “Pretty name,” the horseman commented. Jason couldn’t agree more.
“She’s in your dreams?” Tyler asked.

“First
time,” Jason answered.

Tyler
sat silent for a moment before beginning to ask an uncomfortable question. “Look,
you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I’ve never seen anybody act
so – so,” he searched for the right words, “the only way I know how to explain
it is, it was like you had everything you wanted right before you,” he paused
for a moment before adding solemnly, “and lost it.” He paused for a moment more
as an enquiring look filled his eyes. “So, man, I
gotta
ask… what’d you dream?”

Never
raising his head or blinking an eye, Jason began. “I was lost in the night. Fog
and darkness surrounded me.” He sat silent for a moment then, in a voice numb
from the drain his dream had brought upon his mind, he went on. “I was all
alone until a lamb met me in the fog and led me. I followed it, thankful to no
longer be alone.” Tyler sat stone-still and silent, listening as the dream
unfolded.

Several
minutes later, Jason reached the end and, in a voice numb from anguish,
concluded, “And that’s when I realized that the lamb – the one I had looked to
as my friend – was really my betrayer.” He was silent for a moment. “Oh well,”
he muttered, realizing how bizarre it all sounded, “just a crazy dream, I
guess.”

“I
don’t know,” Tyler spoke solemnly. “I’m not a spiritual man, but one thing I
know for sure; sometimes our subconscious uses dreams to present a hidden
truth. I wouldn’t completely write off the dream. Keep it in mind. It may come
in handy.” He paused for a moment, seeming to be lost in deep thought. “I know
this is a stupid question,” he spoke after a bit, “especially when you consider
what you’re going through for her, but do you, um, do you love her?”

“Yes,
of course,” Jason responded in a voice filled with sincerity.

“Jason,”
the tall horseman spoke, a hint of sadness creeping into his eyes, “if you find
a woman who’ll stick by your side, regardless of how crazy what you’ve got to
do may seem, you have a true treasure.” He leaned forward as though to reveal
some critical information. “The woman I loved was not a true treasure,” he said
quietly. “She left me when I needed her most. But if your wife is a true
treasure then don’t let her go without a fight.”

He
paused for a moment then added, “That’s what today is about. I want to find out
how far you’re willing to go for love. I’m not real smart, Jason, but one thing
I know for sure is that true love never quits. True love may fail, but it never
quits. Today I want you to remember that, Jason… never quit.”

“Yes
sir,” Jason responded, unsure of what made today different.

“I’m
going to clean the stalls today,” Tyler said in a matter-of-fact way. “I have
something special planned for you.”

“What
do you want me to do?” Jason asked with a mixture of curiosity and anxiety
evident in his voice.

“Go
back to bed,” Tyler responded and, as a result, Jason bobbed his head back in
surprise. “Rest. I’ll be back at first light to get you started.”

Seriously?
After his dream and Tyler’s speech, Jason felt like doing anything but resting…
but Tyler was the boss so, after the tall cowboy left, Jason did exactly as he
had been instructed. He did the “go back to bed” part any ways. The order to
rest was an impossible order for Jason to follow at the moment. His mind did
nothing but spin. Bits and pieces of the last week or two flashed in and out of
his mind until he heard the clunk of cowboy boots coming across the wooden
porch to his door.

A
knock sounded. Jason got up, quickly made his bed, walked to the door and
opened it. The tall horseman stood with his back to him at the edge of the
porch, leaning against a brace post as the first few drops of morning sunlight
lit the sky before him.

“Are
you ready?” Tyler asked without turning around.

“I
hope so,” Jason replied nervously.

“Me
too,” Tyler responded as Jason walked across the porch to its edge and joined
him. The tall horseman lifted a finger and pointed to the trail he had led
Jason down every evening over the course of the last week.

“You
know the way by now,” he commented. “Run the trail.”

Really?
Was that what all this secrecy was about? Doing something he’d already done
before? He could run that trail by now with his eyes closed. “Then what?” he
all but scoffed.

“There
is no ‘then what’,” Tyler responded. “The trail is all there is. Run it. I want
to see you come by the ranch at least once an hour. I catch you taking any
short cuts, you’re gone.”

“When
do I finish?” Jason asked. Tyler looked at him but didn’t answer. “Well, how
many laps?” Jason persisted.

“Run,”
Tyler growled. “Just run.”

A
bewildered Jason looked at his phone for the time before setting it down on the
edge of the porch. After putting on his shoes, he jogged off down the trail.
One hour? He’d show that overgrown nut under a cowboy hat how long it was
supposed to take to make a lap around that trail.

A
while later, an exhausted and sweat soaked Jason came trudging by the ranch.
“Forty-five minutes,” he called out victoriously to Tyler after glancing at his
phone on the porch’s edge. Much to Jason’s surprise, the big cowboy did nothing
more than give an unimpressed nod. Jason’s high spirits sank. At the least, he
had expected some sign of approval. Maybe even a “Good job” or “Keep up the
good work.” Instead, he got nothing.

Worn
out and beat down, Jason collapsed out of sight on the ground between his truck
and the shed. He felt sick. Needed to rest a little. After a while, Jason
rolled over and pushed up to his knees before crawling over to his phone. Dread
filled his heart. He had spent the fifteen minutes he had gained, lying on the
ground. In the shape he was in, Jason saw no way to make the trip in an hour…
but images of Misty flooded his mind. He wasn’t about to quite on her, so down
the trail he plunged.

When
he made it back again, there was a bottle of water, a bag of nuts, and some
jerky sitting on the porch, but the first thing Jason grabbed was his phone.
Yes! He had made it with several minutes to spare. He grabbed the snacks and
water to eat and drink as he walked down the trail.

Lap
by lap, the hours began to pass by. And at the end of every lap, there was a
bottle of water sitting on the porch of Jason’s shed, waiting for him. He was
still managing to maintain his one hour curfew. Time after time, he raced
against the clock. He wasn’t sure what Tyler would do if he was late. He wasn’t
going to find out.

At
lunch, Jason found water, nuts and more jerky accompanied by some fruit. Again,
he devoured the snacks while heading down the trail for his… what was this, his
fifth or sixth time? Jason couldn’t remember. From what Tyler had said, the
number of laps didn’t matter anyways. That was hard for Jason. He had always
been the kind of guy to figure out exactly what need to be accomplished before
setting out to get it done. If Jason could just have some sort of set goal, a
time or a certain number of laps, then it would be a lot easier to remain
motivated. The not knowing and not seeing the end coming closer was getting
harder and harder to bear.

An
hour or so before sundown, Jason knew that at no other time in his life had he
experienced such extreme and utter exhaustion. His legs seemed to be acting on
their own. They just kept flopping out in front of him. He couldn’t count the
number of times he’d fallen down and struggled back to his feet. He was slowing
down. His time had slipped from the punctual one hour mark to an hour and
fifteen minutes. Soon it was taking him an hour and a half to make the circle
as with each lap his body shut down a little more and a little more. Had Tyler
forgotten about him?