Justification For Killing (49 page)

“
No! No, Olive Marie! That
is far too dangerous. The people who would kill the President of
the United States would not hesitate to murder us if we got caught.
I cannot allow you to be put into such a perilous
situation.”

“
Oh, come on Forrest,
don’t be such a wimp, we can do it!”

Forrest had to admit he
didn’t have anything better, so he reluctantly agreed. If they were
going to find better shelter from this snowstorm, they had to leave
this barn. That left two choices: they could walk (that was out of
the question), or they could drive this old Ford truck (driving was
almost as dire). Given the two options, the only one viable was to
drive the truck.

“
Sis, okay your plan has
merit, I admit, but I’m worried about you and this
truck.”

“
Forrest, I’m going to
turn off the ignition key, you are going to get out, open the barn
door, and I am going to slide over under the wheel. I noticed on
top of the gearshift is a diagram with an ‘R’, a ‘1’, a ‘2’ and a
‘3’. Those obviously are the gear positions - I know I have seen
Charles push in the clutch and shift into first gear when he stops
at a red light. Using logic, we must start in Number ‘1’. Jump out
and get the barn door open. Forrest, trust me, I’ve got this baby
under control.”

Opening the door,
Forrest kept thinking,
this is
crazy;
Sis couldn’t drive this truck on a
sunny day in July. Now here we are in a blinding snowstorm, miles
from who knows where, and she doesn’t even have a road to drive
on.
After opening the barn door, he
noticed a narrow trail leading from the barn. It meandered across
the pasture toward the outline of a big grove of trees about a
quarter of a mile away toward the east. The weeds and grass that
had flourished in the hot Texas summer by the trails edge now lay
wilted and dead outlining its path perfectly. If Olive could get
this old truck moving, and follow this meager path in the pasture
they just might get out of there alive. Maybe a ‘real’ road would
be just beyond the trees...

INTO THE
BLIZZARD

Olive, with her hands
gripping the steering wheel and her foot firmly pushing in on the
clutch pedal, instructed Forrest to slowly turn the ignition key.
The little V-8 Ford engine came to life with a roar. She tapped the
accelerator a time or two just to get the feel of it. Once her
nervousness had subsided she turned to him and nodded her head.
They were ready! She indicated she was going to shift the ‘stick’
into first gear. This she accomplished flawlessly. Now for the big
test - she began to release the clutch pedal out slowly - the truck
moved! It actually moved. She gave it a bit of gas and through the
open door of the barn the old truck rolled.

“
Sis don’t stop,” Forrest
cautioned her, keep moving, and just follow the outline of the
trail in the snow.”

Out into the snow they
ventured and was it ever snowing! It was coming down so hard,
within seconds it had started to pile up on the
windshield.

“
Forrest, do something,
turn on the windshield wipers, I can’t see.”

Frantically, he searched
the dash. There it was. He turned the knob and the wipers began to
work. While he was searching for the switch, he noticed a position
on the heater control labeled ‘DEF’, quickly he deduced ‘Defrost’
and he shifted the control into the ‘DEF’ position and noticed heat
began blowing directly onto the lower section of the windshield.
“Just stay on the trail Sis.” Surprisingly, the four-wheel drive
truck was moving through the five inches of snow quite well.
Leaving the pasture they made a right turn onto a more substantial
road. Forrest remembered his Grandpa had said Clem and Penelope’s
house was just a few miles down this Texas Farm to Market Road
Number 604. He cautioned Olive Marie to keep her hands on the
wheel, and he would look for the turnoff to the Ponderosa.
Fortunately, Olive Marie had the truck in first gear since the snow
had gotten so deep, shifting into a higher gear would have been
impossible, even if she had known how to do it. They were cruising
along at a snail’s pace of five miles per hour, but they were at
least moving.

“
Sis, ahead on the right,
I see the road.”

Thankfully,
he said to himself. He had begun to get worried.
They had been driving for over an hour, and daylight on this snowy
day was beginning to fade into the dark gray, dimness of the
evening. Darkness was not going to be too far behind. Forrest
believed it would be suicide to try to drive in this raging
blizzard after the sun went down and night was upon
them.

A couple of miles from the
main road, as their truck rounded a bend in the road he caught a
glimpse of the Ponderosa through a small grove of leafless,
hardwood trees, cedars and a majestic red oak situated in the very
middle. It was as beautiful as their grandfather had described.
What a serene picture - the house covered in snow; the evergreens
planted all around; branches heavily laden with snow; their green
branches added contrast to the stark whiteness of the raging
blizzard. It was a Norman Rockwell painting.

Standing on Clem’s porch
Forrest used one hand to shelter his face from the biting snow
driven wind, with the other he knocked on the door. From inside
they could hear the bark of a dog and footsteps approaching the
door, “I’m sorry,” Forrest said as Clem cracked opened the door a
few inches, “We do not mean to bother you, but we have gotten
caught in this storm, and it is getting dark. I’m afraid we are
lost. Could you be so kind as to point us in the right direction?”
Standing beside Clem was the beautiful dog Grandpa had spoken of.
He was correct – she was a gorgeous, sable and white, miniature
dog. Forrest knew Lady was her name.

“
Lands sake, you two - git
yerselfs in this house, y’all goin’ to freeze to death,” Clem said
motioning them inside. “Take off them thar snow covered coats and
set yerselfs down in front of this here farplace and git warm.
Penelope fetch these folks some hot chocolate. They need their
innards warmed.” Clem opened the hall closet and hung their coats
on a couple of wire hangers. The chauffeur’s uniform, waitress
dress and apron hanging in the closet did not go without Forrest’s
notice either.

Returning from the kitchen
Penelope handed two large cup of steaming hot chocolate to both
Olive Marie and Forrest, “Goodness gracious folks what in the world
were y’all doing out on sech a night.”

“
We just got turned around
in the storm and got on the wrong road, I guess. I’m sure glad we
turned down the road to your house. We thank you for the chocolate.
It sure is good.”

Olive Marie added, “We
just came from up the road apiece, and now that we know where we
are, and you have given us something to warm us up, we need to be
getting on and stop bothering you folks.”

“
Well now you just hush
you mouth gal! You two ain’t goin’ back out into that thar snow
storm tonight. Yer staying right here with us, if’n that be all
right with y’all.”

“
Thank you ma’am that’s
real hospitable of you.”

“
Oh, ain’t nothin’, now
you two git yerself warmed, and we’ll set another couple of plates
on the table. I got a big pot of hot beef stew in yonder on the
stove. Y’all look like you could stand a good, hot meal. Me and
Clem wuz jest gettin’ ready to et supper.”

“
Yes ma’am, we haven’t, I
mean we ‘ain’t’ had nothing to eat in a while.”

“
Okay, first my name ain’t
ma’am it’s Penelope and this here is my brother Clem. We’s Clem and
Penelope Ruby, and the dog over yonder is...”

“
Lady...,” Forrest blurted
out before thinking.

“
Say!! How’ed you know her
name?”

“
Oh,” stammering to find a
suitable answer, “well... well,” finally a response came to him,
“she is... she is such an elegant looking dog, I cannot see any
reason why she could be named anything else.”

“
Yeah, your right, I wuz
goin’ call her ‘Girl’ but somehows the name ‘Lady’ just popped into
my head one day.”

“
Nice to meet you both,”
Forrest said. “This is my sister Olive Marie, and I am Robert
Scarburg but they call me Forrest.”

“
Robert Scarburg... Robert
Scarburg...hmmm... now whar have I heered that name afore? Robert
Scarburg... jest can’t seem to put my finger on it jest now, but
it’ll come to me.”

Most of the night the wind
whistled and roared around the corners and eaves of the house as
the Texas blizzard continued. Around four in the morning, it seemed
the howling was not dying down; the storm was far from over.
Forrest slipped from his room and quietly tiptoed down the hallway
to Olive Marie’s room. He grasped the doorknob as slowly as
possible and turned it just barely enough to open the door. He
hoped Clem’s door hinges were well oiled and would not squeak.
Thankfully, the door made no noise. Entering Olive’s bedroom he saw
she was still fast asleep. Snuggled up warm and toasty in one of
Penelope’s homemade comforters. Silently he crept across the room
to the edge of Olive’s bed. “Sis, sis,” he said in a soft whisper.
“Sis,” he spoke again and gently shook her on the
shoulder.

“
Huh...? Huh...? Is that
you Forrest?”

“
Yes, get up, but be
quite. The storm is not letting up, but we need to get
going.”

“
Why so early Forrest?
What time is it anyway?”

“
Don’t worry about the
time, it’s early, real early, but I checked out the clothes closet
where Clem hung up our clothes when we first arrived. Clem’s limo
driver’s uniform and Penelope’s waitress outfit are both hanging in
that hall closet. If we can ‘borrow’ their clothes, and get out of
here and into the truck without waking Clem and Penelope, the first
step of your plan will begin.”

“
But Forrest, I hate to
steal from Clem and Penelope, they have been good to us, and they
helped Grandpa too.”

“
I know Sis, me too, but
we’re not stealing, just borrowing. On the way back from our
mission, we’ll stop, apologize and return their uniforms. How does
that sound? Just get dressed we need to get going. It’s a long way
to the Murdock place.”

“
I just hope we are alive
and able to come back!”

The first couple of
steps from the bedroom out into the hall produced a slight
squeaking of the boards on the floor. The sound was ever so slight,
but to Forrest it sounded as though the boards were being torn from
the floor. Surely Clem or Penelope heard that!
Calm yourself
, thought
Forrest,
it wasn’t that loud. Calm!
Calm!
The cold, north wind was still
whistling outside, so he reasoned Clem or Penelope, hopefully, had
not heard their footsteps; however, they were right outside Clem’s
bedroom and Forrest knew one step on a loose board could cause Clem
to spring out into the hall at any moment. He also knew Texans
owned guns, and they were not afraid to use them. Stepping as
softly as humanly possible the two of them tiptoeing slowly down
the hall toward the closet. Before reaching the closet door,
Forrest noticed a note pad and pencil lying on a small hall table.
He hastily wrote Clem and Penelope a note:

Clem and
Penelope,

Sorry we had to leave
early - we have an appointment - thanks for everything - will stop
next time through and talk again.

Forrest and Olive Marie
Scarburg.

P.S. I had to borrow your
chauffeur’s uniform and Penelope’s waitress outfit, we will return
them, if possible, if not I left you some money.

P.P.S. If people come
looking for us, please tell them Olive Marie and I went to the
Murdock place. They will understand.

Reaching into his
wallet, he removed two ten-dollar bills and placed the money and
the note on the table. Glancing into the living room, he could see
Lady lying curled up, sleeping warmly in front of the
fireplace.
Please Lady
, he thought
, please do not wake
up;
however, they were not to be that
lucky.

Lady raised her head,
looked at the two, and as if she were aware of their plans, placed
her head back down on the floor without as much as a whimper, and
returned to sleep.

The time was 4:30 a.m.,
Thursday, November 21, 1963.

Chapter
Thirty-Eight

“
THEY FLEW IT
OUT”

“
Bob...! Bob...! Wake up,
the phone’s ringing,” Baba sleepily moaned pulling the pillow over
her head, “it will be for you, so you might as well answer
it.”

“
What,” he groggily
answered. “What time is it?” Looking as his alarm clock on the
bedside table, “Four-forty, who could be calling at this ungodly
hour?” Picking up the phone, “Yeah, Scarburg here... What...? Say
again...? When...? I’ll be right in,” the Captain answered, jumping
out of bed and switching on the bedside lamp.

Removing her head from
underneath the pillow Baba questioned, “What in the world is the
matter Robert?”

“
It’s
Pegasus –
Pegasus
!”