Lie Down in Green Pastures (21 page)

Someone tripped her and she fell hard, but remembered to hold her hand out away from her body. Her sore shoulder slammed down with a crack, and she bit her tongue, tasting blood, but she managed to hold the darts in a death grip. She scrambled to her feet, twisting as she did so, and slammed her back up against the wall of the restaurant. The door was ten feet away. Two guys stood between it and her, and others clustered around.

She switched all but one of the darts to her left hand and raised the single one in her right while trying to ignore the throbbing in her shoulder.

"Look, little missy wants to play," Gary sneered. He took a step forward and she focused on his face.

It's just like being at home.
She threw the dart and nailed him in the eye. He fell to the floor screaming and she refused to look as she grabbed a fresh dart. She didn't want to see the result and she certainly didn't want to take her eyes offthe other men.

"It's St. Patrick's Day, boys! Anyone else up for a game of darts?" she shouted.

She could see them exchanging uneasy glances. "In case you're wondering, that wasn't luck. I can pick you all offone at a time," she said.

"You don't have enough darts to get us all," a man a few feet from her said.

"No, but I can guarantee you a couple more of you will lose an eye."

She had seen that trick in an old western on TV once and she prayed it would work here. As it turned out, none of the guys facing her were eager to be the first either, especially not with Gary on the floor still screaming and thrashing about.

"I'll call your bluff," one man toward the back of the room said, pulling a gun out of a holster under his jacket and pointing it at her.

"We can't have gunfire in here!" the pub owner roared. "Put that thing away."

Sweat rolled down Cindy's forehead, stinging her eyes. They had a standoff. But there were more of them and there was no way they were just going to let her walk out of there.

With a shout a guy rushed her, forearm up to cover his eyes. She let fly and the dart sailed into his open mouth and he dropped like a stone, a horrible choking sound emanating from him. She grabbed another dart from her left hand.

Three darts left. She stepped to her left, easing slowly down the wall in the direction of the door. She raised the dart and aimed it at one of the two guys standing between it and her and he retreated, moving farther into the restaurant.

That left one man between her and the door and he didn't look like he was going to scare as easily.

"I have no idea who you are," she said, addressing him while still trying to keep her eye on the rest of the room. "You could leave Pine Springs and I wouldn't be able to tell anyone who you were."

"Yeah, but we know who he is," one of the other men said.

"Yes, but of the rest of you, I only know who Butler and O'Connell are. The rest of you I don't know. I would never have to see or think of any of you ever again. I'm just saying, a dozen men can walk free with no fear of reprisal from
me."

Butler chuckled. "My men are loyal. If you're trying to get them to turn on me, it won't work."

"So, then maybe I should skewer you next," she said.

He smiled. "I don't think you have what it takes. I, after all, am not attacking you. You're only acting in self-defense. You forget, my dear, that oftentimes the best defense is a strong offense."

She refused to bandy words with him. She returned her attention instead to the guy by the door. "Let's you and I walk out of here together, as friends," she said.

He smiled at her. "I've been watching you. And I know how long it takes you to aim."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, I'm too close," he said, rushing forward.

She slammed the dart into his carotid artery as he grabbed her. They fell together and this time she lost the darts when her hand hit the floor.

It's over, I'm dead.

Suddenly the front doors burst open and light poured in."Police! Nobody move!" she heard Paul shout.

She pushed away from the man and Mark reached down to grab her as officers rushed into the room.

"Remind me never to play darts with you," he said.

She started laughing hysterically and it faded quickly to sobbing.

They moved all the campers down to the bus pick-up area and waited for the vehicles to begin arriving. Two Jeeps began ferrying some of the camp employees across the river in waves.

"We should move everyone down across the river. There's still quite a drive on this side of it for the buses," Jeremiah warned Dave.

Dave shook his head. "I agree, but there's just nowhere down there for them to turn around."

"How about on that side of the bridge? We could walk everyone across now, get down the mountain a little way."

Dave shook his head. "I'd agree with you, but we have the same problem as we do up here. Unfortunately I think we're just going to have to wait it out."

One staff member was still in the admin building, receiving calls and updates via the landline. Every few minutes he came out to give a report.

We're not going to all make it down the mountain,
Jeremiah thought.

Leaders for each church were huddled together where they could receive the reports. Jeremiah preferred to stay with his kids. Since they had gotten a lift from First Shepherd he was content to let Dave be the one getting the reports. He was still close enough, though, that he could hear much of what was

The first bus arrived and was met with cheers by the kids who were starting to feel the anxiety coming offof the adults.It was from the Methodist church on the outskirts of Pine Springs. The driver pulled up and hopped offwhile the kids from the church piled on board. The counselors started slinging bags underneath the bus as fast as they could.

"I passed the bus for Baptist Brethren on the way here. It was broken down on the highway," the driver told the leaders."I promised the driver I'd pick up his kids. We should have just enough room if some people sit triple to a seat."

"Listen up," one of the counselors who had found a bullhorn said. "Everyone from Baptist Brethren, you're getting a ride with us, so step forward."

There was a lot of jostling as the kids hurried to get onto the bus, tossing their bags to the counselors. Counselors from every group had stepped forward to load as quickly as possible.When everyone was on board the bus headed back down.

Two more buses from churches much closer to the camp than theirs arrived and were sent offas quickly as possible.Once they had left Jeremiah made his way over to Dave.

"Not everyone's going to get here in time," he said.

"I know," Dave answered, worry creasing his face.

The roar of engines preceded the arrival of both First Shepherd vans. The driver of the first one hopped out and made a beeline for Dave just as the staffmember arrived with the update.

"Near as I can tell the next nearest bus is at least forty-five minutes away," the man said.

The van driver shook his head. "They won't make it then.The water's at the bridge. There's just enough room for the vans to turn around. I say we hustle everyone down there and try to ferry everyone across. It'll be a long walk down the mountain to reach a place where some of the buses can pick up, but we can help with that too. The important thing is to get everyone out."

Dave grabbed the bullhorn. "Okay, everyone from First Shepherd and the synagogue who can't hike fifteen minutes pile on these vans. We'll meet you on the other side of the bridge. Everyone else, follow Rabbi Silverman down to the bridge."

Kids scurried to do as instructed. Jeremiah noted that only the twins from his cabin moved toward the vans while everyone else fell in line behind him.

"All right," Jeremiah boomed, forcing his voice to project out over the crowd. "If you're from First Shepherd or the synagogue and you're hiking down to the bridge, you're with me.Let's move out!"

Jeremiah headed down the mountain with about twenty kids and two counselors following him. Behind him he could hear Dave continue to issue directions. "Those of you who are from other churches, we're going to need to get everyone to the other side of the bridge. Those who can't do the hike, wait here with me for the vans to return. Those of you who can hike, follow Rabbi Silverman and his group down."

Jeremiah set a quick pace, glancing back quickly to make sure that everyone was with him. Bags were weighing several down and he had to stop a couple of times to help kids shift them to better carrying positions. After a couple of minutes the vans passed them, taking the turns at speeds that even he thought were a bit reckless.

I should have insisted we move all the kids down. The buses could have still gone up to the top to turn around but then come back down and loaded on their way down the hill.

It was too late to change anything. His kids and the kids from First Shepherd stayed right with him. A group from one of the other churches raced by, clearly making it a game to see who could reach the bridge first.

The rain, which had been misting for a while, began to come down steadily again. When they were nearing the bridge, the vans passed them on their way back up.

When the bridge finally came into view Jeremiah's heart sank. Water was already rushing over the top of it, covering the boards. A couple of boys from another group were venturing out onto it.

"Don't!" he shouted.

They ignored him and stepped forward. The water, though shallow, was swift and the boards were slippery. It was only moments before both boys were swept offtheir feet. The one farthest onto the bridge went down face-first and didn't move.

Jeremiah dropped his backpack and sprinted forward. Zac appeared next to him.

He looked down at him questioningly.

"I'm your helper, remember?" the boy said.

Jeremiah nodded curtly.

Noah raced up beside them. "What do we do?"

"Zac, I want you to brace yourself with your back to the downriver side of the bridge and very carefully inch out. Noah, lock wrists with him and do the same. I'm going to stay on the ground as anchor. We'll form a chain. Zac, grab the nearest boy and see if he can grab his buddy. Then, work your way back. If you lose your footing, hold on because we're going to pull you back."

Zac nodded and he and Noah clasped hands. Noah did the same with Jeremiah and then, doing it just as Jeremiah had said, Zac inched his way out onto the boards. He slipped once, but grabbed the rail with his free hand and remained upright.

Then, very carefully, he grabbed the boy's wrist next to him."Grab your friend!" he shouted.

When everyone had linked up Zac began to retrace his steps with Noah and Jeremiah pulling gently to help give him some momentum. It was only a matter of time before Zac lost his footing too and when he did Noah and Jeremiah moved fast, pulling hard and yanking all three boys offthe bridge and onto the muddy shore.

Jeremiah knelt down and examined the unconscious boy.There was a nasty gash on his forehead. Jeremiah pounded his back and the boy began to cough out water before breathing in normally.

With Noah's help, they all moved out of the way of the vans, which were once again descending. Dave was in the front seat of the rear one and yelled out the window, "That's everyone from up there!"

Jeremiah held his breath as he watched the vans roll slowly across the bridge. On the far side kids tumbled out as soon as they stopped and were led further down the hill as the vans then did a series of forwards and reverses until they had turned around.

The water was nearly halfway up their tires as they crossed back over. They maneuvered around and then Zac helped Jeremiah put the unconscious boy across the laps of three boys after they climbed into the front seat. Kids kept piling in both vans, crouching and standing when the seats were full until no more could fit. The vans rolled back across the bridge. The first one made it across and the second one was almost there when the tires began to spin and slip.

Around him kids began to pray and the van slowly, painfully rolled forward until its front tires gripped the ground on the far side. It lurched onto the road and the kids around Jeremiah gave a cheer.

They hadn't yet realized what he already knew. The rest of them were stranded. He looked around. There were twelve boys, two girls, and himself left. The water continued to rise over the bridge and on the far side he could see the first van driver arguing heatedly with the second.

Dave intervened and finally a consensus was reached. Slowly Dave grabbed the bullhorn from the person who had it. "We can't get the vans back across and it's too dangerous to try and walk or swim over. When the river goes down in a day or two we can get you out. There's plenty of food, water, activities. The rest of you are just going to continue to have camp without us."

Dave's voice cracked at the end and he lowered the bullhorn.Jeremiah nodded and looked down at his charges. "Well, you heard the man," he said, trying to force himself to sound cheerful. "Back to camp!"

"But we just hiked down," Bobby said.

"I know, Bobby. I know."