Jack of Ravens

2

Church could smell the thick, tarry smoke long before Gabe crashed the truck through vegetation into a field next to the woods. A twelve-foot-high cross blazed brightly against the night sky.

Eight men stood around in white robes and hoods. At the feet of the Ku Klux Klansmen sprawled a woman of Gabe’s age, a noose tied around her neck. One of the men held the other end like a dog leash. She was mixed race with long hair tied up in bunches. Her eyes were wide with terror.

Gabe brought the pick-up to a juddering halt. ‘That’s Marcy,’ he said. He was shaking.

One of the Klansmen raised a shotgun and called out, ‘You want to back off, boys. This ain’t for you.’

Gabe had frozen. Church released the handbrake and jammed his foot on top of Gabe’s on the accelerator. Dirt sprayed in a fountain behind them as the pick-up lurched forward. Church dragged Gabe down as the shotgun blast frosted the window.

‘They’re going to kill us,’ Gabe said, but he kept the pick-up racing towards the Klansmen.

The Klansmen scattered as the pick-up rammed the base of the burning cross. It crashed down on the man with the shotgun, the impact killing him before his robes ignited.

Church jumped out to retrieve the shotgun. One barrel was still loaded. He brandished it at the remaining Klansmen while Gabe raced out to pull the noose from Marcy’s neck. Crying and coughing, she rubbed at the sore flesh as Gabe helped her into the pick-up, with Church close behind.

One of the Klansmen threw himself onto the side of the vehicle to try to wrestle the shotgun from Church. As he forced his upper body through the passenger window, the gun discharged, killing the Klansman instantly. He slumped limply halfway through the window just as Gabe prepared to reverse the truck away at speed.

‘I know you, Gabriel Adams,’ one of the Klansmen yelled in a thick Southern accent. ‘You want to get out of town before sun-up, or we’re gonna pay your momma a visit.’

‘Your kind don’t belong here,’ another yelled. ‘Consorting with niggers. Knew you were no good the minute you and your momma set foot here.’

As they sped away, Gabe yelled, ‘Dump that damn body!’

‘I need to check something,’ Church replied. ‘Just keep driving for now.’

Church told Gabe to pull the truck over when they were a couple of miles away. Marcy had already recovered from her ordeal, and her fear had given way to a cold anger. Church pushed the dead Klansman back through the window onto the side of the road and jumped out. He stripped off the Klansman’s robes and searched his body for any sign of a spider. There was none, which Church found even more disturbing. He returned to the pick-up where Gabe was hugging Marcy tightly.

‘Are you all right?’ he said. ‘If we hadn’t seen the fire-’

‘They dragged me out of the house, Gabe. They beat my momma with sticks but they came for me.’

‘I know the Klan lynched a lot of men, but girls …?’ Church said.

‘They did it ’cause I’m dating a white boy,’ Marcy said bitterly.

‘But look at you, Marcy,’ Gabe said. ‘You’re nearly white yourself-’

Marcy glared at him. ‘What are you saying? I’m black — black in their eyes, black in mine. Having some white mixed in there doesn’t mean they’ll suddenly leave me alone ’cause I’m normal.’

Gabe flushed. ‘That’s not what I meant-’

‘I’m sorry.’ Marcy hugged Gabe, and then Church. ‘And thanks for risking your neck, whoever you are. You saved my life.’

Church was touched by her response. He had acted on instinct, and now the adrenalin rush had gone he was surprised by how quickly and decisively he had responded when he saw the gun.

‘We can’t stay here after this,’ Gabe said bitterly. ‘They’ll come after my mom, and yours.’

‘I don’t want to run away from them. They’ll think they’ve won,’ she said.

‘We can’t fight them,’ Gabe said.

‘It’s none of my business,’ Church interjected, ‘but maybe you could hit the road just for a while, until it’s calmed down here.’

Gabe took Marcy’s hand. ‘It’s for the best. For our moms.’

‘You can come with my friends and me if you want,’ Church said. ‘We don’t know where we’re going or what we’re doing. But on the plus side, we’ve got some cash to see us through for a while.’

‘We could go to Dallas,’ Gabe said thoughtfully. ‘I need to see for myself where the president died.’ He glanced at Church and added, ‘I want to prove that spider-guy is real.’

Church felt sorry for the teenager. The road Gabe was about to walk wouldn’t end happily.