Monday, June 24, 2013

Short Story - Roses for Sophia Cooper (Part 2)

Roses for Sophia Cooper
 
Part 2
 
The Story of a Disappearance
 
 
The shotgun wielding stranger approached slowly, adjusting his grip on the gun as he walked. For a moment Thomas considered slamming the car into reverse and gunning the engine, but by the time the though fully germinated a stout, balding man had taken a position blocking the drive.
“Who are you and what are you doing trespassing here?” the moustached man demanded once he’d gotten within a few paces.
“I’m Thomas Brooks,“ Thomas answered, keeping a hand on the gear shift and his right foot ready to stomp the accelerator in case he had to rethink his aversion to running one of the strangers over. “This house belongs to my uncle, so by rights I should be the one asking who you are and why you are trespassing.”
“Tom?” The voice hailed from the vicinity of the house and when Thomas diverted his attention from his inquisitor he could see an elderly man braced against the porch railing.
“That’s right.” Thomas shut the car engine off, stepping out. The man on the porch could have stood in for any of the bell ringers who populated every street corner in Boston during the holidays. He had a neatly trimmed white beard, round glasses, and a paunch. Thomas recognized the face from the framed photos his mother kept on the mantel back home. “I’m your nephew. Mother wrote to tell you I’d be coming.”
“Why come in my boy!” The elderly man smiled broadly, making his way along the banister toward the steps to greet his visitor.
“Aren’t you supposed to be taking it easy?” Thomas asked, making his way passed the crowd and wagons and climbing the steps to where his uncle stood balanced on a cane. “If I knew you were well enough to throw parties I might have reconsidered making the long trip.”
“It is a bit of a circus at the moment.” He clapped Thomas on the shoulder. “But look at you! You were barely a tadpole the last time I saw you and now you’ve turned into a man!”
“Time will do that, Uncle Daniel.” Thomas shook his uncle’s hand and stepped onto the porch.
“Time, don’t talk to an old man about time.” His uncle shook his head, smiling. “Next I know you’ll be telling me all there is to know about arthritis and pensions.”
“Maybe.” Thomas surveyed the collection of wagons and animals on his uncle’s lawn. “So, what’s going on?”
“Help me back inside, I want to introduce you to some acquaintances.”
Thomas took his uncle’s arm and they left the cacophony behind for the staid confines of the parlor just off the house’s foyer. A pair of men and a teen waited in the small room and all three stood as Thomas escorted his uncle into the room.
“Dukker, Lash this is my nephew Tom. He’s been good enough to come all the way out here to look in on his feeble old uncle…”
“Uncle Daniel,” Thomas protested, but his uncle had already moved on.”
“The young fellow is Dukker’s son, Hanzi, whose about to leap into marriage,” Thomas’ uncle continued.
Thomas looked the boy over. His doughy features and fawn-ish attempt at a moustache only succeeded in making it hard to believe anyone so young could get married. He gave Hanzi a nod and managed a stunted congratulation before his uncle came to the rescue.
“Lash was relaying some troubling news. It seems that, the bride, his daughter has disappeared.”
“It’s Kolb, it has to be,” Lash proclaimed vehemently, the anger in his face showing off a deep scar that ran from his left jaw to the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know why we’re wasting time with this gadjo when we should be out there saving Sophia!”
“Watch your tongue, Lash,” the second man growled. “Dr. Daniel has always been a friend to my family. I brought you here to hear his council, not to insult him in his own house!”
“Insult him? I’m the one who should be insulted. Look at you sitting here defending your friend while my daughter, the girl who would be your daughter-in-law is missing.” Lash’s tone grew sinister. “It’s almost as if you don’t want her to be found…”
“What are you saying about my father?” Hanzi took a step toward Lash, his chest pushed out and his hands balled into fists.
“Gentlemen!” Thomas’ uncle raised his voice, banging his cane on the floor to draw attention. “I know I’m an outsider here, but I promise I’ll do anything I can to help. Lash, I know your daughter. I remember when she was just a little girl chasing butterflies in my back meadow. She’s a sweet girl and I want nothing more than to see her returned home safely. Just give me the chance.”
“He’s a good man,” Dukker repeated, pushing his son back. “If he says he’ll help you, it’s the truth.”
“I don’t know why I should trust you,” Lash turned his attention to Thomas’ uncle, “Or you, but I’ll give you your chance.”
 “Good,” Thomas’ uncle said, gesturing to be taken to the chair near the fireplace. Once he’d settled, the he began his questions. “Tell me, when did you last see Sophia?”
“It was yesterday, her cousins were helping get ready for the wedding. She didn’t like the flowers that had been gathered for her. Her cousins left her alone while they tried to find me so that I could drive them to a flower shop in Whitley, but when we returned she was gone.”
“She’s hard headed,” Hanzi said. “If she didn’t like her cousins’ ideas she would have taken things into her own hands.”
“I see.” Thomas’ uncle stared thoughtfully at the youth for a moment. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but is there any chance she had misgivings about getting married?”
“What are you trying to say?” Hanzi said, his voice nearly breaking under the excitement the question elicited.
“You’re both very young. Maybe as the day got closer she began to have doubts?”
“No,” Lash answered. “Over the last month she’s practically never stopped talking about her love for young Hanzi and the life they would build together. She didn’t run away, if that’s what you’re implying.”
“Very well, we can eliminate that possibility.” Thomas’ uncle thought for another moment. “Tell me, why do you suspect John Kolb has something to do with this?”
“Lash’s camp is less than a mile from Kolb’s property and that man hates our people,” Dukker answered.
“Who is this Kolb, anyway?” Thomas asked.
“A power-hungry gadjo who thinks he owns the world,” Lash responded. “He’s the devil’s own kin and he wouldn’t hesitate to kill any of us if it suited him!”
“That’s a big accusation,” Thomas’ uncle protested.
“You don’t understand what it’s like being one of us, my friend,” Dukker replied. “Just last summer Kolb shot at one of my brothers for picking blackberries near a fence line he claimed to be on his property. Five years ago a young gypsy girl from the Gorman clan disappeared from a campsite near where Lash is camped now. Stefan Gorman even reported the disappearance to the police, but all he got were insults and suggestions that she’d gotten pregnant out of wedlock and ran away to hide her shame. Two days later the authorities ran his family out of the county and his girl never was seen again.”
“We’ve wasted enough time.” Lash stood, addressing Dukker and his son. “My daughter is betrothed to your boy and that means your family is equally responsible for her protection. I’ve given you an opportunity to live up to this commitment, now you have to decide whether you’re going to honor our traditions or turn gadjo.”
Lash stormed out of the room, slamming the screen door as he left the house. Thomas heard the man ranting as he rejoined his kin on the lawn and he didn’t need a translator to catch the gist of what was being said.
“He’ll kill Kolb,” Dukker said, slowly rising from his seat and collecting his hat.
“And what will you do?” Thomas’ uncle asked.
“Help him if it comes to it. As he said, Sophia and Hanzi are betrothed, that means the fates of our families are joined.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Thomas asked. “You’re not really telling me you’d take part in a murder based on nothing more than the suspicion he might have something to do with the girl’s disappearance.”
“I don’t expect you to understand our ways.” Dukker said something in his native language and his son left. “I’ve told you what will happen.”
“Dukker, do you think you can hold Lash off for a while?” Thomas’ uncle asked.
“It won’t be easy.”
“I only need a day. Just let me see if I can find Sophia before you turn to violence.”
“You’ve never steered me wrong, Dr. Daniel. I’ll talk to him.” Dukker turned his dark eyes on Thomas. “I’m glad you’ve come to look after the doctor. He’s the only good gadjo I’ve ever met; it’d be a shame to lose him.”
Thomas helped his uncle from the chair, holding his arm as they followed Dukker out to the porch. They watched as the wagons departed and when the sound of harnesses and hooves died away Thomas reached into his pocket to retrieve his keys.
“Where’s the nearest police station?” he asked.
“In Rochester, about an hour’s drive,” his uncle answered.
“Hopefully they can get someone out here before it’s too late.” Thomas took a step toward the house. “Let me get you settled, then I’ll get going.”
“We’re not going to the police yet.”
“You’re not actually thinking of letting those men kill this Kolb fellow, are you?”
“Dukker will keep Lash in check for twenty four hours. That’s plenty of time for us to try to sort things out without involving the law.” Thomas’ uncle freed himself, and began hobbling toward the front door. “Now, help me get my hat and we’ll get going.”
“This has got to be a joke.”
“Murder’s never a joke, Tom. Neither is a missing child.” Thomas’ uncle gave a slight smile. “Now where’s that big city hurry of yours when it’s needed?”

 
Stay tuned for part 3, coming July 1, 2013!

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