Chapter Eleven – Jason and Goliath
Benny had not been to school since leaving Philadelphia. Mr. Prentice had moved to Osage with his wife and offered to open the small empty schoolhouse for the winter term. Benny had looked forward to getting back into regular classes after studying with his mother.
"Oh, look, it's a pretty boy! Hi, there, pretty boy."
Benny stopped. A tall, heavy-set boy, probably fifteen or sixteen, blocked the entrance. Benny glanced around at the children who had been playing in the yard a moment before. They all stood watching silently. The big blond-headed boy wrinkled his nose. His pale blue eyes squeezed shut. He gave a long, exaggerated sniff.
"Hey, he even smells good!" he shouted. "You use some a' yer mama's perfume before you come?"
"Excuse me," Benny said through clenched teeth.
"Leave him alone, Caleb," said a voice. Benny looked behind him and saw Jason Owens march up. His fists were clenched and his feet slightly spread.
"Stay out of it, short stuff," snarled the big boy. "I'm the doorkeeper today, an' everybody's gotta pay toll to get in. Whatcha got, pretty boy?"
"Nothing for you," Benny said evenly.
"Then you don't get in," Caleb retorted. "Everybody has to pay the toll. Unless you want me to take it in licks."
"Caleb Sutter, cut it out!" bristled Jason. "It's the first day a' school. You ain't gotta start right in pickin' on people."
"I just want everybody to know how things are," Caleb explained. "Pay up or I'll have to get dust on those pretty new clothes."
With a banshee scream, Jason launched himself at Caleb. The bigger boy was knocked off balance and crashed into the schoolhouse. Jason pummeled Caleb with his tiny fists, actually dragging a yelp out of the bully.
The door of the school burst open. "Jason Owens! Caleb Sutter! Fighting already? School hasn't even started yet!" Mr. Prentice, the schoolteacher, grabbed both of them by the collars. He marched them into the schoolroom and everyone else followed. Jason and Caleb had to stand up in front of the class until recess.
"We have rules in this classroom," Mr. Prentice explained after they had prayer and saluted the flag. "I expect them to be obeyed."
Benny spent the morning shooting puzzled glances at Jason. He tried to look away quickly, but Jason saw him once and grinned broadly. At recess time Jason and Caleb barreled out of the room so fast the rest of the students hadn't even gotten up yet. Benny went out cautiously and was relieved to see Caleb with two other older boys off at the edge of the playground. Then someone clapped him hard on the back.
"Uh – thanks, Jason," Benny said uncertainly. They hadn't seen each other for some time because of the harvest chores that sucked up all the time in a farming community for weeks in the fall.
"I didn't do it just to be nice. I wanted to put that guy in his place," Jason said brusquely. "If there's one thing I never could take it's a great big guy who thinks he can pick on everybody."
"Jason, that guy could kill you!"
"Don't be dumb. I can handle him and five more. Can I come over after school?"
"Yes," Benny laughed. "Sure. I mean, I'll have to ask my mother if it's okay."
"She likes me. I can tell," Jason said confidently. "How's that big black horse?"
"Black Switch is fine. How's your carving of him coming?"
"Okay. I got some nice dark wood. I'll show you when it looks a little more like somethin.' " Jason hedged.
"I'll bet it looks fine," Benny grinned.
"You still practicin' with that knife?" Jason asked, awed.
"Yes. Every day. Come with me after school and meet the wagon. I'm sure it'll be okay."
"Man, I wanna see that bank robber. Are his scars really bad?"
Benny stiffened. "You want a lot for such a little guy," he said.
"Don't you call me little!" Jason howled. "You saw what I did to Caleb Sutter!"
"Be careful how you talk about Jeremy or you'll be sorry," Benny said quietly.
Jason took a step backward. "Sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to make you sore. All the kids in town been talkin' about it. You an' him are famous."
"Yeah, sure," Benny grunted. "I notice I didn't have flocks of people wanting to be my friend."
"Most of 'em told me their parents wanted 'em to wait till school started," Jason protested. "Everybody was kinda nervous-like, too. You're not a regular kid, exactly. Book-readin', house-cleanin' – I bet you even make your own bed every day."
"My mother doesn't have time to pick up after me," Benny responded, "And Jeremy's my best friend."
"Pa says – " Jason broke off.
"Pa says what?" Benny bristled.
"I don't wanna rile you again. But I do wanna meet 'im. Pa says I oughta shut up about it 'cause –"
"Because why?"
Jason scratched his toe in the dirt. "Aw, he says I'm actin' like he's a freak show."
Benny hit Jason before he could even make himself think. Jeremy had taught Benny a lot about self-defense while they traveled together. He had also taught him a little boxing. The small boy dropped like a stone. Benny bent down quickly, looking around for Mr. Prentice. He had his back to them, watching some girls play hopscotch.
"Jason! Jason! Are you okay?" Benny ran to the well, grabbed the bucket, and dashed water over Jason. He lurched up, spluttering.
"Wow! You can hit! That was great!" Jason crowed, rubbing his jaw. "You may not believe this, but you're the only kid who's ever knocked me down before I got in even one lick."
"You watch what you say about Jeremy. He's the one who taught me how to fight."
"I will, Ben. Believe me, I will."
After school Benny and Jason walked toward the edge of town together. Jason never shut up for a minute. He talked even more than Jeremy, and Jeremy could 'talk a mother hen off her nest and get her to churn the butter to fry the eggs,' as Doc Daniel had put it. He also prodded Benny with questions about his "adventures."
Benny didn't volunteer much, however, being mindful of the trouble Jeremy had been in the last time someone started bringing up the past.
"You're the quiet type," Jason observed. "Not me. With a houseful of kids a man's got to stand up for himself."
"So start doin' it, squirt," snarled a voice behind them. Jason and Benny whirled as Caleb Sutter aimed a blow at them. They split and the fist swished through the air.
"Come on! This way!" Shouted Jason. He dodged through an alleyway. Benny followed. Caleb lunged after them.
"Over the fence! Hurry!" Jason barked. They scaled the board fence at the end of the alley in record time and slid down a bank to the backyard of someone's house.
"Hide in here! Quick!" Jason dived into a doghouse, pulling Benny after him. Benny looked into the gloom and saw a very large dog sitting quietly beside them.
"Thanks, Shep," Jason whispered, patting the dog, whose tail thumped slightly. "He won't look for us here."
"You stinkin' yellow punks!" Caleb's voice yelled. He seemed pretty far away. "You can't hide forever."
They stayed in the doghouse a few minutes. Jason pushed Shep out. "See if the coast is clear, boy," he ordered. Shep obediently ambled out and lifted his nose. He gave a low woof, and Jason motioned to Benny to go out.
"Thanks again, Shep!" Jason said, giving the dog a sandwich. "I tell my ma I need two sandwiches 'cause I'm a growing boy," he said matter-of-factly. "You might want to do the same. They come in handy sometimes. Oh, sorry. You make your own lunches, I bet. Maybe I should, too. I don't know about makin' my own bed, though."
Uncle Tom waited impatiently for them when they got to the wagon. Jason was always surprisingly gentlemanly with Benny's family. He extracted a promise from Benny that he would ask Jeremy to write to him. When Benny arrived home, Benny's mother said she was thankful Benny had found a nice, well-mannered friend like Jason to play with.
"I was afraid you'd end up in a fight. You never know the kind of children you're going to meet at school," his mother sighed, g
reatly relieved.
"You certainly don't, Mother," Benny said with a smile.
Benny knew Jeremy had very little time to write letters. He was surprised one day to find an enclosure addressed to Mr. Jason Owens, Esquire, in a letter from the Philadelphia penitentiary. Benny jumped on Black Switch and rode straight over to the Owens farm. Jason was chopping wood. Benny leaned over and handed him the letter.
"What's this?"
"It's a letter from Jeremy," Ben replied. "Go ahead and read it. I want to hear what he says."
"He wrote to me?" Jason said uncertainly. "How come?"
"Because I told him you wanted him to."
Jason sat down with his back against the stump he was splitting kindling on and opened the letter. He started reading out loud.
"Dear Jason," Jeremy wrote. "I hear you're brave. Piled right into the biggest kid in the school on the first day, just to help out Ben. I appreciate courage in a man. Kind of like David and Goliath, eh? David wasn't afraid of anything, I don't reckon. He sure came out better fighting off his lion than I did mine. I should've caught it by the beard, only I'm not sure a cougar has a beard. Maybe Ben can check out the Cougar Evangelist and let us know.
"I don't think that was the problem, anyway. I think it was because I was operating in my own strength. Listen to what it says in I Samuel 17:
"'Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? ... Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight ... Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he rose up against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
"'David said moreover, "The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine."
"'And Saul said unto David, "Go, and the Lord be with thee."'"
Jason kept stopping and clearing his throat. Benny realized Jason was trembling and his eyes had filled up with tears. Benny grabbed the letter from him and went on reading.
"When that cougar walked into our camp that night, I thought I was protecting Ben. I really did. But I finally realized later that it was God doing the protecting. He was taking care of Ben and me all along. I'll never forget the lesson I learned about who really fights our battles for us, and who wins them. I can see it in the mirror every day."
Benny reached out and patted Jason on the shoulder. "It's all right, Jason. You wanted to hear from the big, bad bank robber. Maybe someday you'll even get to see the mark of the cougar's claws."
"He ain't at all like I thought he'd be," Jason whispered finally.
"Disappointed?" Benny asked with a little smile.
"No, sir. I liked what he said about David. I always wanted to be like him." Jason hastily wiped his eyes on his sleeve, then snuffed and wiped his nose there, too.
"There's a little bit more," Ben said. He read on.
"Then don't forget where your confidence is, Jason. It's not in your fists or your speed or your fast thinking. It's in the Lord. Kindest Regards, Jeremy Carlisle."
Jason was home sick and Benny walked to meet the wagon by himself one day about a week later. He was passing the same spot where Caleb Sutter had chased Jason and him when the big boy appeared again. He grabbed Benny by the shoulder before he could dodge.
"Come here," he rumbled. All Jeremy's lessons about self-defense had depended on Benny being able to surprise his opponent, to throw him off guard and get a chance to use his weight or strength against him. He had no chance to do any of those things when Caleb Sutter threw him down in the alley. It was a long time before Benny could even get up after Caleb had left him. There wasn't much that didn't hurt. He stood in the alley and thought.
"How can I keep mother from finding out?" he asked himself. "Uncle Tom's going to know something's wrong."
It was very hard just to walk down the street. It was the hardest thing Benny had ever done. Something hurt inside, below his ribs, every time he took a breath, or a step, or moved his right arm. He went slowly, praying all the way that no one would stop and ask if he needed help.
A funny thought occurred to him. In school they had been reading from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Benny had asked Mr. Prentice if they could act out part of it. Benny had been chosen to play the part of the hunchback. Benny took a deep breath as Mr. Carter, the owner of the dry goods shop he was passing, stuck his head out the door.
"Benjamin! Are you all right?" Benny grinned at him and scrunched up one eye.
"I'm in a play at school, Mr. Carter," he said in a scratchy, deep voice. "How do you like my hunchback?" He shuffled a few steps.
"Very -- uh -- realistic," Mr. Perkins said uncertainly. He watched Benny limp off down the street.
Benny crossed a street. Stepping off the boardwalk jarred him badly. He didn't see a buggy pull up behind him.
"Hi there, Ben." Dan Connors had come to visit a day or two before and apparently he had offered to come and pick Benny up. Doc Daniel sat on the seat beside him. Both of them looked Benny over.
"I'm in a play at -- " Benny began weakly, then collapsed. Dan Connors leaped out of the buggy and caught him up in his arms.
"Don't tell my mother. Please don't tell her," Benny begged.
"Who did this?" Doc Daniel knelt beside him also.
"Somebody who isn't going to change because you punish him. He'll just do something worse. Please, Doc Daniel. You can see if anything's wrong. Please."
People probably wondered why that flashy Virginia lawyer drove his horse and buggy so fast just to get out of town. Doc Daniel settled Benny in the back and began to check him over. Dan stopped about a mile outside of town.
"Dad, you're scaring me," Dan said. "Can you help him or not?"
"Wait!" Doc Daniel snapped. He continued poke and prod the still, pale boy. At last he blew out a long sigh.
"As far as I can tell, he's just banged up real bad," Doc Daniel said. "Nothing's broken. I'm sure of that. Internal injuries would mean jaundice, swelling, and more pain than he seems to have when I poke him in the right places. So I don't think there are any of those, either. He's hurting really badly, but that's all."
"You don't want to tell us what happened, Ben?" Dan Connors asked.
"I have a pretty good idea," Doc Daniel frowned. "Jason Owens has bragged all over town how many times the two of them have gotten away from Caleb Sutter. The Sutter boy must have caught up with him finally."
"Who's Caleb Sutter?" Dan asked.
"His father's a drunk who sometimes works at odd jobs," Doc Daniel explained. "His mother's just an ignorant, pathetic little wreck who takes in washing. He has a little sister, too, who's just about as cute as a baby goat and no smarter. He's the official town bully, and he's been smarting to get Ben since the day school started. None of these bruises or cuts will show under his clothes," he mused. "I think we can pull this off." Benny moaned and rolled over.
"Saft, lad," Dan soothed, affecting an Irish accent. "Faith, an' ye'll be the death a' me, scrappin' an' fightin' th' livelong day. Whin will ye learn, acushlah?"
Benny tried to giggle but he groaned again instead. Doc Daniel held up a hand as he started to speak.
"No, won't tell your mother. I can't speak for Dan, but I think since he smuggled you out of town he'll play too."
"I hope you don't think this is even-steven, though, Laddie," Dan said. "This Caleb fellow's tasted blood, you know."
"I just don't want my mother to worry," Benny said weakly. "I know it isn't over, but I'm just going to take it one step at a time." He tried to straighten up but failed. "It sure hurts."
"And it will hurt for a few days," Doc Daniel frowned. "How in the world are you going to explain to you
r mother that you can't straighten up? She just may suspect something's wrong, you know."
"I've got that all figured out," Benny replied. "I'm just going to do what an actor friend of mine once told me."
"Actor friend? I only know of one actor friend you ever had," Dan said quizzically.
"That's the one," Benny nodded. "He told me an actor has to immerse himself in a role. He has to live it, eat it, and sleep it. I should be really good at being a hunchback by the time we do the school play, don't you think?"
Doc Daniel shook his head. "You'll steal the show, Ben."
Benny found a certain grim satisfaction in his hunchback role. His mother was a little suspicious, but when Benny invoked Jeremy as his acting coach she laughed and dismissed it. Even Caleb lost the satisfaction of his victory, for none of the children knew he had beaten Benny up.
Mr. Prentice frowned disapprovingly when Benny reduced the class to fits of laughter as he shuffled up to recite. Jason cast many long, searching looks at Benny and wondered greatly, but Benny got him giggling with his squint-eye and garbled speech on the playground.
"Cantcha even play catch?" Jason demanded. "Ya don't hafta practice all the time."
Benny had decided he couldn't even risk telling Jason the truth, because he might let it slip. "My private acting tutor insisted I must do justice to my first thespian endeavor, however minute my role might be," Benny intoned.
"Your first what?"
Eventually the pain went away. The play at school went extremely well, and Benny did, in fact, steal the show.
"I wish you could've been there, Jeremy," Benny wrote to Jeremy afterwards. "If I do say so myself, I was great. Mother says I certainly don't need to say so myself. She said she's glad it's over. She was getting very tired of having that hunchback around the house. She didn't think even you ever spent that much time preparing for a role."
"Tell your mother I spent five years preparing for the role of my life," Jeremy had written back. "Funny, the play just didn't turn out at all the way I expected. All I got out of all that work was Switch and a prison cell."
"He got me!" Benny exclaimed, looking up at his mother and Doc Daniel as he sat reading the letter to them one evening. "And Doc Daniel and Dan Connors, and he got the Lord, too."
"I'm sure he realizes that," Doc Daniel said, putting Benny in a playful headlock. He gave a good twist, and when Benny didn't cry out in pain, he satisfied himself that the boy was really recovered from his beating at the hands of Caleb Sutter.
Benny straightened himself out and scowled at Doc Daniel. But Jeremy's letter wasn't finished yet.
"But I really got far more than that," Jeremy wrote. "I got things more precious than gold." Benny glanced up again after he read the last line aloud. His mother had a funny expression on her face.
"So did we, Darling," Benny's mother said with a smile. "We got Mr. Carlisle."