Summary:\u00a0 Even a good friend can become one of the “bad guys” when he lets himself get bedeviled.<\/p>\n
Rated: T\u00a0 Word Count: 2,500<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bedeviled<\/strong><\/p>\n Cal Johnson<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n It was Little Joe who answered the door.\u00a0 I always liked Little Joe.\u00a0 Living for him came easy.\u00a0 He worked hard and played hard, but he never had to worry about living at all.\u00a0 There was always supper on the table, always a warm bed to sleep in, a roof over his head.\u00a0 I swore my boy would be raised like Little Joe.\u00a0 His life wouldn’t be like mine was.\u00a0 His living would be easy.\u00a0 But my boy was six feet under already, and still in his momma’s belly.\u00a0 He never even had a chance for living.\u00a0 No chance at all.\u00a0 And when I looked to Little Joe right then, when I saw that grin on his face, when I saw that easy life in his eyes \u2026\u00a0 everything changed.\u00a0 Everything I used to like about him, I came to hate right at that moment.<\/p>\n I don’t remember thinking about drawing my gun.\u00a0 I just drew.\u00a0 My eyes caught sight of that gun at his head, and it was like someone else had put it there.\u00a0 And I eased back that hammer like it was the surest thing I had ever done.\u00a0 It felt so right it never even occurred to me that it could possibly be wrong.\u00a0 It was Adam who stopped me.\u00a0 I don’t remember what he said.\u00a0 Not really.\u00a0 Somehow he convinced me to pull the gun away.\u00a0 But I couldn’t put it down.\u00a0 It felt too right in my hand.<\/p>\n When the barrel was no longer pressed against that boy’s head, I saw some of that easy coming back into Little Joe’s eyes.\u00a0 The gun had made him nervous, but now that it was gone life was getting easy again.\u00a0 That’s why I kicked him.\u00a0 I caught him in the hip with the bottom of my boot, and I could feel that spur ripping through his thigh.\u00a0 It felt almost like gutting a fish.\u00a0 It felt good.<\/p>\n Hoss, he never did like no one using spurs.\u00a0 Said the horses didn’t deserve to have steel blades digging into their hides.\u00a0 But when you got a bedeviled stallion, spurs are about the only thing gonna take the devil out of him.\u00a0 And right then when I kicked Little Joe, when I felt that spur digging into his leg as I pulled my foot away, I knew I had taken the devil out of that black\u2014because that devil had come into me.<\/p>\n With Little Joe sprawled out on the floor like he was, his eyes didn’t have that easy look to them anymore.\u00a0 I guess that’s all I really needed to see.\u00a0 He was angry, I could see that.\u00a0 But he didn’t have his gun on him, and with his leg gutted like that he wouldn’t be able to come at me any other way.\u00a0 So I was able to turn my attention to Adam.<\/p>\n Adam.\u00a0 Now he was a real good friend of mine.\u00a0 He introduced me to my Caroline and stood up at our wedding.\u00a0 It was a sure bet he was gonna be my own Little Joe’s godfather, too.\u00a0 But he didn’t look like that friend anymore.\u00a0 He was standing halfway between me and the stairs, but edging in closer every minute.\u00a0 Friends or not, his obligation was to Little Joe right then, not me.\u00a0 I knew that and I didn’t blame him none for it.\u00a0 If he had to, and if he’d had a gun on him, he would’ve shot me down without a second thought if it meant protecting that easy-life-living little brother of his.<\/p>\n I guess I almost wished he was wearing a gun.\u00a0 My life was over already anyway.\u00a0 Oh, my body kept living alright.\u00a0 But my soul died soon as my Caroline went in the ground.\u00a0 Our spread was all dried up, and without Caroline my heart got all dried up right along with it.\u00a0 There wasn’t much more I could do than go to work for that good friend of mine, that high-living Adam Cartwright, taking his family’s table scraps since I no longer had a table of my own.<\/p>\n He said he was sure I’d get back on my feet.\u00a0 He said I still had plenty of living ahead of me.\u00a0 He even said he’d help anyway he could.\u00a0 He’d say all kinds of things like that, and then he’d turn away, head back into that warm, cozy house of his and close the door behind him.<\/p>\n Sure, Adam’s life hadn’t been as easy as Little Joe’s.\u00a0 But it was easy enough now, I could tell he had no real recollection of the hard times he’d faced with his pa.\u00a0 Oh, he said he remembered, and he told me enough stories to show he remembered.\u00a0 But he didn’t recollect enough to feel the hopelessness of it all deep in his bones like I did.\u00a0 I might have trusted his pa to recollect it all just fine, but not Adam.\u00a0 He’d been too young back then.\u00a0 And he’d had his pa to look out for him.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 His pa back then and me now, we both know what it was like in ways Adam never could.\u00a0 But what was different between his pa and me, was \u2026 well, it was Adam.\u00a0 His pa had lost a wife, same as me.\u00a0 But he’d still had a son.\u00a0 And he hadn’t put every bit of his sweat and blood into building a spread that simply refused to be built.\u00a0 So even if his pa’d had bad times, I could see why he’d never got bedeviled.<\/p>\n I guess I wasn’t thinking all that while I was standing there over Joe, my gun in my hand feeling like that was exactly where it belonged, watching Adam coming close as he dared and slow as he needed to.\u00a0 But now I look back on it all, it explains why I got sick to look at him.\u00a0 He was talking at me like he could see I was a bedeviled stallion, like I had no brains in my head and nothing but fire in my eyes.\u00a0 And I hated him for it.\u00a0 I hated him then as much as I hated Little Joe.\u00a0 More, even.\u00a0 If I’d never befriended Adam, I might not even be bedeviled now.\u00a0 It was him got me thinking I could have my own spread.\u00a0 It was him brought my Caroline to me.\u00a0 For all I know, it was him somehow made my land dry up and put that fever into Caroline too.\u00a0 High and mighty Adam Cartwright, who owned the world and thought he could make it do whatever he wanted\u2014like he thought I could put down that gun when it was really the gun that had me, and there wasn’t a damned thing I could do except what it wanted me to do.\u00a0 And right then it wanted me to empty it into Adam Cartwright.\u00a0 I would have, too.\u00a0 Almost did.<\/p>\n Trouble was, I’d underestimated Joe.\u00a0 I don’t rightly know how he did it, but he got the foot of his good leg behind my left ankle, and his other foot to the front.\u00a0 When he pulled his feet together, he unbalanced me enough that Adam could swoop in like the vulture he was.\u00a0 He tried to wrastle with me for the gun.\u00a0 He still didn’t know that gun was as much a part of my hand as all my fingers were.\u00a0 I couldn’t have let go if I’d wanted to.<\/p>\n I don’t know who pulled the trigger though.\u00a0 I don’t suppose it matters none.\u00a0 I only wish the dying came quicker.\u00a0 It’s this slow dying that makes a man think.\u00a0 And thinking can’t change it none.\u00a0 All it does is make you wonder if you could have done anything different.\u00a0 And all that wondering don’t change anything.<\/p>\n I still hate that easy-living Little Joe.\u00a0 And I wish to God I’d never even heard the name Adam Cartwright. But God don’t cotton to wishes from a man like me.<\/p>\n I ain’t afraid of dying.\u00a0 Maybe I should be, on account of the fact Heaven won’t take a man who lets himself get bedeviled.\u00a0 But those angels up yonder don’t know what it’s like to be more afraid of living than dying.\u00a0 So, much as I wish I’d never known Adam, I suppose I can at least thank him for taking that fear away.\u00a0 It’s a sure bet by this time tomorrow, living won’t be a problem for me at all anymore.\u00a0 Soon after that I’ll be sleeping next to Carolyn again.\u00a0 And that suits me just fine.<\/p>\n XxXxX<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hoss<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n I’ve heard it said bad things can change a man, turn him into something that don’t have anything at all to do with who he was before.\u00a0 Pa has seen it happen.\u00a0 He told me he’s known men who never really left the battlefield.\u00a0 They just keep fighting\u2014only they ain’t fighting Indians no more; they’re fighting with people who’d been their friends, even family.\u00a0 It’s like they can’t see the difference no more.\u00a0 I reckon that’s what happened to Cal Johnson.\u00a0 Of course, it wasn’t Indians or battles that changed him.\u00a0 It was just life itself.<\/p>\n When I heard that gun go off in the house, I had no way of knowing that’s what happened though.<\/p>\n The sound of that shot about froze the blood in my veins.\u00a0 I ran through that door like nobody’s business.\u00a0 Seeing the way Adam was lowering Cal to the ground, I figured right away it weren’t nothing more than an accident.\u00a0 A bad accident, but still just an accident.\u00a0 Adam kept staring at him\u2014staring and shaking his head like he didn’t want to believe it had happened, or like he didn’t want to believe the truth of what happened.\u00a0 But Joe\u2014that was the worst of it from what I saw.\u00a0 His leg looked half split open and the blood was\u2026. It was bad.\u00a0 Bad enough I didn’t notice the trail of it that went all the way to Cal’s spurs.\u00a0 Not right away.\u00a0 If I had \u2026. Well, I guess maybe I might’ve listened to Joe right off.<\/p>\n As it was, I let Adam deal with Cal and I went to Joe.\u00a0 I was wrapping my belt around his leg to cut off the pressure and try to slow down some of that bleeding when I heard Pa come in.\u00a0 He asked Adam what happened.\u00a0 Adam said he didn’t know.\u00a0 He said it over and over again, and that wasn’t like Adam at all. But before any of us could start to make sense of any of it, Joe spoke up.\u00a0 He told me it wasn’t Cal.\u00a0 He looked right at me and said I had to believe him, that it was the devil or something, but it wasn’t Cal.\u00a0 It was his eyes, Joe told me.\u00a0 He said there was something wrong with Cal’s eyes, like it was the devil himself looking out through those eyes.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t know what was wrong with Adam, but I had to figure Joe was getting delirious, so I was mighty worried about that wound.\u00a0 But then I heard Cal himself.\u00a0 He said Joe was right.\u00a0 He said it really was the devil.\u00a0 He also said it didn’t matter none, ’cause that devil was going to die right along with him.<\/p>\n Pa told him it was nonsense.\u00a0 He wasn’t gonna die.<\/p>\n Pa didn’t mention the devil though.\u00a0 Not then.\u00a0 It wasn’t until after.\u00a0 After Cal died.\u00a0 After Adam had a few days to try to make sense of things in his own mind.\u00a0 After Joe got his leg stitched back together and was able to make up for some of that blood he’d lost.\u00a0 Even after all that, when we finally sat down to talk about it, to try to figure it out, Joe still said he’d seen the devil in Cal’s eyes.\u00a0 Adam agreed with him. And Pa \u2026. Pa nodded his head, like that was all the explanation he needed.<\/p>\n People can tell you about the times in their lives when they stopped believing in things like fairies and leprechauns.\u00a0 I can tell you, that was the moment in my life when I started believing in the devil, when I started to really believe, without any doubt that the devil could be as real as you and me.\u00a0 I believe it now because I could see Pa believed it then\u2014and because I knew Cal as well as Adam or Joe or anyone else had known him.\u00a0 And I know if a man like Cal can get bedeviled like he did, it can happen to any one of us if we let it.\u00a0 We just have to remember not to let it.<\/p>\n I think we’ll be okay, though.\u00a0 I like to believe if we stick together like we always have, then no matter how bad life gets, ain’t a one of us is gonna sink low enough to let that devil in.\u00a0 I also know if it tries, it’s gonna face one helluva fight.<\/p>\n ~end~<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Old reviews:<\/strong><\/p>\n Reviewer: MarieD Anonymous starstarstarstarhalf-star<\/p>\n Date: 18 Mar 2014 01:26 pm Title: Bedeviled<\/p>\n Great story, really chilling!<\/p>\n Reviewer: BluewindFarm Signed<\/p>\n Date: 16 Oct 2013 05:01 pm Title: Bedeviled<\/p>\n Incredible, what the depths of grief will drive a man to do… I agree with Joe, it wasn’t Cal, it was the devil.<\/p>\n Reviewer: Sienna Signed<\/p>\n Date: 16 Oct 2011 10:21 am Title: Bedeviled<\/p>\n I have read this story several times before and it just stays in my mind. It is so well written that you can feel the pain and angst that each one is going through…even Cal. Such a powerful story, Freya, and so intense. But even though it is, it is one story that should be read over again because it is just that good! Thank you for sharing your talents.\u00a0\u00a0 Sienna<\/p>\n Author’s Response:<\/em><\/p>\n Thank you so very much, Sienna! I can’t understand why I never replied to this before! …maybe because this review “is just that good!” I’m honored by your words. So…thank you very much, again. I just don’t know what else to say …and maybe that’s why I didn’t reply before…;)<\/em><\/p>\n Reviewer: jojay Anonymous<\/p>\n Date: 09 Jul 2011 06:17 am Title: Bedeviled<\/p>\n Believe<\/p>\n Such a well written story, thank you Freya!<\/p>\n Author’s Response:<\/em><\/p>\n Thank you so much! I’m very glad you liked it! \ud83d\ude42<\/em><\/p>\n Reviewer: Annie K Cowgirl Signed<\/p>\n Date: 27 Jun 2011 09:21 pm Title: Bedeviled<\/p>\n Wow! This is really geep, Freya and I don’t mean that in a sarcastic way. This is really and truly deep.<\/p>\n Author’s Response:<\/em><\/p>\n Thank you so much! I really am glad you liked it! \ud83d\ude42<\/em><\/p>\n Reviewer: Laurie Anonymous starstarstarstarstar<\/p>\n Date: 14 Apr 2011 07:52 pm Title: Bedeviled<\/p>\n excellent story, thanks<\/p>\n Author’s Response:<\/em><\/p>\n Thank you very much!! \ud83d\ude42<\/em><\/p>\n Reviewer: mamse5 Anonymous<\/p>\n Date: 14 Apr 2011 03:22 am Title: Bedeviled<\/p>\n wonderful – poignant, intense,moving. You conveyed a dramatic scene with great emotion in a tight, well-written package.\u00a0\u00a0 Nice Job.<\/p>\n Author’s Response:<\/em><\/p>\n Thank you so much! I’m very glad you found it to be so many things…in such a “tight” package! \ud83d\ude00<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary:\u00a0 Even a good friend can become one of the “bad guys” when he lets himself get bedeviled.<\/p>\n Rated: T\u00a0 Word Count: 2,500\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":9517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1009,23,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brothers","category-drama","category-halloween","wpcat-1009-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-29-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/brothers.jpg?fit=399%2C299&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}