Chapter Thirty-Five

THE FIRST SECTION:
Coleman could not stop pacing across his bedroom. Back and forth he walked, muttering to himself and staring straight down at the rug beneath his feet. He had been doing it all day, since the moment he awoke. He was not even dressed yet and the sun was clearly high enough in the sky to fool no one that it was mid-day. But he did not notice a thing. Even when a servant came in to pull the drapes back, Coleman continued to pace, never saying a word or even noticing that the servant was there. At first glance one would think that he did not even know the day of the week, or more specifically that it was the day of the trial. But he knew perfectly well which day it was, and that was why he could not break out of the morose attitude he had.
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The problem was not that he did not want to be there because he absolutely did. The problem had more to do with the fact that he was afraid of what might happen to him if he showed up. Already, it seemed that Richard was blaming him for Emily’s death and miserable life beforehand. And his father had to know why Richard felt the way he did because he so much as explained his bruised face as being a result of Richard’s feelings. There was then the issue of the priest; the mystery man who kept poking around and investigating things that Coleman felt were none of his business. It did not seem right that the man was really a priest. He had never seen him before this incident and the man only dressed like a priest when he was hanging around the jailhouse. It was him who he feared the most. It was the so-called priest that he feared would put the blame squarely on Coleman’s shoulders.

“My Lord,” Coleman gasped, “that man was probably called as a witness today, to speak on behalf of the family.”

A lump formed in his throat. The notion that the man had already accused Coleman in public, under oath was a very real possibility.

“Not a possibility,” he said aloud, “but a probability.” He stopped pacing and started to dart in random directions across the room. Each time he came to piece of furniture or wall he spun around and headed in a new direction. And with each new direction he took, a new worry crossed his mind. And each time a new worry crossed his mind, the previous one became fact in his mind. By the time the stress inside him had built up so much that he collapsed in a ball of sweat, he was convinced that an angry mob was heading to his estate to seize him and take him off to be hung.

“I’ve got to get out of here,” he yelled. “I have to leave now, before they get here. I have to get out of here.”

He ran from the bedroom to the parlor where he could look out toward the courthouse. “Where are they? Where are they?” he asked over and over again. “They’ll be here soon. I know it, but where are they?”

He ran back to the bedroom to see if anyone was coming from the opposite direction. But there was no one coming his way. With the exception of a few people walking in the streets, the roads were nearly empty. Coleman dashed to the rear of the house to see if anyone was coming from behind.

“Maybe they want to sneak up on me,” he said with a whisper. But upon seeing no one there, he raced back to the bedroom near the front of the house. It was then that he saw a large mass of people walking down the street toward his house.

“It’s them,” he shouted. “It’s them!” Fearing that he had no time to spare, he ran back toward the stairs and stopped in front of a large window that opened up the center of the house. Down at the harbor he saw a ship partially setting its sails as though it were ready to head out to see. It was the only ship leaving the docks and only one other ship was resting at the dock at that moment.

“I’ve got to get to that ship,” he exclaimed. He then turned and looked toward the crowd. He saw that they were quickly approaching the fastest road that would lead him to the docks.
“I’ve got to go,” he said as he ran from the house toward the street.

*******

Richard and Edward walked to the exit of the courthouse as the crowd dispersed. Edward was clearly jubilant by the expected guilty verdict, but Richard was less so. He was disturbed that the boy would be separated from his parents as they were sent off to a prison that was a several day’s ride north of the city. The boy, on the other hand, was being sent east, to a Maine orphanage, far away from his family.

“Come on Richard,” Edward said with a smile, “don’t be so sullen. No one is going to die and everyone got his justice in the end. Look, the entire crowd is leaving peacefully. It is as though we did the right thing. I told you all of this would work out.”

Richard growled quietly but did not say anything in return. Edward patted him on the back and laughed, “Today is a better day for us than it is for you, I know. But by cooperating the rest of the way, you may be able to save your job next time around.”

“Where has Coleman been?” Richard asked. “You blame me for being uncooperative and he didn’t even bother to show up. How can I trust you when you are leaving and Coleman when he can’t even arrive at his own wife’s day of justice?”

“Easy Richard,” Edward warned, “he was beaten pretty badly remember? You should be a little more sympathetic toward him considering we have not yet found out who lashed out at him.”

At that moment, Richard looked down the street and saw Coleman running toward the crowd in his pajamas. “What is he doing?” Richard asked as he pointed at the troubled man. “I’ve seen enough of this. He’s been making a complete mockery of my daughter. I’m going to take care of this once and for all.”

Edward grabbed a hold of Richard’s shoulder and pulled him back. “Remember what I told you the other day Richard. Any more embarrassments and I will make it a personal endeavor to find your replacement.”

“You do what you have to do Edward,” Richard said as he pulled himself free of Edward’s grip. “But let me do what I have to do as well. This is my daughter’s honor we are talking about here, and I am not going to have her so-called esteemed husband running around like a lunatic. If you won’t do anything then I will.”

Richard then ran down the street after Coleman with Edward following close behind. The crowd was also following Coleman as he led the way toward the harbor. Every so often, Richard saw Coleman look behind him to see if anyone was following.

“He’s trying to get away from me,” Richard muttered. He picked his running up a notch, but the crowd was catching up behind him. It had been years since Richard had any need to run after anything that did not require a ballot box and his round waistline simply would not let him keep up. Edward’s elderly body was still in well enough shape to keep up with the younger mayor, but even he was engulfed by the excited crowd. As the crowd raced past the two men, it became clear that Coleman was actually running away from the crowd.

“What is he up to?” Richard asked not knowing Edward was running beside him.
“Well it is not you that is for sure,” Edward said with shortened breath. The two men slowed down to a walk as they approached the docks. By then, Coleman had run down on to one of the floats and was attempting to steal one of the fishermen’s rowboats.

“He’ll never get very far doing that,” Richard noted. “Those fishermen will have him for lunch once they catch him.”

“And then I’ll take over their homes and lives for doing so,” Edward snapped back. “I’ll crush this town along with you if anything happens to him.”

“Will you finally leave this town?” Richard asked. This surprised both men, but more so Richard because he had always made an effort to be on his best behavior around Edward and the rest of the elite crowd.

“What did you say?” Edward asked.

“I asked if you would finally leave this place,” Richard repeated. “Go. Leave. Get out of here. Let us be.”

A mortified look came over Edward’s face and it emboldened Richard even more.

“Leave today,” he repeated. “Take your son and leave today.”

“Just because now I want to make your life a living Hell,” Edward growled back, “the only thing that will keep me here is if I have nothing here to keep. You want me gone, then I shall leave and I will take everything I own with me. I’ll close up all of my local shops; lock them up so that no one can use them. I’ll sell the rest to buyers who won’t be able to afford the business because they bought it for too much to begin with. I’ll make sure that you get what you ask for and I’ll leave my lunatic son here to watch over everything while I am gone. You’ll have to deal with him and locked up businesses at the same time. Believe me Richard, this will be the end of you.”

“I hope you can keep that promise,” Richard returned, “because I’ll be looking forward to taking full advantage of you and your son’s incompetence’s.”

“Look,” a voice rang out from the crowd, “over there.”

Richard looked out into the harbor and saw Coleman rowing furiously out to sea. There were about ten about other fishermen chasing after him in their own boats, but they were barely catching up to him and he had seven lengths ahead of them already.

“Surely he can’t go on like this forever,” Richard said to himself.

But Coleman was charging hard out into the sea. It was almost as though he were chasing the ship that had just left the port and was now under full sail in open waters.

“There is no way he’ll catch that boat,” one man said. “He’ll get killed in the rough waters alone.”
“He’s already past the point,” another man noted. “I can barely see him except for when he is at the top of a wave.”

It was true what the man was seeing. Coleman was now completely out of the protective waters of the harbor and racing against a large five foot swell. The fishermen who had been chasing him had now pulled back as they appeared to be more cautious in the rough waters. But one thing that they may have seen before the crowd on the shore was able to see was a large, three master schooner charging around the point ahead of a stiff wind. The crowd gasped at the sight of the ship as it came into full sight. The most disturbing scene then unfolded. Coleman appeared to slow down. At first it seemed as though he were simply tired, but then he started to turn around. When he did turn around, he did so with his back to the on-coming ship. By the time he had fully turned around, he never saw the ship coming.

A few minutes later, the fishermen reached the floating splinters and hauled what was left of Coleman’s body aboard. They rowed slowly back to shore and when they reached the shore, they were met by the constable and the local mortician. Edward’s face had turned deathly pale as he remained silent while they brought Coleman’s body ashore. Richard on the other hand could not believe what he had just seen.

“What luck,” he said to himself.

The crowd gathered around the docks as they watched the dead man who had suddenly gone crazy carried up to the mortician’s wagon. His body fully covered inside the wagon, it rode off up the hill. Richard watched it until it was out of sight. He was speechless and Edward was more so. Richard wanted to say something to the beleaguered father, but he remained quiet and instead began to walk back to the office to contemplate everything that had just happened.

Jasper and Reginald met Richard at the top of the hill and offered their condolences. Richard responded by saying it was Edward who had lost everything now and deserved to be consoled. Jasper walked quickly down the hill to see Edward, but Reginald walked back with Richard.
“I think Edward is done for good in this town,” Richard said calmly. “I’ll need your help to stay alive here. People will certainly try to find a way to fight back once they know everything that has been going on. It won’t even be fighting back.”

“What do you mean,” Reginald asked.

“They’ll be surviving,” Richard answered. “That is what these people do. They survive.”

“Not forever,” Reginald replied. “They have to die sometime.”

“Yes,” Richard agreed, “they certainly do.”