Danger in the Ashes by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780786019649
Publisher: Pinnacle
Published: 1988-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Ben was working at his desk when his phone rang. Communications, advising him that Hiram had sent word he wished to speak with Ben, at the bayou bank. Wanted to talk about joining the Rebels.

Ben laughed. “Sure he does,” he told the woman. “What he wants to do is pull me down into his territory and then kill me. Hiram is a die-hard redneck, lieutenant. So full of hate it’s finally consumed him. All right. Advise Captain Gorzalka. I’ll be down to see Hiram in about an hour.”

Ben rang the hospital, to see if Holly wanted to ride down with him. Then he changed his mind; might get dangerous. He sent a runner after Buddy and waited until the young man entered his office.

“Where’s your weapon, son?”

“In my Jeep.”

“Get it. And meet me at my Jeep. We’re going to

finish a twenty-year-old game.”

Heading out, Buddy asked, “What game, Father?”

“One might call it many things, son. Good against evil. But to Hiram’s way of thinking, I’m the evil one. One hardhead against another hardhead. Each one thinking he is in the right.”

“And who is in the right, Father?”

“Intellectually, I am. Morally, half and half. Socially, the way we-the Rebels-envision our society, oh, give me sixty points and Hiram forty. Add that up, son.”

“Giving how many points per issue?”

“One hundred.”

“Two-ten to ninety.”

“That’s the way I figure it.”

“But how much is a man worth, Father?”

“At last count, about four dollars.”

“Are you serious!”

“Yep. The average man has that many minerals in his body.”

“Ah!”

“But that isn’t what you meant, is it, son?”

“No, sir.”

“The worth of a person, son, depends, to my way of thinking, how much that person contributes to society, and how much they take away from it.”

Buddy thought about that for a moment. “That sounds logical, Father. But doesn’t Hiram have as much right to judge you as you do to judge him?”

Ben smiled. He hadn’t sired a dummy. “That’s the way it would be in a democracy, son-on paper, that is.”

“What do you mean?”

“It never worked out that way. Justice was supposed to be blind; but in a lot of cases, she wasn’t.”

“So I have heard my mother mention, time after time,” the young man said drily.

And Ben knew what he was talking about.

“Did your mother think to tell you that I contacted the attorney representing her and told her I would share in the expenses of the child if she would just prove that the baby really was mine?”

“No. Least I don’t think she ever mentioned that to me.” He waved a hand. “That’s over and buried, Father. We found each other, finally, and we are together. That is all that really matters, is it not?”

“Yes. What do you think of Holly?”

“A very nice lady and a more than capable physician, I believe.”

“That’s a nice, safe reply.”

“If you’re waiting for me to start calling her Mother, you are going to have one hell of a long wait-sir!”

Ben laughed and reached over, jerking Buddy’s bandana over his eyes.

Buddy grinned and folded his arms across his massive chest.

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