Page 8 of Scatter the Bones

And I don’t plan to leave this house standing when we go.

The opposite wall holds more shelves and what looks like more personal items. Backpacks, duffle bags, folders, boxes, women’s purses.

I start at the far end and open a shoebox.

Stacks of cash.

NowthisI’ll happily take with me. The stacks appear to be hundred-dollar bills. Quick math adds up to at least sixty-thousand dollars in this box alone.What the fuck?

I flip the lids off the other shoeboxes and find more stacks of cash. Another holds gold bars.

He made us live like peasants when he had this much money stashed away. Where did it all come from?

Can’t get distracted.

I move on to a gray metal box. Thankful it’s fastened with a simple clasp, I flick it open and stare. Documents. Identification.

I sort through driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, and birth certificates. Some names I recognize. People who lived on the farm for short periods of time.

My father would say they left for the temptations of the outside world. Their hearts weren’t pure enough to accept God’s salvation or whatever bullshit.

Why would they leave this stuff behind?

Uneasiness crawls through my stomach.

I flip the lid of another gray box on a higher shelf.

The first birth certificate freezes the blood in my veins.

Gideon Killgore.

My older brother. Who ran away without saying goodbye.

I set that one aside and pull out the next.

Joshua Killgore.

My other brother. Who supposedly influenced Gideon to leave. Both gone when Jezzie was so little, I doubt she even remembers them. My father certainly never allowed anyone to utter their names after they left.

A yellow envelope rests at the bottom of the box. With trembling hands, I take it out and set the box back on the shelf.

Fear crackles through my veins as I slide the yellowed certificate out.

Elizabeth Williams.

My mother.

At the bottom of the envelope a few rectangular cards are stuck together. I shake the stiff paper over one of the shelves and the cards flutter and plop onto the metal surface.

My mother’s driver’s license. Social Security cards for my brothers and mother.

My brothers…I could see them leaving this stuff behind. Especially if they left in a hurry.

I’ve tried searching for Gideon and Joshua. Aunt Em hired people to search for them. And we never found a trace of my brothers anywhere.

He killed them.

The truth of it rattles my bones.

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