In a remote mountain area of Tennessee there is a small, virtually unknown town named Jessup. The inhabitants of this town, the Jessupites, are all descendants of the original Puralist religious movement that settled Jessup in the early 1800’s; all save one.
Doctor John Roberts has only been a member of the community for the past five years, having moved to Jessup upon the occasion of his grandmother’s death. John’s grandmother had at one time been a Jessupite but had left the community in disenchantment with the Puralist way of life. What Abigail Wilson Roberts left behind at her demise was a diary that told all about Jessup and the Puralists and something else that immediately caught John’s attention and motivated his move to his grandmother’s former home in Tennessee.
Now that John Roberts had moved into Jessup the Puralists had a real doctor for the first time in their existence, and–along with him came problems the Jessupites never imagined they would ever face.
John sat in the shelter of the small cave he had found when trying to elude that damn persistent Octavius McClellan. It was no more than a hole in the talus slope of Butcher Cliff, but it had served his purpose well. Octavius had passed him by without so much as a clue as to where he had hidden himself. But he knew he couldn't stay here forever. He would need food soon, and there was no way he could build a fire here for fear of the sight, or smell, of his smoke. John knew that what he had done would soon bring Kate looking for him, and he knew what would be the result if found.
Hunkered down in this cocoon of a cave, barely large enough to turn around in, his thoughts drifted to Charlie and Rick, the intruders, and his mind fumed with anger. Those two! his mind screamed. Those two interlopers, who had sabotaged his plans, spoiled his dreams, and had effectively banished him from Jessup. He smiled at the thought of having blown Rick away, but his anger focused now on Charlie. You'll pay for this you bastard.
John slowly cooled down to where he was able to think more rationally about what now needed to be done. His first objective would be to obtain food, and for that need he already had a plan in mind. It wouldn't be long before Kate would gather together a few of the men in Jessup, and come looking for him. If I time it right they'll be out here while I'm at my house emptying the pantry. Still, he knew it would be wise not to be seen, but that he had worked out, too. He would approach town from the east woods and slip into his storm cellar under cover of dark. From there, through the tunnel to the root cellar, and up to his kitchen. He'd leave by the same route with a tote full of food for a few nights out at the digs. He was going nowhere without his gold. He'd find shelter out near the digs, and at night, when Jessup was sleeping, he'd be digging. When his food ran low he'd get again what he could from his house, and when that ran out he'd get on the Trail, follow it to Winslow Junction, and head into Winslow for more provisions. Winslow was farther away than Chester, but he couldn't risk going to Chester, as Kate would probably be looking for him along that route. And what if Kate staked out the digs? No problem. He still had Rick and Charlie's pistols, and he knew how to use them. That gave him the advantage, as no one in Jessup owned a firearm of any kind, including Kate.
John knew his plan bordered on insanity, but the gold was his for the taking, and no two nosey intruders from the north were going to keep him from it. He knew also that he was literally risking his neck for the effort, but he and the good people of Jessup had already worked ninety percent of the probable area that needed to be worked at the digs. There was only ten percent left to search. He had to give it a go. If he ended up stretching a rope, then so be it. What else was he going to do?
John had waited patiently in his little hole for Octavius to pass by a second time, this time on his way back to Jessup. Dark was now approaching, and it was time to make his move to his house to gather food for his first night at the digs. He smiled at his luck, as he noticed the giant orange orb of the full moon rising above the treetops to the east. It would make getting into and out of Jessup a little trickier, but he'd have ample light with which to work the digs.
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