Fields of Gold

Fields of Gold

D. A. Ratliff

Spoleto was over. Seventeen days of the festival and months and months of planning prior to the event had taken their toll. My body ached as if it was a piston that, after pounding furiously for eons, had broken, leaving limbs unable to function. That’s exhaustion.

My best friend Bri and I worked twenty-hour days during the festival. Bri owned an art gallery that hosted several artists, and I was on the advisory board and responsible for keeping the participants happy. Did I say twenty hours a day? It seemed more like twenty-five.

We decided to unwind by taking a three-week vacation to New Orleans, with no particular itinerary to follow. We would wander wherever the road took us. It turns out that was not a good decision because we wandered into a nightmare.

I sat in a small windowless room, the cinderblock walls painted a dirty cream color, with only a small table and four chairs. I had the distinct impression that the local sheriff didn’t believe me. I had nothing to do with Bri’s disappearance. All I knew was that she was gone.

When the door opened, I jumped out of my skin. A man dressed in a suit, with a file in his hand, walked in and sat across the table. “I am Detective Lieutenant Jude Alden of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. You are Cassidy Sherwood?”

“I am. What are you doing to find my friend?”

“I assure you we are doing all we can to locate her. I know you gave an account to the sheriff, but I’d like you to tell me again. Start at the beginning when you left Charleston.”

I sucked in a breath, trying to calm the trembling. “Bri…”

He stopped me. “You mean Sabrina Jeffers.”

“Yes. She hates Sabrina. Because she’s blonde and pretty with perky features, everyone teased her in high school about being a witch like the one on TV. She only wants to be called Bri.”

“Tell me about Bri and your trip.”

“We had worked long days during the Spoleto Festival and wanted to have some fun and relax. So, we spent a few days winding up business for the festival and took off. Our final destination was New Orleans, but we decided to take whatever road we chose along the way and stop when and where we wanted. We stopped in Savannah for a couple of days, shopped, ate, sat in the garden from that wonderful book about good and evil, and pondered life.”

“When did you leave Savannah?”

“Yesterday. We had breakfast and then picked a road west. We drove for about four hours, enjoying the empty roads and the beautiful scenery, when Bri spotted the field of sunflowers, and we realized there was a little store in front of the field. We stopped.”

As I continued to tell the detective, the memories played in my head as I relived the events.

We had both remarked on how beautiful the sunflowers were, and I slowed down. Bri squealed, “Look, Cass, there’s a cute shop. Let’s stop.”

So, we stopped. South Georgia in late June is hot, and humidity clung to us as we exited the air-conditioned car. After breathing in city fumes and the overwhelming aroma of too many restaurants working overtime, the smell of fresh earth and vegetation was intoxicating. Bri turned and waved her arms above her head.

“This is nirvana. Look, there are all kinds of flowers in the fields beyond. This is beautiful. I want to paint this.”

The shop was, in a word, quaint, with the exterior painted a deep yellow, much like the sun, and the interior filled with flowers, candles, pottery, clothing, and linens—a treasure trove of gorgeous items. Through the rear door was a porch filled with bins of flowers and vegetables.

“Well, hello, ladies, welcome to the Sunflower Shoppe.” A plump woman with salt and pepper hair greeted us. “What can I help you with today?”

Bri began gushing over the pottery. Though she painted, she had recently taken up pottery. While they chatted, I browsed about the shop. I was looking through a rack of tie-dyed T-shirts when a man entered the shop. I selected a shirt and headed toward the register.

Bri was beaming. “Cass, this is Laura Madison and her son Darrell. Great news—they own a bed and breakfast and have two rooms available until Thursday. It would be fun to stay here for a couple of nights. Darrell said he would take us on a tour of the farm. I want to take lots of photos, so much to paint.”

I realized Detective Alden was speaking to me. “Sorry, I was lost in the moment.”

He bit his lower lip. “How would you describe Darrell Madison?”

My heart skipped a beat. “Do you think he has something to do with Bri missing?”

“Just want to know about everyone who has had contact with her in the last forty-eight hours.”

“He’s been nice enough. Took us on a tour of the flower fields and promised he would take us to the potters and the candlemakers today.”

“He hasn’t made advances against either of you?”

“No.”

“Tell me about last night.”

“We got back from the nursery tour. We had checked into the B&B earlier, and I went to my room to shower and contact my office. We are closing up this year’s festival. When we met for dinner, Bri told me she took a walk around the grounds taking photos.”

“Where did you go for dinner?”

“Laura told us about a restaurant in town, a local place with great Southern cooking. We went there, and it was great. We returned about nine p.m. and found a note from Laura saying she had left wine and tea cakes for us in the kitchen. Bri had the wine, I didn’t want any, so I just had a bottle of water.”

“When did you go to bed?”

“We sat on the front porch and talked. It’s been a tough couple of years for both of us, and the solitude we enjoyed last night was cathartic. Bri needed it more than I did. Her husband was a Naval reserve officer, killed in a training accident two years ago. About the same time, I got divorced—my idea, and we got each other through the worse parts.”

“Did you hear anything during the night?”

“No, I didn’t hear anything. Her room was at the other end of the hall.”

“Tell me what happened after you woke up in the morning.”

“I woke up about eight a.m., late for me. I didn’t get up right away. Sunlight was pouring into the room, and it was so peaceful. I checked my phone for messages and finally decided the lure of coffee was more enticing than sleep, and I got out of bed.”

Again, as I recounted my morning to Detective Alden, my memories took me back to that moment, and I was there. Walking to the bathroom, I stopped to gaze at the vast field of sunflowers extending far to the east, broken only by a small shed at the edge of the plantings. The large yellow heads gazed toward the morning sun, and the beautiful song “Fields of Gold” echoed in my mind. I had an overpowering need to walk through that field of golden flowers.

Before I headed downstairs, I texted Bri to see if she was up. She hadn’t answered by the time I got to the dining room, where Laura said there would be coffee. I poured a cup and called Bri.

Alden’s voice brought me back to the present. “She didn’t answer?”

“No. I thought she was either very sound asleep, or maybe she had gone for a run and forgotten her phone.”

“Did she often run without her phone?”

I shook my head. “No, never.”

“What did you do next?”

“I went onto the front porch. The house sits back off the road behind the shop, and the sunflower field extends to the road. I waited for half an hour, and after calling numerous times, I decided to walk around a bit and see if I could find her. I didn’t.”

“That’s when you called the police?”

“Not immediately. I had been walking along the road and returning to the house when I saw Laura walking toward the shop. I ran up to her and asked her if she had seen Bri. She had not. We walked inside the shop, and as we walked in, Darrell drove by and turned toward town. Laura called him and told him to be on the lookout for her. When he got back about twenty minutes later, he took his drone and flew over the fields. Nothing. She wasn’t there.”

“When did you decide to call the police?”

“I wanted to then, but they convinced me nothing could happen to her. She was probably just lost. Darrell would look for her.” I dropped my head into my hands. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“So, Darrell goes searching—what did you do?”

“I got the master key to the rooms and checked out Bri’s room.”

“What did you find?”

“The bed looked slept in. Her favorite sleep shirt, which she calls her thunder shirt because it has a saying about staying strong on it, lay in a chair. I checked, and her running shoes were gone. I don’t know what she packed for the trip, but her go-to running shorts and top weren’t in the suitcase. I assumed she did go running.”

“No phone?”

“No phone.” I locked eyes with the detective. “Something has happened to her, hasn’t it.”

“We don’t know that yet. Right now, we need to find her. I have put out a missing person alert using her DMV photo. We also sent a forensics team to the Sunflower B&B to search her room. Mrs. Madison gave us permission.”

“I don’t know what you will find there.”

“Hopefully, something that will help us. Are you comfortable staying there again tonight?”

“Yes. I’ll be fine.”

“Here is my business card. You call me immediately if you need anything.”

~~~

It was after nine p.m. when I arrived back at the B&B. Since leaving the sheriff’s office, I drove around looking for her, endlessly driving up and down dirt roads between fields, but nothing. My nerves were raw by the time I returned to the Madison house.

Laura Madison sat in the front parlor, watching TV. She rose as I walked in. “My dear Cassidy, I know you are worried, but I am sure the police will find her safe and sound. Lots of huge fields around here, so it’s easy to get turned around in and lost. Darrell’s going out again at daylight to look. We know the police will be too. “

“Thanks. Did the police search her room?”

“Yes, they left a couple of hours ago and took a few things with them. Now, come with me. I am sure you haven’t eaten. I have vegetable soup and a slice of butter cake waiting for you.”

Numb, I let her lead me to the kitchen, where I managed to eat a bit, then went to my room. At the top of the stairs, I turned toward the room Bri had been in, and total fear that I would never see my best friend again overtook me. I went to bed, still crying.

~~~

I jerked awake at six a.m. Someone was on the stairs. I jumped out of bed and flung open my door to find Darrell heading downstairs.

“Darrell, any word on Bri?”

“No, ma’am. Not a word. Listen, after you come down for breakfast, I’ll take you out, and we’ll look for her.”

“Thank you.”

And we did just that. I managed coffee and a sweet roll, and Darrell and I left shortly after. We spent the next few hours driving all over the countryside. He was kind enough to indulge my every whim. Part of our drive took us out of cell tower range, and it wasn’t until we returned to the house around one p.m. that I realized I had a message from Detective Alden. I listened to it as I climbed the steps to the front porch.

“Ms. Sherwood, this is Detective Alden. We found Bri’s phone about a mile from the Sunflower Shoppe. It appears to have been dropped or thrown onto the side of the road. Please call me.”

I stopped and called him immediately, and I had only one question. “What does this mean?

His voice remained calm. “Nothing other than this is where we found her phone. We have forensics crawling all over the area, but they’ve found nothing else. It’s a start, and forensics is checking her phone and some items from her room. We’re going to find her.”

~~~

Jude Alden ended the call with Cassidy Sherwood and laid his phone on Sheriff Johnston’s desk. The sheriff shook his head.

“You’re not being honest with that gal, Jude. You should tell her about the other gals that have gone missing.”

“Don’t want to scare her any more than she already is. Besides, she doesn’t fit the profile, so she’s not in danger.”

“That’s true. All the vics so far have been pretty little blondes.”

“And Sherwood is a brunette, so hopefully, she’s safe.” Alden tapped the file he carried with him all the time. A file containing information about the seven gals missing and last seen in the area. “You checked out Darrell Madison, right?”

“Sure did. He came back from the military right after we cleared out of Afghanistan pretty messed up. PTSD, according to the VA docs, but no episodes since he’s been home. He stays out on that big old plantation his mom inherited from her uncle, where they grow flowers and some vegetables for seed. We couldn’t place any of the victims anywhere near him.”

“So, she should be safe there?”

The sheriff shrugged. “I reckon so.”

Two hours later, the sheriff found Alden in the breakroom having a snack. “Got forensics back on the items from Sabrina Jeffers’s room. There is blood on the nightshirt. Hers and someone else’s. They are running the database for a local match.”

~~~

Around four o’clock, I sat on the porch, trying to decide what to do. Laura came out with lemonade and cookies and sat on the wooden rocker beside me. “My dear, I don’t know how to approach this, but as you know, we have guests coming tomorrow. I called, and the police have released your friend’s room as I need the space for the guests at a local wedding.”

“It’s fine, I understand. I will leave in the morning. I know there is a hotel in town.”

“My dear, why don’t you go home? The police will continue to look for Bri, and as soon as they find her, you can return.”

I found it hard to breathe, but Laura was right. “Maybe I should go home, but not sure I can yet. I’ll decide in the morning. If I do, I’ll call Detective Alden and tell him.”

“Well, if you will excuse me. The bride’s family has requested that we cater some meals for them, so I need to do some prep.”

“I think I’ll go into town for a bit, then come back and pack up. Have to do that regardless of what I do tomorrow.”

After grabbing a hamburger in town, I returned to the B&B and steeled myself to enter Bri’s room and pack her things. As I did, waves of emotion cascaded over me as I remembered packing up her husband’s things after his death. I thought that was the hardest thing I had ever had to do, but packing Bri’s things when we had such plans for a fun vacation ripped my heart into shreds. This was not how it was supposed to end.

I decided I needed to return to Charleston. Bri’s parents escaped the craziness of Charleston during Spoleto and were returning from a couple of weeks in the North Carolina mountains, where they had been off the grid. They would be in Charleston by the time I got home, and I could tell them in person.

I was going to leave very early but decided to wait and text the detective right before I left to tell him I was going home but would return if he needed me. Thirsty, I went downstairs to get something to drink and heard muffled arguing from the kitchen. I thought I heard Bri’s name. Why were they arguing about her? I slipped next to the door and listened.

“Why didn’t you tell me the police wanted to search that room and that they took things away? Damn it, Mom, I put that shirt she was wearing back in the room and took her shoes and shorts to make it look like she was running. She scratched my arm and then bled on it when I hit her. My blood and hers are on that shirt.” There was a shatter of glass, and Laura screamed.

She was hysterical as she yelled at Darrell. “You fool, you started this. All this PTSD nonsense, you were crazy before you joined the Army. Then you came home, and Milly couldn’t take how mean you were. She wanted to leave you, but no, you had to kill her. Then you went crazy. You started killing any girl that looked like her. How many now? How many have you tortured and killed? Does this make five, six, how many?”

Darrell growled. “Shut up, you old hag, or I told you, I’ll kill you too.”

I had to get out of there. I turned to run but tripped over the rug and fell onto the floor. I was scrambling to get up when bright light flooded the hallway as the kitchen door opened. Darrell pulled me off the floor and wrapped an arm around my neck. I struggled to get free, but he was too strong. I faded into darkness as he pressed his forearm tighter against my throat.

~~~

Before daybreak, Detective Alden walked into the sheriff’s station as he received a text. Puzzled, he headed straight to Johnston’s office, pleased to find the sheriff was an early riser. “Sheriff, what do you make of this?” He turned the phone for the sheriff to read, which he did out loud.

“Alden, going home. Let me know if you find her. Cass.”

The sheriff cocked his head. “That doesn’t sound like the gal I talked to. I don’t think she’d leave without talking to you first. I don’t think she’d text you.”

“No, and she would not be that cryptic, not about her friend. Something’s wrong.”

Johnston stood. “Let’s go pay a visit to the Sunflower B&B.”

~~~

I woke, or maybe better said, I came to, in a dark, cramped space with my head pounding. I felt drugged. It smelled of dirt and fertilizer. I shifted and wished I hadn’t, as sharp, searing pain ripped through me. I was on my side, my legs and arms bent but not bound. The good thing was that I was alive. But for how long?

I rolled over and tried to push myself up when I heard a soft groan. Bri, could it be Bri? I got to my knees and called out. “Bri, is that you?”

An anguished grunt came from a few feet away. “C—Cass….”

I began to sob. She was alive. But I forced myself to get control. I had to get us out of here. Dim light from a window high on the roofline gave me enough light to pick my way across the floor, littered with equipment and stacks of fertilizer. The closer I got to her, the more frightened I became. She was sitting on the floor, her back to me, wrists bound with a rope tied to a rafter, keeping her arms above her head. He had ripped her shirt open, and bloody red welts covered her bare back. A leather cat-o-nine tails whip lay on the floor beside her.

“Oh my, Bri. What has he done to you?” I got to my feet, unsteady, and looked around for something to cut the ropes with. “I gotta get you out of here.”

“No…. Cass… go… get away….”

“I’m not leaving you here.”

I began to search for anything to cut the rope.

~~~

The sheriff’s cruiser was en route to the Sunflower Farm when there was a radio call about a vehicle found wedged between trees at Dimont Lake. As the dispatcher identified the car’s owner, Alden and Johnston exchanged glances, and the sheriff turned the cruiser around and flipped on lights and siren.

Cass’s car, the driver’s side door open, sat precariously near the lake’s edge. They made their way down a shallow incline toward a couple of deputies standing by the vehicle.

Johnston peered into the car. “What did you find?”

One officer responded. “A motorist needed to take a leak, so he stopped here and went over the embankment to go behind the trees. He said his cellphone light caught the bumper and went to check. Called us because he figured the driver might have gone into the lake.”

“Find evidence of the driver?”

“Not going toward the water, but the soil under the trees is still damp from the rain a couple of days ago. Footprints are heading back up the hill, but nothing toward the water.”

Alden knelt next to a footprint. “Looks like a man’s print.”

The officer nodded. “We took a shoe print of the man who found the car so we can rule him out.”

Alden returned to the car and poked his head inside. “Sheriff, whoever packed this car did so in a hurry. Cass Sherwood doesn’t appear to be someone who would throw her things around.”

The sheriff peeked in. “Two styles of suitcases. Hers and Bri’s, you think?”

“Yes, I do.” He turned his gaze toward the lake, lost for a second in the sky as the lavender-gray dawn turned into the golden glow of morning. He did his best thinking in the morning. He spun to look at Johnston. “I have a hunch. I want divers in this lake.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

As the Sheriff tapped his radio, dispatch called with the identity of the second blood source on Bri’s nightshirt. The two men sprinted toward the cruiser, Johnston calling for divers as he ran.

~~~

“Bri… please…. go… don’t let him… “

“Stop. I’m not leaving without you.” I climbed over a stack of fertilizer sacks to a bench where I spotted tools—had to be something I could use. I frantically pushed away old pots and trowels and finally spotted a blade—a gardening knife. I grabbed it and a folding hook knife and crawled back to Bri.

Bri whimpered as I grabbed her wrists, raw from struggling against the sisal. The rope was slack but still holding her arms above her head. Her arms were pale and cold as her blood was not circulating well. I cut the single rope draped over the beam. I choked back a sob as she cried out when I lowered her arms. I cut through the loops around each wrist, and she was free.

I stood and slipped my arms under hers and pulled her up. Her legs were rubbery, and she clung to my arms. “Come on, Bri. Stand up. You can do this.” I supported her weight until I felt her steady. “We have to go.”

“Cass….” Her breathing was too shallow, and it frightened me.

“We have to get away. Let’s go.” I tried to open the door. He’d locked it. “We can’t get out. It’s locked. Okay, listen to me. He’ll be back, and when he comes, we’ll get out. However, we can.”

I eased Bri onto the stack of sacks and looked around for something heavy. I found a shovel. That would have to do. I told Bri what I was planning, and we waited.

My hands were shaking as I heard him rattle the padlock. I looked at Bri and nodded. She nodded back, which gave me courage. The door opened, and he stepped inside while I hid behind the door.

Darrell was startled to see Bri sitting on the sacks. “What the…”

I hit him on the back of the head as hard as I could. He grunted and fell forward. I grabbed Bri’s hand, and we ran into the sunflower field. We had only gone a few feet when Bri stumbled, and it took precious minutes for me to get her back on her feet. I worried I hadn’t knocked him out. I hadn’t. We had only gone a few more feet when I heard him.

“You bitches aren’t getting away. You ruined everything. You’re both going to die.”

I knew Bri wasn’t strong enough to run fast, so I had to draw him away from her. I found a dense clump of plants and made her crouch behind them. “I’m going to lead him away. When I do, you run the opposite way. Here, take this knife.” I handed her the folding hook knife. I tucked the other blade in my waistband.

“Cass, no, he’ll kill you.”

“I’ll be fine. Just do what I said.”

I ran toward the road where he thought we would run for help. I yelled out. “Come get me, you monster.”

I heard him thrashing through the tall sunflowers, and I kept running.

~~~

Sheriff Johnston skidded to a halt in front of the Sunflower B&B, both men exiting the cruiser at a dead run. Johnson tried the front door. It was locked, and he didn’t hesitate. He slammed his shoulder against the door, and they entered.

Johnson raced up the stairs while Alden searched the first floor. When he entered the kitchen, he found Laura Madison lying in a pool of blood. He grabbed towels off the counter and pressed them against the stab wound in her abdomen as he checked for a pulse. She was alive.

“Ms. Madison, can you hear me? Where’s Darrell?”

Her voice was weak. “He didn’t mean… mean to hurt them. He’s sick….”

Alden continued as he heard Johnston calling for EMTs. “Where are the girls? Tell me, where’s Cassidy?’

“Back…. Field….”

“Alden?”

He pressed his fingers against her neck. “Faint pulse. Lost a lot of blood. Looks like he stabbed her in the abdomen.” He stood. “She said back, field..” He paused. “Wait, Cassidy mentioned a shed in the field.”

The sheriff nodded. “You go. I’ll stay with her until the medics get here. They were close when I called.”

Alden stood on the back veranda, looking over the field. Standing on the railing, he spotted the shed, but he also saw something else, movement in the field. He sent a text to Johnston and ran.

~~~

I ran as fast as I could through the rows of sunflowers. The rough foliage scraped my skin as I pushed it out of my way, but I had to push on. I did not doubt that Darrell would catch me. I needed enough time for Bri to get away.

“You aren’t getting away from me. I can see you.”

Darrell called out, and I knew he was close. I kept running. Then I tripped over a clod of soil and went down hard. Within seconds, he knelt over me.

“Ah.. got ya.”

He stood, grabbed my arms, and pulled me from the ground, but I jerked my right arm away and pulled the knife out. I pivoted on one foot and caught him by surprise, slashing him shallowly across the stomach. It wasn’t enough. He lunged for the knife and pulled it from my hand. His other hand twisted my arm behind me and pinned me to him.

The macabre grin that crossed his face was paralyzing. I was dead, and we both knew it. As he pulled back the knife to plunge it into me, I heard the detective call my name. I screamed out, knowing there wasn’t enough time for him to save me, but he could save Bri.

I took what I thought was my last breath when Darrell’s eyes widened, and he released me and fell sideways, blood pouring from his back. I saw Detective Alden out of the corner of my eye, but my attention was on Bri, who stood in front of me.

She smiled as she showed me the hook knife, dripping with his blood. “I couldn’t let him kill you.”

~~~

The hospital released me after one night, but Bri would remain for another. Our parents arrived, and Detective Alden asked to see us at the hospital. We met in Bri’s room.

“Thank you for seeing me. I want to give you an update. Over the past several months, five women have gone missing. The first was Darrell Madison’s fiancée. We questioned Darrell, but he had a strong alibi for the night she disappeared. As the other women became missing, they were all blonde, blue-eyed, and attractive, and we suspected we had a serial killer.” He looked at me. “Had Cassidy not been with Bri, she might have been off our radar, but fortunately, that didn’t happen. Because she was able to report Bri missing, we were able to piece together who was responsible.

“Ms. Madison survived her wounds and has confirmed that the women all stopped in the shop where Darrell met them. She began to put the pieces together, and when she confronted him after the third killing, he threatened to kill her if she betrayed him.

“He attempted to drive Cassidy’s car into the lake, but it veered into the tree line, and a passing motorist found it by luck. That location, however, led us to send divers to search the lake. We have recovered all victims and their cars.”

Bri sat up. “I stabbed him. Will I be arrested?”

I raised my hand. “I cut him, too.”

Alden smiled. “No, no charges. What you gals did was brave, as each of you tried to save the other. That’s what friends do.”

Two days later, traveling home to Charleston, I thought about that song again. Bri and I survived our walk through fields of gold.

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Resources: “Fields of Gold” Writer/s: Gordon Sumner Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group