Dee Boer Us Marshal

By Don Bourassa

Dee Boer US Marshal, tells the story of an abused New Mexico boy that is saved by a compassionate Sheriff and an aging ranch owner. A sweeping story of his growth, his path to education, and his growth into manhood. The reader is swept along on what shapes his life and the decisions he makes to achieve his sometimes lofty goals. The concept of good versus evil is a key part of the story that takes the reader on a thrilling journey across the United States and the people he meets. The death of the woman who saves him, the death of the woman he loves, the reality of the people he hunts, come together to shape Dee Boer, US Marshal.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 31, 2019
• ISBN: 9781728326474

Don Bourassa

Don Bourassa is retired and resides in New Hampshire with his wife of fifty nine years, Gloria. This is Don’s second book.

Book preview

© 2019 Don Bourassa. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-7283-2648-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-2647-4 (e)

Published by AuthorHouse 10/31/2019

12925.png

CONTENTS

Intro.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Dee Boer US Marshal, tells the story of an abused New Mexico boy that is saved by a compassionate Sheriff and an aging ranch owner. A sweeping story of his growth, his path to education, and his growth into manhood. The reader is swept along on what shapes his life and the decisions he makes to achieve his sometimes lofty goals. The concept of good versus evil is a key part of the story that takes the reader on a thrilling journey across the United States and the people he meets. The death of the woman who saves him, the death of the woman he loves, the reality of the people he hunts, come together to shape Dee Boer, US Marshal.

Don Bourassa, is retired and resides in Croydon, New Hampshire.

INTRO.

"Alone in this world I travel from dawn to setting sun. Never knowing where my work will take me, or when my journey’s done. As I walk the path I travel, the dead fall before my feet.

Author unknown.

CHAPTER 1

A pril16, 1952, in Pima New Mexico. An elven year old boy perches atop a mound of rocks some God forsaken rancher had piled up years ago. In front of him is a group of cotton wood trees that line the edge of the now, dry gulch. The dry gulch wall extends to the south west, and marks the south west corner of what’s left of the Cooper ranch.

Ten years ago, ranch hand James Boer had married the ranchers daughter, Mary Cooper. It was a marriage brought about by her pregnancy. A marriage doomed to failure because it was fueled by lust and alcohol. The accidental death of Mary’s parents had left two addicts with land assets to sell off to support their growing addiction. At this point in time, they have sold off the last forty acres and haven’t been sober in months.

The shack they are living in was once a pretty ranch house. Now it is only a sad reminder of what once had been. James was a cruel and spiteful person and had been made worse by his continual drunken state. Mary was an uncaring mother to their son and had turned a deaf ear to the abuse that was being done to him. Although she hadn’t participated in the actual beatings, her passivity made her equally guilty. James and Mary had recently discovered the true love of their lives. Its name was heroin. More, more, more. That had become the passion of their lives.

Mary is laying dead in her bed. A syringe is protruding from of the crook of her left arm. James is laying drunk and addled on the ratty living room couch.

Their son is perched on a pile of rocks, trying to get something to eat. The boy is daydreaming. The ringing in his ears had abated somewhat and he is fairly lucid. Head lowered to his chest, he is imagining that he is a young Clovis boy. He is hiding behind a small clump of brush with his father. They are watching as a herd of giant Bison are slowly feeding their way. They have rubbed the dung of the Bison on their arms and legs, hoping to mask their human scent as the huge shaggy animals feed closer. The Bison are almost close enough for his father to stab, when the boy comes back to the reality of a fly stinging his back. Under his tattered and torn shirt, many cuts and welts have been raised on his back. Some of the cuts are deep and ooze blood. Some of the cuts and scarring extend to his neck. An old scar follows the corner of his eye down to his earlobe. Many of the lashes have cut through his thin shirt, crisscrossing each other. The boy is in almost constant pain and discomfort. To add to his misery, various flies have been attracted to the blood and are frequently stinging him. The feel of the warm sun on his back helps him as well as the cooling winds flowing down from the foothills of the Rockies. The boy is trying to to keep his attention on the tops of the dead trees in front of him that mourning doves have been occasionally landing in during the passing of the day.

The boy lives in the north west portion of New Mexico. It is a transitional area going from desert conditions to rising elevations of forested mountains. Wild game is abundant and although the boy has seen a great deal of edible game, he has shot only doves and rattle snakes to eat. His rifle is a Stevens Buck Horn .22 long rifle single shot bolt action rifle that he has, borrowed, from his father.

Since his parents have sold the last piece of the ranch to Mrs. Rodzinski, they have been continually stoned on booze and drugs. His father had started hitting him with an old steel fishing rod about four months back. Before then, he used only his hands and feet to abuse the boy. As his father beat him, he yells, this will learn you boy.

The sound of two doves fluttering into the top most branches of the dead cotton wood tree gets his attention. The boy raises his rifle, and as the front sight settles on the birds neck just above its breast, a spot of pink appears in the boys eye and the rifle fires, seemingly of its own volition. The bird tumbles down to the ground.

Before moving, the boy carefully scans the rock pile and its base. The rock pile is a magnet for diamond backs and the boy has seen many of them along its base. Grandpas warning comes to his mind. Look before you move in this country. After looking carefully, he makes his way to the ground and retrieves the four mourning doves he’s shot this afternoon. Picking up the birds he walks the quarter mile to his hideout along the dry gulch. Cleaning the birds is easy since their skin is so thin it tears easily under his hands. He only uses the knife to separate the wings from the bodies. He rubs the skins of the birds against the frying pan to add a little fat to stop the meat from burning as it cooks. He adds the little hearts and livers to the pan as well. As he squats over the pan he remembers his first meal at this spot. He hadn’t let the meat cook enough before picking up a piece and stuffing it in his mouth. The taste of the almost raw meat and the blood had caused his stomach to turn and had resulted in him voiding it’s contents on the ground in front of him. He thought about the first rattlesnake he had cooked here and how the cut pieces had reminded him of cut banana pieces. After the birds have cooked, he starts eating and reaches for the jelly jar that has been collecting water from the small seep from the gulches rocky base. Four hours have passed since he placed the jar and it is only a third full.

CHAPTER 2

T he boys name is Dee Boer. Although he is eleven years old, with his withered limbs, gaunt face, along with his short stature makes him appear more like an eight year old. Done eating he goes back under the overhanging rock face where his few pitiful belongings are stashed. They include a knife, tin plate, a piece of canvas, two boxes of kitchen matches, an old blanket, and a half full jar of bacon fat that has gone rancid.

He doesn’t want to spend the night with the diamond backs. He wipes his rifle down with the rancid bacon fat and carefully rolls it up in the piece of canvas to protect it while he’s gone.

Dee slowly travels the mile, or so, back to his house ever watchful of the snakes. When he arrives at the back door of the shack, he sneakily climbs the three broken steps leading to the kitchen. Opening the back door, he pressed inside. Entering the kitchen, he looks into the living room where he sees his father seemingly asleep on the ratty couch. Glancing to his left, he sees his mother lying on her side in her bed. Some sort of rag is tied just above her elbow and something is sticking out from her arm. He slips back into the kitchen where he sees an orange inside a paper bag. He greedily grasps the orange and commences to inhale it.

The first blow from the steel fishing rod does not learn Dee, it cuts through his shirt and cuts a quarter inch into his back. Steal from me, his father screams as he continues to whip the boy causing deep cuts on his back and arms. Dee tries to cover his head with his left hand and is rewarded with a deep gash on his hand. After suffering more than a dozen blows, Dee scrambles to his feet and races out the back door still holding the remains of the orange in his right hand. He doesn’t think about the snakes as he races back to his hideout as fast as he can. At his hideout he wraps his hand in the filthy blanket hoping to stop the bleeding. As he sits there holding his hand against his stomach, he thinks to himself, I’m really hurt this time. I can feel the blood coursing down my back and my hand is cut really bad. I can’t go home anymore. Tears fill his eyes and fall down his face as he struggles to understand why his father is beating him. His father never seemed to like him. Every time he tried to teach Dee something he would get angry and yell, won’t you ever grow up? Won’t you ever learn to do things right?"

Darkness was coming at him. Shadows were getting longer and longer as the gloom of the night started to settle in. Fear started to rise in his breast. Fear born of Clovis man afraid of the darkness of the night. He crawled back into his hideout and tried to cover his back with the filthy blanket. He had seen puma tracks before close to where he hunted the doves. His dad had told him that pumas liked to eat young horses and young boys. Slowly the fear is starting to lessen. Slowly he began the process of accepting what is. Tomorrow I will feel better. Tomorrow I will shoot something big and I will eat and eat. He falls into a fitful sleep. He would sleep a little only to awaken with the fear that the snakes would find him. They would strike and strike again.

A weak sun is cresting the horizon and turning the tree tops golden as Dee awakens with a terribly sore back and hand. He awakens to the sound of mourning doves emitting their soft coos and oohs. Cutting his eyes downwards he looks for snakes that may have nestled against him for warmth during the chill of the night. Seeing no snakes, he stands up and places the blanket around his shoulders to ward off the chill of early morning. Spotting the remains of the orange on the ground he eats it slowly trying to extract all the goodness from it. After eating the orange he drinks the water that has accumulated in the jelly jar overnight. The pain in his stomach is not abated by either the orange or the water.

Dee remembers that the neighboring rancher has stocked hundreds of Chinese ring neck pheasants in alfalfa fields less than a mile away from him. Dee unwraps his rifle causing his hand to start bleeding again, loads a small .22 cartridge into the chamber, closes the bolt, and engages the safety. He begins to walk towards the field where The pheasants should be feeding.

Dee is moving very slowly. He pauses to rest often. He knows the field is just past the tree line. The big fir tree on the end has his grandfathers mark on it. The effort he is expending has caused the wounds on his back to start bleeding again. As he rises to his feet, he tells himself, I’m almost there, almost there. After he reaches the barbed wire fence and crawls under it, the pain in his back has intensified. The loss of blood or the effort he is expending is causing him to be somewhat light headed. He falls to his knees on the edge of the lush green alfalfa field that looks like an ocean as the undulating winds cause wave like actions to the field. Dee raises his head higher and sees no game in view.

CHAPTER 3

D awn finds Pima county Sheriff Lars Swenson in his pickup cruiser bouncing down one of Madam Rodzinskis ranch roads headed towards the rich alfalfa fields that should hold an abundance of pheasants. Lars is trying to train his young bird dog, a year and a half old English pointer, to hunt pheasants. The morning is cool and the little pointer is coursing in front of him with boundless energy. Lars is dressed in his uniform of light brown shirt, brown pants, brown Stetson, and brown cowboy boots. His badge is prominently displayed on his buckskin vest.

Just on the crest of the hill the pointer has frozen into a classic point. The dog is standing on three legs, tail stiffened, and his nose pointing at the bird. Lars waits a minute or two before slowly walking towards his dog. As Lars nears the dog, a cock pheasant explodes into the air with a cackle, and flaps its wings furiously before setting its wings and gliding away from man and dog.

The cackle of the pheasant has alerted Dee. As the bird glides towards him, he raises the rifle and starts to track the bird. As his front sight settles in front of the bird a touch of pink appears in his eye. The rifle fires, and time seems to stop, as the bird hangs in the air before tumbling to the ground.

Lars, startled by the report of the rifle shot, sees the bird tumble to the field and watches as a young boy drops his rifle, struggles to his feet, and runs to the fallen bird where he pounces on it. The bird is vainly trying to flap its wings but the boy pulls the bird to his chest and holds it firmly in his grasp. As Lars approaches the boy he notices the bloody hand, the torn shirt, the blood on the boys back, and the weakened state that the boy is in. It’s obvious to Lars that the boy has been severely abused.

Dee finally sees Lars approaching and simply pulls the bird closer to his chest, unwilling to give the bird up. Dee has never seen a man as big as the Sheriff and his fear of being beaten almost paralyzes him.

Lars asks the boy what his name is but gets no response from the boy who continues to clutch the bird and simply stare at the ground in front of him. Lars knows that he should bring the boy to the county home, but as a father of two sons and a daughter his compassion is overriding his good sense. Lars decides to bring the boy to the ranch owner, Mrs Rodzinski, before taking any other action. Lars has permission from the ranch owner to hunt and train his dog for which he pays an annual fee. The Rodzinski ranch is the biggest

in the county and holds a wealth of game. Lars picks up the boy who says, my rifle. Lars tells the boy that he will take care of it for him.

Holding the boy in one arm and his rifle in the other, he walks to his pickup cruiser and loads up the boy and his dog. The boy softly moans as Lars snaps the seat belt around him. The boy drops his head almost to his knees while clutching the pheasant.

Lars thinks to himself, "Mrs Rodzinski is a no nonsense woman with a sharp tongue and a sharper mind. It’s worth a try. She’s got more money than God. I hope her heart is a big as her ranch. Putting a kid in the county home is a recipe for disaster which he would never admit in public.

After a short dusty ride on the ranch road, Lars arrives at the ranch house where he is greeted by Juan Lopez the ranch manager, who is drinking a cup of coffee and smoking a cigarette. Lars asks Juan if he would get Mrs Rodzinski. Juan nods and goes to the ranch house.

Mrs Rodzinski appears in the doorway and motions to the Sheriff for him to come in. Lars explains the circumstances to her and stresses that the boy has been severely beaten and abused. Mrs Rodzinski listens without comment, turns her back and walks to the window where she focuses on the scene outside. The boy is sitting in the truck leaning forward with the tail feathers of the pheasant sticking out by his stomach.

She thinks, does she want to take on the responsibility of this boy? Does she want to change the order in her life? After a few minutes she tells Lars, have Juan ask Inez to come over and to fetch doc Barnes. Bring the boy into the kitchen, she tells Lars.

While Lars has gone to fetch the boy her mind goes back to her childhood in Russia. As a child born to great wealth she remembers the children of the peasants working in the potato fields as she would ride by in her carriage pulled by four black horses. Her father always told her, pay no attention to the workers in the fields. She remembers the hunger

in their eyes and the dirt on their bodies. As a young woman the children would stare at her as the carriage passed by. Their stares always bothered her, made her feel embarrassed.

This boy in Lars truck could have been one of them. This boy has known only pain and suffering. She thought she would like a boy around the ranch. A boy who could ease the pain of her never having children of her own. She would help this boy. She would help to mould this boy and teach him the proper values he would need. If things didn’t work out, if the boy was damaged beyond her ability to help him, she could always send him back to Lars. Since her husband died she has been alone and she was tired of being alone. Perhaps this boy could help her, make her feel more human.

Lars told her he thought the boys parents lived on that piece of land that she had recently bought. Juan and Inez would help as well. They were good parents to their children. It could work out she decided.

Seated in a kitchen chair, Dee looks up and sees a tall woman all dressed in black from her neck to the tops of her black shoes. You May call me Ma’am, she says. What is your name? Dee lowers his head and doesn’t answer. She puts her hand under Dees chin and raising his head says, if you want my help, tell me your name. I’m Dee Boer. Still holding his chin she asks, who did this to you? Dee casts his eyes down and doesn’t answer. She lifts his chin firmly. Who did this to you? Dee weakly says, my father. Will you give the pheasant to Juan? Juan slowly approaches the boy and softly places his hand on the boys hand. Dee extends the bird to Juan who takes the offered bird and places it on the table. Juan sits next to the boy as Lars and Ma’am go into the parlor. Ma’am tells Lars, I will take the boy in with the understanding that if he is damaged beyond my ability to care for him and to educate him properly that you would be willing to take responsibility for him, She adds,the boy will live with her on the ranch and Lars can visit and take the boy out with him when it suits him. Lars says, I’d like to take him hunting and bring him to my ranch so he can get to know me and my family, Ma’am agrees, but adds, "no one other than you can come to my ranch and no spreading the word to anyone who doesn’t need to know. Lars nods his head in agreement.

Ma’am returns to the kitchen and pours the boy a small glass of milk telling him to drink it slowly. Inez and I will get you something to eat. Inez has already started to cook some oatmeal for the boy and asks, should I make toast as well? Ma’am nods in agreement. Dee is eating when doc Barnes arrives. Ma’am tells the doc, please keep this visit to yourself. Tongues will wag soon enough. Doc says, l’ve talked with Lars and I agree with the need for privacy.

Inez has placed a blanket on the table and Dee is laying face down on it. Using soapy warm water doc and Inez are slowly and carefully peeling and cutting the shirt from the boys back and have exposed the torn flesh and older scarring beneath. The boy has not made a sound while being ministered to, but tears fill his eyes and fall steadily on the blanket. Be brave, Inez tells the boy as she softly strokes his head.

Doc has done all he can for the boy by cleansing the wounds and stitching the worst of the cuts on his back, neck, and hand. Doc finishes up by applying antibiotic cream on his back and giving the boy a tetanus shot.

After doc has left, Ma’am and Inez have moved the boy to a cot set up in the parlor and tell him to lay on his stomach. The house is warm and the cot is soft. The boy falls into a deep sleep.

Ma’am sits down on the big soft sofa and studies the sleeping boy. He has numerous scars on his face and neck. Two of the worst scars are on the left side of his face. One scar runs from the bottom of his ear down to his neck and disappears under the blanket. Another bad scar runs from the bottom of his eye towards his ear .. Hard times, she thinks. The boy has known hard times. His scars show as white lines. They are not new.

She’s been lucky on this ranch. Juan has turned into a first class manager. He handles the hands well and keeps everything humming along. She can’t remember the last time she had to instruct him in any aspect of running the ranch. He and Inez have been a godsend to her since her husband passed away. Juan is a handsome man and keeps himself fit with daily morning exercises. He is light skinned and well-muscled in his upper body if slightly bow legged from riding horses all of his life.

The ranch does very well raising heifers and breaking and selling horses. It’s a shame they have to sell off the steers, but there’s only so much feed to be gotten from the ranch. At sixty years of age she was still in good shape she thought, as she closed her eyes and was wont to nap after lunch. She promptly fell asleep.

Ma’am was awakened by the sound of a tractor driving past the front of the house. Dee was sitting cross legged on the cot looking at her. Do you feel alright? I feel kind of sore and it hurts. Take two of these pills and come sit at the table. Ma’am served the boy a big piece of apple pie and a glass of milk. While the boy ate, she went and got an old clean shirt that was way too big, but would keep him warm. Always say thank you when someone does for you. Dee smiled at her and said, yes Ma’am. Good start she thought, the boy has a nice smile.

CHAPTER 4

A s Lars and deputy Greene approached the ranch house of Dees parents, Lars turned the flashing lights on and pointed his pickup at the front door of the house. Go cover the back of the house, Lars told his deputy. Standing to the side of the front door his pounding elicited no response. Putting his 340 pounds against the door forced it open. Deputy Greene had gained access through the back door and was standing in the kitchen with both hands on his service revolver. They quickly found the boy’s mother dead from an apparent overdose. There is no sign of the boy’s father.

Lars has dispatch notify the coroner, put out a bolo in three states on James Boer, and have the forensics team sent out to the Boer house, which is now a crime scene. Regular damn pig pen, deputy Greene opined. Lars looked around at the discarded whiskey bottles and food wrappers. The clutter was everywhere. Best keep out of the house deputy. I believe we’ll find him. Deputy Greene said, I bet he won’t make it past many bars. James Boer was curled up on an east bound train. They wouldn’t catch him for a while he thought.

CHAPTER 5

A fter a month, Dee is healing as well as can be expected. He is sitting in the kitchen talking to Mrs Rodzinski, who prefers to be called Ma’am. Dee has been told by Doc Barnes that the scaring on his back, neck, and face, is permanent. Dee accepts the news from the Doc without comment. Dees reaction to the news was a simple nod. Dee could not be talked into attending his mother’s funeral and would give no explanation of why.

Lars asked Ma’am, how are things going, and she replied, he’s a quiet boy. He’s respectful and does what’s asked of him. I think that he is bonding with Juan who takes him with him everywhere on the ranch when possible. He loves the animals, especially the horses, is kind to Juan’s children, and doesn’t seem to show any anger. "Does he talk about what happened at his house? He told me about the week before the beating. How he was shooting doves and snakes and eating them. He told me that he can see Juan’s tracks. My tracks, and the tracks of animals. Ma’am added, I don’t know why he would say such a thing, but when Juans children run and hide from Inez, the boy walks right to them every time. Juan says, We should just let him be and not push him about it. I gave the boys rifle to Juan and told him the boy can only use it with his permission. Juan told me, little boy never misses. He shot sixteen doves for supper and never missed a one. Lars told Ma’am, ‘’ the boy is wary of the hand you have working in the barn. When I pressed him about it, he said, the man spies on the girls when their outside playing." Ma’am said, I’ll make sure Juan talks to the man."

Lars asked Ma’am if he could take the boy home for supper with his family? "Anytime, the boy loves being with you and your family.

CHAPTER 6

D riving back to his ranch, Lars thought to himself, the boy is quiet, doesn’t talk about himself, never says I want or give me, answers when talked to, and doesn’t miss a thing.

Lars has expanded the search for Dees father to include six states, but it appears that he has successfully eluded authorities for the time being. Lars brings the truck to a stop as Dee is pointing out a small herd of elk almost running parallel to the truck. As the truck comes to a stop, the herd crosses the ranch road in front of the truck. Lars says, look at the horns on those two bulls. Dee smiles and says, you can’t eat the horns. Lars laughs and rubs the boys head as they continue up the dusty road to Lars ranch.

Lars owns a small ranch comprising a quarter section of land. 160 acres of dry, Dusty, desert like land. There is barely enough forage to feed the three steers that they raise for their own use. They raise their own chickens for meat and eggs and have a few sheep for an occasional meal of mutton. One horse that the family shares is grazing in the front yard as Lars pulls up to the side door of the rambling ranch house. Although the house is 150 years old, Lars has kept it in good shape. Entering the modern kitchen Lars kisses his wife Hilda .

All the Swenson’s are large and imposing people. Hilda approaches Dee with a warm smile and gives Dee a hug as she exclaims, you need to eat more to get big and strong. Dee grins and says, I’ll try to eat as much as the Sheriff. Hilda laughs as she starts putting the food on the table. Hilda tells Lars, their sons, lsak and Axel, are in town with their friends. Lars grumbles, but quickly smiles as their daughter Thea enters the room with her boyfriend Liam Olsen. Liam picks up Dee and holds him at arms length telling him, you need to eat more. Liam’s smiling face doesn’t bother Dee who replies, I’ll try.

Dee has a warm feeling as he stuffs himself with a wholesome meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, fresh green peas, all covered with a rich brown gravy.

Lars is quiet as he drives Dee back home. He’s worried about his twin boys. They don’t care for ranch life. They prefer city life to living on a ranch. The twins have a reputation as being bullies. Lars has tried to talk with them, but they seem distant from him and he has trouble understanding the why of it. Hilda says, they’ll grow out of it. Lars is not so sure they will. The boys are graduating high school this year and they both intend to move to the big city to find work.

Dee pipes up thanking Lars again for the fine meal. Lars pats his shoulder and tells Dee, my family is always happy to see you. Dees stomach is full and he’s getting sleepy as Lars drops him off and says goodbye. Ma’am greets him as he enters the house and insists that he have a piece of apple pie and a glass of milk before going to bed. Dee sighs happily as he takes his seat at the kitchen table.

Ma’am doesn’t need to tell Dee that he’s lucky to have friends like the Swensens, the smile on his face says everything.

CHAPTER 7

W hile eating breakfast the next morning, Ma’am tells Dee that he needs to start a training program to build up his body and to help him put discipline in his life. We all need discipline in our lives Ma’am explains. Without it we have no purpose in life that can be fulfilled. Without it we just wander through life with no goal. I want your life to have purpose. I want you to grow into a fine young man. If you become strong of mind and body, you will achieve the goals you set for yourself. This is not to say that you cannot dream. Dreams push us forward. Do not dream about the bad things in life and do not put yourself in a position to hurt yourself. You will learn more about these things as you grow older. I expect you to work hard to become a good man. I will always help you and answer any questions that you have. Talk to me always. This is what I ask of you.

Dee knows that some of the people in town call Ma’am a greedy bitch, a witch, someone only worthy of scorn and hate. People in town, people like his mom and dad, they’re the ones to beware of. They are the ones not to trust, not to listen to. Dee knows this. People like Ma’am, people like Lars and his family, people like Juan and Inez, he already loves them. When they correct him, he listens, he learns. He will harden his heart to other people. He doesn’t need bad people in his life. Some people in town and at school, they taunt him about his scars. Ma’am says, "Although the scars on the outside of your body will never go away, you must heal the scars in your mind. We have no control over who we were born to. I was born to very rich parents in a very harsh land. As a young girl I saw children who had been beaten just like you. Every day as I rode by in my carriage pulled by four beautiful black horses. I could not help those children. My father forbid any of my family from helping them. My sister and I were of two different minds. She thought that the people who worked the potato-fields for us were as animals. They were not something to think about. Parties and handsome beaus were on her mind. Gold and silver and the jingle of coins were all that mattered to her. I cared. I cared, but to my shame I did nothing.

When I was a little girl, the Cossacks rode through the village and killed many of the people. When we rode through the village,