Here it is as Promised and a day early to boot.
The Journal of Job Gellervice August 24, 1827.
That interfering, good for nothing, Preacher. How dare he interfere with our business. Centuries of work are wasted now; a fortune destroyed in one fell swoop, thanks to him and that God of his.
We had agreed that there would be an end of it. One last stand to the death. We met the Brettsins at Green oak creek, ready to end the feud once and for all. The whole family was there with loaded rifles, ready to wipe out our hated enemy. Then he showed up.
He came waltzing in among the rifle fire. Our shot missing him by inches. He got up onto a large rock that projected out over the creek looking all high and mighty at us, as if he were safely tucked inside his pulpit
“I told you once to stay out of this Preacher. Now if you don’t get back down that hill and outta my sight, I’m gonna put a musket ball through that righteous head of yours.” I hollered at him.
Preacher looked me in the eye and said, “No you won’t. For the Lord has decreed that this is the day the fighting ends.” And at that instant every single musket stopped. The powder in every last gun had become so wet that water was leaking out of every muzzle.
Preacher continued, “You Job and you Hiram,” Preacher spun around to point at Hiram Brettsin, “You have both carried this on too far. Under your leadership this family feud has become a ritual of debauchery and evil.” Here the Preacher turned his accusing finger back to me, “When the rape of another man’s daughters is your son’s right of passage, and when another man’s life is the price for your daughters hand in marriage,” here the Preacher turned and pointed his self righteous finger back at Hiram. “When you slaughter your own son in cold blood for choosing the way of love, you no longer have a feud you, you don’t even have a war, you are playing God. And that is something that God will not put up with.”
“Yea and what’s he gonna’t do about it.” Hiram yelled from his vantage point across the narrow creek.
“He is removing your temptation. From this moment on neither family shall see, hear, talk to or even smell the other. You and all of your descendants shall be invisible to each other.”
I blinked and watched my family’s faces fall into shock and disbelief. I looked across the creek. Every last Brettsin was gone.
“Where did they all go?” my son Jared asked. “They was there and now they ain’t. Tell ‘im to bring ‘em back Pa.”
“You bring them back right now you. . .”
Preacher whipped around from staring at the empty side of the creek to face me, “. . .you wizard. T’ain’t fair for you to be interfering like this, not any of your business and it ain’t the Lord’s no never mind either.”
Preacher held his hands up and yelled, “Quiet!” and we all felt the need to shut up. “Everything that happens on earth is the Lord’s business and he will interfere or step back as he chooses. You can not and will not interact with the other family until time has ended your foolish feud. Until the day that both families have forgotten that the other one exists neither shall see the other.” Preacher lowered his hands and took a deep breath and walked back down toward town.
If either of them thinks that a little thing like invisibility will stop our glorious quest to annihilate the Brettsins then he has another thing coming. We just need a little help is all.
© This story and subsequent parts are my own original idea and are protected under United States copy right law.
C. O. Bonham 