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The Dark History of Brenner Farm – A Macabre Tale · History Dark

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The first scream that night didn't sound human at all.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: It was October 1870, and Thomas Callaghan had been riding
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: for three days straight across the Kansas plains, his horse
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: half dead from exhaustion and his own bones rattling like
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: dice in a cup. The sun had disappeared behind clouds
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the color of old bruises, and when he spotted the
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: small farmhouse sitting alone in the vast emptiness, surrounded by
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: scraggly apple trees and a barn that leaned like a
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: drunk against the wind, he felt something cold settle in
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: his gut. Not relief, not exactly fear either, something older
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: than both. But his horse needed water, and he needed food,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: and the alternative was another night sleeping on hard ground
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: with nothing but stars and coyotes for company. So he knocked.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: The woman who answered the door was younger than he expected,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: maybe thirty, with wheat-coloured hair pulled back so tight it
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: made her eyes seem wider than they should be. She
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: wore a plain grey dress that had been mended so
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: many times the original fabric was hard to distinguish from
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: the patches. Her smile didn't reach those wide eyes.' Good evening, stranger,'
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: she said, her voice soft as moth wings.' You look
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: like you've been riding through hell itself.' Close enough, ma'am,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Thomas replied, removing his hat. Dust fell from it like
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: fine snow. Name's Thomas Callaghan. I'm heading west to my
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: brother's claim in Colorado. I don't mean to impose, but
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: my horse is about done in, and I could use
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: a meal and maybe a place to sleep tonight. I
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: can pay. The woman glanced over her shoulder into the
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: dim interior of the house, then back at him. We
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: don't get many travellers any more, she said.' Not since
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: the railroad changed routes. But we've got room. I'm Eleanor Brenner.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: My husband Johan and our children will be glad for
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: the company.' She stepped aside, and Thomas entered the Brenner
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: home for the first time. The interior was cleaner than
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: he expected, but oddly spare. A long wooden table dominated
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: the main room, set for dinner with mismatched plates and cups.'
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: A fire burned in the stone fireplace, throwing dancing shadows
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: against walls that were bare, except for a single cross
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: made of twisted wire. The air smelled of boiled potatoes
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: and something else, something metallic and faint that Thomas couldn't
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: quite place. A man emerged from the back room, tall
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: and gaunt with a beard that hung down to his chest.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: His eyes were the palest blue Thomas had ever seen,
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: almost colourless in the firelight. A guest! the man said.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: It wasn't a question. I am Johann Brenner. You are
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: welcome to our table. His accent was thick, German maybe,
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: or somewhere farther east. He extended a hand, and when
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Thomas shook it, the skin felt like old leather that
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: had been left out in too many storms. Much obliged,
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Thomas said. Two children appeared then, a boy of about
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: twelve and a girl perhaps sixteen, both with their mother's
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: light hair and their father's unsettling pale eyes. They moved
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: silently to the table and sat without speaking, their gazes
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: fixed on Thomas with an intensity that made his skin prickle.'
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: This is our son, Wilhelm,' Eleanor said, gesturing to the boy,'
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: and our daughter, Kate.' The girl smiled at him, and
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Thomas noticed her teeth were very white, very straight. Perfect, really.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Too perfect for someone living this far from civilization. Dinner
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: was potatoes and salt pork, hard bread and weak coffee.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: The Brenners ate in near silence, the only sounds the
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: scraping of forks on plates and the wind howling outside
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: like something trying to get in. Thomas tried to make conversation,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: asking about their farm, their crops, how long they'd lived here.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: Long enough, Johan said. Since before the war, Eleanor added,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: her eyes on her plate. Must get lonely, Thomas ventured.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: We have each other, Johan replied, and God provides. The
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: boy Wilhelm spoke for the first time, his voice higher
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: than Thomas expected. Do you have family waiting for you, mister?
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: A brother, Thomas said. In Colorado. He's got a silver claim.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: Says there's enough for both of us to make our fortune. Fortune.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Kate repeated, and something in the way she said it
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: made Thomas's hand drift unconsciously toward the gun at his hip.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: After dinner, Eleanor showed him to a small room off
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: the main house, barely larger than a closet. There was
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: a narrow bed with a straw mattress and a single blanket,
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: a washbasin, and nothing else. The walls were unpainted wood,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: and in the firelight Thomas could see dark stains near
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: the floor that might have been water damage, or might not.'
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Breakfast at dawn,' Eleanor said.' Sleep well, Mr. Callaghan.' But
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Thomas didn't sleep well. He lay on the thin mattress,
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: fully clothed with his boots still on, and his gun
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: under his pillow, listening to the sounds of the house settling.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: Footsteps creaked above him. Voices murmured too low to make
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: out words. And once, just before he finally drifted off
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: near midnight, he heard what sounded like a wagon moving outside.'
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: wheels creaking across hard ground, though he'd seen no other
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: wagon when he arrived. He dreamed of apple trees with
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: roots that grew up instead of down, reaching for the
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: sky like desperate fingers. Take a moment right now and
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: tell us in the comments where you're listening to this story.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Are you alone in your room, driving down an empty highway,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: lying in bed with the lights off? We want to
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: know who's brave enough to hear what comes next. When
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: Thomas woke, Pale light was filtering through the single small window.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: His mouth tasted like copper, and his head ached in
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: the way it sometimes did when a storm was coming.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: He sat up, checked his gun, and made his way
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: to the main room. The Brenner family was already at
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: the table, and breakfast was laid out. More potatoes, some
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: eggs that looked like they'd come from chickens that weren't
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: being fed properly, and bitter coffee.' Sleep well?' Johan asked.'
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: Well enough,' Thomas lied. As they ate, he studied the
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: family more carefully in the daylight. Eleanor's hands, he noticed,
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: were rough and calloused, but her fingernails were clean. Too clean.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: The kind of clean that suggested someone who washed their
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: hands frequently and thoroughly. Wilhelm kept glancing toward the window,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: as if watching for something. And Kate barely ate, just
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: moved food around her plate, while humming a tune so
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: quietly Thomas could barely hear it. I'll be heading out
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: after breakfast, Thomas said, but I want to thank you
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: folks for the hospitality. Let me pay you for the
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: meal and the bed. No need, Johan said quickly. We
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: don't take money from guests. I insist. We don't take money,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: Johan repeated, and his pale eyes fixed on Thomas with
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: an intensity that made the words die in his throat.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: Thomas stood. Well, then, I'll just collect my horse and
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: be on my way. Stay another day, Eleanor said suddenly.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: Her voice had an edge of desperation. The weather's turning.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: You can see the clouds gathering. You don't want to
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: be caught in a Kansas storm out on the open prairie.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: Thomas looked out the window. She was right. The sky
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: had turned the colour of old iron, and the wind
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: had picked up, making the apple trees bend and sway.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: I've ridden through worse, he said. Stay, Kate said, and
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: when Thomas looked at her, She was smiling that perfect
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: smile again. Please, we so rarely have company. Just one
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: more night. By morning the storm will have passed. Every
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: instinct Thomas had was screaming at him to get on
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: his horse and ride, storm or no storm. But something
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: in the girl's eyes held him, and before he quite
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: knew what he was doing, he heard himself say, One
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: more night, but I leave at first light. Weather be damned.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Johan nodded slowly. Of course. First light. The storm that
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: rolled in that afternoon was biblical. Rain fell in sheets
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: so thick Thomas couldn't see the barn from the house.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: Thunder cracked like artillery fire, and lightning turned the world
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: white and purple by turns. The Brenners moved about their
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: routines as if nothing unusual was happening, but Thomas noticed
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: they'd locked all the doors and shuttered all the windows.'
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: Gets bad out here sometimes,' Eleanor explained. The wind can
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: tear off a roof if you're not careful. As darkness
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: fell and the storm raged on, the family gathered around
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: the fireplace. Johan pulled out a Bible so worn the
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: leather cover was falling apart and began to read in German.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: Thomas didn't understand the words, but there was something hypnotic
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: about the rhythm, the rise and fall of the man's
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: voice mixing with the thunder outside. Wilhelm fell asleep in
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: his chair, but Kate stayed awake. her eyes reflecting the
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: firelight in a way that made them seem to glow.' Mr. Callaghan,'
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: she said during a pause in her father's reading.' Have
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: you ever done something you can't take back, something that
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: changed you forever?' Thomas thought about the war, about things
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: he'd seen and done that still visited him in dreams.'
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: We' ve all got regrets, miss.'' Not regrets,' she said.' I
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: mean something bigger, something that makes you wonder if you're
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: even the same person any more.'' Kate,' Eleanor said. sharply.'
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: That' s enough.' But the girl kept her eyes on Thomas.'
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: Because once you cross certain lines, there's no going back.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: You can't unknow things. You can't undo things. You just
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: have to keep going forward into the dark.'' I said enough,'
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: Eleanor repeated. And this time Kate fell silent. but she
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: kept smiling that perfect smile. The storm lasted all night.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Thomas lay in his small room, listening to the rain
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: hammer the roof and the wind try to tear the
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: house apart. He thought about leaving anyway, storm or no storm,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: just saddling his horse and riding blind into the darkness.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: But that was how men died out here, lost in
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: the emptiness with nothing but their bones to mark where
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: they'd fallen. So he waited for morning. But morning, when
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: it finally came, brought something worse than the storm. Thomas
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: woke to silence. The storm had passed, leaving behind that
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: peculiar stillness that settles over the prairie after violence. No
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: birds sang. The wind had died completely. Even the house
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: itself seemed to be holding its breath. He rose, strapped
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: on his gun belt, and opened the door to his room.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: The main room was empty. The fire had burned down
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: to embers. and the breakfast table was bare. No sign
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: of the Brenner family. Thomas checked the other rooms, finding
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: them similarly abandoned. Beds made with military precision, not a
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: personal item in sight. It was as if the family
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: had simply evaporated with the storm. Then he heard it.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: A voice, faint and far away, coming from outside. Thomas
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: stepped out onto the porch. The morning sun was already
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: burning off the last of the clouds, and steam rose
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: from the muddy ground in ghostly wisps. He could see
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: the barn now, its door hanging open and swaying slightly
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: in the breeze that was just beginning to pick up.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: The voice came again, clearer this time, singing, a woman's voice,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: high and sweet, singing something in German. He followed the
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: sound around the side of the house, past the well
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: with its weathered wooden cover,' toward the orchard of scraggly
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: apple-trees' that grew on a slight rise behind the property.'
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: The ground was soft from the rain,' and his boots
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: sank into mud with each step.' That' s when he saw her,
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: Kate Brenner, 'standing among the apple-trees with a shovel in
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: her hands,' her dress muddy up to the knees.' She
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: was digging, tossing soil aside in rhythmic movements,' and singing
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: all the while.' Miss Brenner,' Thomas called out.' She stopped
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: digging and turned to look at him.' Her face was
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: streaked with dirt, and her perfect smile was gone, replaced
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: by something harder, older. Mr. Callaghan, she said. You're still here.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: I was looking for your family. They're around. She went
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: back to digging. They're always around. Thomas walked closer, and
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: that's when he noticed the other holes. All throughout the orchard,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: the ground was pockmarked with them. Some were old, filled
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: in and overgrown with weeds. Others were newer, the dirt
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: still loose and dark. And some were fresh, possibly even
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: from this morning. What are you digging for? he asked,
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: though he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: Kate stopped and leaned on her shovel. You know what
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: they say about apple trees, Mr. Callaghan. They grow best
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: when you feed the roots. My father taught me that.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: He learned it from his father back in the old country. No?
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: Feed them with what? She smiled then. But it wasn't
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: her perfect smile. This one showed too many teeth. With
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: whatever you can spare. Thomas's hand drifted to his gun.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: Where's your family, Kate? I told you, they're around. She
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: gestured vaguely toward the house. Probably in the cellar. Father
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: likes to check on the preserves after a storm. Make
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: sure nothing's spoiled. There's a cellar? Under the kitchen, trapdoor
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: beneath the rug. She tilted her head, studying him. You're
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: afraid of us. Should I be? Probably, she shrugged. But
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: then again you're still here. If you were smart, you'd
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: have left last night, storm or no storm. So maybe
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: the question isn't whether you should be afraid. Maybe the
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: question is why you stayed. Before Thomas could respond, Wilhelm
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: emerged from the barn, dragging something heavy wrapped in canvas.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: The boy was stronger than he looked, but he was
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: struggling with the weight. When he saw Thomas, he froze.' Kate,'
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: he said, his voice tight,' we' ve got a problem.' Kate
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: sighed and tossed her shovel aside.' Go help him, Mr. Callaghan.
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: A strong man like you shouldn't make a boy do
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: heavy work alone.' Every instinct Thomas had was screaming at
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: him to run, to get on his horse and ride,
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: until Kansas was nothing but a bad memory. But something darker,
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: something curious and terrible, made him walk toward Wilhelm instead.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: As he got closer, he could see that the canvas
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: was old and stained. It was tied with rope at
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: one end, and something was leaking from it, leaving a
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: dark trail in the mud. What is that? Thomas asked.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: Wilhelm's pale eyes were wide with something that might have
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: been fear, or might have been excitement. Father said to
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: take it to the orchard, but it's too heavy. I
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: can't manage alone. What is it? Thomas repeated. Don't ask
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: questions you don't want answered. Kate called from behind him.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: Thomas reached for the canvas, meaning to unwrap it, but
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: Wilhelm grabbed his wrist with surprising strength. Don't, the boy said. Please,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: just help me carry it. That's all. Just help me
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: carry it to the trees. Before we continue, understand this.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: What comes next is something that was deliberately buried, something
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: that people tried to erase from history. If you want
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: to know the truth, the whole truth, make sure you're
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: subscribed and notifications are on. Because stories like this don't
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: stay told for long. They get covered up, forgotten, lost,
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: but not here. Not if you're listening. Thomas knew he
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: should run. Every rational part of his mind was shouting
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: at him to leave this cursed farm and never look back.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: but he'd spent four years in the war seeing things
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: that broke men's minds, and he'd learned that sometimes the
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: only way through horror was straight ahead. So he grabbed
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: one end of the canvas bundle, and together with Wilhelm,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: he began dragging it toward the orchard. It was heavy.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: Not just heavy. Wrong. The weight shifted and settled in
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: ways that made Thomas's stomach turn. By the time they
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: reached the apple trees where Kate was still standing, both
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: of them were breathing hard. Good! Kate said.' Put it there,
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: in the fresh hole.' They lowered the bundle into the
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: grave Kate had been digging. It was deep, maybe six feet,
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: and when the canvas hit the bottom, it made a
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: wet sound that echoed up from the earth.' What the
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: hell is in there?' Thomas demanded.' Old things,' Kate said.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: She picked up her shovel and began filling in the hole.'
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: Things that don't matter any more, things that should have
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: been buried a long time ago.' Wilhelm had gone pale,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: his hands shaking. I'm going back to the house, he said,
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: and before anyone could respond, he was running, his footsteps
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: squelching through the mud. Thomas watched Kate work, shoveling dirt
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: onto the canvas with mechanical efficiency. How many? he asked quietly.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: She didn't stop digging. How many what? Holes. Bodies. However
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: you want to count it. Kate paused, wiping sweat from
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: her forehead and leaving a streak of dirt. You really
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: want to know? I think I need to.' She looked
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: at him then, really looked at him, and for the
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: first time he saw something human in her eyes, something
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: tired and sad and very, very old.' Eleven,' she said.'
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: That we're sure of. Maybe more. Father kept records for
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: a while, but he stopped after the first year. Said
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: God would keep the count, and that was enough.' Thomas
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: felt his hand tighten on his gun.' You're telling me
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: there are eleven dead men buried in this orchard? Not
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: all men, Kate said. A few women. Travellers, mostly. People
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: heading west who stopped here for a meal and a
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: place to sleep. People nobody would miss or come looking for.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: She went back to shoveling. That's the thing about the prairie, Mr. Callaghan.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: It's so big and people are so small. Someone can
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: just vanish out here and it's like they never existed
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: at all. Why? Thomas's voice was barely a whisper.' Why
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: are you telling me this?'' Because you asked,' she paused.'
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: And because you seem like the kind of man who
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: can handle the truth. You've seen death before, I can tell.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: You got that look, that weight in your eyes. The
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: war was different. That was soldiers killing soldiers. This is—'' Murder?'
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: Kate finished for him.' Yes.' That's exactly what it is.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Cold-blooded murder for profit. We rob them, kill them, and
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: bury them in the orchard. The Brenner family business. Started
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: by my grandfather in Prussia. Perfected by my father in Kansas.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Thomas drew his gun. I'm leaving. Right now. And when
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: I reach the next town, I'm bringing back the law.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: Kate didn't even flinch. No, you're not. The hell I'm not. Mr. Callaghan,
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: look around you. Really look. Where are we? The nearest
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: town is Independence, thirty miles south. The next settlement is Parsons,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: forty miles east. You're exhausted, your horse is half dead,
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: and you don't even know which direction you came from
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: any more. The storm turned you around. By the time
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: you reach anywhere with law, it'll be days. And by then,
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: we'll be gone. Just like we were gone when the
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: last group of men came looking for missing travellers two
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: years ago. Then I'll kill you right here, Thomas said,
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: cocking the hammer on his revolver. You could try. Kate
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: said calmly.' But you'd have to kill all of us. Mother, father, Wilhelm,
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: and me. Could you do that? Could you shoot a
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: woman and a child in cold blood? Because that's what
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: it would take. And even if you could, even if
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: you managed it, how would you prove what we've done?
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: You'd be the stranger standing over four bodies with a
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: story about buried travellers and apple-tree fertiliser. They'd hang you
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: before sunset.' Thomas's hand was shaking. The gun felt heavy
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: as lead.' So what? You're just going to kill me too?
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Add me to your count?' Kate laughed, but there was
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: no humour in it.' Oh, Mr. Callaghan, you still don't understand.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: We're not going to kill you. We never planned to.''
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: You want to know why? Because you're different. Different how?'
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: She finished filling the hole and patted the dirt down
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: with the flat of her shovel.' Because you saw the signs.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: The stains on the walls.' The way we watch you.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: The holes in the orchard. And you stayed anyway. Most men,
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: they get a feeling about this place, and they leave
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: in the night, storm or no storm. But not you.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: You stayed. Which means either you're incredibly stupid, or you're
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: like us. I'm nothing like you. Aren't you? Kate stepped closer.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: You've killed men. I can see it in the way
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: you carry yourself. The war, probably. Maybe other times, too.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: You know what it's like to take a life, to
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: watch the light go out of someone's eyes, to feel
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: that weight on your soul. That was war, that was different,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: was it? She was close enough now that he could
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: see the flecks of gold in her pale blue eyes.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: Or is that just what you tell yourself so you
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: can sleep at night? Thomas wanted to argue, to protest,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: to prove her wrong, but the words wouldn't come. because
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: somewhere deep down, in a place he didn't like to look,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: he knew she had a point. So what happens now?
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: he asked. Kate smiled, and this time it was sad.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Now you make a choice, Mr. Callaghan. You can leave.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: We won't stop you. Take your horse and ride out
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: of here, and we'll never see each other again. Forget
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: the Brenner farm. Forget what you saw. Forget those eleven
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: bodies feeding the apple trees. Go to Colorado. Make your fortune.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Live your life, or— or you can come inside. Have breakfast
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: with us. Listen to what my father has to say.
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: Because he saw something in you too, Mr. Callaghan. The
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: same thing I see, a man at a crossroads, a
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: man who could go either way. You're insane, Thomas said,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: but his gun was lowering. All of you. This whole
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: family is insane. Maybe, Kate agreed, but we survive. And
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: out here, survival is all that matters. She walked past him,
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: heading back toward the house, and after a long moment
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: Thomas followed. He told himself he was just gathering his things,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: that he'd leave immediately, that he'd ride to the nearest
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: town and bring back the law no matter how long
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: it took, but he knew he was lying. The cellar
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: beneath the Brenner farmhouse smelled of damp earth, preserves, and
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: something else, something that reminded Thomas of the field hospitals
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: during the war. The smell of old blood. and older sins.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: Johann Brenner stood beside a row of shelves lined with
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: jars of preserved vegetables, cured meats hanging from hooks, and
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: a collection of items that made Thomas's blood run cold.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: Pocket watches, wedding rings, a child's doll, a leather-bound Bible
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: with someone else's name inscribed inside. Trophies, all of them.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: Spoils from the dead. You are troubled, Mr. Callaghan. Johan said,
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: his pale eyes reflecting the lamplight.' I can see it
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: in your face. The war between your conscience and your
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: practical mind.'' Your murderers,' Thomas said flatly.' There' s no war
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: about that.'' We are survivors,' Johan corrected.' There is a difference.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: Perhaps a small one, but a difference nonetheless.' Eleanor descended
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: the stairs, carrying a basket of dirty linens. She paused
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: when she saw Thomas. then continued to a corner where
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: an old wash-tub sat.' He knows,' she said.' Not a question.''
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: Kate told him,' Johan confirmed.' Of course she did.' Eleanor
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: began sorting the linens with practiced efficiency.' She always does.'
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: She can't help herself.' Wants to see if they'll understand.''
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: Understand what?' Thomas demanded.' That you're killers.' That you rob
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: and murder travellers.'' That we do what's necessary to survive
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: in a place that wants us dead,' Johan said. His
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: voice was calm, almost gentle.' You think we chose this life, Mr. Callaghan?'
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: You think we wanted to become what we are?' Everyone
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: has a choice.' Do they?' Johan moved to a wooden
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: chest and opened it.' Inside were bundles of money, more
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: than Thomas had seen in his entire life.' Bills and
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: coins from dozens of sources.' We came to America with nothing,
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: less than nothing. We came with debts. My father owed
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: money to men who would have killed him and everyone
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: he loved if he couldn't pay. So he learned a trade,
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: a terrible trade, yes, but one that kept us alive.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: Your father taught you to murder? My father taught me
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: to survive. The murder is simply a consequence. Johan closed
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: the chest. In the old country, travelers would disappear all
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: the time. Bandits, wild animals, bad weather, the prairie is
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: unforgiving everywhere, not just in Kansas. My father found that
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: if you offered hospitality, people would trust you, and trust
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: is the easiest thing in the world to kill. Thomas
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: felt sick. And you just carried on the family business,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: brought it to America? What choice did we have? Eleanor
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: spoke up, her hands still working the dirty linens. We
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: arrived in New York with nothing. My husband couldn't find work.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: His English was poor. He had no skills beyond farming.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: We had two young children to feed. We tried to
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: be honest, Mr. Callaghan, we truly did, but honest people
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: starve in this country, just like everywhere else. So you
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: bought this land, Thomas said slowly, working it out. Isolated,
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: right on a major route west, and you waited for travellers.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: We offered hospitality, Johan said.' Rest for the weary, food
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: for the hungry. And when they slept, when their guard
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: was down, we took what we needed to survive. You
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: murdered them. We removed obstacles to our survival,' Johan corrected.' Again,
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: the difference may seem small to you, but it is
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: everything to us.' Wilhelm appeared at the top of the
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: cellar stairs.' Father, there's riders coming. Three of them, maybe four.''
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: Coming from the east—' Johan's expression didn't change, but Thomas
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: saw his hand tighten on the lamp.' How far?'' Mile out,
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: maybe less. Get your sister. Both of you know what
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: to do.' Wilhelm vanished, and Johan turned to Thomas.' This
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: is the moment, Mr. Callaghan. The point where you must
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: choose who you are. Those riders coming— they' re probably looking for someone.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: A friend who passed through here and never arrived at
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: his destination—' A husband who said he'd be home by Christmas.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: They'll have questions. They'll search the property. And you'll kill
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: them too, Thomas said. If necessary, yes. Four more graves
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: in the orchard. Four more sets of belongings in our cellar.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: Four more obstacles removed. Johan set the lamp down and
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: pulled a revolver from his belt. A nice piece, well maintained,
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: probably taken from someone else's corpse. Or you can help
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: us send them away. You're a stranger here yourself. Tell
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: them you've been here three days, seen nothing unusual. They're
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: simple farming family. They'll believe you. A man like you,
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: a veteran, carries authority. They'll trust you. And if I don't,
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: if I tell them the truth, then we all die,
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: Eleanor said simply. She'd stopped washing and was watching Thomas
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: with those two wide eyes. Them, us, you. Because we
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: won't go quietly, Mr. Callaghan. We'll fight. and in the confusion,
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: in all that violence, the truth will be lost. It'll
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: just look like a robbery gone wrong, a tragedy on
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: the Kansas prairie. Happens all the time. Thomas heard the
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: sound of horses now getting closer. His mind raced. He
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: could run, try to reach the riders, warn them, but
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: Johan was between him and the stairs, gun in hand.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: Eleanor probably had a weapon, too, and Kate and Wilhelm
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: would be positioned outside, ready for trouble. Why me? Thomas asked.
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: Why bring me into this? Why not just kill me
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: in my sleep like all the others? Johan smiled, and
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: for the first time it looked genuine. Because Kate was right.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: You are different. You're practical. You've been in the darkness, Mr. Callaghan.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: You've done things in war that you can't take back.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: You understand that survival sometimes requires terrible choice That was different,
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: was it?' Johan echoed his daughter's words.' The man you
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: bayoneted in that trench at Shiloh, the one who screamed
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: for his mother while he died, did it matter to
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: him that you were following orders, that you were fighting
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: for a cause?' Or did he just feel the steel
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: entering his body and know that his life was ending
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: at your hands? Thomas felt something break inside him. How
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: do you know about Shiloh? You talk in your sleep, Mr. Callaghan,
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: last night during the storm, crying out about the mud
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: and the blood and the boy with his guts hanging out,
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: begging you to shoot him, to end it. Johan's voice
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: was soft. We all carry our dead. The only difference
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: is we've made peace with ours. The sound of hoofbeats
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: was loud now. The riders were almost at the house.' Choose,'
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: Johan said.' Choose now. Help us send them away, or
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: watch everyone die, including yourself.' And Daci Thomas stood frozen
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: in the cellar, the smell of old blood thick in
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: his nostrils, the weight of his past pressing down on
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: him like a physical thing. He thought about the boy
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: at Shiloh, the one he'd mercy-killed when the doctors said
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: there was no hope. He thought about the Confederate prisoner
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: who'd tried to escape, and how Thomas had shot him
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: in the back without hesitation. He thought about all the
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: choices he'd made in the name of survival, in the
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: name of duty, in the name of causes he barely understood.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: And he thought about how easy it had been, how,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: after the first few times, he'd stopped feeling sick.' Stopped
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: feeling much of anything at all.' What do I have
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: to do?' he heard himself say.' Johann smiled.' Just tell
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: the truth, Mr Callaghan.' Tell them you're a traveller, that
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: you stopped here for rest,' that the Brenner family has
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: been nothing but kind to you.' Can you do that?''
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: Thomas climbed the stairs, his legs feeling like they belonged
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: to someone else.' As he emerged into the main room,
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: Kate handed him a cup of coffee.' Drink this.' she said.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: You look nervous. Travellers aren't nervous around their hosts. He
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: took the cup. His hands weren't shaking any more. That
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: was the worst part, how steady they were. Through the window,
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: Thomas could see three riders approaching. They looked tired, dusty, determined.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: One of them had a badge pinned to his vest.
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: The law, just as Kate had predicted. Johan positioned himself
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: by the door, Eleanor at his side. Wilhelm and Kate
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: took up spots by the windows, casual-looking but ready, a
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: family preparing to greet guests, a family that had done
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: this before. The knock came. Johan opened the door with
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: a smile.' Good afternoon, gentlemen. Can I help you?' The
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: man with the badge— a marshal, Thomas could see now— removed his hat.'
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: Name' s Marshal Frank Dowd. We're looking for a man named
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: Robert Morrison. He was heading west about three weeks ago.'
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: said he'd stop in Parsons to send a telegram to
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: his wife. Never arrived. We've been tracking his route, and
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: it looks like he might have passed through this area.'
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: I' m afraid we haven't seen anyone by that name,' Johan said.'
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: But then we don't always get names. Sometimes travellers stop
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: for water for a meal, then continue on their way.
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: Mind if we look around?'' Not at all. Though I
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: should warn you, we're simple farmers. There's not much to see.'
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: The Marshal and his two companions dismounted. Thomas made himself
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: step forward, casual, friendly.' Afternoon, Marshal,' he said. Thomas Callaghan,
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: out of Missouri, heading to Colorado.' Mr. Callaghan,' the Marshal said,
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: studying him.' How long you been here?'' Three days. Storm
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: caught me two nights ago, been waiting it out. The
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: Brenners have been kind enough to put me up.' Seen
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: anyone else come through? Man in his forties, dark beard.'
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: riding a grey horse with a white star on its forehead.
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: Thomas sipped his coffee and thought about the canvas bundle
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: he'd helped drag to the orchard, about the way it
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: had felt, heavy and wrong, about how easy it would
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: be to just say yes, to tell the truth, to
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: let the law do its work, about how he'd be
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: dead before he finished the sentence.' No, sir,' he said,'
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: just the family and me.' What you're about to hear
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: next changed everything. If you're still listening, if you've made
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: it this far, share this story with someone you trust,
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: someone brave enough to hear it. Because the truth that's
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: about to be revealed, it's the kind of truth that
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: doesn't stay buried, and you need to decide if you're
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: strong enough to carry it. The Marshal and his men
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: searched the property for an hour. They looked in the barn,
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: in the house, even walked through the orchard. Thomas watched
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: them pass within feet of the fresh grave, where he'd
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: helped bury the canvas bundle, and he said nothing. When
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: they finally left, satisfied that the Brenners were exactly what
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: they appeared to be— simple, God-fearing farmers— Johan closed the door and
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: turned to Thomas.' You did well,' he said. Thomas set
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: down his coffee-cup. His hand was steady— too steady.' What was
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: in the canvas?'' The thing in the orchard.'' Robert Morrison.'
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: Kate said. She was sitting by the window, watching the
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: Marshal and his men ride away. Forty-three years old. Married.
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: Three children. He had a silver pocket watch with his
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: wife's picture inside. It's in the cellar now, with the others.
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: You killed him three weeks ago. Father did, Wilhelm said.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: He sounded proud. Quick and clean, while he slept. Didn't suffer.
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: And you've been keeping the body all this time? We
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: can't bury right away. Eleanor explained.' The ground needs to
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: settle first. And we prefer to wait until after storms.
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: The rain helps hide any signs of digging. It's a science, really.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: An art.' Thomas felt like he was watching the scene
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: from outside his own body.' I just helped you get
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: away with murder.'' Yes,' Johan said simply.' You did. And
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: now you're one of us. Not by blood, but by choice.
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: By action. You can't go back now, Mr. Callaghan.' You
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: stood in front of a marshal and lied to protect us.
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: That makes you complicit. That makes you family. I'm not—
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: Thomas started, but the words died. Because it was true.
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: The moment he'd opened his mouth and told the marshal
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: he'd seen nothing, he'd crossed a line. Maybe the same
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: line he'd crossed at Shiloh, or at any of a
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: dozen other battlefields. But this time, there was no uniform
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: to hide behind. No flag to justify it. Just survival.
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: pure and simple.' What happens now?' he asked quietly. Johan
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: poured himself a glass of whiskey from a bottle that
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: probably belonged to someone else.' Now you have a choice.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: Leave if you want. Ride to Colorado. Find your brother.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: Make your fortune. We won't stop you. You've earned your
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: freedom by helping us today. Or— or you stay. Help us
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: with the farm. Learn the trade properly.' We could use
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: another strong back, someone with experience, someone who knows how
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: to kill without hesitation. Johan offered the glass to Thomas.
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: The life is dangerous, yes, but it's profitable, and you'd
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: be part of something, not alone anymore. Thomas took the glass.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: The whiskey was good, smooth, expensive. What about Morrison's wife,
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: his children? They'll mourn, Eleanor said. They'll wonder, and eventually
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: they'll move on. That's what people do. The prairie takes
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: men all the time. At least Morrison's death served a purpose.
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: It fed us, kept us alive another few weeks. His
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: sacrifice wasn't meaningless. That's insane, Thomas said, but even he
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: could hear the lack of conviction in his voice. Kate laughed.
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: Is it?' How many men died in your war, Mr. Callaghan?
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: Half a million, more. And for what? So the South
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: could keep their slaves, or the North could preserve their union?
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: Morrison died so a family could eat. So children could
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: survive another winter. Which death has more meaning?' Thomas wanted
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: to argue, wanted to tell them they were wrong, that
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: there was a difference between war and murder, between fighting
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: for a cause and killing for profit. But the words
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: wouldn't come.' Because when he really thought about it, when
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: he stripped away all the flags and uniforms and grand speeches,
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: what was the difference? Dead was dead. And he'd made
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: men dead for far less clear reasons than simple survival.
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: He drained the whiskey in one swallow. How long has
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: this been going on? Really? My grandfather started in Prussia
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: in 1820, Johan said. Forty years of successful operation before
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: he died and passed the trade to my father. My
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: father continued for another twenty years before bringing it to America.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: I've been doing this for twelve years now. The children
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: are learning. It's a legacy, Mr. Callaghan. Generational knowledge. The
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: art of survival in a world that wants us dead.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: Fifty years, Thomas said slowly. How many people? We don't
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: keep count anymore, Eleanor said. It's bad luck. and it
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: doesn't matter. What matters is that we're still here, still alive,
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: still functioning. Wilhelm spoke up. up, his young voice eager.
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: Father says in ten more years we'll have enough saved
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: to move to a city, buy a legitimate business, become respectable.
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: And the murders? Thomas asked. Just stop? Why not? Johan shrugged.
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: Once we have enough money, we won't need to do
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: this anymore. We'll be able to survive on honest work.
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: That's always been the goal. This is just temporary. A
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: means to an end. Temporary, Thomas repeated. Twelve years is temporary.
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: In the scope of a lifetime, yes. Johan refilled his glass.
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: You're young still, Mr. Callaghan. Thirty-two, thirty-three. You have time
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: to build a fortune out here, then leave it all behind.
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: Start fresh somewhere else. No one knows you in Colorado.
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: No one knows what you've done. You could be anyone.
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: The sun was setting outside, turning the Kansas sky the
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: color of blood and gold. Thomas watched it through the
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: window and thought about all the roads that had led
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: him here. The war, the years drifting afterward, unable to settle,
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: unable to find peace. The brother in Colorado, who probably
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: didn't even remember him anymore— and he thought about how
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: easy it would be to just accept it, to stop fighting,
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: to let the darkness that had been growing inside him
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: since Shiloh finally take over completely.' I need time to think,'
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: he said.' Of course,' Johan said.' Take all the time
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: you need. But remember, Mr. Callaghan, you're already complicit. Whether
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: you stay or go, you're one of us now.' The
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: only question is whether you'll embrace it or spend the
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: rest of your life running from it. That night, Thomas
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: didn't sleep at all. He lay in the small room,
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: staring at the ceiling, listening to the house settle and creak.
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: He thought about Morrison, about the eleven others in the orchard,
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: about all the people who'd stopped at this farm seeking
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: hospitality and found only death. And he thought about the marshal,
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: about how easy the lie had come. about how his
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: hand hadn't shaken even once. Just before dawn, he made
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: his decision. He got up, gathered his few possessions, and
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: walked out to the barn to saddle his horse. The
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: animal nickered softly in recognition, glad to see him. Kate
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: was waiting by the barn door. I knew you'd try
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: to leave, she said. She wasn't armed, just standing there
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: in her nightgown with her hair down, looking younger and
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: more vulnerable than he'd seen her before. I can't stay here,
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: Thomas said. I know. I wouldn't either, if I had
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: the choice. She stepped closer. But you need to know
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: something before you go. What? This farm, this family, what
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: we do, it's not unique. There are others like us
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: scattered all across the frontier. Innkeepers in Missouri, traders in Nebraska,
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: ferry operators in Iowa, all of them doing the same thing,
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: taking from travellers, removing obstacles, surviving any way they can.
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: That doesn't make it right. No, Kate agreed. But it
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: means you can't escape it. Even if you ride away
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: from here, you'll run into it somewhere else. The darkness
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: is everywhere, Mr. Callaghan. The question isn't whether you can
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: avoid it. The question is whether you can live with it.
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: Thomas led his horse out of the barn. The sky
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: was just starting to lighten in the east, that pre-dawn
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: grey that made everything look unreal. I have to try,
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: he said. Kate smiled, sad and knowing. Then ride fast, Mr. Callaghan.
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: And when you camp at night, sleep with one eye open.
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: Because the prairie remembers, and it doesn't forgive. He mounted
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: his horse and turned it toward the east, toward the
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: rising sun. As he rode away from the Brenner farm,
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: he didn't look back. If he had, he would have
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: seen the whole family standing on the porch, watching him go.
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: And he would have seen Kate raise her hand in
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: a farewell wave. Or was it a warning? Thomas rode
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: hard for two days straight, pushing his horse to the
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: edge of exhaustion, stopping only when absolutely necessary. He followed
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: the sun east, avoiding main roads, sticking to game trails
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: and creek beds. Every shadow looked like a pursuer. Every
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: sound of wildlife made him reach for his gun. He
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: was running, though he couldn't have said from what exactly.
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: The Brenners, the law, or something inside himself that had
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: awakened in that farmhouse and wouldn't go back to sleep.
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: On the third day, as the sun was setting and
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: his horse was stumbling from fatigue, he found a small
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: creek with a grove of cottonwood trees, good cover, fresh water,
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: and relatively defensible. He made camp, built a small fire,
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: and tried to eat some of the jerky he'd packed.
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: He couldn't taste it. Couldn't taste anything. Everything was ash
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: in his mouth. As darkness fell, he heard it for
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: the first time, the sound of a wagon, wheels creaking
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: across hard ground, coming from the west, coming from the
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: direction of the Brenner farm. Thomas stood, hand on his gun,
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: peering into the darkness. The moon was nearly full, casting
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: silver light across the prairie. He could see for miles
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: in every direction. There was no wagon, but he could
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: hear it. getting closer. The creak of wood, the jingle
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: of harness, the plodding of horses. Who's there? he called out. Silence.
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: Even the crickets had stopped. Then, faint on the wind,
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: he heard singing. A woman's voice, high and sweet, singing
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: in German. Kate? he whispered. The singing stopped. The wagon
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: sound stopped. Everything stopped. Thomas didn't sleep that night. He
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: sat with his back against a cottonwood tree, gun in
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: his lap.' watching the darkness, watching for movement.' For any
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: sign that he was being followed, there was nothing,' just
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: the empty prairie and the endless sky.' But he could
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: feel them, the Brenners, like a weight on his back,'
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: like eyes watching from just beyond the firelight.' By dawn
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: he'd convinced himself it was exhaustion,' guilt manifesting as auditory hallucinations.'
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: He was tired, haunted by what he'd seen and done.
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: That was all. Nothing supernatural. Nothing real. He rode on.
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: Over the next week, as he made his way across
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: Kansas toward Missouri, the phenomena intensified. Every night the wagon sounds.
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: Sometimes he'd see figures in the distance, silhouettes against the sunset.
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: Sometimes he'd find fresh graves by the side of the road,
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: unmarked and recent. And always, always, he'd hear that singing.
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: Kate's voice, or Eleanor's, or sometimes both together. Singing hymns
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: in German, the words incomprehensible, but the melody haunting. He
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: stopped in a small town called Oswego, desperate for supplies
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: and human company. The general store owner was an old man,
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: with kind eyes and gnarled hands. You look troubled, son.
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: the man said as he wrapped Thomas's purchases.' Bad dreams,'
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: Thomas said.' That' s all. Dreams or memories.' Thomas looked up sharply.' What?''
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: I' ve seen that look before. On men back from the war.
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: That haunted look. Like they're seeing things that aren't there.
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: Or maybe seeing things that are there but shouldn't be.'
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: You ever hear stories about the Brenner Farm?' Thomas asked,
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: before he could stop himself.' West of here. Maybe thirty
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: or forty miles?'' German family. Keeps to themselves.' The old
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: man's expression changed, growing cautious.' What about them?'' Just... stories.
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: That's all.' The old man wrapped the last of the
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: supplies in brown paper and tied it with string. When
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: he spoke, his voice was low.' People disappear out here sometimes.
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: The prairie's big and mean and unforgiving.' Sometimes folks just
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: don't make it to where they're going. Could be weather,
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: could be bandits, could be bad luck, or could be
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: something else. What else? There's families scattered across the frontier
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: that make their living in ways that ain't exactly Christian.
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: Places that look like farms or inns or trading posts,
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: but really they're traps. Spiders' webs for catching travellers. The Brenners.
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: I've heard things. Rumours. But nothing you could prove. Nothing
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: you could take to the law. What if someone wanted
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: to do something about it? Thomas asked. Stop them? The
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: old man shook his head slowly. Then that someone would
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: have to be willing to become just as bad as
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: what they're fighting. Because out here, the law's thin as
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: paper and twice as easy to tear. Justice don't come
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: from badges and courtrooms. It comes from the barrel of
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: a gun and the willingness to use it. Thomas paid
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: for his supplies and left. The old man's words echoed
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: in his mind as he rode out of town. That night,
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: camped by another nameless creek, the wagon sounds came again,
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: but this time they didn't stop at the edge of
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: his hearing. This time they came closer and closer. Thomas
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: grabbed his gun and stood, turning in circles, trying to
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: find the source. The sounds were all around him now,
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: circling his camp like wolves.' Show yourself!' he shouted. A
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: figure stepped into the firelight. It was Kate Brenner. But
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: something was wrong. She looked different, older. Her dress was
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: torn and muddy, her hair wild and tangled. and her eyes,
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: those pale blue eyes, were empty, hollow.' Hello, Mr. Callaghan,'
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: she said, and her voice sounded like it was coming
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: from very far away.' Did you think you could run
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: from us?' Thomas raised his gun, hand shaking now. You're
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: not real. You can't be here. I left you back
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: at the farm. Did you? She tilted her head, the
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: movement too sharp, too bird-like. Or did you bring us
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: with you? In your mind? In your guilt? In your complicity?
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: I didn't kill anyone. Didn't you? She smiled, and her
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: teeth were too white, too many. You helped us. You
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: lied for us. You buried Morrison in the orchard, his
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: blood is on your hands just as surely as if
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: you'd held the knife yourself. No! Thomas's finger tightened on
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: the trigger. No! I didn't know what was happening. I
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: didn't understand. But you did, Mr. Callaghan. You understood perfectly.
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: You just chose to believe the lie because it was
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: easier than facing the truth, easier than admitting what you are.
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: What am I? Kate's smile widened. You're us. You always were.
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: The war just showed you the truth about yourself, and
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: the farm confirmed it. You're a killer, Thomas, a survivor,
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: someone who'll do whatever it takes to live another day.
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: And that's okay. That's natural. That's human. Thomas fired. The
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: gunshot was deafening in the quiet night. The bullet passed
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: through Kate's chest, right where her heart should be. She
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: looked down at the wound, then back up at him. See?
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: Not real. Just a ghost. Just your conscience trying to
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: speak to you. Then she was gone. Vanished like smoke.
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: Thomas stood there, gun still raised, breathing hard. His hands
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: were shaking so badly he almost dropped the weapon. Just exhaustion,
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: he told himself. Lack of sleep. The guilt eating at him.
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: None of it was real. But when he looked down,
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: he saw footprints in the mud by his fire, small footprints,
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: a woman's shoes. Kate had been there, really there. Or
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: had she? Thomas broke camp immediately, riding through the night
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: despite his horse's exhaustion. He needed to get away from
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: this place, from these prairies, from Kansas itself. Missouri was close.
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: Civilization was close. Safety was close. But the phenomena followed him.
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: the wagon sounds, the singing, glimpses of figures in the darkness,
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: and always Kate, appearing at the edge of his vision,
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: never quite there but never quite gone either. By the
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: time he reached a small Missouri town called Joplin, Thomas
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: looked like a madman, unshaven, unwashed, hollow-eyed and jumpy. The
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: locals gave him a wide berth as he sold his
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: horse and used the money to buy a train ticket east.
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: He had to get away, had to escape, Colorado was
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: a pipe dream now. His brother, his fortune, his future— all
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: of it meaningless compared to the simple need to run.
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: But even on the train, surrounded by other passengers and
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: the noise and smoke of civilization, he could feel them— the
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: Brenners— watching him, following him, waiting. One night, As the train
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: rattled through the darkness of Indiana, Thomas stood on the
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: platform between cars, looking out at the passing landscape. The
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: door opened behind him, and Kate stepped out. She looked
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: normal now, clean, proper, her perfect smile in place.' You
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: can't run from us, Thomas,' she said.' We' re in your
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: head now. Part of you. You'll carry us wherever you go.''
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: Leave me alone,' Thomas whispered.' We will. Eventually.' when you're
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: ready to face the truth. What truth? That you're not
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: sorry you helped us. You're just sorry you got caught.
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: Sorry you have to face what that says about you.
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: She came closer and he could smell apple blossoms, incongruous
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: here in the industrial smoke and coal dust. You know
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: what you need to do, Thomas. You've always known. What?
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: Go back. Finish what you started. Make a choice instead
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: of running from one. I chose to leave, that was
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: my choice. No, you chose to flee, to hide, but
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: you can't hide from yourself. You need to go back
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: to that farm, face the Brenners, face what you are,
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: and then decide, once and for all, who you want
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: to be. The train lurched, and Thomas grabbed the railing
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: to steady himself. When he looked back, Kate was gone,
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: but her words stayed with him. By the time the
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: train reached Pennsylvania— Thomas had made his decision. He got
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: off at the next stop, used the last of his
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: money to buy a horse, and started riding west, back
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: toward Kansas, back toward the Brenner farm. He told himself
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: it was to stop them, to bring them to justice,
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: to prevent any more murders. But deep down, in a
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: place he still couldn't bear to look, he knew the truth.
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: He was going back because Kate was right. He couldn't
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: run from what he was. couldn't hide from the darkness
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: inside him. And the only way to know if he
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: was truly lost, if the war had really broken something
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: fundamental in his soul, was to return to that place
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: and make a real choice. Not one forced by circumstances
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: or fear or survival instinct, but a true choice. made
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: with full knowledge of what he was choosing and why.
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: The ride back took three weeks. By the time Thomas
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: saw the familiar outline of the Brenner farmhouse on the horizon,
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: it was late October again, almost exactly a year since
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: his first visit. The apple trees were bearing fruit. As
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: he rode up to the house, the front door opened.
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: Johann Brenner stood there, unsurprised, as if he'd been expecting
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: Thomas all along.' Welcome back, Mr. Callaghan,' he said. We
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: saved you a place at the table. The Brenner farmhouse
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: looked exactly as Thomas remembered it. Same bare walls, same
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: long dining table, same wire cross hanging by the door.
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: But there was something different now, something wrong that he
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: couldn't quite identify. It took him a moment to realize
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: what it was. The house was too quiet, no sounds
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: of movement from the back rooms, no signs of life
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: beyond Johan standing in the doorway. Where's your family? Thomas asked.
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: Johan's smile was sad. Come inside, Mr. Callaghan. We have
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: much to discuss. Thomas dismounted, his hand never straying far
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: from his gun. He followed Johan into the house, his
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: instincts screaming that this was a trap, that he was
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: walking into danger. But he kept walking anyway. The interior
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: was just as he remembered, but dustier. Things were slightly
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: out of place, as if no one had lived here
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: in weeks or months. The fire was cold. No food
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: on the table. The air smelled stale and old. Sit,
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: Johan said, gesturing to the table. Thomas sat, but he
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: kept his gun hand-free. What's going on, Johan? Where's Eleanor? Kate? Wilhelm?
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: Johan moved to the window, looking out at the orchard.
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: The setting sun cast long shadows across the apple trees.
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: They're not here, Thomas. They haven't been here for a
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: long time. What are you talking about? I just saw
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: Kate on the train. She's been following me for weeks.
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: Has she? Johan turned back to face him, and Thomas
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: saw something in the old man's pale eyes, something that
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: looked like pity. Or has your guilt been following you,
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: taking the shape of your fears? She was real. I
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: saw her. I talked to her. You saw something. Johan agreed.
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: But whether it was real or not, that's a different question.
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: He sat down across from Thomas. Let me tell you
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: a story, Mr. Callaghan, about a family that lived on
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: this farm forty years ago. I don't want to hear
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: your stories. But you need to. Johan's voice was firm.
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: Because this story isn't mine. It's yours. The Brenner family,
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: the innkeeper murderers, the bodies in the orchard. None of
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: it happened the way you remember. Thomas felt cold. What?
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: There was a storm that night you arrived. A bad one.
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: Your horse threw you in the darkness and you hit
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: your head. When you woke up you were confused, disoriented.
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: You stumbled through the rain until you found this farmhouse,
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: but it was already abandoned. Had been for decades. No,
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: that's not... I remember. I ate dinner with you. With Eleanor.
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: The children. You ate from the preserves you found in
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: the cellar. Food that had been sealed in jars so
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: long ago it should have killed you, but somehow didn't.
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: And you talk to yourself, to the ghosts of people
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: who died before you were born. Lies. Thomas stood up,
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: hand going to his gun. I know what I saw,
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: what I experienced. Do you? Johan stood as well. Then
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: explain this, Thomas. If the Brenners were murdering travellers for profit,
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: why did they let you live? Why did they tell
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: you their secrets? Why did they practically beg you to stay?
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: Because I was different. Kate said, Kate Brenner died in 1835,
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: Johan said quietly. She was sixteen years old, murdered by
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: her own father when she tried to run away. Her
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: body is in the autopsy. along with her mother's, her brother's,
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: and eleven travellers who had the misfortune to stop here
• 59:15
  Speaker 1: seeking hospitality. The real Johan Brenner killed them all, then
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: hung himself in the barn when the law came asking questions.
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: Thomas's gun was in his hand now, though he didn't
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: remember drawing it.' You' re lying,' You're trying to confuse me.
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: I'm trying to help you see the truth, Thomas. The
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: real truth, not the story you've been telling yourself. The
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: old man moved toward the cellar door. Come with me.
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: I'll show you. Despite every instinct telling him not to,
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: Thomas followed. The cellar was different now. The shelves were bare,
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: rotted through. The trophies, the money, the preserved goods, all gone.
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: Just empty space and old cobwebs. And in the corner—'
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: partially covered by dirt and debris,' was a body, a
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: man's body, 'dressed in clothes from the 1840s,' preserved by
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: the cold, dry air of the cellar,' a rope still
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: hanging around his neck.' Johann Brenner,' the old man said.'
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: The real one, dead for thirty years.'' Thomas stared at
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: the corpse,' his mind refusing to accept what he was seeing.'
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: Then who are you?' That' s the question, isn't it?'' The
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: old man smiled.' Who am I? Who were Kate and
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: Eleanor and Wilhelm? Were we ghosts, hallucinations, manifestations of your
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: guilt and fear, or were we something else entirely? I
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: don't understand. You came to this farm looking for rest, Thomas.
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: But what you really found was a mirror, a way
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: to examine the darkness inside yourself. The war broke something
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: in you, made you question who you were and what
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: you were capable of. And this place, this cursed ground,
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: where terrible things happened, it gave you a way to
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: explore that darkness without having to face it directly. Thomas
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: felt like the ground was tilting beneath him. So none
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: of it was real? The murders, the buried bodies, helping
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: you lie to the Marshal, none of it happened? Oh,
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: the murders were real, the old man said, very real.
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: The bodies in the orchard are still there if you
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: want to dig them up. but they died thirty years ago, Thomas.
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: Long before you arrived, the marshal you lied to, the
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: conversation you had, the choice you thought you were making— that
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: was all in your head. You've been alone in this
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 1: farmhouse for weeks, talking to yourself, creating elaborate scenarios to
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: avoid facing the real question. What question? Whether you're capable
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 1: of murder, whether the war turned you into the kind
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: of man— who could kill an innocent person for profit,
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: for survival, for any reason at all. You needed to
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: know if the darkness inside you was real or just
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: something you feared. So you created us, the Brenners, a
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: family of killers who would test you, push you, force
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: you to choose. Thomas sank to the ground, his legs
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: giving out. I'm insane. That's what you're saying. I've lost
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: my mind. Or maybe you're the sanest you've ever been,
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: the old man said gently. Maybe you needed this. This
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: confrontation with your own potential for evil. Because now you know, Thomas.
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: Now you know the truth about yourself. What truth? Thomas's
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 1: voice was barely a whisper. That you're not a killer.
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: Not really. When it came down to it, when you
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 1: had the choice to help us or expose us, you
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: didn't run to the law. But you also didn't stay.
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: You didn't embrace the darkness. You chose a middle path, uncertainty, guilt, flight.'
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: That' s not the choice of a killer, Thomas. That's the
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: choice of a man trying desperately to stay human in
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: a world that wants to turn him into a monster.'
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: Thomas looked up at the old man, tears streaming down
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: his face.' Then who are you? Really?' The old man's
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: form began to flicker, like a candle flame in the wind.'
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 1: I' m the part of you that needed to understand.' the
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: part that needed to forgive yourself for the things you
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: did in the war, the part that needed to know
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: you're not Johann Brenner, not a killer, not beyond redemption.
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 1: But the wagon sounds, the singing, Kate appearing on the train,
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 1: all real in their own way. This place holds memories, Thomas,
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 1: echoes of what happened here, and your mind, fractured by
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: trauma and guilt, found a way to give those echoes form,
• 1:03:39
  Speaker 1: to make them speak to you, to force you to
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: confront what you feared most about yourself. The old man
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: was fading now, becoming transparent. Thomas could see the cellar
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: wall through him.' Wait,' Thomas said.' Don' t go. I still
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 1: have questions.'' You have answers, Thomas. You've always had them.
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: You just needed permission to believe them.' Ah, the old
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 1: man's voice was growing faint.' The real Johann Brenner was
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: a monster. He killed his family.' He killed travellers. He
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 1: died alone and unrepentant. But you're not him. You're nothing
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 1: like him. And that's what you needed to learn. How
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 1: do I know this is real? How do I know
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: I'm not still hallucinating? Does it matter? The old man
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: was almost gone now. Just a whisper of smoke in
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: the cellar air. Real or not, the lesson is the same.
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: You're not what you feared you were. The war damaged you, Thomas,
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: but it didn't destroy you. You can still choose. You
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: can still be good. Then he was gone. Thomas sat
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: alone in the cellar next to the corpse of the
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 1: real Johann Brenner and wept. He wept for the dead man,
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: for his murdered family, for the travellers who'd been killed here,
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 1: and for himself. For the year he'd lost to madness
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 1: and fear. For the journey he'd taken into the darkest
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: parts of his own soul. When he finally climbed the
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: cellar stairs, the sun was rising. The farmhouse looked different
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: in the daylight. Not menacing, just old and sad and empty.
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 1: A place where terrible things had happened, but they were
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 1: long past now. The dead were dead, and the living
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 1: had to keep living. Thomas walked out to the orchard.
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: The graves were there, just as Kate, or the thing
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: wearing Kate's face, had said. Eleven mounds, overgrown with weeds,
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 1: and four more, smaller, a family. He spent the next
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: three days digging up the bodies and burying them properly.
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: Real burials, with words spoken over each grave. He didn't
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: know their names, but he gave them what dignity he could.
• 1:05:50
  Speaker 1: When he was finished, he set fire to the farmhouse,
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: watched it burn to ash and timber, let the smoke
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 1: carry away whatever ghosts or memories still lingered there. Then
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: he mounted his horse and rode east, not west to
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: Colorado and his brother's silver claim, east, back toward civilization,
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 1: back toward life. He didn't know what he'd do when
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 1: he got there. Find work, maybe. Start over. Try to
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 1: be the man he wanted to be, instead of the
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 1: man the war had made him. But he knew one
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 1: thing with absolute certainty. He was not Johann Brenner. He
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 1: was not a killer by nature. and whatever darkness lived
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 1: inside him, it didn't have to win. That choice was
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: his to make, and for the first time in a
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 1: long time, Thomas Callaghan chose hope. The story you just
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: heard was buried, forgotten. The real Brenner Farm disappeared from maps,
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 1: and the murders were never officially solved. But you heard it.
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 1: You know the truth now. That's why this channel exists,
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 1: to tell the stories that were erased— the truths that
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 1: were too dark to remember. Subscribe and turn on notifications
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: because there are more stories like this, stories that need
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: to be told, stories that shouldn't be forgotten. Will you
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 1: be here to listen? The truth in the ashes. The
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 1: town of Independence, Kansas, has no record of a Brenner
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: farm in its historical archives, no mention of a German family,
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 1: no investigation into missing travellers in the 1870s, But in 1891,
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 1: a journalist named Sarah Morrison, searching for information about her
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 1: grandfather Robert Morrison, who disappeared in 1870, found something strange.
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: Old property records showed a farm registered to a Johann Brenner,
• 1:07:40
  Speaker 1: purchased in 1843 and abandoned in 1848. When she travelled
• 1:07:45
  Speaker 1: to the location, all she found were the ruins of
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 1: a burned farmhouse and an overgrown orchard. No graves. no
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: sign of violence. But in her journal, published after her
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 1: death in 1920, she wrote, I felt them there, the dead,
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: calling out from the soil. Eleven travellers and one family,
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: all crying for someone to remember them, to tell their story,
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: to give their deaths meaning. She never found her grandfather's body,
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 1: never learned what truly happened to him, but she planted
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: an apple tree on the site and carved into its trunk.
• 1:08:21
  Speaker 1: Here lie the forgotten, may they rest in peace. The
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 1: tree still stands today, old now, gnarled and twisted, but
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 1: every fall it bears fruit, blood-red apples, sweet as sin.
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 1: The End This story is a work of fiction. Any
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: resemblance to real events or persons is purely coincidental. The
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: Brenner Farm is a fictional creation, though it draws inspiration
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: from historical accounts of murderous innkeepers along American frontier routes
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: in including the infamous Bloody Benders of Kansas. If you
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 1: enjoyed this story, please consider sharing it with others who
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: appreciate it. dark historical fiction. And remember, the past is
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 1: never as dead as we'd like to believe.