Two men were being tormented by the unexplained. Leading completely separate lives from each other, yet both were fugitives in their own worlds. Rudely being awakened from his fitfully sleep at dawn by the ungent sound of soldiers marching; Marvin scrambled up from his make-shift bed of pine nettles and straw. Quickly he gathered up his belongings and ran to an observation hill to determine how close they were to his ‘camp’. The sounds of their marching wasn’t in sync with their footfall. They were perhaps two miles away and closing on him fast. His horse had died several days earlier so he had no choice but to flee on foot until he could round up a more efficient means of transportation. He attempted to cover up any evidence of his campsite but realized it would only give him a minor advantage at best against the trained Union trackers. They had been on his trail for more than a week and none of the previous attempts at concealment had been successful. During the day he fed on rabbits, squirrels or just about any other game he could snare. Restless sleep, poor nutrition and infections from minor wounds had began to take its tool on Marvin Thornton. At times he was near delirium and had to keep reminding himself of who he was and why he was being pursued by the Union Army. He continued to have a series of reoccurring dreams that he was someone else named Larry Sowder who lived during a witch persecution era. In his own strangely clouded past Marvin remembered infiltrating a Yankee camp posing as a Union officer to learn their military secrets. He had found out many relevant things including plans for a surprise attack on a nearby Confederate camp but his cover was eventually blown and he barely escaped with his life. Knowing what was done to enemy spies; being captured wasn’t a favorable option to him. Marvin knew they wouldn’t stop tracking him because he could compromise their whole operation. After a hasty exit one morning he had left behind his compass and had no idea where he was. Still; lost and free was better than captured and found. Although they were close by, his mind was far away trying to understand why he had delusions that he became someone else when he fell asleep every night. In his dreams Marvin became a completely different person with a whole other set of woes. Both worlds were shadowy and he wasn’t sure sometimes which was the REAL reality. When Marvin awoke each morning he was convinced that Larry was merely a character of his dreams but when he went to sleep and woke up as Larry Sowder, the Confederate spy seemed like it had only been a dream. With death at his heels in both worlds he didn’t have time to wonder about which person he really was. It was nearly dusk and Marvin knew the trackers would soon be setting up camp for the night While this was good news, he would have to keep going until it was too dark to see to stay a few steps ahead. Only then could he rest and eat. An hour later it was time for him to make his own camp for the night and hope that he was up and gone before the Union Army caught up with him. After a much needed meal he collapsed into a deep sleep. Upon awakening, Larry knew that it had started all over again. “Who in the Lorde’s name is this ‘Marvin Thornton’ that I keep dreaming about?” Goody King had warned him that as more wyches were uncovered they would take their vengeance on ‘Lorde fearin’ folk’. Already twenty one had been burned at the stake and there didn’t seem to be any end to the Wytchfinder General’s crusade against ‘conjurers of evil’. It was common knowledge that the Devil worked his evil through dreams and visions but he didn’t understand how his reoccurring dream that he was a soldier who lived among his enemy and was now being hunted by them could be proof of retribution from angry wyches. One could never tell what evil the Devil’s servants had on their minds. Larry was petrified with worry over what was in store for him and he made the mistake of telling his Minister about his suspicions one Sunday. Reverend Murky exclaimed; “Larry my son, can’t ye see? just as Satan was in Heaven pretending to be a force for good; he was cast out and has been fleeing ever since. The wyches want you to feel sympathy for the Devil by disguising his identity in your dreams! Drastic measures must be taken to root out the evil spell placed in your mind! I will do all in my power to spare your soul from eternal damnation!” Larry was half crazy with fear and willing to try anything to rid himself of the consuming curse haunting his dreams. The Reverend explained the ‘drastic measures’ that he had referred about earlier to Larry. “Tonight you must be locked in irons to prevent you from serving the unwholesome purposes of the Devil and his minions. If you fall asleep I will wake you so that the wyching hour will pass onto daylight. Then it will be safe for you to sleep while the wyche’s powers are at their weakest. It will be difficult to keep you awake all night but I must do everything necessary or you are bound for Hell! If I can not keep you awake then I will burn out the demons with a red hot branding iron.” Larry slept very little that night before he was snapped back into consciousness by Reverend Murky’s red hot iron on his arms, chest and legs. When he did doze off momentarily however it was toward the other “reality” of Marvin Thornton. The transfer was nearly complete when Larry was jolted back to consciousness by the Reverend. Finally dawn’s early light became visible over the horizon and Larry Sowder could sleep in peace. Meanwhile it was dusk in Marvin’s world and he was awakened with a jolt. All around him he was surrounded by Union soldiers! The fever in his body from the infections had kept him asleep too long. He had nearly awakened several times but had been pulled back into sleep by his body’s need for rest into the alternate reality of his bewitched ‘friend’. While he slept the Union soldiers had placed him in leg irons and had poured whiskey on his infected wounds as an antiseptic. He knew that the only reason for the medical care was to insure that he survived long enough to be tried, convicted, and hanged as a Spy. Things were looking bleak for Marvin Thornton. With two guards posted around his makeshift jail, he went to sleep actually looking forward to becoming Larry Sowder again and escaping his own situation for a while. When Larry awoke he was sure of one thing; his destiny was coming together with “Marvin Thornton” and he knew that just as his ‘dream’s’ character was going to die, he would also die somehow. The omen was complex but it was also very clear. They were both bonded together to share a common sinister fate. “At least the soldier knows how he will die.”; he thought. It wasn’t long before his worst fears were confirmed. Unknown to him, Reverend Murky had reported his strange dreams to the town council. The wyche trials had only been two years earlier and it seemed quite possible to them that they might have missed one. A vote was taken and it was decided that he would be interrogated until he confessed. When the ‘confessors’ came for him he knew he would die. Shackled to the wall of the confession chamber, Larry became acquainted with all the usual torture methods associated with extracting a ‘wyche’s confession’. As the confessors consulted the “Malleus Maleficarium” Larry hoped they would believe his claims of innocence and free him. Unfortunately it didn’t happen that way and the confessors only stopped after they couldn’t revive him when he passed out. For a while Larry Sowder existed free from pain. Marvin woke up and heard one of the Union soldiers say that his trial was to be held in Atlanta; which they had recently taken control of. Ironically, he had been only a few miles from the safety of the city’s Confederate Underground. He asked the Union soldiers when they would arrive. “Not soon enough for Rebel scum like you!’; They replied. Later that evening at his trial he was found guilty and sentenced to hang until he died. The verdict was no surprise and the Death sentence was almost a relief. He had known the risks involved when he joined the Confederate Secret Service and now he was prepared to accept the consequences for his actions. He was sentenced to die the following day at 12:30 PM. He rested his head on the cot in his cell and thought about his life in retrospect. An hour or so later Marvin Thornton closed his eyes and drifted into sleep for what would be the last time. Burnt, swollen and in excruciating pain; Larry was brought back to consciousness by the tightening of his thumbscrews. His body had became acclimated to the previous level of pain and his confessors knew that the only way to extract a confession from him was to increase the agony. They were always amazed at how strong of a hold the Devil had on his servants but in the end they always admitted their evil pact. Larry Sowder was the most difficult case yet for them and there were only a few torture methods to try. Despite their greatest efforts he proclaimed his innocence until he went into a fatal coma from kidney failure and dehydration from the beatings and torture. His confessors realized his dire condition and left him to die as “the only unrepentant wyche ever in Salem”. Larry Sowder would not be buried in the churchyard when he finally passed away. Marvin wondered why he was to die the deaths of two men; as himself and as his unfortunate ‘friend’ Larry Sowder ‘of his dreams’. Perhaps it was an omen of his fate which arrived too late to save him. It really didn’t matter any more because in a few short hours he would be dead. He was served his last meal 30 minutes before the execution. When the fateful moment came Marvin stepped up to the platform in front of his noose and peered into the faces of the onlookers. A young boy, no more than eight years old pushed his way through the crowd until he was in front of the gallows. He looked up at the condemned soldier and saluted. As Marvin smiled, his hands were bound behind his back and a hood was placed over his head. The noose was then placed around his neck and tightened and the final prayer was given by the camp minister. Adrenalin coursed through his veins when the signal was given and the platform’s bottom dropped. His mind filled with blackness and then the end came for him and Larry Sowder at the same time. Mr. James Patterson, who had fallen asleep in his easy chair; awoke with a start. His two sons; James Jr. and Joe were arguing about whether they were going to continue watching the movie about Espionage during the Civil War on Channel Nine or the other movie about the Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts which they had been switching to during the commercials. Mr Patterson reached down and scratched the flea bites on his arms and legs from the family dog. He closed his eyes and silently hoped that the boys didn’t decide to switch between ‘The Addams Family’ and ‘The Munsters’ during his next nap!. 
 

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