Saving Shiloh

David shares his newest theory: The light that Marty saw is the person who killed the man from Bens Run, and the killer is now plotting to kill Judd because Judd knows the killer’s identity. Marty tells David that he is “nuts” and that he should write detective novels one day.

That night, Marty sees the light again in the distance as he lets Shiloh inside. His mind begins to wander, worrying that the light belongs to the burglars and that they might be planning to rob the Prestons’ house next.

Marty and David’s planned sleepover does not take place that week due to Grandma Preston’s sudden death from pneumonia. The family plans to attend the funeral on Saturday, staying overnight at Aunt Hettie’s house. Marty is worried about leaving Shiloh overnight for the first time, concerned that Shiloh may think the family has abandoned him. Marty begs his parents to let Shiloh stay in the house, but Ma refuses, stating that an elderly neighbor would have to come and let him out.

Marty and his sisters sit quietly throughout the funeral services, but when it comes time for the burial, as the preacher leads everyone in prayer, Dara Lynn inches so close to the grave opening that she nearly falls in. Ma reaches out and grabs Dara Lynn, and Marty cannot help but fantasize about Dara Lynn falling in, the dirt burying her alive.

The family gets home late that night, and Marty is relieved to hear Shiloh barking as they pull up the driveway. Marty tries to run to Shiloh, but Shiloh is jumpy and barks as he runs from window to window, frequently looking toward the woods. The family assumes that they must have been robbed, but all their belongings are safe. Marty’s father states that he is going to look around outside, and when he returns, he states that his lantern, knife, and shears are all missing. Everyone is relieved that Shiloh must have prevented the burglar from entering their home, wondering how the thief could have known they were away. They fall into an uncomfortable silence as Dad mentions that the only other person who saw them leave was Judd, whom they passed on their way out.

A blizzard arrives in Shiloh, and the Preston family begins preparing. Marty goes out to stack enough wood to last them through the storm. Shiloh follows Marty as he stacks, finally falling asleep on the carpet in front of the wood stove. Soon, the weather station predicts upwards of two feet of snow. Dad arrives home that evening, hardly able to make it up the driveway in his Jeep.

The next morning, Marty’s father cannot leave because the plows have not made it to their road yet. The snow stops at noon, measuring 31.5 inches in total. Marty and his sisters go outside to play, but the situation begins to deteriorate as trees fall on power lines and the electricity goes out. The next day is not as much fun, as Marty and his family cannot flush the toilets, and their wood dwindles. The family perks up as they think they hear a plow. When they look out the window, they see Judd in his truck, with a plow attached to the front, removing snow from their driveway.

Dad goes outside to thank Judd, and Ma invites him in, but Judd declines, stating that he has more neighbors to help. Marty watches Judd retreat, wishing that more people would give him a chance and see how much he has changed. At the same time, Marty’s doubts continue to linger, as he wonders if Judd is wearing a new jacket and whether the shotgun in the cab of Judd’s car really belongs to him.

The snow relents, but school stays closed until Friday. Everyone shares their stories of their experience during the blizzard, and Marty makes sure to tell everyone about how Judd helped them and their neighbors, embellishing to the point that “Judd [i]s part Paul Bunyan and part Jesus Christ” (89). His classmates are silent, neither condemning Judd nor voicing any support.

On Friday night, Marty sees the light near Middle Island Creek once more, and he stands at the window watching it move in the dark. He has the feeling that something sinister is happening, worrying that the light, and whoever is carrying it, will eventually make its way to their house. The next day, David arrives for a sleepover, and the boys plan to explore the grist mill, where they have seen the light.

Their plans reach a snag, however, as Dara Lynn insists on joining them. Ma tells Dara Lynn to stay inside and spend time with her and Becky, but Dara Lynn does not listen and tries to follow the boys’ trail toward the grist mill near Middle Island Creek. As they reach the old mill, the boys turn around and see Dara Lynn trudging back home, unable to keep up with them.

The mill is decrepit, dangerous, and buried under feet of snow, and David suggests that if they dig, they may find a dead body. Refusing to go back to Marty’s house, and feeling increasingly aimless in their pursuit of mystery, the boys decide to make snowballs instead. As they’re playing, they hear the loud sound of snow falling off the old Shiloh schoolhouse nearby. They run over to investigate and find that half of the roof has caved in on the abandoned building. They walk around the building, looking inside, but stop when they see a fresh path in the snow that leads to the building’s cellar window, which sits open. Without speaking, the boys agree that they must go inside and investigate. When they get inside, they find many of the items that have recently been stolen from the community, including Marty’s father’s lantern, a shotgun, and the remnants of food reported missing. Marty rushes over toward the lantern, picking it up, but his heart drops when he and David see, in the pile of snow and rubble, a man’s glove and boot sticking out of the wreckage.

Dropping the lantern, Marty and David rush back to the Prestons’ house. They arrive and breathlessly describe to Ma what they saw in the schoolhouse, prompting her to call the sheriff. They return to the schoolhouse when they see the sheriff arrive, and he asks them to wait outside while they go inside to look. When the sheriff returns, he carries a bag containing the community’s stolen items and tells them that they need to hold onto the items as evidence. The sheriff tells them that the “body” was just a pile of clothes but that the scene indicates that someone has been hiding out at the abandoned schoolhouse while burglarizing the local community.

One of the police officers holds up a pair of orange pants, exclaiming that they belong to the county jail and that it must be the two men who escaped from prison who have been hiding out in the schoolhouse. Marty pulls out the scrap of orange fabric that he found Shiloh playing with and shows it to the sheriff. The sheriff’s dog sniffs the fabric before taking off on a path snaking through the woods.

The Tyler Star-News runs a story about the event the next day, including the fact that the escaped men are the prime suspects in the murder of the man from Bens Run, who owed them a gambling debt. The police dog found the men a few miles away, heading back toward the schoolhouse with more stolen goods. A photographer and reporter wanted to include David’s and Marty’s names and image in the story, but their parents refused, not wanting to incite retaliation from the men.

The boys tell their friends at school all about the experience, embellishing the story. At the end of each retelling, Marty is sure to reiterate that it was not Judd’s fault at all and that he is changing. Marty admits, however, that the story is not complete yet and that “the worst [i]s right around the corner” (99).