The Eaton Story

      The Eaton Story

Suzanne Marsh

Terlingua, Texas 1896

John Eaton discovered by chance that part of his property had cinnabar on it. Cinnabar, he learned was used to make mercury. He was sitting on a great deal of money, he was also the wealthiest man in town. His ranch house was a mansion, rich green velvet drapes hung gracefully in the long windows of the sitting room and parlor. His library had a collection of Mark Twain and the complete works of William Shakespeare, his wife was a beautiful blond woman with blue eyes and alabaster skin. He had it all except for one thing, his son Matthew.

The day Matt was born, John waited patiently for the birth of his only son, he and Jenny also had two daughters. The girls graduated from finishing schools in the north, he wanted them to be proper young ladies, and they had married well. There was a shadow that lurked in the house, Matt. John had known for years there was something wrong with the boy; they hired a male keeper to care for him. His rooms were behind a hidden wall of the main staircase.

John decided over time he required more land, so he began to take an interest in the Cinnabar Mine, which he called The Cinn Mine. Mace Donovan was not only John’s friend but also his right-hand man. Together they were a formidable pair, over six feet tall, and carried themselves proudly as they walked the boardwalk heading for the White Oak Saloon and dance hall. There were times when John grew tired of being home, and his wife Ellen always wanted to try something new that would help their son Matt. The boy was locked up in his rooms for everyone’s safety. The boy was allowed outside only after dark when no one could get a glimpse of him. John had told everyone in town the boy had died when he was two years of age.

Sheriff Tom Slade patrolled the streets of Terlingua every hour on the hour, it was a safe quiet town and he intended to keep it that way. He noted John and Mace as they entered the White Oak. Tom thought to himself:

‘I wonder what Eaton is doing in town; he and Donovan are a mean pair, especially when drunk. I guess I should send my deputy over to the saloon to keep an eye on things.’

The thought came as quickly as it went; a fistfight broke out at the edge of town between two cowhands and several miners from The Cinn Mine. He was going to have to stop that now before it got any worse. Miners and cowhands did not mix well in Terilingua, the miners from Cinn Mine were the worst of any of the miners. They were hard men, when they came into town there was always trouble, maybe Eaton was here to stop something before it got started, but Tom never really understood the man.

Jed Haskins watched from a distance, his sister Ellen had sent him a telegram asking him to come to see her. Jed hid in the brush, suddenly Ellen appeared, gone was the beautiful blond woman he had grown up with; in her stead was a white-haired woman, moving slowly toward him. Jed wanted to ask what was wrong but he waited as Ellen began:

“Jed, oh I have missed you. I must get away from here before something terrible happens.

I know that John has been having an affair with one of the saloon girl’s her name is

Sally Sue. I don’t care about that, he is not the man I married. Will you help me, Jed?

I mean about getting away from here.”

Jed stared at his sister, who was this woman? He stood silently for several minutes:

“Ellen, what has happened to you? What has John done to you? I will help you

but you need to tell me what has happened.”

Meanwhile, back in town, the body of another dance hall girl was found hidden in a mound of hay. Her body was disfigured by knife wounds to her face. The murders had been happening over the last five years. Sheriff Slade arrived on the scene and took one look:

“Go get the doc, we have to find the killer, and soon, before the town panics like it did last time

a girl was murdered. I want this kept as quiet as possible, is that understood?”

The sheriff walked out of the barn, thinking about who killed the girl, it was hard to tell but she bore a resemblance to Sally Sue. John Eaton was suspect until otherwise proved, the concern was who else had a motive. John’s wife Ellen knew about Sally Sue, she wouldn’t hurt anyone, especially Sally Sue, she actually liked the girl.

Tom Slade noted John Eaton coming out of the saloon, he strode over toward him:

“John, can I minute of your time?”

John saw the look on Tom’s face:

“Tom, what’s happened?”

Tom faced John:

“Sally Sue was murdered, her face was cut to ribbons, we identified her from that silver

necklace she always wore.”

John felt as if he were going to be ill, he had always liked Sally Sue a great deal, he had a feeling he knew who killed her, Ellen, there was no way, and from the sound of what the sheriff said Sally Sue was not the first one murdered. He began to think of his son Matt. He remembered how Matt took great delight in pulling the wings off of flies, then progressed to birds, his favorite bird was a small red-winged blackbird. There had been dead dogs, cats, raccoons and one of the steers that he had found, its face had been slashed.

John, knew then it was Matt, the question was what to do. He had to get the boy out of town, he could send him to an insane asylum in Austin. He knew the town would hang Matt for the murder. He went home, and told Ellen what happened:

“I know Matt did it, what I want to know is how he got out and to town. I thought the

keeper we hired was supposed to keep him in his rooms. Ellen, if Tom Slade finds

out about Matt, he will be hung for murder. I think for all our sakes it might be better

if Matt were sent to a lunatic asylum in Austin. It is either that or we slip him an

overdose of sleeping powders. Ellen, we can’t keep him any longer. Slade is snooping

around, I am the most powerful man in Terlingua but I can’t allow murders to

continue.”

Ellen knew he was correct in what he was saying:

“John, he is our firstborn, I can’t bear to send him away, I supposed the sleeping powders

would be best. Will we do it tonight?”

John nodded as a tear trickled down his face, and he wiped it away. Later that evening they went together to Matt's rooms, they stayed with him while he drank. He was dead within moments. Jed Haskins knew what had been done, Ellen told him. Jed simply could not leave things alone:

“Ellen, why did you allow John to kill the boy?”

Ellen smiled through her tears:

“Jed, he was our son, Matt was a murderer, we couldn’t allow him to hang, so we did the

best that we could. We are going to bury him quietly under the mesquite tree where he

played as a boy.” Ellen turned away then and walked back to the main house. She knew all the power that John wielded; this had and would always be their secret.