by Lisa Bingham
Just as I’d suspected, Mama’s garnet necklace turned up missing. It had been a present from a grandmother I’d never met. For as long as I could remember, it had been kept in a box in her top drawer. But when I went to fetch Mama some socks, I noticed the box was empty.
Secretly, I suspected that Rebel Mae had stolen the necklace—although I didn’t dare utter the words aloud. When I asked Mama about the missing piece of jewelry, she grew pale, searching my gaze before turning her head and mumbling that it must have fallen down in the drawer somewhere.
From that point on, I kept my eye on Rebel Mae. I was sure she’d maliciously taken the necklace, but I would need proof before taking my accusations to my father.
Rebel Mae must have sensed my scrutiny because she kept her tops tightly buttoned from then on. Nevertheless, her behavior became increasingly odd. Rather than having me help with the dishes after dinner, she sent me to my room to complete my homework. I would spent the next hour or two concentrating on my studies and playing with Astra, all the while conscious of a house that had grown quiet. Too quiet.
Sometimes, I would tiptoe back to the kitchen, only to discover that Rebel Mae had left the dishes in the sink and had disappeared. Stranger yet, my father was also nowhere to be found.
Soon after the disappearance of the necklace, my mother and Astra came down with the fever and I was given the task of caring for them. Since my father was leery of the illness, I slept in Mama’s room while he took the couch.
Astra was especially ill, alternately screaming in distress or spitting up what little food I’d managed to get into her belly. It was a relief, when late one night, her fever broke and she fell into a light sleep.
Knowing that she might wake again, I decided to run to the privy while I still could. Tiptoeing through the house, I eased outside, did my business, then dawdled on my way back. The air was heavy with the smell of pine and wood smoke. Train cars made a distant rattling in the direction of the sawmill, while overhead, the moon hung like the grin of the Cheshire Cat.
I breathed deeply of the pungent air, the tension of the past few days easing from my body and leaving me so exhausted I felt as if I trudged through wet sand. I wanted to sleep for a hundred years. No. A thousand.
Since Astra had fallen asleep next to my mother, I decided to go to my own bed. I was sure I’d hear if she cried. Not wanting to wake my father who slept in the parlor, I crept through the house and eased open the door to my room.
A sound alerted me. It was like nothing I’d ever heard before, causing the hairs at the back of my neck to raise. Instinctively, I grew still, my heart pounding so loudly in my ears I was sure the whole house could hear it. But the two figures in the middle of the room were completely unaware of me.
I don’t know how long I stood there, my eyes adjusting to the dimness. Instinctively, I knew I should back away and close the door, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from my father. His body was in profile, etched in the glow of moonlight that poured into the room. He was standing at an odd angle, his feet braced slightly apart, his pants wadded around his ankles, his belt lying like a snake on the floor.
To this day, I wish that I’d followed my first instincts and returned to Mama’s room. But I was too young to know that I was in very real danger. Instead, I was transfixed by the way my father’s head was flung back in abandon, his eyes squeezed closed. And his hands…
His hands were tangled in Rebel Mae’s hair, holding her on her knees in front of him. While she—
Too late, I stepped back. The floorboards beneath me creaked.
In an instant, the tableau was broken. Rebel Mae’s eyes opened and she reared back as if burned.
Knowing it was only a matter of seconds before my father realized the source of her distress, I ran. I ran outside, into the night, plunging into the same woods that had frightened me so many years before.
By this time, I’d learned how to use the shadows to my advantage. I lunged beneath the branches of a huge pine tree just as I heard my father slam from the house and call out my name.
Shivering, I drew my knees tightly to my chest, trembling. Closing my eyes, I scrubbed the heels of my hands over my eyelids as if I could scour the scene from my memory.
My father. His head flung back. And Rebel Mae…
Try as I might, I couldn’t wipe away the image. It lay in sharp relief as if it had been seared into my eyelids.
I sobbed, clapping my hands over my mouth.
But it was too late. He’d heard me. Pine needles and forest litter crunched beneath the soles of his boots as he made his way to my hiding place. Before I could even react, his hand shot out and he was yanking me from my prickly nest.
I cried bitterly all the way home—not knowing why I should feel so frightened or ashamed, yet sensing that something was wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong. And I was the person to blame.
For that, I would be punished far more seriously than I’d ever been before.
RueAnn
Chapter Four
Sweet Briar, U.S.A.
The ka-chick of a round being pumped into a shotgun split the night like a lightning bolt. Charlie rolled off the bed and onto his feet, his body tightly coiled and ready to spring.
But when two men stepped out of the darkness, armed and angry, he knew things would not be as simple as exchanging a few fisticuffs.
RueAnn screamed, dodging for the door. Before she could take a half-dozen steps, the younger man took the lid from a scarred wooden box and tossed the contents onto the ground at her feet.
It took several seconds for Charlie’s addled brain to comprehend what he was seeing. Snakes. Angry snakes with tails that shook like maracas, and heads that wove back and forth as if they debated whether they should strike at RueAnn or Charlie first.
“Bloody hell! Have you lost your ruddy minds?”
Without thinking, Charlie snatched at the linens, throwing a heavy quilt over the reptiles. Then he grasped RueAnn and pulled her behind the shield of his body. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
The larger, hulking shape leveled the double-barrel shotgun at his chest. “I am her father.”
Charlie supposed he should have known. Really, who else would have attacked them so savagely? But that didn’t stop the utter disbelief, then the shame—and yes, a touch of fear that raced through him. Bloody, bloody hell! Wasn’t it just his luck to be caught making love to the proverbial minister’s daughter?
But how—
As if reading his mind, RueAnn’s father drew a small business card from his pocket. “Your roommates were very helpful, RueAnn. After a little…persuasion…they offered up the address of this man’s lawyer.” His scathing gaze settled like a brand on Charlie. “He proved equally obliging.”
Charlie inwardly railed against his own carelessness. He’d written the name of his hotel and the room number on the back of his solicitor’s business card when he’d first arrived in Washington D.C. He’d never thought such an innocent act could lead to such dire consequences.
“Look, I—”
“Quiet!” RueAnn’s father shouted at him. “She will answer to me.”
Charlie became aware of the way RueAnn trembled violently behind him and suddenly, it all made sense—her reticence, her shyness, and yes, even her explosive hunger. She’d freely admitted that she needed to run away from this man. But Charlie had been so sure they were safe, that no one would think to look for them here.
Ice swept through his veins as the snakes writhed beneath the blanket mere inches away. But even that was nothing compared to the weapon aimed in his direction.
Shit!
Suddenly, he remembered the scars he’d briefly seen on RueAnn’s back. The crisscrossing strokes. With a surety that surprised even himself, Charlie acknowledged the rage rising within him and he knew, then and there, that he would have to do everything he could to help RueAnn escape from this zealot. If he didn’t…
Charlie felt an icy dread s
pread through him as he met the man’s black gaze. His eyes were as dark as RueAnn’s. Even darker. But there was a meanness to him that RueAnn would never have. A rabid fanaticism that cloaked him like an ominous cloud. This man would kill her if he was given a chance.
Drawing to full height, Charlie tucked her even more firmly behind the wall of his body. “This is private property—my property. You need to vacate the premises immediately or I’ll be calling the authorities.”
RueAnn’s father gave no indication of even having heard him.
“RueAnn Boggs, you have defiled yourself in front of God. This time, He will not save you. He will send his serpents to smite thee and to fill thee with the poison of thy iniquity!” He used the barrel of his rifle to point to the writhing shapes beneath the blanket. “Remove the blanket and pick up the serpent.” When she didn’t respond, he shouted, “Now!”
Charlie felt a spasm of disbelief when the woman behind him moved and actually bent. He grabbed her wrist, forcing her to stay where she stood.
“No, RueAnn. Ignore him.”
“I am her father! She will answer to me!”
“And I’m to be her husband!” Charlie shouted in return, not knowing why he uttered the words, merely sensing it might the only argument that could save them both. “Show him the ring, RueAnn.”
When she didn’t move, he glanced at her over his shoulder. “Show him the engagement ring I gave to you this afternoon.”
At long last, she understood. Holding out her left hand, she revealed the cheap metal ring she’d taken from the Cracker Jack box. Charlie could only hope that in the light of the fire it looked convincing.
“You’re a liar,” the man ground out through his teeth.
“We’ve been seeing each other since I came to the States.” Dear Lord, let him weave a story with the ease that his mother had claimed came second nature to him as a child. “I have to return to England soon, but we decided not to wait any longer before being married. We were planning on a small ceremony with the Justice of the Peace tomorrow morning, but things got…a little out of hand in the meantime.”
RueAnn’s father pinned them both in a withering glare, before he turned his gaze on his daughter. “Is this true?”
RueAnn’s chin tilted defiantly. “Yes.”
“Weren’t you taught the sacred commandments? Weren’t you taught that fornication is as grievous a sin as murder?”
He suddenly shouldered his shotgun, sighting down the barrel. “You have betrayed God, your father, and your good family name! I should exact the Lord’s revenge here and now!”
“The Lord’s revenge?” RueAnn retorted bitterly. “Or yours?”
The words shivered in the cool night air, issuing a challenge that Charlie didn’t understand, but that he was sure shouldn’t have been uttered.
She eased from behind Charlie’s shape, appearing especially small and vulnerable in the too-big nightgown. “I’m not the only one who’s given in to temptation. If God can forgive others, why can’t he forgive me?”
The room suddenly trembled with an explosive silence, and Charlie thought he saw a flicker of fear in the elder man’s eyes.
“You’ve carried the stamp of the devil with you since the day you were born,” he rasped in disgust. “You’ve been nothing but trouble!”
She didn’t move, didn’t flinch, but Charlie ached for her.
The man’s gaze flicked to Charlie again and he sneered. “It’s time to be done with you once and for all. You’ll marry this man within the hour. Then you’ll be his responsibility.” He held up a finger, stabbing it into the air in front of her face. “Once you’re married, you’ll be dead to me. You will have no contact with your mother or your sisters ever again. You will be exorcized from our family. I will not have you spreading the disease of sin to others.”
Her knees suddenly buckled and Charlie quickly wrapped his arms around her waist to support her. Obviously, now that their bluff had been called, she was sure that Charlie would leave her in the lurch.
Sadly, he realized that she’d read his character correctly. He was a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of fellow. But as he stared down into eyes the color of rich loam and fertile fields, he couldn’t do it. He’d been a cad for most of his life, chasing one scheme after another on the off chance that he might find something that would give him that sense of purpose that he craved. He’d even begun working for the British Secret Intelligence Service in an effort to help him settle down and make a man of himself. Yet, he’d still felt unsatisfied.
Until now.
If he couldn’t do anything else of value, he could help this woman escape from an untenable situation.
“You’ll still marry me, won’t you, luv?” Charlie said.
RueAnn imperceptibly shook her head. It was clear she didn’t want him to commit to such a drastic step merely because she was afraid of her father’s wrath.
But this time, he wasn’t thinking so much about future consequences. He was clutching at straws, doing something totally uncharacteristic. All because, for once, he wanted to be a hero in someone’s eyes.
Not allowing RueAnn to voice her misgivings aloud, he stated for her father’s benefit, “We know just where to go to find the Justice of the Peace, Mr. Boggs. If you and your…companion would like to follow us in your truck, you can be our witnesses.”
• • •
RueAnn’s marriage to Charles Emerson Tolliver was completed in little less than an hour. They drove back to the service station where that afternoon they’d drunk bottled colas and laughed at the owner’s placard advertising his services as mechanic, barber, and Justice of the Peace.
At first, the Honorable Rupert Haddock had been irritated at being disturbed in the middle of the night. But a glimpse of the shotgun only partially concealed beneath Jacob Boggs’s overcoat had clearly convinced him that it would be worth his while to perform the ceremony with haste, despite the numerous irregularities involved. He’d been flustered as he’d prompted RueAnn and Charlie to exchange their vows, pausing often to mop his bald dome with a voluminous bandana. Then, after accepting the fee and handing Charlie the properly signed documents, he’d slammed the door upon them all and thrown the deadbolt.
RueAnn stood shivering in the cool autumn air, her arms wrapped around her for warmth. She was exhausted beyond belief. Her head throbbed and she was sure that the faint odor of sex that clung to her body marked her as a woman of easy virtue. She wanted nothing more than to sleep and forget this night had ever happened.
Charlie took her elbow. “Get in the car, RueAnn.”
“But—” She started, realizing that this marriage hadn’t been a complete sham. She and Charlie might be intimate strangers, but the paper she’d signed had made their union real.
“Get in the car,” he repeated. He squeezed her elbow reassuringly, but there was a thread of steel to his tone. “I want to have a word with your father.”
“No, Charlie!” She tried to stop him but he very firmly led her to the borrowed sedan, opened the door, and settled her inside. Then he moved to the dark pair of shadows made by her father and brother.
Without warning, Charlie lunged, tearing the shotgun from her father’s hands. He leveled the weapon at Jacob’s chest, barking an order at her brother. Gideon hesitated, then reluctantly pulled a pistol from the waist of his pants. He dropped it into the dust and kicked it away.
Harsh words were exchanged on either side. Then Charlie gestured toward the truck with the barrel of his weapon. Reluctantly, the two men climbed inside and sped from the parking lot, gravel spewing in all directions, a blast of buckshot serving as a final punctuation mark before the air grew still and silent.
Then and only then did Charlie scoop up the pistol and return to the car, dumping both guns onto the back seat before climbing in himself.
He sat there for several long seconds, staring out of the window, his hands unconsciously curling into fists, releasing, then curling again.
�
��What did you say to them?” RueAnn finally whispered.
He turned suddenly, as if surprised to find her there. Then he blinked and offered curtly. “I made it clear that they weren’t to bother you again.”
He started the motor and drove back in the direction of his aunt’s house. “We need to lock up, put out the water heater and collect our things.”
She nodded.
He glanced at his watch, swearing softly. “I’ve only got a few hours before my train leaves. It’s the last one that can get me to New York in time to take the boat to England.”
“Then we’d better hurry.”
His eyes filled with apology. “If there was any way I could stay longer, I would.”
“You need to go.”
“RueAnn, I—”
“Please don’t say anything,” she interrupted. Then more softly, “Please don’t say anything more.”
They closed up the house in silence, making sure that even the tiniest ember had been doused in the fireplace and the hot water heater. RueAnn quickly stripped the bed again, placing the soiled linens and the nightdress in the closet since there was nothing else she could do about them.
The return to Washington D.C. was completed in silence. Afraid of what Charlie might say to tarnish the memory of those stolen moments amid the roses, she leaned her head on the back of the seat and turned her face away from him, pretending to sleep while an ache clawed at her chest and unshed tears built up to a point that made her heart pound.
She didn’t need her father’s voice echoing in her head to remind her that she’d behaved totally out of character. She was usually so tongue-tied around men, but with Charlie…
She’d given him her body…
And her heart.
RueAnn squeezed her eyes shut, trying to deny that such a thing was possible. A person couldn’t fall in love so quickly.
But she had. She loved him. Even though she might never see him again. And if she were given the events of the past few days to live over again, she wouldn’t exchange a single moment of her time with Charlie. Her only regret was that they would be separated so soon. She longed to feel his arms around her, his body pressed close to her own.
