The Back Building

by Julie Dewey

“How about the yellow one then?” I asked, putting the purple one back in place of the sunny yellow dress.

  “Topher says yes.”

  “Okay then, let’s get you ready. Hold up your arms for me.” I slipped the dress over her underclothes and then we braided her hair and tied pretty bows with green ribbons at the ends.

  “You will make so many friends today, I can’t wait to hear all about it!”

  “Topher is sad.”

  “Why?”

  “He knows he has to stay home and he is going to be lonely.”

  “Topher can help me with Johnathan, how about that? I’ll be sure to keep him busy, okay?”

  “Okay. Thank you, Mama.”

  I felt all the air I had been holding in expel from my chest. Thankfully, Suzette had the wherewithal to realize Topher was better off at home than with her as she started kindergarten. I walked her to school, and lingered as she left me. She was growing up so fast. She didn’t cry like some of the other children did, instead she waved me off and ran along confidently.

  It was an unseasonably warm day so I pushed Johnathan in his pram towards the mill to share the news with James. As we approached, I could see James from afar as he directed men with sacks of grain towards the warehouse. I admired him as he worked, he was clearly respected by the men who looked up to him for he had a tireless work ethic.

  “Darling, what are you two doing here?” He ran towards me worried something was wrong.

  “We thought we’d take a little walk through town today while Suzette was at school. I wanted you to know that Topher is not with her.” He took my meaning immediately and hugged me tight.

  We had both wanted a normal life for our daughter and felt relieved. After spending a few moments with James, we walked further into town towards the bakery. I selected a white cake with vanilla icing for tonight’s dessert. If there was one thing I did not do, it was deprive my children of dessert as my mother did me. Usually we had berries with cream, or tarts, and pies, but tonight we were having cake.

  I carried the cake box atop the pram and took the baby to watch the ducks glide across the pond in town. I found another woman and her small child and we chatted briefly. It turned out her daughter was also starting kindergarten today. We decided perhaps sometime in the next week we would allow the girls to play together after school.

  Soon it was time to gather Suzette from school, I waited outside her building and my heart soared when I saw her holding the hands of two other girls. I knew she was capable of making friends and this proved it.

  “Mama,” she yelled and ran towards me for a hug.

  “How was your first day?” I asked, but could tell from the huge smile she wore that she enjoyed herself immensely.

  “I made friends, Mama, and the teacher taught us how to write our letters. Can I show you?”

  “Of course, let’s get home and you can show me everything.”

  That night we had cake and felt the sweet blessings of the day.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Cat

  The following morning after the same rigmarole of selecting an outfit that met Topher’s approval, we dressed, ate breakfast and went to school. I decided to spend the morning at home doing chores so the baby and I came immediately back to the house.

  When I approached our homestead I noted that the door was ajar. I was certain I closed it. I had no doubt, for I was always concerned about the barn cats getting inside. The barn cats weren’t trustworthy with the baby, one even tried to smother him once, so they were not allowed entrance under any circumstances.

  I felt a shiver go up my spine and then I heard the familiar voice. “Hello, Iona.”

  It was Cat. She looked twenty years older, she was filthy and missing several of her teeth. I didn’t want to hug her for her attire smelled something awful. She had a peculiar look in her eye and I suddenly felt very afraid.

  Cat held a knife in her hand, but laughed when she saw my eyes glance at it.

  “Aren’t you happy to see me?” She muttered somewhat jumpy.

  “Cat. Why of course I am, it’s just unexpected. Please, sit, let me make us some tea.”

  “Got any food?” I am starving.

  “How about I make you some eggs?” Wondering why she was here and who else she had brought to my door. I cracked four eggs and scrambled them with water, put a dollop of butter in the frying pan and let them set while I made toast. Cat inhaled her food and I offered to make her more. She was afraid if she ate more she would vomit.

  “Cat, where have you been? What happened to you?” I asked gently, putting my hand on top of hers.

  “Oh, I’ve been around.” She said evasively as she made a circle in the air with her fork.

  “Did you find Samuel?” I had to know if she found her husband.

  “Oh, I found him alright, he already forgot about me though. He was bedding another young girl when I made it to him. I was sick, you remember, and he wouldn’t even take me in. He threatened to return me to my father’s home if I didn’t leave. So, I pretended to leave, waited for night to fall, stole the money I knew he kept hidden in his church shoes and ran.”

  “I went to Rochester and spent time in a little town called Penfield. It was nice, but got boring after a while. I’ve been traveling a bit here and there. Thought I’d come see how you were making out.”

  “Well, James and I are married. We have two children now and things have worked themselves out.”

  “That’s good, that’s good,” Cat said, she was fidgety and kept glancing outside which caused me to wonder about her state of mind.

  “How about if we get you cleaned up? I could draw you a bath and you can stay with us tonight if you need a place.”

  “Okay, yes, yes.” She was repeating herself and looking around nervously. She grabbed for the baby, but I swooped him into my arms before she could get a hold of him.

  “Here, now this is the bathroom. Hand me out your clothes and I’ll give you something of mine to wear.” Cat was about five feet and six inches tall, but she was so thin now I wouldn’t guess she weighed one hundred pounds. She closed the door as she undressed and filled the tub. I thought her wrists looked chafed, but would have to earn her trust before I could get a better look.

  It had been nearly eight years since I had laid eyes on the woman who saved my life when we escaped from Willard. So much had happened for me during that time, and the sudden appearance from someone in my past unsettled me.

  I clomped off the mud on her shoes and started washing her clothing. Honestly I wanted to burn the garment for fear it was infested with lice or worse. When an hour past, I knocked gently on the bathroom door, “Cat” it’s me, can I come in?” When Cat didn’t answer I opened the door, across her chest was the raised flesh of an angry scar that was ten or eleven inches long. Her wrists had fresh wounds that needed tending, the cuts were deep and infected causing me to think she was recently shackled. Why? What could have happened to this woman?

  “Cat, I need to clean your wounds.” The timbre of my voice relayed the seriousness of the situation. I brought iodine and cotton balls into the bath and prayed the baby wouldn’t fuss. I laid the medicine across a towel and set about cleaning her wrists. The tub water was murky so I pulled the drain to empty the filth. She lay naked, unabashed in the empty tub and closed her eyes as it refilled.

  I left her to soak and went into our bedroom where we kept our worldly goods, I retrieved our money from my dresser drawer and stuffed the roll of bills into my bodice, I only owned two pieces of jewelry so I stuffed them in my bodice as well. I needed to pick up Suzette in a few hours and felt paranoid about leaving Cat alone in my home. I had no doubt she would paw through our belongings and take whatever she liked in payment for setting me free years ago. I had no doubt Cat had an agenda, I just needed to figure it out. I told her I needed to go to school, but that I’d return within in the hour.

  I ran to school with Johnathan and thankfully I wasn’t late retrieving Suz
ette. I spoke briefly with the teacher who adored her and we left. On the way home I took a detour to Jennifer’s home with the children.

  “Grandma Jenny wants to hear all about school so I promised her a visit.”

  “Yippee, I hope Grammy made us oatmeal raisin cookies!” My daughter chimed as she skipped ahead of me.

  We knocked on the door of Jennifer’s home and I thanked my lucky stars when she answered. She immediately recognized the anguish on my face and I pulled her aside while Suzette busied herself in the play area Jennifer set up for the kids.

  “Can you watch the kids tonight?”

  “Of course, what on earth is wrong?”

  “Cat, I told you about her, she is at the house and she isn’t right……”

  “Does James know?”

  “No, and I don’t want her to get suspicious if I am gone too long so I can’t run to the mill and tell him.”

  “I will. Now you be careful, not everyone who escaped Willard was meant to. Maybe you should take the gun?”

  “Heavens no, I couldn’t. I am sure everything will be fine, I just need to find out what her game is.”

  “Be careful, Iona.” She hugged me and I said chirpy goodbyes to the children.

  When I got home, Cat had seemingly disappeared.

  “Cat, where are you? I’m back, let’s catch up, where are you?”

  She stumbled out from behind the porch door and it was easy to see she had found our whiskey. She held the bottle in one hand and a gleaming knife in the other.

  “Remember when I saved your life all those years ago?” She slurred.

  “Of course I do, I owe you my freedom. What do you need, Cat, tell me so that I can help.”

  She put the knife down and sat with the bottle of whiskey. Taking a long gulp she hiccuped and launched into her story.

  “I have to get away from here, they’ll be after me in no time.”

  “Who, Cat, who will be after you.”

  “Same mean bastard who gave me this scar.”

  “Cat, did you lead them here?” She ignored the question.

  “See I had a ruse going, and it worked pretty well for a time. I dressed up real nice and pretty and pretended to be interested in buying a horse and carriage that I found listed for sale in the paper. I showed up to the address acting all ladylike with a purse full of money so the sellers knew I was capable of managing the purchase. I’d ask to take the animals out for a jaunt to see how they behaved. Usually the folks was unsuspecting and let me take the horses with the carriage too, then I never returned.”

  “You’re a horse thief?” I wanted her out of my house at once.

  “That I am. I’d sell the animals the next town over and for a few years I made a living this way. Until eventually someone recognized their horse and people started to put two and two together. One mean son of a bitch tracked me down, truth was he was thieving horses too, and he’s the one that sliced me open so I’d stay out of his way. Left me for dead too, but his brother, Willard, took pity on me. He was slow in the head, didn’t talk much, but tried to patch me up. I made nice with him and grew to like his odd ways. His brother saw how happy I made him and after much debate the group decided I could help by posing as a rich widow needing to buy horses, only difference now was they got to keep the money. A small price for my life.

  “Gracious. We can’t let them find you, Cat. You’ll be hung for sure.”

  “Ain’t you gonna ask me how I escaped?”

  “Sure, I suppose but right now I’m more concerned how to keep you hidden.”

  Then a booming voice behind me said, “Too late for that, ladies.”

  A man with a pistol had entered my home, he had two or three men outside, and they all had guns and rifles too. He looked me up and down in a way that made me feel dirty and then his eyes settled on Cat.

  “So we meet again.” He said gravely.

  “Sir, please, I’ll pay whatever she owes,” I interrupted him as he approached Cat.

  “She only told you half the story I’m afraid. It’s true, we got in a little scuffle when she got in the way of my con, costing me time and money. I might have been able to get over that but then she got in tight with my brother and convinced us she was gonna join our little gang, that she was working for us now. We could hear her and my brother going at it all night long too. She’s a feisty one, we thought she was good for him because he was dim-witted and ain’t never had a woman before. Then my brother caught her stealing his roll and making an attempt to run. That’s when she shackled him and burned down the barn we was hiding in. She damn near burned him alive and we would have all died too but we left the building to sleep under the stars so we didn’t have to hear ‘em grunting no more. One of the men heard them fighting and ran to see what was going on, he made it out of the flames alive and told us everything. My brother died the next day from his wounds. We tracked her and once we found her we tied her up good, but somehow this one always gets away. Should have shot her then. Ain’t making that mistake twice. I am here to see justice is done.” The man spit a wad of chewing tobacco right on my floor without a single care.

  I looked from the man with the pistol to the men outside. They were an unruly bunch that one did not tangle with. I reached into my blouse and pulled out the wad of bills, I handed them forward and begged them to leave. The front man released his trigger and aimed the barrel of his gun right at Cat. She never flinched, she stared him down, willing him to kill a woman.

  “You gonna kill the woman that’s carrying your brother’s child?” She taunted.

  He was caught off guard by her words, but pointed the gun anyway, and that’s when we heard the sounds of rifles going off outside.

  Jennifer had made a run to town with the children in tow. She told James that I looked like I had seen a ghost. James, Don, the Sheriff, and several other men surrounded the place now. One of the ruffians started shooting wildly into the house, so Cat and I sunk down to the ground. The man inside grabbed my hair and lifted Cat up and over his shoulder, then he walked right outside with us as his hostages.

  “Hear me!” He yelled. “I got a fine woman here, you put your guns down and let my men go or she will be coming with me.”

  “Leave both the women unharmed,” the sheriff yelled.

  “No, Sir, this one owes me a life, she’ll be coming with me.”

  Just then James pointed his loaded rifle to the man’s back. The man dropped Cat and me and stepped off the porch with his hands up.

  “Now drop your weapons, men, we have the house surrounded.”

  With a rifle pointed at their front man, the men dropped their weapons in unison. The Sheriff and his deputy came forward and shackled the men. Then he came for Cat.

  “But Sheriff, she’s pregnant!”

  “She doesn’t look pregnant to me.”

  Cat lifted her dress and surely there was a round firm baby bump that I had not noticed before. I suppose because I was focused on her scar and the fresh wounds on her wrists. She didn’t look more than three months along, but now I understood why she thought she would vomit her meal of eggs.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Willard Once More

  “Sir, you cannot keep a pregnant woman in jail,” I argued with the sheriff.

  “With all due respect, this pregnant woman is a criminal. She is being held accountable for murder, arson, and the theft of over a dozen horses. I can’t let her go. However, if you can think of an alternative, I would consider it, but otherwise she will stay here until her trial.”

  “Can I see her?” I asked, concerned about her health.

  “I don’t see the harm. Come on, follow me.” The Sheriff led me down a narrow hallway to the dank jail cell they concocted specially for Cat. They had a few drunks sleeping off the night’s charades in the front cells and seeing as she was pregnant were allowing her some privacy.

  I hugged Cat from across a table, “Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant? Why didn’t you come to me b
efore?”

  “It wouldn’t have mattered.” She said with trembling voice.

  “I could have helped, but now you’ll be charged with murder, and arson, and theft. You’ll be hung, Cat. Unless….”

  “Unless what?”

  “Unless this baby matters to you.”

  “It does.” She put a protective hand over her bump and smiled ever so slightly.

  “There is one solution. You could go back to Willard Hospital. They accepted pregnant patients years ago and I am sure they will now. You can have the baby there, and I will visit you as often as I can. I will care for and love your baby is if it were my own.”

  “As soon as the baby is born they would hang me, so either way it doesn’t matter.”

  “It matters because you’d be kept alive at Willard if you are declared insane. That means you can remain in touch with the baby. I can send you photographs, and letters with updates. Jennifer could pose as the child’s grandmother and bring him to visit.”

  “This presumes you’d be willing to take a chance on my child? What if he or she is dumb like its father?” Cat asked.

  “We will love the child regardless. We have a happy home, Cat, the baby would have siblings to grow up with.” I looked into her empty, sad eyes, that up until now had been full of torment and regret. Now I thought I saw a flicker of hope.

  “How did it all go so wrong for me, Iona? Does this baby even stand a chance?” She asked vulnerably.

  “I want you to think about this, I’ll come back tomorrow and we can talk some more.” I had to think about this as well. It wasn’t the baby’s fault that he or she would be born into such dire circumstances. It deserved a good life and I could give it that. But I needed to discuss it with James.

  Cat had become careless in her appearance and drank alcohol freely, she had difficulty sleeping and couldn’t secure an honest job. She committed crimes, yet did this qualify her to be subject once more to Willard? Just reminiscing about my short stint there made me emotional. Memories of shuffling, catatonic patients took over my mind and I knew at once I didn’t want to see Cat like that. We would hire a lawyer for her, the best in town, and plead not guilty to the charge of murder. I would personally take on work to pay back all the money she earned from stealing horses. She was shifty, it was true, and I didn’t trust her entirely. Yet she stuck her neck out for me once and it made all the difference. She needed tender care, she needed three solid meals a day, a warm bath, and to know she was loved.