Even though Fanny was putting on this face of wrath, I could see through her mask and I knew I had been right.
"Let me in, Fanny," I said. "I'm not going to stand out here with those dogs barking and talk to you."
"Oh, so ma home's good enuf fer yer, but I'm not good enuf fer you to invite to your shindig, huh?"
"Let me in, Fanny," I repeated sternly. She stared a moment and then backed up so I could enter and close the door on the dogs behind me. As soon as I did so, I turned to the left and saw Randall standing in the living room doorway. He looked as troubled as a man haunted by an unrelenting conscience. His eyebrows dipped. His head was bowed and his shoulders sagged.
"What'dya want?" Fanny snapped. I could see by the way she looked quickly at Randall that she was putting on a show for him.
"Fanny, Drake's missing," I said in as controlled a voice as I could. I knew how important it was not to show any weakness. She would pounce on it with the speed of a cat pouncing on a helpless mouse. "Do you have him here?"
Fanny didn't respond right away. She smiled brilliantly, her white teeth flashing. It was a wicked, hateful smile, but a smile that built assurance, confience. There was also something in Randall's expression that told me she had convinced him to help her.
She had known I would show up here and she had told him so.
"What if I have? He's ma brotha, too. I got a right ta have him in ma home. He belongs here more n' he belongs with you and Goody Two-shoes."
"Fanny, did you take him?" I demanded, my voice now throwing off the ropes of restraint and sounding a note of hysteria.
"He's where he belongs," she said, admitting it.
I started toward her, my anger, fear, and hate twisted and rolled together like a ball of barbed wire. Her eyes widened in surprise as I rushed forward and seized the collar of her flimsy, cotton blouse, pulling her roughly toward me.
"Where is he? How could you do this? Damn you!"
Fanny gathered her courage and clutched a handful of my hair, her nails digging into my scalp. We struggled only for a moment before Randall rushed in between us, pulling us apart.
"Hold it! Stop! Hold it!" he cried. "Heaven, please. Fanny. Stop!"
Separated, we glared at each other, both of us breathing hard and fast.
"Ya keep yer hands off me, Heaven. We ain't in the cabin in the Willies and ya can't boss me around," she said, straightening her blouse.
I caught my breath and turned to Randall. "Where's Drake?" I demanded.
"He ain't gonna do anythin' ya tell him nuther. He knows what ya are, too."
"Randall!"
"You'll have to work it out between the both of you," he said in a tired and defeated voice. "She has just as much right as you do," he added, turning his back on me and walking back to the living room doorway.
"That's right, Heaven. I do. I have more right. Pa loved me more n' he loved ya and he'd a wanted me ta be a motha ta Drake, not you. Ya hated him and Drake knows that now."
"What?"
"I told him all about it," she said, her hands on her hips. "All 'bout how ya went ta the circus that day, dressed as yer motha, just so yer could punish him and how yer caused that accident that killed poor Tom and nearly killed Luke. Drake knows what ya are. He knows it." She smiled again. "He thinks ya made his motha and father go ta Heaven."
"Where is he?" I demanded again, more panic in my voice. "You can't keep me from him!" I started into the house, but Fanny blocked my way.
"This is ma home, Heaven Leigh, and I don't want ya here, understand?"
"You can't keep Drake from me," I said. "I've called the police and I'll have them up here in moments. You can't stop me from getting him."
"No? Well, I been ta a lawya, Wendell Burton, and he says I have just as much right ta be a motha ta poor Drake as ya do. Especially," she added, turning toward Randall, "since Randall and I are gettin' married and we kin give Drake a home."
"What?" This time when I looked at Randall, he returned my gaze, and I understood that he was so infatuated with Fanny, he would do anything she wanted him to do. Fanny looked very sure about him.
"She's right, Heaven. You had no right to just assume you could take Drake into your home. Fanny has rights, too. She's family, too."
I stared at him a moment and then looked at Fanny, who had gathered herself together again and was looking more confident and satisfied than a wildcat with a fish between its paws.
"You can't just do this . . . kidnap Drake and fill his head with stories to turn him against me. You can't."
"I kin too. I got rights. Ya heard Randall and we spoke ta a lawya," she repeated, making it sound more like a chant.
"Fanny, you don't want to do this," I said, trying to take on a softer, more reasonable tone. "You don't want to take this into a court where everything about us will be exposed like naked mannequins in a storefront for all to see and laugh at. How would you like that?"
"How would you? Yer the one who hasta look high and mighty here. How would yer new family of Stonewalls like it? Think Logan's ma would like it?" she said, turning her shoulder at me. "Think Logan will like stuff brought out in public?"
"You're trying to blackmail me into giving you Drake," I said. I looked at Randall, but his expression was unchanged. "Well, I won't let you. I'll fight you and you'll be the sorry one. I swear it."
She simply smiled.
"Damn you," I said. Her smile faded quickly and was replaced with a face filled with flames. Her eyes burned at me.
"Get outta ma house," she ordered. "Drake doesn't even wanna see ya since I told him the truth."
"My God, what have you done to him?"
"I just brought him home ta his own people," she said proudly. "And that's where he'll stay."
I looked at Randall again. My body was trembling now. Fanny would have never been able to stand so firm and tall against me if Randall hadn't been there, I thought. She was performing for him as much as she was for me now. It had become a matter of her ego and pride, and when ego and pride are at stake, cowards and beggars could become heroes and kings.
"I'm terribly disappointed in you, Randall," I said softly, hoping to appeal to his kind and better nature. "You seemed to me to be a sensitive and intelligent young man. You don't know what you're getting involved in here."
"Oh, yes, he does. He's a college student, ya know. Ya ain't the only one with brains, Heaven."
I felt my throat tighten, my eyes water, but I knew I must not show any signs of weakness here. I bit down on my lower lip and glared at Randall. Then I turned to Fanny and, drawing deeply from the well of my Tatterton ancestry to bring up the grit and strength that turned them into ruthless and successful businessmen, I spat my words at her in the most threatening, frightening voice I could muster.
"I'll come after you now," I said. "With all the power and fury my money can buy, and when this is over, you will truly understand the meaning of vengeance."
She couldn't hold my gaze; she had to turn away. I glared once more at Randall and then I opened the door and stepped out of the house, slamming the door behind me and starting up those annoying watchdogs. This time I practically didn't hear their barking as I walked back to my car.
I don't remember driving away from the house. I don't remember making turns and stopping for traffic lights. I don't remember how I brought myself back to the factory, but suddenly I was there.
Logan, who heard me pull up, came out of the factory quickly.
"Well?" he asked. I just sat there behind the steering wheel staring ahead. "Heaven?"
"She has him," I whispered, like one in a trance. "And she wants to keep him "
"What? You're kidding?"
"No," I said, turning to him. "We've got to go to court to win custody of him."
"Well, that's not going to be hard. We'll just--"
"It's going to be terrible, Logan," I said quickly. "Everything will come out. Everything," I added, to drive home the point. He understood and instinctiv
ely turned around to look at his new empire.
"I see," he said.
"But I don't care," I added firmly. He nodded, but I sensed his fears and reluctance. "Nothing matters more to me than getting Drake back, Logan. Do you understand?" My voice reached a hysterical pitch.
"Yes, yes, of course. Let's go home and tell the police we've found Drake, and tell Mom and Dad what's happened, and then we'll think out our next step."
As we drove to Hasbrouck House, the past few weeks played-in my mind--how I had been slowly winning Drake's love and trust. Because of his sorrow and all that had happened to him, he had formed a hard shell about him, just the way Luke had formed a hard shell about himself right after my mother, Leigh, died giving birth to me. But I had been slowly chipping away at that shell around Drake and I felt I was making good progress. Now Fanny was destroying it. I pictured how handsome Drake had looked in his little suit at the party, and just before we turned into the driveway of the Hasbrouck House, the dam broke and a flood of tears rushed out.
Was I destined to travel through life with Despair and Sorrow at my side, twin sisters who were comfortable in my home? Or maybe happiness, the happiness I kept thinking I finally had within my grasp, was like a beautiful bird. If you held on to it too tightly, you broke its wings and crushed it to die; and if you held onto it too lightly, it would fly away.
Had it flown away?
I was all right until I entered the house, went upstairs, and stopped by Drake's room. Then I burst into tears again and ran into my bedroom to flop on the bed and cry. A short while later Logan came up and closed the door softly behind him. I couldn't hold back the tears or stop my sobs. I felt his hand on my shoulder and turned over to look up at him
"Now, now," he said. "There's no point in getting so upset over it. You know how Fanny is."
"What do you mean, Logan?" I wiped the tears away with the palms of my hands.
"She likes to do spiteful things and then, after she's satisfied, or thinks she's satisfied, she stops. How long do you think she's going to want to have a little boy as a responsibility?" He laughed. "Fanny? I can't imagine it."
"Randall Wilcox is going to marry her, Lo. n."
"Randall Wilcox? I can't believe it. His father will disown him. It's just a story she concocted to make things seem worse to you."
"No, it's true. He was there at the house. She has him under her thumb. She even has him disliking me. But the important thing is Fanny will have a husband and will be able to claim she has a fit home for Drake."
"I still don't believe she'll want to care for--"
"Logan! What do you expect me to do, sit around here and wait for her to get bored with Drake? She's already filled his head with terrible stories about me, turning him against me. Every passing day will add to the disaster."
He nodded thoughtfully.
"Well, I'll get one of my attorneys to do the paperwork and frighten her with a court action. She won't know the first thing about what to do and--"
"She already has a lawyer," I said quickly. "Wendell Burton."
"Wendell Burton?"
I nodded. "He's already given her some legal advice."
"Wendell Burton. He's an ambulance chaser of the worst sort, a parasitic, wormy type. Whenever someone dies in an accident, he's at the funeral parlor handing out his card, hoping they'll hire him to sue someone."
"It doesn't matter what kind of a lawyer he is or how good he is. The point is she has gone that far. It's not as simple as you think. We're going to have to go to court." He stared at me for a moment.
"I can't believe this . . . just when we get the factory started and we're making a mark for ourselves in this community, We have to have a family squabble aired in public."
"It's more than a family squabble, Logan. Far more. A little boy's life is at stake."
"I know that; I know that," he said. He stood up to pace about. "Maybe we can still work something out behind closed doors."
"We can't. You might as well face it."
"Well, jeez, Heaven, can't I at least try for an easier way out of this? I'll make some calls, see what can be done."
I shook my head and sat up.
"You're just like Tony. You think you can solve everything with a phone call or lawyers meeting behind closed doors."
"I'll just try," he repeated, holding his arms out.
"Try," I said. "But I'm not going to let more than a day pass."
"They won't abuse him," he said, trying to make it sound less severe.
"Logan." I narrowed my gaze on him "You pro ised me you would think of Drake the way you would think of your own child."
"I know and I will," he protested.
"Well, would you let someone do this to your own child? Take him away and fill his head with terrible things about you?" He didn't respond. "Would you?"
"Of course not."
"So then . . I'm calling J. Arthur Steine tomorrow and getting his advice and the name of an attorney in Virginia. I'm going to have the best possible legal help and put all the money I have to into this."
"Sure, I understand," he said softly.
"And if it means hanging out our torn and filthy laundry for all to see, still do it to get Drake back, don't care what these people think of us."
"Well, you said the magic word there, Heaven," Logan said. "Us. We have other people to think about . . my parents, for instance." There was such heat in my chest, I thought my heart had caught fire. The glow moved up my throat and neck and into my face. I felt my cheeks burning.
"You didn't think about them when you made love to Fanny in the cabin, did you, Logan?" I asked quickly. He blanched. "Well?"
"I told you how that happened. Do I spend my whole life paying for it?" he whined.
"I don't know," I said. I wiped the remaining tears from my face. "Maybe it's time we all owned up to our pasts and our actions. Maybe this has all happened so we can cleanse ourselves," I said. "Whatever the reason . I'm determined to do what is right and necessary with or without your support."
Logan stared a moment and then nodded.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound selfish. Of course you have my support, and of course I'll be right at your side. I love you too much to ever let you suffer anything alone," he said. "I'll do what I can in the morning to stop this, and if I can't, go anywhere, do anything you want to bring Drake back where he belongs."
"Thank you, Logan." My eyes filled with tears again.
"Don't thank me for loving you as much as I do, Heaven. It's what makes my life worthwhile."
He reached out and we embraced.
"It will be all right," he whispered and kissed my forehead. "You'll see."
"I hope so," I said.
In the morning, right after breakfast, Logan went off to see his laws and make his phone calls. I didn't go down to breakfast. Mrs. Avery brought me a tray with coffee and a piece of toast, all I could manage to eat. She didn't say anything, but I could tell that she knew something bad had happened. She must have inquired after Drake and Logan must have told her something. She was too discreet to ask any questions, but for a moment I longed for someone her age to talk with, a real mother in whom I could confide my fears and problems. How lucky were those girls who had mothers and sisters they loved and could trust, I thought
After I had my coffee, I got a firm hold on myself and did what I told Logan I would do--I phoned J. Arthur Steine. He came to the phone immediately, interrupting a meeting he was having with his associates. He listened sympathetically.
"Can she do what she has done?" I asked quickly after I summarized all that had happened.
"Well, from what you tell me, she is a mature woman, a sibling, too. It never occurred to me at the time of our meeting in my office to ask about any of your brothers or sisters. You seemed to be taking charge of things."
"But Fanny doesn't have the background, the stability, the sense of responsibility," I pleaded and related some of her life to him.
"I see," he
said. "And you say she's getting married now?"
"Yes."
"Well, I think there will have to be a custody hearing, Mrs. Stonewall, and these things will have to be brought out for the judge to view. But with the kind of home you can make for him and your own background, I think the decision will be in your favor."
"I want to be sure," I said. "Please recommend an attorney in Virginia who is an expert in these things. I have a high regard and confidence in your opinion," I added.
"Thank you. Yes, I know someone. His name is Camden Lakewood. You just sit tight and have him phone you as soon as possible."
"Thank you, Mr. Steine," I said.
"It's no problem, Mrs. Stonewall. Please don't ever hesitate to call me if I can be of any assistance to you. Once again, I'm sorry for your troubles, and I will have Camden call you immediately. My regards to Mr. Tatterton," he said.
I thanked him again. A short while later Logan called to deliver the same legal opinion--Fanny did have rights and there would have to be a custody hearing. He wanted me to use his lawyer.
"It's all been taken care of, Logan," I said. "I spoke with Mr. Steine and he's having an attorney who specializes in these natters call me very soon."
"Oh. Well, if that's what you think we should do ."
"I'll speak to you right after I speak with him," I said. I knew that Logan wanted to take control of things, that he probably saw it as the manly thing to do, but the only way I could keep myself from sitting around all day and crying was to keep myself involved in what had to be done to get Drake back.
It wasn't long before Camden Lakewood phoned. I didn't waste any time with him on the phone.
"Mr. Steine recommends you highly, Mr. Lakewood," I said. "Cost is not a concern. How soon can you be at my house?"
"Mrs. Stonewall," he said in what I thought was a distinctly Harvard accent, "I just got off the phone with Arthur Steine and he has filled me in on your family and the problem. be there in less than two hours," he replied.
For really the first time since I had gone to Farthy and reclaimed my mother's family with their wealth and power, I appreciated what it all could do. It boosted my confidence and strengthened my determination. The words I had spat at Fanny would come true, I thought. Nothing she had done when we were children, all the selfish things she had said included, and nothing she had said or done since, including her seduction of Logan, turned me as vehemently against her as her kidnapping of Drake and her poisoning him against me. Somehow she had always managed to get my anger at her to cool and my sympathy for her to grow, but this would not happen now. For the first time I wanted to hurt her back. I wanted vengeance, Willies vengeance.
Casteel 03 Fallen Hearts Page 28
