by Abigail Keam
I searched for June and discovered her perched on the passenger seat in my beat-up golf cart. I didn’t see the Bentley and wondered how she got here, but pushed those thoughts aside, as I got in the driver’s seat while Baby jumped in the back, immediately sliding his gigantic head over June’s shoulder, wanting to be petted.
She laughed and reached up to stroke Baby’s nose. “You’re just a big baby, Baby.”
I reached for a towel in the back of the cart to wipe away the strands of drool hanging from Baby’s mouth. “Baby, sit down. You’re getting June all grimy.”
“Don’t worry, Josiah. I don’t care.”
“For a woman who doesn’t care about clothes, you sure have a lot of threads in your closet.”
Ignoring me, June suggested, “This cart is on its last legs. You better get it replaced.”
“Sandy Sloan shot it trying to kill me, and then Darius shot it trying to save me. I’m lucky Matt got it to run at all.”
“How is our deliciously beautiful Matt?”
I sighed. “Settling in. Meriah is being difficult about letting him see Emmeline.”
“Doesn’t he have a court order stating when he can visit?”
“Yes, but Meriah keeps making excuses when Matt comes to pick Emmeline up.”
“Like what?”
“She’ll say Emmeline has a temperature—stuff like that.” I fidgeted in my seat. “Can we talk about something else?”
“For instance?”
“How did you get over here? I don’t see a car.”
“I had Malcolm drop me off.”
“For what purpose?”
“All of a sudden I need a reason to see one of my dearest friends?”
I gave June a “look.”
June decided to fess up. “I got a telephone call less than an hour ago, so you and I are embarking on a mission of mercy.”
“Who called?”
“Rosie.”
“Oh, dear. What’s happening now?”
“That Neanderthal has locked her in and won’t let her out.”
“No way!”
“We should be going. The police should be there by now.” June gave me a hard look. “Doesn’t it make you feel better knowing Rosie is having such a hard time with that monster?”
“I know this is terrible, but it does. However, I strongly sympathize.”
“There is no better medicine for depression than helping someone else suffering from worse afflictions.”
“I feel guilty.”
“Don’t. It’s human nature.”
“What’s Baby for?”
“Baby is a deterrent. Gage is terrified of big dogs.”
“Then let’s go and save Rosie from the despicable troll at her gate.”
June licked her lips and smiled. “Misery loves company.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing. Just drive, mon amie. Just drive.”
3
The golf cart rattled and lurched down my gravel driveway until we hit the smooth asphalt of Tates Creek Road. We drove a mile or two until we came to Wiley Road and made a left.
We were no longer in Fayette County, but in Jessamine County. We passed people mowing yards, weeding gardens, and tending to horses on their ten-acre mini-farms. They would look up and wave, recognizing Lady Elsmere, who waved back with little twists of her right hand like her friend, Queen Elizabeth II or “Lizzie” as June calls her. Personally, I think June has never met Queen Elizabeth, but the queen does board some of her horses in the Bluegrass, and they both run in the same circles since June had married an English lord.
Still, I rolled my eyes.
Finally, we reached the remotest part of the road where the real, working farms were. Scruffy farm dogs yapped at us as we skirted their territory, and I had to veer around an errant cow that had decided the middle of the blacktop road was as good a place to poop as any.
Welcome to the country.
I could feel Baby rise on all four paws in the back of the cart, snarling warnings to any dog venturing too close to our slow-moving vehicle. As soon as we reached the end of a farm’s property line, its sentinel mutt would abruptly stop barking and give up the chase.
No longer obliged to protect us, Baby would whine and rest his massive head on my shoulder.
“Thank you for saving us. Good dog. Good dog,” I said to Baby each time he “protected” us from a motley spate of irate mutts.
“Turn here,” ordered June.
“Yes, I know,” I complained, turning the cart a sharp right onto a badly maintained gravel road. Oh Lordy, was it badly maintained!
I hit a pothole, and June was almost thrown out of the cart. “Hold on!”
“This road is disgraceful,” June spat out. Her eyes narrowed, and her face turned a hot shade of pink under her already heavily rouged cheeks. June was working herself up to chew nails and spit out barbwire. Gone was the cool, collected Lady Elsmere. This gal was all June Webster from Monkey’s Eyebrow, Kentucky and fighting mad.
Oooh-whee, this was gonna be fun to watch! I suddenly felt much better about the world.
The road meandered into deep woods littered with abandoned washers, old tractor tires, rusty shells of cars, refrigerators, and other assorted metal trash. Scattered among the refuse were crude, hand-painted signs with messages like “PIGS LIVE HERE” or “WILL SHOOT YOU ON SIGHT” or “GIT OUT NOW AND YOU MIGHT LIVE!”
Charming, huh?
Rounding a bend, we came upon a freshly mowed meadow and saw a deputy’s cruiser parked next to a shiny new Lexus. Beyond the cars was a cattle fence, behind which stood a little cottage that reminded me of a hobbit’s den—cute, tidy, and perfect for one Rosamond Rose, a shy, retired, widowed librarian who took in stray animals and gave them a forever home. She had no kith nor kin to speak of, and her dearest friend was June’s butler and heir Charles Dupuy, who also was an equally devoted animal lover and helped her out from time to time with vet bills and feed. Everyone called Rosamond “Rosie.”
At the moment, Rosie was standing behind a red metal farm gate, frantically waving to us while talking on her phone. Her dogs were barking excitedly from inside her house and pawing at the windows.
I helped June out of the cart and told Baby to stay, so he straightaway jumped out and trotted after us.
June pushed through a knot of two deputies and one gnarled old man chuckling together.
The old man wiped the smile off his face when June stood squarely in front of him. “What are you doing, June? You are as welcome here as a breeze coming off an outhouse.”
Rosie called out, “He locked me in, June. I can’t get out. I’m on the phone with my lawyer right now.”
I walked over to the fence where Rosie stood and yanked on the chain securing the gate to the post. “He’s put a chain and lock on her gate.”
June spat at the county deputies. “What are you two knuckleheads doing about this? Get your bolt cutters and set this woman free.”
One of the deputies retorted, “He says she owes him back rent, and he needs two thousand dollars before he’ll let her out.”
“You two must have rocks rattling around in your skulls. Miss Rosie doesn’t owe this man one red cent. She is on her property, and if you had checked, you would have found that this man has a Protection Order against him for harassing this sweet woman. He is not supposed to be anywhere near this property for two years. Did you bother to check?”
The two officers quickly glanced at each other and looked back at June with blank expressions.
“Now, I think locking a woman up infringes upon her right to come and go as she pleases. Kidnapping for starters. Violating the PO. Lying to law enforcement officers. I think Miss Rosie’s lawyer will throw a couple more charges into the mix before he’s done, like making a formal complaint to your boss. What was the deal? Gage would slip you both a couple hundred from the two thousand?”
Both deputies blinked and shifted their weight, looking down.
“Thought so. Now let this woman out.”
Both ashen-faced officers backed away and scurried to their vehicle.
“What do you have to say for yourself, Gage Cagle?”
Gage inched closer to June until they were almost touching noses. “Who do you think you are, Miss High and Mighty, coming over here and sticking your nose where t’warn’t wanted?”
Baby growled and tried to step between Gage and June. I hurried over and pulled him away only to have Baby look up at me and whimper.
June didn’t flinch but stepped even closer. “You’re a mighty small man, Gage. Not in body, but in mind and spirit.”
“Don’t get uppity with me, June. I remember your ma used to make your dresses out of feed sacks. You think you can ride in here and tell me what to do, let me tell you somethum’. Don’t you act like you’re better ’n me. I knew you as a scrawny brat crying for extra biscuits and gravy at my ma’s table ’cause there t’warn’t nothing to eat at your house.”
June’s back was up. “Let me tell you somethum’, Gage Cagle. Don’t piss on my back and tell me it’s raining. You’ve done nothing but torment Rosie ever since your daddy sold her this piece of property.”
“She’s got no business squatting on the family farm.”
“Rosie’s not squatting on your farm. She’s living on her farm, and your daddy and mother granted her the right-of-way through your family farm in perpetuity. I should know. I was a witness to the reading of their will.”
“A handwritten will not worth the piece of paper it’s on.”
“It was and still is legal in Kentucky. They loved Rosie, and that’s what you can’t stand. You’re just making a fool out of yourself, you old fool. Now, you really are in trouble. You’ve broken the conditions of the PO.”
One of the deputies walked over to June and Gage while the other one sheepishly walked past me and cut the chain, placing it in an evidence bag. “Sorry, ma’am,” he muttered. “We were just having a little fun.”
“Some fun,” Rosie shot back. She pulled the gate open and stepped out. “Are you going to arrest him?” she yelled at the other officer.
The deputy pulled out a pair of cuffs and said, “Mr. Cagle, we’ve got orders to bring you in. The Jessamine County DA wants to talk to you. The call came in over our radio.”
“You’re going to cuff me, boy?”
“Sorry, sir. Standard procedure.”
As the deputy pulled Gage away, he screamed, “I’m going to make you pay, Little Miss Rosebud! You mark my words. You’re going to get your comeuppance too, Juneytooney! You’re nothing but white trash dressed up in your better’s clothes! My mother wasted her time on you. I remember. Don’t think I don’t!”
“Make sure you add terroristic threats to those charges,” June yelled at the police.
I was so angry with Gage that I let loose of Baby’s collar. Suddenly aware he was free, Baby bounded after Gage, sensing he was the object of our scorn.
Seeing Baby lope toward him, Gage broke free and jumped onto the car hood.
This only made June cackle with laughter.
Rosie and I chuckled too. It was too rich seeing Gage frightened of one of the most harmless dogs in the Bluegrass. What was Baby going to do? Lick him to death? The worst Baby might do is sit on him. Of course, having two hundred pounds of canine muscle resting on one’s chest could be cause for alarm.
“Don’t tinkle on yourself, Gage,” June called out.
Watching the deputies pull Gage off the hood, June murmured, “Being around that old fart is like eating potato salad left out on the Fourth of July.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Drinking water out of a toilet.”
“Stop. I get the picture.”
June smirked and called, “Baby, come!”
Of course, Baby minded instantly and ran over. Why doesn’t he obey me like that?
Rosie hugged June. She tried this with me, but I backed away. You know I don’t like hugs. What’s wrong with a friendly handshake?
But Baby liked hugs and enjoyed the one Rosie gave him.
“Thank you both so much. I was scared to death!” exclaimed Rosie. “Gage has tried some scummy stuff over the years, but he never pulled a stunt like this. What if my house had caught on fire or one of the animals needed medical treatment?”
“Or you needed an ambulance?” I pointed out.
Rosie put her fingers to her lips. “Didn’t think of that.”
“It’s over,” June said.
“For now. I don’t know why that man will not leave me alone. He’s crazy, June. I’m afraid of him. He’s getting more violent. I fear one day he’s going to kill me. I really do.”
I didn’t naysay Rosie because I thought she was right. Gage Cagle had a grudge against Rosie, and men killed women all the time in Kentucky while little was done about it.
June asked, “You want to stay with me, Rosie?”
“Much obliged for the offer, June, but my animals need me. I couldn’t leave them.”
“You could come over during the day with one of my workers to feed them.”
“No, no. I’m afraid Gage might come back and hurt them. You know he’s already poisoned some of my dogs.”
“Suit yourself then. Call me if you change your mind.”
“Will do, June, and kindly thank you again. Thank you, Josiah.” She bent over and petted Baby. “And you too, Baby.”
“Twarn’t nothing,” June said, mimicking Gage.
We all laughed, but as I helped June back into the golf cart, I was uneasy.
Kentucky isn’t called the “dark and bloody ground” for nothing.
I knew in my bones Gage Cagle wasn’t finished with Rosie.
4
June was quiet on the ride home, seemingly lost in her thoughts about the past. I wondered if some of the spiteful things Gage said had dredged up painful memories.
I nudged her with my elbow. “June, you said you grew up in Monkey’s Eyebrow. That’s way down in western Kentucky. What were you doing hanging around the Cagle family in the Bluegrass?”
“I said I was from Monkey’s Eyebrow, which I am, but my father went to work for Gage’s daddy. It seemed like Daddy was always behind the eight ball, so he came to the Bluegrass to look for work. Mr. Cagle hired Daddy to manage his farm and handle paperwork for him.”
“Paperwork?”
“Mr. Cagle was illiterate for the most part. Could sign his name and do his sums, but that’s about it. Looking back, I would say he was most likely dyslexic. You know, got his letters mixed up. He was by no means stupid, but he needed help with the written word. Daddy made sure all the farm expenses, bills of sale, and receipts were properly filled out, signed, and recorded, making sure Mr. Cagle wasn’t hornswoggled in any of his dealings.”
“That’s how you came to know Gage?”
“Uh-huh, yes. He’s a few years younger than I.”
“You want to tell me why Gage hates you so much?”
“My family was poor. Very poor. Gage’s father gave us a house to live in as part of Daddy’s stipend, but still, Daddy had back bills to pay so money was always short. Once in a while, we had to skip a meal, so I would wander down to the Cagle’s home and look waifish until Mrs. Cagle would invite me to dinner. She was always good to me.”
June’s face broke out into a wide smile. “Ah, Mrs. Cagle. What a dear, sweet woman! She had always wanted a daughter and took an instant shine to me. She taught me table manners, how to converse in polite society, and things a rich man would expect of a wife. Don’t smirk, Josiah. There was no such thing as Women’s Lib then. The women’s movement was decades in the future. The things she taught me came into use, especially when I married my second husband, Lord Elsmere, but she also pressed upon me to be kind—noblesse oblige and all that. What’s the point of having a lot of money if you can’t help folks?”
June grew quiet again and stared at the passing countryside until she shivered. “Did I tell you Mrs. C
agle bought me my first important dress? It was to my first Homecoming Dance.”
“What about the feed sack dresses?”
“You’re probably too young to remember, but back in the day, chicken feed came in lovely patterned cotton sacks. Women used to take the emptied sacks and make everything out of them from aprons to baby clothes to dresses. I still have two dresses Mother sewed for me.”
“I take it that Mrs. Cagle never made dresses out of feed sacks.”
“She never had to. The Cagle family was rich.”
“I would like very much to see those dresses, June.”
“I’ll have Amelia get them out of storage then. They mean a lot to me. My mother was an excellent seamstress.”
“Is the fact Mrs. Cagle took a shine to you the reason Gage doesn’t like you?”
“That and the fact my fortunes took a turn upward, and his family’s went downhill after his daddy died. Everybody used to address his daddy as ‘Mr. Cagle’, but Gage is just plain Gage to his peers. He resents it because he wants to be king of the hill.”
“Perhaps that’s why he dislikes Rosie so much. His parents doted on her and sold land to her.”
“I think that’s one reason, but I think there’s more. I don’t know what. He just doesn’t want anyone on his property leading to Rosie’s house.”
“Do you know why?”
June shook her head. “Haven’t a clue, but I’m sure whatever it is, it’s got to do with some sort of illegal activity. Ever since I’ve known Gage, he’s been mixed up in something dishonest. First, it was running moonshine to dry counties and holding underground card games, then selling cigarettes on the black market. Now, I’m not against drinking or taking a drag off a fag now and then, and the Lord knows I’ve been known to bet on a pony or two, but the way Gage goes about getting his jollies, people get hurt. He doesn’t care whom he has to step over to make a fast buck. I’ve warned Rosie to sell and get out, but she won’t listen to me. Gage is never going to leave her in peace. Never.”
