by Carolyn Bond
The bumping and jolting about stirred her and she twisted her mouth in pain. Her white hospital gown was twisted around her. She tried to sit up and every movement was like a knife cutting her side. She tried to brace herself with her arm and her gown clung to a warm wetness. She pulled her hand away and looked at the crimson smear that covered her palm. She looked up at Cherise who was watching her.
“Don’t get that on my dress.” Cherise said flatly.
Everleigh wondered how anyone could be that lacking in concern for another person. After all, she should be thanking her now that she would be living the life of luxury because of her father’s inheritance.
The carriage bounced along until Everleigh heard the sound of trains rattling on tracks. She pulled herself slowly up onto the bench seat to see out. They were at the station. She didn’t see how they could sneak a woman in a white bloodstained nightgown on to a train in broad day light without causing a scene. In fact, she could scream and help would come. That would be great, she thought.
Cherise was looking out the window, too. Her puckered full lips curled at the corners to make a satisfied permanent smile. The woman was truly an ironic icon. She looked so sweet, like someone Everleigh would have as a friend, but yet she clearly had the lack of concern for others that you would see in a sociopath.
Cherise turned her attention to a black satchel at her feet. She opened it and pulled out a rolled up wad of fabric strips.
“Turn around and put your hands behind your back.”
“What?”
“Just do it or I’ll find some other way to get this done. He says it would be preferable for you to make it to Charleston alive, but I am not opposed to a tragic accident on the way. Both ways, Horry gets the money and I’m good.”
“Tragic accident?” She was stunned. She really hadn’t expected Cherise and Horace to be murderers. Apparently they really would go to any length to get at the money. She was in their way like a rock in the road. She turned backwards and put her hands behind her.
“What kind of a nickname is Horry? Good grief!”
Cherise said nothing and bound her wrists roughly and then pulled a black cloak from her bag. She wrapped it around Everleigh and tied it at the neck. Then she sat back down on the other seat and looked at her nails. Finding a hang nail, she bit at the side of her finger.
The carriage stopped and the sound of Horace’s feet hitting the cobblestones made a thud. He came around to the door, opened it and looked inside. He actually grinned. He seemed pleased with himself. It made sense. His plan was working. How he got out of jail was a mystery. She wondered if Miss Puckers broke him out.
“Come on.” Cherise prodded her.
She stood and tried to figure out how she was going to get out without the use of her arms. She stooped and sat and waited for him to lift her out. He sat her on her feet on the ground and then offered his hand to Cherise as she stepped down the steps like royalty. She noticed Cherise’s shoes were exquisitely decorated with silk and pearls with a very dainty fashionable heel. She wondered if Cherise had already been shopping with her money.
Everleigh was waiting for the right time to attract attention. Horace had parked the carriage too far from the station. They were a long way from the platform. They walked along with trains passing beside them. The platform was on the other side of the rail yard and they started to cross the tracks. They came to a train that was stopped and passed around the last car.
“Let’s file along here and cross farther up,” Horace said. “Ladies, first!” he smiled at Everleigh. She didn’t see but he winked at Cherise and she winked back.
Everleigh stepped around the back of the caboose and made her way toward the station. Cherise followed behind her.
Horace leaned in to Cherise’s ear and whispered to her, “I’ve changed my mind. When the next train on the tracks to our left comes by, shove her in front of it.” She nodded, still sporting the pouty upturned smile that made you believe she was good as gold.
Everleigh heard the grinding of the engine getting closer. She stayed as close to the train on the right as she could. The tracks were far enough apart, but the trains towered over them. She glanced over her shoulder to see it was closing in. The massive black steam engine’s “Chuh, Chuh, Chuh” was loud in her ear. She didn’t hear Horace tell Cherise, “Now.”
Cherise grabbed her by the shoulders and heaved Everleigh with all her might toward the track. Everleigh screamed and pulled her shoulder away from her right hand, kicking out with her left foot as she lost balance spinning into the air.
For just a moment, she was suspended in the air as she flew toward the track. Twisting around to the right, unable to move her hands to break her fall, the cape fanned out like a bird taking flight. She caught sight of two things as she spun around: Cherise had been knocked off balance and was falling backward, twisting to the left but toward the track, and Horace stood there with his mouth in a half-spoken yell, straining to reach Cherise but too late. His hands outstretched grasping the air.
She and Cherise hit the tracks at nearly the same time, lying across the metal rail. Everliegh’s head rested on the far rail and Cherise’s head was between the rails, not quite as far across. The vibration of the oncoming track hummed against her skull as it rested on the metal. Her hands were pinned under her. The thudding of the wheels was like a galloping horse and wondered if it would be the last thing she heard. She closed her eyes and waited for the darkness to take her, hoping it would be too fast to feel anything.
She felt a jerk that pulled her from her very core and then a freeing flying sensation. Her very soul must have been let loose. The darkness closed in again as the pain in her ribs ripped through her. Pain. She thought there would be no pain after death.
***
Malcolm’s horse was like a dragon without wings. It flew barely touching the ground. The huffing and snorting was the only sound Malcolm heard over the whistle of air in his ears. The horse’s eyes were wild with freedom. The trip that should take two hours took less than one. He kept seeing her face in the bed with dark circles under her eyes. Thoughts of Peeble hurting her, molesting her, caused him to goad the horse to run even faster. Adrenaline coursed through him like fire.
He got to town and raced through streets like a wild man on horseback. People jumped out of the way as they heard the racing thuds of the horse’s hooves. Finally up ahead, he saw the two-story home that had been converted into an infirmary. It had been white washed over brick. A large maple tree stood to one side on the front yard casting its waving shadows across the windows. He knew this was the creator of the shadows he saw in his mind.
Malcolm swung down in front of the infirmary and was inside the foyer in three steps. He was about to head to the left to start looking for her when his gut stopped him. He stopped and turned his head to the right. The hallway turned to the back on that side of the building.
The invisible cord that held them cut through the air like a fallen electric line. He barreled down the hallway, around the corner and out the back door. There sat an empty wheel chair. No one was there. The wheel chair had a smear of bright red blood on the arm rest. He ran his finger over it and the wind blowing across it spread goosebumps up his arm. He heard a creaking wheel and looked to see a carriage rolling away on the next block. The driver didn’t look like a hired driver. He was wearing the coat of a gentleman.
Peeble!
Malcolm’s instincts drove him now. He leapt from the porch and ran around the house. He swung onto his horse who was still breathing hard and prodded him into action again. The horse rose up on its hind legs and whinnied a screeching call, then bolted down the road following Malcolm’s instruction with the reins. He lost sight of which direction they went and doubled back around looking down each side street. People on the street stopped and looked as he went past in a blaze of thunder. The General was no ordinary horse. He commanded respect and awe.
Finally, he saw the carriage turning off a side roa
d and followed in pursuit until a cart loaded with hay blocked the path. Malcolm pulled the horse around it looking for a way to get past and finally decided to just go down a nearby alley. The alley took them to a street that didn’t cross with the one the carriage was on. Frustration mounted in Malcolm as he grimaced in anger.
All he could think about was getting to the carriage. If he lost track of her again, it might take days to find her or worse. He had a sinking feeling about it this time. As though the walls were closing in on him, he could feel the cord being stretched between them. If it snapped, if the laws of time, physics and life drove a wedge that couldn’t be overcome, he would lose her forever. His heart was pounding so hard, the whooshing waves of his pulse filled his ears.
Finally on a connecting street, he could see the train station ahead. He knew that had to be their destination. He didn’t see the carriage but he knew she had to be close by. Riding alongside the tracks, a train was pulling in to his left. The great engine towered over him even on horseback. The General redoubled his speed as though the engine dared him in a race. Malcolm searched the platform in the distance with his eyes and didn’t see her.
His vision caught a sight that drew him in. A black cloak, fanned out like the petals of a black velvet petunia was floating suspended with Everleigh’s serene face in the middle. The cloak twisted around her and she landed across the tracks, the tracks of the train pulling in next to him.
Adrenalin shot through him like a coursing fire and he kicked the horse into high gear.
“Go, General! Go!”
As though coming around the last stretch for the Derby, his horse was ready for the win. The ‘Chuh Chuh Chuh of the engine was its opponent and this horse only knew how to win. Long powerful strides propelled them ahead by a length.
Malcolm held the saddle horn with his left hand and leaned as far to the right of the horse as he could without falling or getting caught in the horse’s legs. Hooking his left foot over the saddle he stretched and reached and in the split second that they passed Everleigh, he snatched her up by the twisted cloak encircling her. Her body limply shot into the air following the trajectory of her chest upward.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, fella!” he slowed the horse. The train sped past them blocking his view of anyone on the other side. He slid off the saddle and lowered Everleigh safely onto the dusty ground. Crashing down beside her, grabbed her onto his lap cradling her head. He could see the red soaked hospital gown around her and his heart caught in his throat.
“Everleigh! Eveleigh!” he gently shook her shoulder. “Everleigh, please. Stay with me. I love you. Oh, God! Help us! Everleigh!” Tears coursed down his cheeks and fell on hers.
She squinted and grimaced. The sunlight bathed around them but in his shade, she opened her eyes and smiled.
“Malcolm. If this is heaven, I believe it.”
Screams from the platform tore his eyes away. The adrenalin in his veins still painfully washing to the farthest parts of his hands and feet, he looked back to the tracks. The trains had passed and what was left made him suck in his breath. The body of a woman, sliced in two, lay across the tracks. He hadn’t seen anyone but Everleigh, so focused as he was to save her. Peeble was laying on the ground next to the track with his arms outstretched. Rail workers were converging around the pair and others were running toward him and Everleigh. From the look of the scene, it appeared Peeble had pushed both ladies in front of the train.
He looked back at Everleigh. Her breathing was shallow and quick, but she looked up into his eyes.
“You’ll be alright. Help is coming.”
She nodded and said, “Kiss me.”
Very gently, he lifted her and covered her lips with his. Closing his eyes, he could feel the energy of a thousand suns explode in his heart.
***
Everleigh tried to block the pain in her torso. She was certain that a truck could have run over her and it would not have felt any worse.
“My hands.”
He turned her toward his body and cut her hands loose with a knife in his boot. She saw the anger surge in his face as he bared his teeth.
“If I get my hands on Peeble...”
“Malcolm, just hold me. I’m so glad you’re here.”
She focused on Malcolm’s face, drinking in his presence. Just moments before she was sure her life was over. There seemed no way to survive. The train was barreling down on her and she couldn’t move. Now, by a miracle, she lay cradled in the arms of the most wonderful man she could imagine. The sunlight was behind him lighting up the dark waves of his hair. She just needed to hold on to life and soon all would be okay. She could feel herself slipping into the darkness of her mind.
“Stay with me, Everleigh. Do you hear me?”
She nodded and tried to smile. She wasn’t sure if her lips actually moved.
“I feel so weak, so heavy.”
“I know, love.”
A carriage rode up to them and a man with a black bag jumped down.
“I’m Dr. Baker,” he absently told Malcolm as he started to look her over. “My God. Its my patient from the Infirmary. What is she doing here?”
He looked up at Malcolm as though he had taken her.
“She had been kidnapped by Horace Peeble and a lady he knows. She was about to be run over by the train when I pulled her off the tracks.”
“It’s astonishing!” He looked back toward the crowd surrounding the late Cherise.
“The lady didn’t make it.” Malcolm turned the corners of his mouth down in a grim expression.
Turning back to Everleigh, “I need to get her back to the Infirmary right away. Can you come with me? You can help me stop any more bleeding.”
“Of course!”
Malcolm lifted her gently into his arms and carried her to the wagon. He laid her down on a stretcher. Then, he went to get General and tied him to the back of the wagon to follow them. Dr. Baker wrapped a wide piece of linen around her torso to stop the bleeding and support her ribs.
“If you will keep talking to her, that would help.”
“Certainly!”
Dr. Baker opened his bag and pulled out a stethoscope. He listened to her heart and examined her.
The carriage jolted forward and they all rocked with the wagon. Malcolm took her hand in his and kissed her fingers.
“Everleigh, I have been so worried. We all have. When Suzanne got your telegram, I came right away.”
“Oh, Malcolm. I worried you thought I went with him willingly. He kidnapped me.”
“I know, love. I’m just so glad I got there in time. If I’d lost you, I couldn’t live.”
“It has only been thoughts of you that have kept me sane. Malcolm, he--”
“Don’t!” he cut her off. “Don’t speak of it. You are safe now.”
She felt so guilty. How could he understand? As hard as it was, she had to tell him.
“I must tell you,” she paused, “he forced me to marry him.”
“I know. I figured that out. It could not possibly have been a legal marriage. We will have it annulled if we have to. Whatever the case, it was not valid. Don’t worry, love.”
She knew he didn’t understand. The marriage had been consummated. How could she tell him that? Maybe she wouldn’t have to. Maybe she could say nothing about it and the memory would just go away. She knew better than that, though. It tore at her like a dog nipping at her heels.
They pulled up to the Infirmary and two orderlies ran out to help. As they carried her inside, Dr. Baker turned to him, “You will have to wait. I need to tend to her.”
Leaving Malcolm on the porch, the doctor turned and darted inside.
***
Feeling totally helpless, he sat on a chair. Surely she would live, he thought. She had to. Without her, he could not imagine living. How could he go back to his life before and carry on. It was so difficult letting go of his fears and letting her in his heart. There would never be anyone like her again. They say it’s bette
r to have loved and lost than never to have loved, but that was a lie. He held his head in his hands and prayed for God to let her live.
***
The next morning, she woke up in her room at the infirmary with the nurse fussing with her bandage.
“Good morning, sunshine! Glad to see you back. You left a little too soon before.”
Everleigh smiled.
“Doc stitched you all back up. You will feel weak and dizzy for a couple of days from the blood loss, but you should be fine.” The nurse smiled at her.
“I don’t know your name.”
“I’m Annie, baby. I’ll go get you something to eat. You have some visitors who have been driving me crazy, so maybe you can talk some sense into them.” She giggled and left the room.
In the hallway, she heard Annie tell them one visitor at a time for now. Malcolm stepped in and she sucked in a breath. He looked as gorgeous as ever, even with the furrowed brow of concern. He sat next to her on the bed and held her hand.
“My love, do you hurt?”
“No. They must have given me something. I’m a little sleepy but I don’t feel anything.”
“Good. They said you will be alright. I have been praying for you around the clock.”
She pulled his hand to her mouth and kissed his palm.
“I love you,” she said.
He smiled and she felt a zing as her insides flip flopped.
“I love you madly.” He leaned in and gently kissed her cheek. “Suzanne and your aunt are here.”
“My aunt? She’s alright?”
“Yes. She is a remarkable woman.”
“Well good. I’m glad.” She looked at Malcolm, “Everything I did, I want you to know, I did it to save her.”
He looked at her with pain in his eyes. “Love, you have been through a horrible ordeal. None of it is your fault. I hold nothing against you. When you want to talk about it, I will listen, but know, there is nothing you could tell me that would make me love you any less.”
