The Red House 2: The Curse is Broken

by Mary May

  I look back and forth at the both of them. “Okay, fine…now what? Where is Martha? Why didn’t you bring her with you this morning?”

  Jesse looks at me with barely veiled hostility. “I want Martha left out of this. Stay away from her. If you have a mission or something with me, then I’m all you need. I won’t have you filling her head with nonsense or influencing her.” I open my mouth to tell him that Martha is part of this, too, but once more Eli’s hand on my shoulder has me clamping my lips shut.

  “That’s understandable; however, you need to understand that your future is joined with hers, and it’s not only your life we are trying to save, but Martha’s as well.”

  That statement has Jesse stepping closer to Eli. “Are you saying that she is in danger? Are you threatening her?” His voice is just above the level of a whisper, but the words hit as hard as if he had yelled them. Eli stands his ground, not letting Jesse intimidate him. Looking at them both standing toe to toe, I suddenly notice that size- wise they are pretty evenly matched. Eli is actually just a tad bit taller, but Jesse makes up for what he lacks in height by being built like a tank. I guess all that hard manual labor makes gym equipment unnecessary to get bulgy arms and strong shoulders. My gaze wanders down to his flat stomach; does he have a six-pack, too?

  “Shelby!”

  I jerk my eyes from Jesse’s yet-to-be-revealed six-pack and meet Eli’s angry green eyes. My face starts to burn and I know without a doubt that I have just been caught ogling Jesse’s body. The earth could swallow me now, please! No such luck.

  “If I could have your attention, that would be great.”

  I smile and tuck my hair behind my ears, a sure sign of my nervousness. “I’m sorry. My mind was somewhere else. What did you say?” I refuse to look at Jesse. I’m not sure what would be worse, seeing his smug expression or his cold one. I wonder what he would say if I told him that he had kissed me. That he had called me beautiful. That more than once he had held me cradled in his arms. Watching his broad back as he walks out of the cave, I have a feeling that whatever feelings the future Jesse may have felt for me, the Jesse before me now clearly doesn’t feel.

  I look up at Eli once more and once more I meet angry green eyes shooting daggers at me.

  “What?” I ask with raised eyebrows. Eli doesn’t answer. He glares at me a moment longer then follows Jesse out of the cave. I’m left standing there wondering just what in the world did I miss?

  I catch up to the guys, vowing to keep my head on the job at hand, not on Jesse’s bulgy muscles, not that Eli doesn’t have nice bulgy muscles of his own. I glance at his arms and shoulders, and they are nothing to sneer at. I quickly check to make sure that I’m not caught eyeballing Eli’s bod, and I am ever so grateful that both guys are deep in conversation and not paying me the slightest bit of attention. Eli is explaining how we really had to be careful not to tell Jesse too much about his own future or even Martha’s because of the impact it could have on down the road.

  “If I am dead in less than three weeks, then I don’t have no future to impact, now do I? So I see no harm in answering my questions. Unless you can’t?” Throwing out a challenge then waiting to see if Eli will take the bait is clearly part of Jesse’s plan to trip us up. Not easily maneuvered into a possible pitfall, Eli smoothly gives him a non-answer.

  “We can, but what if we actually save you from being lynched? Then your future just gets a whole lot longer and that is the reason why we must be careful.”

  Jesse eyes him coldly. “You got an answer for everything, don’t you? You can’t answer my questions because it may ‘impact’ my future; you can’t answer questions about events in the future because it may ‘impact’ the future. Tell me, Eli, what can you answer?”

  “Only this: Unless you decide to trust us in the next day or two, your future isn’t going to matter and Martha’s will be ruined. So if you can’t find it in your hard head to help us for your own sake, can you do it for Martha and your son?”

  The silence following Eli’s announcement seems to go on forever. I can’t believe he has just blurted out something so important! Geez, and he was worried about me keeping MY mouth shut! I look at Jesse and his face has actually lost a little color, making him look more like the Jesse I know.

  “What did you just say? My son?”

  I jump in front of Eli, trying to shield him from the absolute rage that radiates from Jesse like an infrared heater.

  “He means possible son or children, I’m sure.” I blabber on for a minute longer before Eli steps out from behind me.

  “No, I said son. I didn’t mean to; that is certainly something that needed to be kept quiet, but it’s out now. Yes, you have a son, or you will have a son.” A sudden gasp had all of us turning around and Martha stood on the trail, one hand covering her mouth while the other was placed on her stomach.

  CHAPTER 6

  “I’m having a boy?” Her face turns white and Jesse leaps to catch her right before her knees buckle.

  I pat Martha’s face gently as Jesse cradles her in his arms. Everything is getting so messed up! We are walking on some crazy dangerous ground here, and I don’t know how in the world we were going to fix this. A low moan indicates that Martha is coming back to the world of the living. Her long lashes flutter briefly before slowly opening to reveal confused blue eyes. She looks first to Jesse then to me.

  “Shelby? You told him? Why?” The accusation in her voice has me feeling lower than pond slime.

  “It wasn’t Shelby that slipped up, Martha; it was me. I am so sorry. I truly did not mean to.”

  Jesse helps Martha sit up against a pine tree before he steps away from her. “Martha?”

  Speaking one word, just saying her name, has Martha looking terrified. I step in front of her, shielding her from his angry gaze.

  “Jesse, remember that things are a little weird right now. This is not the time to be angry with Martha. I’m sure in time she would have told you.”

  Jesse’s face darkens to the point that I am actually scared of him. Just a little. “So, she is with child now? Right now? She told you before she told me?” Hard hands grip my shoulders, his fingers biting into the flesh of my upper arms as he pulls me up onto my tiptoes. I can barely draw in enough breath to squeak out my answer because my heart is beating so fast!

  “No! She didn’t tell us, Jesse! I told her! I already knew she was pregnant! That’s why she believed us!” I see the words slowly penetrate the haze of Jesse’s anger. He looks at me a moment longer before asking Martha.

  “Is that the truth? Did they truly already know about the child?” His gaze never leaves my face while he waits for Martha’s response.

  “Yes, Jesse. I haven’t told a soul about the baby. No one, I swear it! I was just going to wait to tell you after we were married. So…so… when Shelby said she already knew I was with child, what choice did I have but to believe her? Please don’t be angry with me.” Her plea ended with a soft sob that had Jesse tossing me aside and luckily into Eli’s arms.

  “Oh, darlin’, why didn’t you tell me? We would have already been married! We will get married tomorrow!” Jesse pulls the now-sobbing Martha into his arms.

  “Jesse, we can’t! Everyone will guess why we need to move the wedding date up. I won’t have them talking about our child being conceived out of wedlock! I won’t have it; do you hear me? It’s shameful not waiting until we were married proper. We will marry on the date that we set months ago. No one will think twice if the baby is a few weeks early. Please, Jesse! Please tell me we will wait!”

  Cupping her tear-streaked face in his hands, Jesse kisses her, silencing her pleas. “All right, darlin’. Hush now. Getting all upset isn’t good for the baby.”

  Eli and I walk off a few feet to give them some privacy. I am still worried about what might happen now that Jesse knows about Jackson. I’m pretty sure that information this big is bound to have a tidal wave effect in Eli’s ripple effect theory!

  A f
ew minutes later they join us. Martha actually glows as she snuggles under Jesse’s arm. Jesse’s face has a smile that I haven’t seen since landing in the past. It reaches all the way to his eyes. I know that whatever happens, Jesse truly loves Martha and will fight to keep his family safe. I nearly think that Jesse is pulling his mind-reading trick again when he speaks, practically echoing my very thoughts. “I believe you. I’ll do whatever needs to be done, to protect what’s mine.” Eli nods, holding out his hand for Jesse to shake while I walk over to hug Martha.

  “Well, if nothing else at least we know the day that Robert will have you killed. We can use that to our advantage.” I can’t help the shiver that slides down my spine at the very mention of Robert. I am all for packing up Jesse and Martha and hightailing it out of the county or state if necessary. But Eli thinks we need to keep things as close to historically accurate as possible, just without the whole hanging of Jesse and Martha marrying Robert part. I’m secretly hoping if we can keep Jesse alive past the date of his execution then maybe that will break the curse and send us home. Of course, nothing is ever that simple…

  We spend the remainder of the day going over different ideas before my stomach growls so loudly that everyone hears it. I turn beet red and lay my hand over my offending tummy. Martha smiles at me before suggesting that perhaps it is time to find some dinner.

  “I guess we will just wait for you to bring something back. I don’t think it’s wise for us to be seen any more than we can help.”

  Eli squashes my hopes of seeing more of the town with his words. I understand he is right in his reasoning, but, dang it, what good is it to be sent back in time if you don’t actually get to do a little bit of sightseeing? I mean, really? My face must have revealed my thoughts because Jesse comes to my rescue.

  “You know, we could always tell people that you are cousins or something coming in for a visit.” I look hopefully at Eli, but he is already shaking his head.

  “What about your parents? I’m pretty sure they would question that, considering they have never laid eyes on us before. I know it blows being stuck out here, Shelby. I would like to go exploring myself. I’m just concerned…”

  I interrupt his speech. “With impacting the future…yeah, yeah…I know.”

  “Well, maybe you could just be visitors passing through? That way there wouldn’t have to be an explanation for why you’re here or why you leave. You know, when the time comes for you to return.” Martha’s suggestion has me once more looking to Eli who actually appears to be considering her idea.

  He looks to Jesse who shrugs. “It’s not a terrible idea. New people arrive on the stage a couple of times a week. We would just need to time your appearance right after the next stage. That would be a mite easier than keeping you both hidden all the time.”

  “So when is the next stage scheduled to come through?” Eli asks.

  Jesse looks to Martha who answers. “Tomorrow morning.”

  After Jesse and Martha leave to go rustle us up some dinner, I feel myself getting excited about the idea of really being able to see my town as it was in the 1800’s. I chatter on about the shops, livery and the mercantile, as Martha calls it. I want to just walk and gawk at everything! Eli, of course, has to slow my roll by cautioning me not to look out of place.

  “The idea is to blend, Shelby, and not to draw attention to ourselves.”

  I glare at him as I plant my hands on my hips. “Anyone ever tell you that you are a serious buzz kill, Eli? I know we must ‘blend in.’” I use my fingers to make air quotes. “But come on! Don’t you even want to see how life is in this time? I’m so curious about…about… everything! This is a once in a lifetime chance!” At least I really hope it is a once in a lifetime kind of thing. Hopping back and forth through time isn’t something that I want to do on a real regular basis. I can see that Eli is starting to waver. I grin at him, trying to goad him on. “What’s the matter, tough guy? Scared you can’t take life in the wild-wild West?”

  I pick up a pine branch and tickle his nose with the pine needles that dangle from the end. He frowns at me as he brushes it away.

  “Cut it out, Shelby. This isn’t a vacation! We don’t even know if we can return back to our time. Have you even thought about that? What if we are stuck here…forever?”

  I toss the branch into the fire and walk to the cave entrance. I look back at Eli before stepping out. “I haven’t thought of much else if you want to know the truth, but I was at least trying to keep my mind off of that. Thanks for always keeping it real.” Then I walk out.

  I quickly walk down the path a short distance. I don’t want to go too far and risk getting lost. Yes, I am aware of my attraction for trouble, but I have to get away from Eli for a minute. Seeing a really big log just a few yards off the path, I make my way over to it to sit down. I marvel at how huge the tree is. It has to be four feet tall on its side and I have to jump a couple of times to scramble up on it. We don’t grow trees this big in the future. Too many paper products that require the cutting down of trees before they can reach this size are my thoughts on it. My gaze slowly drifts over and up at the other trees that are standing nearby. They look like giant sentinels watching over the forest. It is so strange that I am probably close to where our property line starts and yet I might as well be a million miles away; everything is so different.

  “Not a million miles, but a couple hundred years,” I whisper. My heart starts to ache at the thought of what if we couldn’t ever go home? Would my mom and Josie even remember me? Would I have ever existed in my own time? I honestly don’t know which I would prefer, to be missed or to have never been at all.

  I feel the slide of warm tears as I think about truly never seeing my family again. Never seeing my beautiful horse again. Never going to school or graduating. No more sleepovers with Becky or talking silly girl talk with my best friend. Okay, I never actually did a lot of that to start with, but maybe I wanted to. I haven’t really had much of a chance because from the moment we bought the red house my life revolved around all things Casper!

  “Stupid ghosts! Had to be my life you messed with, didn’t it? Wasn’t good enough that your own lives were beyond terrible -- you had to drag me down with you!”

  “You know, I hear if you’re real quiet the wood fairies will answer all your questions.” A voice startles me so bad that I jump, falling over backwards, landing in an undignified heap on the other side of the log. I hear footsteps and then a tan arm drapes itself over the log right before a young boy’s face peers over the top.

  “I’m awful sorry, Miss. Are you hurt?”

  I frown up at the face that despite declaring concern still has a smirk. Climbing to my feet, I shake the leaves and dirt off my skirt, which is starting to look a little worse for wear. “I’m fine, no thanks to you. Do you make it a habit of sneaking up on people?” The smirk then blossoms into a full smile complete with teeth so white he could have starred in a toothpaste commercial. If I had to guess, I would say the boy is around thirteen or fourteen. He is already taller than me by a couple of inches. With strawberry blonde hair that curls past his collar and light blue eyes with some seriously dark lashes, I have a feeling he will be a real heartbreaker in a few years. Right now those eyes are scowling at me pretty hard.

  “Sneak? I didn’t sneak. You were so lost in your thoughts and talkin’ to yourself I could have ridden a bull moose by you and you wouldn’t hear nothing!”

  My eyes widen when I look over his shoulder at the size of the horse that is standing on the path munching leaves. “Holy cow! You are riding a bull moose! That’s the biggest horse I have ever seen!”

  The boy glances back at his mount then turns back to me. “Oh, Mabel is a decent size, but she isn’t the biggest. You should see her daddy.”

  Whatever fear about being seen or worries about interfering with the past go right out the window as I gaze upon Mabel. My feet walk me around the tree and up to the giant horse without my permission. She is a soft cr
eam color with huge dark brown eyes that watch me with interest as I approach her. “Hey there, Mabel, aren’t you just a big girl?” I croon softly as I hold my hand for her to sniff before stroking the wide forehead. I am so star-struck by the horse that I nearly forget she has an owner. Mabel woofles at me softly, the sound coming from deep in her wide chest. I laugh in pure joy. Smiling, I turn back to the stranger who is watching me with a small grin.

  “I think the old gal likes you. I would introduce you all proper like, ‘cept I don’t know your name.”

  And just like that my happy feeling is gone. I remember all the reasons why this is a bad idea. “Oh. I’m…I’m…” I stammer, trying to decide if I should give my real name or not. I don’t want to mess up our plan of “arriving” on tomorrow’s stage, but I have to tell him something. So I give him the first name that pops in my mind.

  “I’m Cher.”

  “Cher? Is that short for something?” When I shake my head he holds out his hand. “Well, my name is Eddie…Eddie John Mitchell.”

  Now my happy feeling gels in the pit of my stomach, turning slowly into nausea. “Mitchell? You’re not related to Robert Mitchell, are you?” I hope with everything in me that Mitchell is just a real common last name. But my hope dies a swift brutal death when Eddie smiles and nods.

  “Sure am! He is my uncle!”

  I actually feel the need to hang on tightly to Mabel’s halter as my knees turn to Jell-O. “Oh, your uncle? Well, isn’t that…something.” I mumble.

  I know my situation is about to get worse when I spot Eli walking quickly up the path. Eddie turns and offers Eli a friendly smile that doesn’t get returned. I make the introductions quickly. “Eddie this is my…?” I trail off, wondering just what Eli needs to be to me. Single women were not usually left to travel by themselves, so he needed to either be a family member or a love interest. My decision is made!

  “Eddie, this is my brother…Sonny.” Eli’s eyes widen at the use of the fake name, but he follows my lead.