by Ali Vali
"Is there something on my face Jackson?" asked a confused Bell. The naive woman was noticing the side-glances and open stares toward their table.
"No Bell you look fine. If you don’t find me too forward, I’ll tell you what they are looking at," said Jackson with a smile.
"Jackson, you’ve been nothing if not well behaved all day, I would never think you forward," said Bell. In the back of her mind she wondered how she would react if the man did step out of line.
"The men sitting around us are jealous that I am here with the most beautiful woman in the city, and the women are wondering what your secret is to get the standoffish Jackson out to lunch. I think this is the first time I have come here in the company of a lady," said Jackson. The blush that was coloring Bell’s cheeks was sure to start a rumor all on its own. The waiter arriving with wine saved the young woman from having to respond to Jackson’s comments.
Jackson enjoyed Bell’s company on a few more afternoons before she and Henri left to go home. The more time they did spend together, the more that Bell dreaded going back to the life of being Mrs. Henri Lecompte. Jackson talked to her like a person worthy of an opinion, and they shared a lot of common interests. How different would her life be if Jackson had asked her father for her hand instead of Henri she wondered?
"I’m leaving tomorrow," she said softly. Bell was sitting in the empty church as an excuse to see Jackson one more time. Her friend was sitting one pew behind her and she heard him exhale.
"I know cheri, and I will miss you," answered Jackson. The French endearment tumbled from his lips before he could pull it back and because of her position, Jackson missed the smile that lit up Bell’s face. "I would write you but I’m sure that your husband will not appreciate me doing so, so I will have to wait until next year to see you again."
"I too will miss you, Jackson. Will you promise to think of me often?" asked Bell. She had no right to ask that of him, but she was beyond reason now. The thought of waiting a year to see him was killing her, and what if he found someone in that time?
The touch on her shoulder was so light and quick that Bell barely registered it, but she knew he could do nothing more and not compromise her reputation. For months she would remember the soft voice in her ear telling her, "I will find it hard to think of nothing else cheri. Be well and I promise we will see each other again."
Later that afternoon Bell and Henri boarded the coach that would take them back to Twelve Oaks Plantation. Having spent his morning in the hotel bar, Henri slept for most of the trip out of the city stirring only so often. They would spend two days traveling back to their home and Bell hoped that her husband would stay drunk. On the second night the young woman looked out of the window to the water of the river glittering in the moonlight, enjoying it while it lasted before the fog set in. A couple of hours later Henri had barely spoken to her and Bell was lost in thought when the coach came to an abrupt stop.
"Why in the hell did you stop driver?" screamed Henri from the back. The lurching of the coach pulled him out of his sleep and almost onto the floor.
"Please sir, be still. There is a man blocking the road ahead of us," replied the driver before turning his attention back to the still figure ahead of them. Dressed in black and draped in fog, the man on the black horse almost looked like a ghost, but his pistol looked very real. "Sir, we carry no valuables so please let us get on our way."
"I shall judge what is valuable or not driver, but not to worry I won’t hurt anyone unless provoked." Nudging the horse closer brought both pistols into view for the driver and the nervous man stared down the barrels. "Please jump down and start walking back down the road and take the gentleman with you. If you return before the hour I shall have to reload my weapons before the night is done. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir," answered the driver. The man was on the ground before he finished his statement and had opened the door of the carriage.
"I will not leave my wife behind you bastard," said Henri as he leaned his body out of the coach.
"Sir, I give you my word that she will not be harmed or touched in any way. You can chose to believe me and return to her alive in an hour, or I could just shoot you now and still keep my promise."
Jackson kept her position until he couldn’t see or hear Henri and the driver on the road. Years of experience at the job she had picked told her that they were still walking and out of hearing range. The fact that Henri had acquiesced so quickly told her that he was indeed a coward and a bully.
The courageous one in the Lecompte family looked at her from her seat in the coach as if steeling herself for the worst. It had only been two days but Jackson had missed Bell more than she could have guessed, and it was the only reason for this stunt tonight. Once the two had reached Henri’s plantation Jackson would have missed her opportunity.
"I came only to steal a kiss from the beautiful lady," she said softly. Jackson kept one pistol in her hand just in case but removed the glove from the other.
"Then you will be on your way?" asked Bell. Her nerves and fear made her not recognize the voice.
"Then I will be on my way cheri," answered Jackson. It was the endearment that brought her head out of the coach for a closer look at their robber. There under the mask were the blue eyes she had come to love and below it the smile that made her wish she weren’t married to someone else.
"Jackson, I knew you would come," Bell said in a whisper. Bell touched Jackson’s jaw with her fingertips and gave him a beseeching look. Without her having to ask, Jackson removed her mask for the first time while in disguise. Jackson leaned in and claimed the lips she had been dreaming about for weeks, wanting nothing more than to touch Bell all over, but settling for the stolen kiss. It was for Bella her first real kiss, and it was everything she had read in her romance novellas. Jackson stirred feeling in her with one kiss that no one before her ever had and she prayed it would never end.
"I love you cheri and I couldn’t go another day without telling you," said Jackson. She leaned in for another kiss and Bell opened her mouth willingly in acceptance. The young woman was about to cry because of the pure pleasure of it all and because of Jackson’s confession.
"I love you too, so much that it scares me Jackson. How am I supposed to wait a year without seeing you now?" asked Bell. If God granted her a wish it would be for Jackson to pull her on the horse and ride away.
"I’ll think of something Bell, until then be well and know that I love you." Jackson kissed her again and disappeared into the mist like she had never been there at all. From further down the road Jackson waited until the two men she had sent away returned not wanting to leave Bell unprotected in the road.
"Did that bastard touch you?" demanded Henri when he did return.
"No Henri, he didn’t. He was a man of his word despite his actions. If you don’t mind I would like to go on now," said Bell looking away from her husband. Each day without Jackson would be like a slow death for her.
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"She kissed Bell and then just rode away?" asked Desi. It had started to rain as Harry was telling her the story causing Desi to burrow further into Harry’s lap. The cold weather was something unusual for the New Orleans area so early in the year, and Desi was glad the house Harry had bought had so many fireplaces in it.
"Yes baby, she kissed her and rode away. With more planning, Jackson would have been better off paying Henri’s cruelty for her parents by kidnapping Bell, but she had more honor than that. If she had to spend her life loving Bell from a distance I think she would have done it, but circumstances didn’t work out for them like that.
"What happened honey?" asked Desi.
"If you are asking me all these questions I can’t tell you baby," said Harry. She laughed at the sheepish look on Desi’s face before taking up where she had left off.
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Two months went
by at Twelve Oaks and Bell tried to fill her days with any activity that would keep her mind off Jackson. She would eavesdrop on her husband’s conversations with some of their neighbors when they talked about The Land Pirate that was seen in the area. They were convinced it was the same man that had been robbing the coaches for years even though there were no more gifts or kisses for the pretty ladies riding.
Henri predicted that it would only be a matter of time before the son of a bitch was brought to justice at the end of a noose. His statement was overheard not only by Bell, but also by the old slave woman pouring her a glass of lemonade. Sally had been the midwife that had brought Jackson into the world years before and had prayed for her safety ever since. The rumors of Jackson’s good deeds had traveled even to Twelve Oaks among her people and the old slave knew her runner was still alive. What puzzled her was the terror on Miss Bell’s face when her husband threatened Jackson’s life.
"Are you all right Miss? Do you need me to get the master for you?" asked Sally. Bell shook her head and got up to go inside. Sally followed her up the stairs to the room Bell occupied in the house. Master Henri stayed down the hall and was still taking his pleasure out in the shacks at the back of the property.
"Miss Bell you look like you seen the dead or something," said Sally. She walked to the window to make sure Master Henri was still talking to the man that had ridden up that afternoon.
"I’m sorry Sally, that talk downstairs just frightened me," said Bell. She too looked down on the two men deep in conversation as a feeling of dread made her shiver.
"You don’t have to worry none about that pirate Miss. In a way he’s doing what you refer to as God’s work," said Sally trying to calm the girl down. For the first time since they stepped inside the room Bell turned her full attention on Sally. Could the woman know Jackson’s secret?
"What do you mean Sally?"
"Nothing Miss, please forgive me for talking out of turn. I meant no harm, just an old woman’s foolishness."
"Please Sally, you can trust me, I mean him no harm either." Bell moved closer to the old woman as encouragement for her to go on.
Sally thought about that statement before saying anything else. Bell was nice enough to them, but was it a ploy to gain their confidence for Henri to punish later? In the past two weeks Jackson had made it as far as the Twelve Oaks as the news of the parcels left in the night spread through the slave quarters. Getting up for water one night, Sally even swore she saw a cloaked figure coming out of the shack Jewel had been kept in during her captivity on the plantation. Henri had kept it boarded up and empty since the woman’s death, becoming even more maniacal after Jewel’s demise.
"Him, Miss Bell?" asked Sally. The midwife looked at the young woman’s face trying to read her motivation behind the search for answers.
"The Land Pirate, Henri and that man were talking about," said Bell. Taking a breath before deciding on taking a leap of faith, she prayed she wasn’t wrong about the old woman standing in her room.
"Do you know Jackson, Sally?" asked Bell, as she clenched her hands into fists waiting for an answer.
"You know my runner?" Sally asked in return.
"I don’t know what you mean, but I’ll tell you something I’ve never told a soul, I love him. If you break my confidence Sally, I hope you know Henri will kill us both," said Bell. Her hands now twisted in her dress as she waited for the slave to say something, anything.
"I love Jackson too Miss Bell, and don’t you worry none child. That’s one rascal they will never catch with his hand in the honeycomb." With that said Sally left Bell to her thoughts as she contemplated this new development, and how the lady of the house had come to fall in love with Jackson.
A week later Sally got her answer in the middle of the night when a horse appeared at her window with the rider slumped on its back. Jackson fell from the saddle before her adoptive mother could get outside. She worked all night trying to get the bleeding in Jackson’s side and thigh to stop. The gentleman pirate had finally been standing on the wrong end of two bullets that had left her weak and feverish before the morning. Sally laid her on the same bed Henri had used to rape her mother and prayed to all the gods listening that young woman didn’t moan through the day calling attention to herself. It was the only hiding place Sally could think of since no one had entered it in years.
"Miss Bell, it’s such a nice day out, why don’t you go for a walk? If you like I’ll come with you and hold your parasol," offered Sally. Bell and Henri were sitting down to breakfast and as was the norm neither of them spoke throughout the meal.
"She’s right Bella you should get out more. You’re getting paler by the day. Keep Sally with you and I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon. I’m riding to Hugh’s place for the day to see if there is any news on the capture of the bastard that stopped us that night." Bell only nodded her head absently not really caring about much.
"Miss Bell, would you like to see my house?" asked Sally as they started their walk. The quarters would be deserted except for a few women and children who weren’t expected in the fields by Henri’s foremen. Those Sally had given an assignment to before heading toward the house. They were off roaming the woods looking for berries leaving the compound of little houses empty.
"You asked me to trust you Miss Bell. Now I’m asking you the same thing. I have to show you something that could be my death, but I’m thinking you want to see it." Bell looked at her and nodded her eyes filling up with tears when she saw the scared look on Sally’s face.
In the dim light, Bell made out the big body lying on the bed. The white shirt the man wore was covered in blood and his breathing looked shallow even from where Bell stood. With lighting speed Bell was at Jackson’s side, a sob escaping her throat when she saw his pants were wet with blood too.
"You have to help me Miss Bell, if not, Jackson gonna die. Before we start though, there something about Jackson you gotta know," said Sally.
"It doesn’t matter Sally, help him," said Bell through her tears. Sally nodded and started unbuttoning the shirt knowing that the binding would show giving away Jackson’s secret. Her only hope was that Bell didn’t run back to the house screaming when she figured it out. All Bell did do once all the clothes did come off was cry harder, and Sally wasn’t sure how to proceed.
"Please Sally, save her. This doesn’t change the way I feel. It may be a sin, but I want Jackson well enough to kiss me again like she did all those nights ago." Together they cleaned the two wounds and tried to get Jackson comfortable. The sun had been down for a while before Sally convinced Bell to go back to the house. She promised to come and get her if there was a change in Jackson’s condition during the night, and the slave didn’t want anyone to tell Henri the next day that Bell hadn’t stayed in her room.
When the sun came up, it found Bell walking the property again carrying a small basket of supplies from the house. Jackson was still feverish, but her breathing seemed to be less difficult. The blue eyes fluttered open when Jackson felt the small hand on her face and the equally soft voice in her ear.
"I love you too cheri, and oh how I have missed you." Bell brought one hand up to her mouth to stifle the sob that wanted to escape at hearing Jackson’s voice again. "I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner," said Jackson wanting to explain now.
"It doesn’t change my heart love," said Bell. Sally turned away as the mistress of Twelve Oaks kissed Jackson hello. Would the kind lady still feel so full of love when she learned the rest of Jackson’s secrets was the real question? Sally hoped that Bella was as genuine as she seemed for Jackson’s sake, for the sake of them all.
Sally and Bell worked for the rest of the morning to make sure that Jackson was comfortable and that her wounds were clean and bandaged. Bell left to head back to the main house long before Henri was due to return from his overnight trip. When the master rode up the long oak lined road to his house, he found his wife sitting on the large porch reading a book.
Henri didn’t love
Bella, and had only married her because it was what was expected of him. His tastes for more intimate matters ran a spicier gambit than he was willing to try with the young blonde. Eventually they would have to consummate the relationship so that Bella could provide him an heir, but that could wait another couple of years as far as Henri was concerned. He had watched her grow more reclusive once they had returned from New Orleans, but Bella and her problems weren’t important enough to give much thought to.
"Welcome home Henri," said Bella looking up from her book but not making eye contact with him. One of the stable boys ran up and took the reins of his horse when Henri dismounted, running off before the bullwhip came off his belt for any reason. Henri took the seat next to her but didn’t touch her, which made Bell sigh in relief. Knowing Jackson was so close to her made an advance from Henri that much more repulsive.
"I’m sure I was missed," said Henri with a small laugh. He looked at his wife again and wondered how pleased she’d be if he rode off never to return. "Good news my dear, the posse that was chasing the thief thinks they may have wounded him, badly from my understanding. It will only be a matter of time now. I promised along with all the other landowners that anyone found aiding him will be killed on sight. Just think Bella, you won’t have to fear our trips into the city if we are successful."
"I have no fear of our trips into the city now, Henri," was Bell’s only reply. It amazed her that she didn’t feel more afraid of her husband’s reaction if he were to discover her involvement in trying to get Jackson on her feet again.
"Really my dear, such romantic notions from one so young. It makes me wonder what the rogue did to you while the driver and I were out for our stroll in the moonlight?"
