Simply Dead

by Eleanor Kuhns

  For a moment Rees did not speak. He did not like to admit it but he saw the truth of Lydia’s statement. ‘It’s easier being a boy,’ he said at last. ‘A boy’s method for resolving quarrels is a much better one: a fistfight settles the matter.’

  ‘Although the physical battles might be censured in a boy it is also expected,’ his wife said, darting a quick glance at her husband. ‘For a girl?’ She shook her head and sighed. ‘It will be even more difficult for Jerusha now. That is why I agreed to this meeting with her mother. I hoped …’ She stopped.

  ‘Babette has pulled the wool over her mother’s eyes,’ Rees said, experiencing a wave of guilt.

  Lydia glanced at her husband. ‘I understand from the widow that Babette’s mother was raised in one of the wealthier families in town. A shopkeeper, I believe. A farmer’s son turned her head and she married beneath her. She wants something better for her daughter.’

  ‘That doesn’t excuse Babette’s behavior,’ Rees said. But he felt helpless. Raising girls was so much more difficult than boys. Would he face this with Nancy and Sharon as well? ‘I’ll drive you and the babies home,’ he said aloud, ‘before I go into town to speak to Constable Rouge.’

  TWENTY-SIX

  Although Rees parked his horse and wagon in the inn’s yard, he did not go inside and look for Rouge. Instead he climbed the fence and went down the road to the livery. He did not want to think about how much the loss of the mule and the saddle would cost him. But when he crossed the yard he saw the mule in the paddock.

  The livery owner stepped outside. ‘Hey you,’ he said. ‘My mule came tearing down the mountain yesterday. What happened? And what’d you do with my saddle?’

  ‘It’s up in Josiah Wootten’s barn,’ Rees said. ‘I had to leave quickly, more quickly than I wished to.’ He turned to stare at the mule. ‘You got a good animal there. I’m glad he made it back.’

  ‘What happened?’ the livery owner asked again.

  Rees hesitated; he didn’t want to admit he’d fallen off. ‘Wolf pack,’ he said at last. ‘He bolted.’ That was true as far as it went.

  ‘I see,’ said the other man. Rees thought he probably did. ‘You gonna pay me for that saddle?’

  ‘I’m going to try and get it back first,’ Rees said. ‘But I have to go back up Gray Hill.’

  ‘You make sure you do that. Otherwise it’s three dollars.’

  Rees thought that price was too high but opted not to argue now. ‘You’ll get it back,’ he said and turned to go. He was glad he didn’t have to pay for the mule as well. He had almost no cash money left from the weaving trip he’d taken down the coast, culminating in Salem, two years ago. He hoped to find some more custom this coming spring; in fact, he must. Otherwise he and his family would be struggling to make ends meet.

  He walked back to the tavern. This time he kept to the street instead of climbing the fence. As he walked around Bernadette’s house, the midwife herself came through the door. ‘Mr Rees,’ she said. He halted and looked at the door. ‘I believe I owe you an apology.’

  ‘You do?’ he asked in surprise.

  She nodded. ‘Hortense confessed the whole sorry tale to me,’ she said. ‘Now I know her affections were engaged by that mountain boy.’

  Rees nodded. ‘Yes. Granny Rose told me Hortense and Jake met on one of her visits to the Bennetts.’

  Bernadette twisted her hands together. ‘Come inside by the fire,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to talk, outside here on the porch, where any passerby can hear my shame.’

  He hesitated briefly before going up the stairs and into the midwife’s house.

  Bernadette took up a position in front of the fireplace. Rees was reminded of his previous visit here when the midwife stood in exactly the same way. She’d been angry with him then. Now she held out her hands pleadingly. ‘I pray you will forgive me for my ill-temper,’ she said.

  ‘I understand,’ he said. ‘I have daughters.’ He thought of the meeting with Babette and her mother earlier this morning and sighed in his turn. Bernadette looked at him with sympathy.

  ‘It can be difficult,’ she said.

  ‘What did Hortense say?’ Rees asked.

  Bernadette’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, swiping the back of her hand over her face. ‘I was so angry at her for developing an affection for that boy.’

  ‘Yes?’ he said encouragingly.

  ‘But …’ She stopped short, her cheeks coloring.

  ‘What did Hortense tell you?’ Rees said, stifling his urge to shake the woman.

  ‘Mr Wootten, Jake’s father, tried to force himself upon my daughter.’ Bernadette kept her face averted. ‘He caught Jake kissing Hortense and said if she was old enough … well …’

  ‘But Jake came to her rescue,’ Rees said.

  ‘Yes. How did you know?’ She looked up in surprise.

  ‘I heard about the fight,’ Rees said. ‘Jake is a good lad.’

  ‘He may be but I will not allow my daughter to wed an illiterate mountain boy,’ Bernadette said in a fierce tone. ‘I vow, Hortense will remain in Quebec until she is married. And that will be soon, I hope.’

  Rees could not tell if she were serious or not. But he suspected she was.

  ‘That still doesn’t explain the murder of the Sister in Zion,’ he muttered. ‘Unless Wootten saw her in that gray cloak and tried to have his way with her. As he attempted with Hortense.’

  ‘And when he saw the woman was not my Hortense …’ She swallowed.

  ‘He strangled her. And we would never know the identity of the murderer if another Sister hadn’t seen him.’

  ‘I hope you catch this monster,’ Bernadette said.

  ‘I will,’ Rees said. ‘Don’t worry. I will.’ As soon as he was entirely persuaded Josiah Wootten was the murderer. He was not exactly sure why he was not one hundred percent convinced but some niggling questions remained.

  When Rees entered the tavern Rouge shouted from behind the bar, ‘What did you think you were doing, going up Gray Hill without me?’

  ‘I couldn’t wait,’ he said.

  ‘Right.’ Rouge scowled. ‘Because you can handle everything on your own.’

  ‘I learned some new information,’ Rees said, looking around him. ‘I spoke to the Wootten boys. And your sister confided something Hortense told her.’ Rouge eyed the weaver for a few seconds.

  ‘Hmmm. I feared there was more to my niece’s tale – more that she did not wish known.’

  ‘I want to speak to that storekeeper again. Mr Morton. Will you accompany me today?’

  ‘Why do you want to talk to that sour old coot?’

  ‘Because one of the daughters of the Wootten family ran off with him before she got dragged back home by her father. I want to know what he can tell me about that family.’

  Rouge regarded Rees. ‘Ran off with Morton?’ he asked in surprise. ‘I can scarcely credit it.’

  ‘I don’t blame her,’ he said, recalling the dirt-floored little cabin and the bruises on Jake’s face.

  ‘You really believe Josiah Wootten killed that Sister?’

  ‘Not for sure but I think it’s likely. Wootten certainly terrified Hortense. And there’s the death of another of the Wootten girls and her babe. But I don’t want to go up that mountain again without company.’ He almost confessed his experience with Josiah Wootten as well but decided against it.

  ‘Wootten threatened you, did he?’ Rouge grinned knowingly.

  Rees nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He didn’t want to admit that he had not only been chased down the mountain but that he had had to be rescued by a woman, the midwife Granny Rose.

  ‘He’s a vicious old bastard,’ Rouge continued. ‘Not one to cross.’

  ‘We should take our rifles,’ Rees said. ‘And maybe Thomas can accompany us as well.’ He thought they should take as many men as possible.

  ‘Wootten really put the fear of the devil in you,’ the constable said, smiling. ‘Don’t b
e embarrassed. Not many men in this town would go up against him.’

  ‘You know him then?’ Rees asked.

  Rouge shrugged. ‘Barely at all. But there are stories …’ His smile faded. ‘And you’re right. We will take our rifles. Not Thomas though. He’s cooking today and it will soon be noon. I don’t want to lose the custom. People seem to like his food.’

  But Thomas, who’d been listening, pleaded to join them. Although Rees did not understand all of the French, he caught enough to know that Thomas was bored. But Rouge refused, not entirely for selfish reasons. He did not want to leave Therese alone in town. Anti-French sentiment was still running high and she was just a girl. So Rees drove in his wagon with Rouge on his own horse. Rees could not help remembering his first journey up Gray Hill with the constable. It was only a few days previously but so much had happened since then that it seemed as though weeks had passed.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  Although no wagons or buggies were pulled up to the general store, a couple of male customers stood inside. Rees thought the two men were father and son. The older one did all the talking with Morton as they dickered over the price of flour. Morton glanced once at the new arrivals and then ignored them until his two other customers left.

  ‘What do you want?’ he asked in an unfriendly voice.

  Rouge turned to nod at Rees.

  ‘I understand you ran off with one of Josiah Wootten’s daughters,’ Rees said.

  Morton hesitated, frowning as though he did not want to answer.

  ‘We’re trying to find a murderer,’ Rouge said, leaning toward the other man.

  ‘You’d best tell us what we want to know.’

  ‘I’ve met Wootten,’ Rees said. ‘He came after you, didn’t he?’

  Morton blinked several times and looked away. When he returned his gaze to the two men, he said sharply, ‘There was no running off. Me and her were going to get married. It was all respectable.’

  ‘You knew her from the store?’ Rees asked.

  ‘Known her since she was five years old. Tried to court her a few years back – until her daddy did this.’ He gestured to his leg. ‘Once I got the store, though, I seen her all the time. With her mother sick and her sister not right in the head, Bathsheba were the one who came down.’

  ‘What do you mean, her sister wasn’t right in the head?’ Rees asked, his voice fiercer than he intended.

  ‘She could hardly talk,’ Morton said. ‘Mainly grunted. Had that funny face.’ He gestured at his own grizzled countenance. Rees nodded slowly.

  ‘When was this?’ Rouge asked. ‘When did you and Wootten’s daughter plan to marry?’

  Morton sighed. ‘It were February. We knew her family wouldn’t like it so she met me here in the store. We were planning to drive down to town and get married. Spend the night.’ He forced a grin. ‘We knew they’d have to accept we were married then.’

  ‘What happened?’ Rees asked.

  Morton lifted one shoulder in a shrug. ‘Her father caught up to us halfway down the mountain. He threatened me.’ He rubbed his chin and Rees guessed Wootten had done more than threaten. ‘He told me he’d kill me if I ever looked at his daughter again and dragged her home kicking and screaming.’

  ‘Did you lie with her?’ Rees asked bluntly.

  Morton shook his head regretfully. ‘Didn’t get the chance, did I?’ He heaved a heavy sigh so redolent with onions Rees stepped back.

  ‘You haven’t seen her since?’ he asked.

  Morton shook his head. ‘Not since she run off,’ he said regretfully.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ Rouge said. ‘Rees told me she had a baby.’

  ‘That was the sister,’ Morton said. ‘She and the baby died.’

  Rees tapped his finger on his lip. ‘So who was the father of her baby?’ he asked.

  Morton shrugged. ‘Only God knows. She tried to follow Bathsheba, you see, so the fool girl was alone on the road. Some man took advantage. A’course they all blamed Bathsheba. I wasn’t surprised to hear she’d run off again.’

  ‘And when did she run away?’ Rees asked, trying to get the timing straight.

  ‘Right after her sister and the baby died.’ Morton chewed his thumbnail. ‘Must have been October. Or November. Yes, that’s it. Wootten came down here, screaming and threatening to kill me. But I didn’t know where she was. Still don’t. I hope she’s safe though.’ His forehead furrowed with worry and Rees realized Morton genuinely cared for the girl.

  ‘Do you have any idea where she could have gone?’ Rees asked.

  The shopkeeper shook his head. ‘I wish I did. Wootten went around to all the cabins on Gray Hill and she weren’t anywhere. I just hope she’s safe.’ His voice trailed away and Rees nodded. Where would a young girl go? Friends or relatives – but Wootten would have found her then. There was nowhere else unless she had fled to Zion, the Shaker community in the valley. Rees thought of Pearl and her eager description of the man who had killed the Sister. Did Wootten suspect his daughter was hiding with the Shakers? Perhaps that was why he’d gone to Zion, not to recover Hortense as Rees had once thought, but to take back his daughter. And Pearl had seen him. Rees had to talk to her again.

  ‘I hope you find her,’ Morton added.

  They talked for a few minutes more but as Mr Morton had nothing more to add Rees and Rouge started back down the mountain.

  By the time they reached the tavern the sun was beginning to decline in the sky. It was long past dinner time; Rees would have known that even without his pocket watch. He was famished. When Rouge offered him a meal, Rees accepted eagerly. Therese wiped off a table with a sour-smelling rag and both Rees and Rouge sat down to wait.

  ‘I suppose we have to look for the girl now,’ Rouge said glumly.

  ‘I have an idea about that,’ Rees said. He stopped speaking while Therese brought him a mug of coffee. When the cream and sugar chunks were deposited on the table as well, he continued. ‘I think she went to Zion.’

  ‘The Shakers?’ Rouge’s initial surprise melted into acceptance. ‘Of course she did. There’s nowhere else.’

  ‘In fact,’ Rees continued, ‘I believe she’s calling herself Pearl now. She was one of the girls who found the body of her murdered Sister. And she identified her father.’

  ‘By name?’ Rouge asked.

  ‘No, not by name. She described him though. To increase the drama of the situation,’ Rees added, his voice going acid.

  ‘Did Wootten see his daughter?’

  ‘No. I don’t know. Maybe.’ Rees hesitated, thinking. ‘If Wootten saw her, he must now know where she’s hiding. Besides, Pearl saw Jake, her brother.’ He recalled the girl’s fear. ‘Yes.’ He drew out the word as he pondered. ‘Jake might have seen her as well.’ Would the boy tell his father? Rees wasn’t sure. ‘Pearl knows she isn’t safe.’

  ‘Do you think Wootten will go after her?’ Rouge asked. ‘Probably.’ He answered his own question.

  Rees nodded. ‘I think he did once already. And the Sister in Hortense’s cloak got in the way. We should warn the Shakers to watch for him.’ He imagined Brother Jonathan confronting the brutal Wootten and shuddered. ‘We better hurry.’ Despite the hollowness clenching his belly, he wished he had not agreed to dinner. He still had to collect his children from school. And it would be dark in a few hours. When Therese delivered the plates to the table, Rees took such a big mouthful of steak he almost choked. Rouge thumped him on the back.

  ‘Perhaps you shouldn’t hurry quite so much,’ he advised.

  They both ate quickly. As Rees put on his coat in preparation for leaving, Rouge said, ‘I’ll catch up to you.’ He nodded, knowing that Rouge, on horseback, would travel faster than the wagon.

  ‘I must stop at school to collect my children anyway,’ Rees said.

  Eating dinner had cost him precious time. Harnessing Hannibal to the wagon devoured another twenty minutes or so. When he finally climbed up into the wagon seat he knew he would be late. He hoped Jeru
sha and her siblings had had the good sense to wait.

  Slapping the reins down upon Hannibal’s back, Rees pushed the gelding forward as fast as he would go. Still, as he’d feared, school had already been dismissed. Most of the children were already gone although he spotted Babette, loitering by the road as though waiting for someone.

  Rees’s children, Nancy, Judah and Joseph anyway, were standing with the widow on the steps. From a distance it appeared she was protecting them within the circle of her arms. But where was Jerusha? Then Rees saw her red cloak surrounded by several older boys.

  The wagon had barely rolled to a stop before he jumped out and begun to hurry. His sore ankle throbbed with the sudden impact but he ignored it. ‘Jerusha,’ he shouted. ‘Hey.’ Two of the boys looked up. Seeing a very angry father bearing down upon them they fled toward the road. He made as if to follow but they easily avoided him and ran down the lane. He saw Babette run out to meet them. Their laughter floated through the still air to his ears.

  Rees turned back to Jerusha. ‘Did they hurt you?’ he shouted as he ran to her side. ‘Are you all right?’ She sat up. Her cloak, her dress, her face and her hands were coated with mud. Dropping on one knee, he reached out for her. She was sobbing and tears streaked her dirty face. ‘Was that Babette’s brother?’ he asked. She nodded.

  ‘And his friends,’ she quavered. Rees helped her up. What should he do now? Putting an arm around her shoulders, and transferring mud to his greatcoat, he walked her back to the widow.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. Rees’s stifled his first impulse – he wanted to shout accusingly at her for allowing those boys to torment his daughter, but the old woman looked frightened herself. ‘I was very glad when those rough brutes left school for good,’ she said, her panicky breaths separating each word.

  ‘Babette was at the bottom of it,’ he said.

  The widow nodded, biting her lip. ‘I always wondered if she was as sweet as she seemed …’ she began, her voice trailing away. Her bosom in its plain black dress rose and fell with the intensity of her sigh. ‘I don’t know what to do.’